Museum of New Mexico Complex

The Museum of New Mexico shows how ancient this remote part of the US is. I’ve been to the Fine Arts Museum to see some Tibetan monks make a sand painting (the same group came to Sonoma State University in Rohnert Park) The Palace of the Governors is fascinating, considering that Juan Bautista de Anza, who explored the East Bay, spent his final years, as did Lew Wallace when he penned «Ben Hur.» The Museum of International Folk Art is a must-​see.
Museums are something of a necessity in New Mexico, where the temperatures can go to freezing&being in the great outdoors is not an option (the same goes for Boston) It’s fun and fascinating.

We visited the Fine Arts Museum three years ago and it was a huge disappointment; the collection was very small and not at all interesting. Fortunately we were there on a Friday night, when admission was free.

Although you may experience museum overload, all four museums can be easily explored in a weekend. I visited the New Mexico History Museum/​Palace of the Governors and Museum of Art on a free Friday night (from 5 – 8 pm) and the next day went up to Museum Hill to the Museum of International Folk Art and Museum of Indian Arts & Culture. I bought the $ 15 pass for two museums.
If four museums are too much information overload for you, then I would at least recommend visiting the New Mexico History Museum/​Palace of the Governors at the Plaza and the Museum of International Folk Art on Museum Hill. Visit the other museums only if you have the time and energy.

Museum Hill is definitely a worthwhile destination. Visit the Wheelwright Museum (free) and then hop over to The Museum of International Folk Art. The others are great to stop at as long as you’re there, with especially interesting exhibits for children.

Many of their picture displays were unlabeled. They encouraged visitors to use their iphones to get information about them. Aside from a computer they had setup in one of the rooms, nothing was printed. I think this is pretty chintzy.
For what you get, the admission cost is high, especially for non-​residents. Add to that the anemic go out of your way to be non-​offensive museum exhibits and the whole place gets annoying quickly.

Small, but for the 6 bucks since I live here it was worth the thirty minute tour. It’s a little on the small side-​since I’m a spoiled Legion of Honor fan, but the curators have laid it out nicely and it is not stuffy like the De Young.
There are two floors available and three of those works are by Georgia. The open air courtyard is super gorgeous so stay awhile and not be disappointed.

The Museum of New Mexico is a major museum complex of four museums and a Monuments Division with the central offices located on Lincoln Avenue in downtown Santa Fe. The four museum branches are:
1. The Museum of International Folk
2. The Museum of Indian Arts & Culture /​Laboratory of Anthropology
3. The Palace of the Governors
4. The Museum of Fine Arts
Two of these are located on «Museum Hill» — Camino Lejo and two are right on the Plaza downtown on Palace Avenue.
Each one of these museums is a fascinating window into its unique collections. Some of the country’s top museum professionals are employed in these museums and research facilities. You won’t find any finer collections of Folk Art, American Indian artifacts, historical artifacts or fine arts anywhere in the world. If you want to know where we’ve been, where we are or where we’re going, then take a few days and visit all four of these wonderful New Mexico museums. You may just end up a little smarter and a whole lot wiser.

Quite cool. Definitely visit if you are in the area.