New Mexican Art Tours in Albuquerque
With a 300-year
history, a mix of three prominent cultures, and mountain
and desert landscapes that thrill the creative spirit, Albuquerque is
bursting at the seams with stunning contemporary art, traditional art,
and
New Mexican folk art at all price ranges. From galleries with
only the best of Indian art in
Old Town to visionary modern art, you’ll
find the city’s galleries and
museums inspiring, innovative and perhaps
challenging. No wonder AmericanStyle magazine readers rated Albuquerque
the #5 Big City Art Destination, right behind San Francisco. On these
two tours, you'll see New Mexican folk art, paintings, photography,
sculpture, ceramics and textiles unequalled in the Southwest, or the
nation.
New Mexican Art Tour 1: Traditional Arts
5-10 hours
With
almost two dozen
art galleries, Old Town steps in as a convenient
center for traditional, folk and contemporary art. If you want
inexpensive jewelry or a souvenir, have fun
shopping the sidewalk
vendors and tourist
stores. If you want heirloom-quality rugs, pottery,
ceramics or jewelry with gem-quality turquoise, visit the galleries that
specialize in fine pueblo and Southwestern art. Antique enthusiasts
will find stores with Hispanic, American West and Spanish articles.
Starting at the Plaza, take your time browsing. Look at the shops in the
side plazas and patios and don’t be bashful about asking questions
about the Indian artists and authenticity. Two pots may look identical,
but one is twice the price: The cheaper one is green ware or molded
instead of traditionally made from hand-gathered clay and materials. The
same with turquoise jewelry. Inexpensive pieces are made with
factory-produced settings and stabilized and dyed turquoise instead of
gem quality “natural” stones. Let your taste and credit limit decide
which is for you. Learn all about the varieties of turquoise and how to
tell the difference at the Turquoise Museum located just west of the
Old Town Plaza.
Old Town galleries carry a great variety of Zuni fetishes, Pueblo
storytellers, the acclaimed Acoma pottery, Navajo rugs, Hopi kachinas,
silver buckles and jewelry, and carvings. Quality galleries line Romero
and San Felipe streets from the Plaza to Mountain Road, as well as the
side plazas. On Romero, check out Plaza San Luis and Plazuela Sombra,
upstairs and down. On San Felipe, don’t miss the fine art, photo and
Hispanic folk-art galleries tucked away in Poco Apoco Patio. Take time
to explore the ethnic art stores, too. You’ll find creative folk and
religious art, textiles and paintings from Mexico, Guatemala, Latin
America and Southwest artists.
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If you want outstanding Indian art, two Indian-owned
galleries offer the best selections in the region. The gift shop at the
Indian Pueblo Cultural Center carries a wide variety of art and crafts
from the 19 pueblos in New Mexico.
The collection of rings, jewelry, pottery, rugs, sculpture, books,
paintings and recordings vary in price from kid-affordable to top
dollar. Visiting vendors often sell their hand-crafted items during the
traditional dance performances held every weekend. After shopping,
sample the artistic blend of flavors at the Pueblo Harvest Café. The
“Native-Fusion” menu features buffalo tenderloin, grilled salmon and New
Mexican lamb with live entertainment on weekend evenings and Sunday
brunch.
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Bien Mur Indian Market
(1/2 hour, 100 Bien Mur Dr. NE on Sandia Pueblo, 505-821-5400)
The Bien Mur Indian Market carries only the best tribal art from
across the Southwest. Located across the road from the Sandia Resort
& Casino on Tramway just off I-25, the two-story, round building is
packed with the largest collection of fine Indian art that you’ll find
in the city. Best of all, they offer 33%-off during Balloon Fiesta and
other major city events.
As the first colonists entering New Mexico, Hispanic artisans and
craftsmen brought art forms that still greatly influence modern artists.
Hispanic art often reflects a fusion of indigenous Spanish, Mexican,
African, North American and religious influences. Plan to spend several
hours at the
National Hispanic Cultural Center Art Museum. The small
gallery at the South Broadway Cultural Center also displays and sells
Hispanic art.
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National Hispanic Cultural Center
(1-3 hours; 1701 Fourth Street SW; 505-246-2261, www.nhccnm.org closed Monday)
Water pours from an overhead aqueduct into a pond in front of the
National Hispanic Cultural Center. With the entrance styled to resemble a
Mayan pyramid, the campus includes an art museum, performing arts
complex, library and genealogy center, education center, restaurant and
gift shop. The center is in the heart of the historic Barelas
neighborhood, a Hispanic community since colonial times.
The center’s art museum exhibits an extensive collection of fine
paintings and dimensional art. The subjects reflect the culture,
concerns and perspectives of modern Hispanics. Treatments vary from
traditional iconic to whimsical, surrealistic, cultural-fusion and
visionary. The rotating permanent collection and traveling exhibits
transcend traditional Hispanic religious art and blur the stereotypes
that try to box in the vibrant, evolving culture.
Want to spice up your day, and night? Drop in for one of the
center’s free Salsa and Cha-Cha dance lessons. The center offers a
variety of music, dance and theatrical performances. Check the schedule
for matinees and evening performances, which may include Flamenco music
and dance, classical concerts, cutting-edge theatres and
Spanish-language films. Some programs are free; all are world-class.
For that hard-to-find gift, check out the art in La Tiendita gift
shop. When it’s time for a real Hispanic experience, savor the green or
red chile enchiladas or posole, a pork-based soup with hominy, at La
Fonda del Bosque restaurant, open for breakfast and lunch. Or grab a cup
of hot chocolate topped off with a cinnamon- and anise-flavored
biscochito, the official state cookie.
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South Broadway Cultural Center
(1/2 hour, 1025 S. Broadway SE, 505-848-1320, www.cabq.gov/sbcc )
This multi-purpose community center a few blocks from the
National Hispanic Cultural Center displays and sells a small but
impressive collection of Hispanic art. The surrealistic paintings of
Santiago Perez, also in the Hispanic Center’s permanent collection,
portray birds flying airplanes and the classic Hispanic mural-style
canvases. A public library and 300-seat performing arts theater complete
the community center.
New Mexican Art Tour II: Contemporary and Fine Arts
6-12 hours
Old Town has the reputation as a Native American art center, but if
your taste is more avant-garde, you’ll find contemporary galleries with
visual and ceramic arts, jewelry, photography and sculpture.
Concentrated along Romero and San Felipe streets, a half-dozen galleries
feature the works of the finest regional artists and artisans. Some of
the top-end galleries also carry contemporary, non-traditional work by
Indian artists.
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Albuquerque Museum of Art & History
(1-3 hours, 2000 Mountain Road NW, 505-243-7255, www.cabq.gov/museum/ )
Besides the New Mexico history collections, the Albuquerque
Museum of Art & History exhibits works from the late 19th century to
the present. The halls feature contemporary and historical regional
artists and traveling exhibits. Docents give morning tours of the
Sculpture Garden that surrounds the museum from April through November.
Dozens of realistic and abstract sculptures represent both historical
and modern themes.
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The galleries of the University of New Mexico Art Museum exhibit
samples of its 27,000-piece collection of prints, sculpture, Colonial
art, photography and paintings from Renaissance to modern times. The
10,000 prints and photographs are the largest university collection in
the country. The Jonson Gallery, the home and collection of Modernist
painter Raymond Jonson, a contemporary of Georgia O’Keeffe, exhibits
contemporary art from the 1920s to current university students.
From Old Town to
Nob Hill, the Central Avenue/
Route 66 corridor
abounds with New Mexican art galleries. In the heart of downtown, you’ll
find conceptual and contemporary art, fine art, community art, New
Mexican folk art and Indian art galleries. Farther east in Nob Hill,
shop for the eclectic and bizarre in Mexican folk art and world import
galleries, as well as fine art and jewelry in high-end galleries.
Corrales Galleries
(1-2 hours, Corrales Road north from NM 528, Alameda Road)
As Albuquerque grew through the decades, clusters of galleries and
artist studios sprung up in neighborhoods across the city. The rural
lifestyle of the village of Corrales has attracted artists since horses
roamed its dusty streets… actually they still do. Small galleries,
mostly co-op or artist-owned, line the winding Corrales Road with New
Mexican folk art and fine art from the numerous local artists.
The eclectic Albuquerque art scene, called “quirky” by
AmericanStyle magazine, features gallery walks on the first and third
Friday of each month sponsored by the Albuquerque Art Business
Association. The citywide First Friday ArtsCrawl highlights about two
dozen participating gallery and art centers. The Third Friday ArtsCrawl,
in its 19th year, focuses on a different section of town each month
with 10-12 participating galleries. The galleries showcase openings, new
artists, and special exhibits and often feature light refreshments and
live music. Call or check the website for list of galleries and
maps.
Public Art
(Enjoy public art displays throughout the city as you travel between galleries, www.cabq.gov/publicart)
Since 1978, Albuquerque has dedicated 1% of all general obligation
funds for construction to public art. Now, more than 600 works of art
decorate city parks, plazas, offices and buildings, intersections,
overpasses and esplanades. Eye-catching sculptures, paintings, murals,
metal works, walls and benches decorate the parks and public buildings
throughout town. Towering statues, archways and ceramic murals add
commuter interest to the city’s major thoroughfares. While waiting for
your flight, enjoy the eclectic collection of contemporary and Native
American art displayed at the Albuquerque International Sunport.