I had been wanting for some time to spend a morning in the Museum of Contemporary Native Arts. https://iaia.edu/mocna/ In fact, it was the whole of the long cold winter that I had been waiting to come out on the other side of. I was excited when I read what our local paper, Santa Fe New Mexican, had to say in February. The museum was selected by USA Today (Readers Choice 2023) as one of the best art museums in the U.S.! So when the morning came with a promise of Spring air and warmth, we parked our car in a Santa Fe neighborhood. After a brisk walk on the sunny side of the streets, we were at the front door of the museum.
The museum is fully known as IAIA..Museum of Contemporary Native Arts. In case you didn’t know, as I didn’t when I first came to Santa Fe, IAIA stands for the Institute of American Indian Arts. The institute is a four year fine arts college. The majority of the students are Native Americans. The institute, however, is open to anyone with an interest in studying there. Many of the art pieces you will see in the the Museum of Contemporary Native Arts are works done by students of the college. But all of the artistic works you find in the museum are again, as you might expect, exclusively works by Native Americans.
The building that the museum calls home was not originally designed to be an art museum. I found it, though, to be especially beautiful and well cared for…with perfect spaces to harbor the works on exhibit. There are two floors with separate rooms and also a garden with sculpture in the back. It is just the perfect site to take it slow and discover which contemporary works you will find next. Since we visited early on a weekday morning, not in busy tourist season, I sometimes found myself alone. it was perfect to just take my time and linger over pieces I especially liked.
Sculpture
Find the doors that take you out into the garden. You will find some interesting sculpture there.
Found in the garden also was a photograph of Historians, Alumnae, IAIA Team Members and Staff from the museum. They all came together in October, 2022 to present the IAIA Making History Symposium. This was the year also that the Museum of Contemporary Native Arts celebrated its fifty year anniversary.
Jewelry
Fashion
Feathers are not only for wearing on the head:
Just Go In
In your walks in town around Santa Fe, you can’t miss the Museum of Contemporary Native Art. The museum is directly in front of the Cathedral. The side of the building faces La Fonda hotel, another Santa Fe landmark. Besides, the museum is beautiful, colorful and alluring. Just go in! I doubt you’ll regret it.
