IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts

Last updated
IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts
IAIA Museum (cropped).jpg
The museum in 2004
IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts
Interactive map of IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts
Alternative namesMoCNA
General information
Location108 Cathedral Place, Santa Fe, New Mexico, United States
Coordinates 35°41′15″N105°56′13″W / 35.68740486989553°N 105.93696811033077°W / 35.68740486989553; -105.93696811033077
Inaugurated1991
Owner Institute of American Indian Arts

The IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts (abbreviated as MoCNA) is a museum in Santa Fe, New Mexico dedicated to collecting and showcasing works of art by contemporary Indigenous artists and is considered the only museum in the United States to do so. [1]

Contents

History

Founded by the Institute of American Indian Arts in 1991, the museum hosts nearly 10,000 works of art from 1962 and onward and is located in the Sante Fe Federal Building (the old Post Office), a historic Pueblo Revival building. [2] [3] Contemporary intertribal Native American art is the focus of exhibitions and the permanent collection. The MoCNA is located near the Santa Fe Plaza and Saint Francis Cathedral in the historic Santa Fe downtown area. [4]

In 2020, the museum was one of 20 recipients for funding from the Ford Foundation's America's Cultural Treasures philanthropic initiative. [5]

In 2025, the museum received an Access for All grant from the Art Bridges Foundation, allowing it to allow free admission on Fridays through to December 2026. [6] In August of that year, the museum partnered with the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts to showcase Taiwanese Indigenous works. [7]

As of March 2025, the Museum's Director is Patsy Phillips, and its Chief Curator is Manuela Well-Off-Man. [8]

Exhibitions and collections

The museum collects, exhibits and interprets progressive art works by Indigenous artists. It has an active public programming series. Objects in the collection, when not on exhibit, are held in the museum's 7,000 square foot storage facility located on the IAIA campus 12 miles south of the museum; the facility also includes conservation laboratories. [4]

The Allan Houser (Chiricahua Apache) Sculpture Garden and Art Park is located in the courtyard west of the museum building. Selections of Houser's work is exhibited on a rotating basis, and is on loan from the Alan Houser Foundation. [9]

References

  1. ↑ "IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts – North American Reciprocal Museum (NARM) Association®" . Retrieved 2025-08-04.
  2. ↑ Cabe, Caroline (2025-07-30). "Eight Top Native American Art Collections To See In The West". Cowboys and Indians Magazine. Retrieved 2025-08-04.
  3. ↑ "National Register of Historical Places - NEW MEXICO (NM), Santa Fe County". www.nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com. Retrieved 2018-05-14.
  4. 1 2 "IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts: About". IAIA. Retrieved 4 December 2025.
  5. ↑ "Ford Foundation fund to award an unprecedented $160 million to minority arts groups". The Washington Post. 2020-09-24. ISSN   0190-8286 . Retrieved 2025-08-04.
  6. ↑ Phillips, Patsy (2025-03-01). "Fridays are free at the IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts". Santa Fe New Mexican. Retrieved 2025-08-04.
  7. ↑ "Taiwan's Leading Public Art Museum to Collaborate with Centre Pompidou, Santa Fe Native Arts Museum". ocula.com. 2025-08-04. Retrieved 2025-08-04.
  8. ↑ Mexican, The New (2025-03-17). "IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts director, chief curator discuss new exhibits and grant impacts". Santa Fe New Mexican. Retrieved 2025-08-04.
  9. ↑ "New Sculptures in MoCNA Allan Houser Art Park". IAIA Museum. Retrieved 4 December 2025.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.