Institute of American Indian Arts Museum and Store

Serious modern art. NOT a Western art or artifacts place. We parents liked it but the elementary school aged kids lost interest quickly

I’m going to be completely honest, here: I had absolutely no interest in this museum. There’s a lot to discover in Santa Fe, and my immediate thoughts concerning contemporary Native arts were at best benign. I figured the place would be something of an afterthought, a blasé Thanks to the people who brought this city to life. Not so. Not so in any stretch of the imagination. The work exhibited in these halls is as good, if not better, than anything you’ll find in the City Different, if not the world over.
I was simply stupefied by a the main exhibition, Ric Gendron’s Rattlebone. Holy enlightenment, the canvasses were so thought-​provoking, contemporary for sure, offering depth and political insight in ways I’d never imagined. I was worried about the abstract stuff, because, well, again I’m being honest: Native art is lodged in my brain as a reflection of the past. And again I’ll be honest: I wasn’t blown away by the stuff I found here. But still it beat any expectation. And the sculpture garden: bliss. Smart, somewhat political, a little dreamy. Everything, and I mean everything I found in this building met or beat any expectation. Kudos once again to you, Santa Fe.
New Mexico residents get in free on Sundays. I don’t want to spoil this, I’ll simply state that the work and the venue are world-​class. Visit this museum. You won’t forget it.
Oh, and respect the photo policy here, and don’t take any.

A very good place to see American Indian art that isn’t just woven blankets and kachina dolls. It’s all more modern than traditional, which will immediately be distasteful to the majority of Santa Fe tourists. They want pottery and eagle feathers. You’ll find some of that here, but it it likely to be spray painted and featured in an abstract movie.
This place can help folks strip away the notion of «American Indian» from art and artist, allowing them a fresh vantage. There is an indigenous root in all the work, but it doesn’t hit you on the nose.

Most of the contemporary art in this little museum falls into the category of «interesting» rather than «aesthetically pleasing.» But the exhibit of four short films that were running when we stopped in were a key exception. Apart from two 4-​minute films I could have done without, there was a charming-​if-​hokey love story about Indian tacos, and a 26-​minute documentary about Italian/​Native-​American conflicts over Columbus Day. Even if the latter doesn’t sound interesting to you at first, you’ll be drawn in.

This place is currently known as the Museum of Contemporary Native Arts, but is attached to the previous name (as this page is) IAIA Art Museum. As a contrast to many stores around the Plaza, this place is dedicated to the advancement of Native American Arts. This is a museum of contemporary native arts and is not kitschy. It shows work of world renown Native American artists. Good stuff.

Used the North American reciprocal pass, which allows you to enter for free. It’s contemporary art – so if you don’t like contemporary art then you might not like the exhibits. Loved the sculptures in the garden and the Inuit rotating exhibit was really neat. Cool shop.

The IAIA was fantastic and well worth a visit. This contemporary museum was a fascinating display of native artists’ works. The cost was $ 10 per adult. The museum shop deserved 30 min or so.
Happy viewing.

I assumed it would be a kitschy museum because it’s so close to the other tourist traps but this museum had outstanding exhibits of contemporary art. And so much contemporary art in general is crap that we were quite surprised with the quality in this museum. (The shop is worth a look as well.)
We especially enjoyed the controversial exhibit speaking against Santa Fe’s 400^th Anniversary — timed by the date of conquest by Spaniards.

This not only has native collections on display, but also show the up and coming artists that attending the The Institute of American Indian Arts (IA IA). A lot of the students start there at the museum. Every year they have special shows all year around that students can apply and showcase their art work. Its a very nice museum. Many students also can work in the museum as well, such as the Museum Majors. Its a great start for many artists that are just starting out.
I attended IA IA and it was a great experience to be able to show case work and learn what art is about through the school as well as the Museum.