Museum of Indian Arts and Culture explained

Museum of Indian Arts and Culture/Laboratory of Anthropology
Established:	1927
Location:	Santa Fe, New Mexico
Type:	Anthropology museum
Director:	Dr. Matthew Martinez (interim)
Website:	www.indianartsandculture.org
Embedded:	Embed: yes Laboratory of Anthropology Designated Other1: New Mexico Designated Other1 Date: December 1, 1982 Designated Other1 Number: 890 Designated Other1 Num Position: bottom Coordinates: 35.6644°N -105.9244°W Added: July 12, 1983 Area: less than one acre Refnum: 83001630

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 American Alliance of Museums as part of the Museum of New Mexico system. The museum and its programs are financially supported by the Museum of New Mexico Foundation.^[1]

The Museum of Indian Arts and Culture is dedicated to the accurate and culturally sensitive presentation of southwestern Native American cultures. Its mission statement emphasizes its intention to work closely with the Native communities of the region. The current interim director is Dr. Matthew Martinez (Ohkay Owingeh).^[2] The prior director is Della Warrior (Otoe-Missouria).^[3]

Collections

Object collections at the Museum of Indian Arts & Culture are divided administratively into "Individually Catalogued Collections," which include typological collections of Southwestern textiles, pottery, baskets, jewelry, contemporary art, and artifacts chronicling the everyday life of New Mexico's long period of human habitation. As the state repository for archaeological materials, the Museum has the responsibility to care for and maintain all artifacts excavated on state-owned land. Its Archaeological Research Collection contains artifacts numbering between 5 and 10 million. (As these artifacts are stored as "bulk" collections, and not catalogued individually, an exact count is unknown.

Exhibitions

The museum has a regularly changing schedule of temporary exhibitions, which draw on the strengths of its collection. Long-term exhibitions on view at the museum include:

• Painted Reflections: Isomeric Design in Ancestral Pueblo Pottery, displays ancestral pottery from the 9th century to modern that exemplify using unpainted liminal space and negative space painted design to achieve meaningful optical illusions of texture and space.^[4]
• Clearly Indigenous: Native Visions Reimagined in Glass, featuring work by 33 distinct artists along with field innovator Dale Chihuly who is highlighted as introducing glass work to Indian Country by opening the first hot shop at the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe in 1974. ^[5]
• The Buchsbaum Gallery of Southwestern Pottery, which contains nearly 300 ceramic vessels created by artists of the Pueblos of New Mexico and Arizona. Objects on display range from those created near the inception of pottery-making in the Southwest up to the present.^[6]
• Here, Now & Always, (currently closed for renovation, scheduled to reopen July 2022) a permanent major exhibition that documents the Southwest's indigenous communities and their challenging landscapes. Here, Now and Always includes more than 1,300 objects from the museum's collection accompanied by poetry, story, song and scholarly discussion.^[7]

See also

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Santa Fe County, New Mexico

External links

• Museum of Indian Arts and Culture
• Museum of New Mexico
• New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs

Notes and References

1. http://www.museumfoundation.org Museum of New Mexico Foundation
2. Web site: MIAC Welcomes New Deputy Director, Matthew Martinez, Ph.D. :: Department of Cultural Affairs Media Center :: Press Releases. 2022-02-09. media.newmexicoculture.org.
3. http://www.archaeologysouthwest.org/2013/06/16/sat_6_17_13/ "Indian Education Leader Della Warrior to Direct Museum of Indian Arts and Culture/New Mexico Laboratory of Anthropology."
4. Web site: Painted Reflections: Isomeric Design in Ancestral Pueblo Pottery Current Exhibitions Museum of Indian Arts & Culture Santa Fe, New Mexico. 2022-02-09. www.indianartsandculture.org.
5. Web site: Clearly Indigenous: Native Visions Reimagined in Glass Current Exhibitions Museum of Indian Arts & Culture Santa Fe, New Mexico. 2022-02-09. www.indianartsandculture.org.
6. Web site: Abatemarco. Michael. November 13, 2021. The Buchsbaum Gallery of Southwestern Pottery at the Museum of Indian Arts & Culture. 2021-12-27. Santa Fe New Mexican. en.
7. Web site: Gomez. Adrian. November 20, 2021. Renovations continue at MIAC in Santa Fe. 2021-12-27. Albuquerque Journal.