The Museum of New Mexico is a collection of museums, historic sites, and archaeological services governed by the State of New Mexico. It currently consists of six divisions : the
Palace of the Governors state history museum, the
New Mexico Museum of Art, the
Museum of Indian Arts and Culture, the
Museum of International Folk Art, the archaeology division, and the state historic sites. Each division within the Museum of New Mexico adheres to policies decided by the Museum of New Mexico Board of Regents, a group of New Mexico residents appointed by the governor with consent of the Senate.
History
The Museum of New Mexico was established on February 19, 1909, by the New Mexico Territorial legislature. This pre-statehood legislation mandated that the Museum of New Mexico be housed in the historic
Palace of the Governors in Santa Fe. Over the years, the Museum of New Mexico added several other properties to include the
New Mexico Museum of Art,
Laboratory of Anthropology
The Museum of Indian Arts and Culture is a museum of Native American art and culture located in Santa Fe, New Mexico. It is one of eight museums in the state operated by the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs and is accredited by the Ameri ...
,
Museum of International Folk Art and the historic sites of
Coronado,
Fort Selden
Fort Selden was a United States Army post, occupying the area in what is now Radium Springs, New Mexico. The site was long a campground along the El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro. It was the site of a Confederate Army camp in 1861. The U. S. A ...
,
Bosque Redondo Memorial at Fort Sumner,
Jémez,
Lincoln,
El Camino Real Historic Trail Site, the future Taylor Reynolds Barela Mesilla historic site and the Los Luceros.
An unusual arrangement existed with the privately funded
School of American Archaeology
The School for Advanced Research (SAR), until 2007 known as the School of American Research and founded in 1907 as the School for American Archaeology (SAA), is an advanced research center located in Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA. Since 1967, the sc ...
in which the school was allowed to occupy the Palace of the Governors free of rent and the director of the school would serve as the director of the museum. This arrangement lasted until Governor
John Burroughs
John Burroughs (April 3, 1837 – March 29, 1921) was an American naturalist and nature essayist, active in the conservation movement in the United States. The first of his essay collections was ''Wake-Robin'' in 1871.
In the words of his bio ...
signed a bill on April 2, 1959, forcing the School of American Research to leave state property and the Board of Regents. The Museum of New Mexico has been reorganized several times, most recently in 2004 when the
Department of Cultural Affairs was created as a cabinet-level department.
References
External links
*
''El Palacio''
{{Authority control
Museum organizations
New Mexico culture
Government of New Mexico