Things To Do In Santa Fe

MUSEUMS & ATTRACTIONS

CENTER FOR CONTEMPORARY ARTS

The Center for Contemporary Arts (CCA) is an arts and culture hub for northern New Mexico’s diverse communities. Founded in 1979, CCA is one of the oldest artist-centered organizations in the American Southwest, committed to supporting emerging and established artists.


EL MUSEO CULTURAL

El Museo Cultural is a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving, protecting, and promoting the Hispano art, culture and traditions of Northern New Mexico is organized as a Center of Hispanic Culture and Learning.


EL RANCHO DE LAS GOLONDRINAS

El Rancho de las Golondrinas is a living history museum located on 200 acres in a rural farming valley just south of Santa Fe, New Mexico. The museum, dedicated to the history, heritage and culture of 18th and 19th century New Mexico, opened in 1972.


GEORGIA O’KEEFFE MUSEUM

The Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, in Santa Fe, New Mexico, opened to the public in July 1997, eleven years after the death of the artist from whom it takes its name. It is the only museum in the United States dedicated to an internationally-known woman artist.


MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY NATIVE ARTS

The Museum of Contemporary Native Arts (MoCNA), a center of the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA), is dedicated to increasing public understanding and appreciation of/for contemporary Native art, history and culture through presentation, collection/acquisition, preservation, and interpretation.


MUSEUM OF INDIAN ARTS AND CULTURE

The Museum of Indian Arts and Culture, one of four museums in the Museum of New Mexico system, is a premier repository of Native art and material culture and tells the stories of the people of the Southwest from prehistory through contemporary art.


MUSEUM OF INTERNATIONAL FOLK ART

Since the opening in September 1953, the Museum of International Folk Art has gained national and international recognition as an accredited Museum that is home to the world’s largest collection of folk art.


MUSEUM OF SPANISH COLONIAL ART

The Spanish Colonial Arts Society was founded in Santa Fe in 1925 by writer Mary Austin and artist/writer Frank G. Applegate. Its purpose was to preserve and perpetuate the Hispano art forms that have been produced in New Mexico and southern Colorado since the region was colonized by Spain in 1598, and to educate the public about these art forms and the art of all the Spanish colonies.


NEW MEXICO HISTORY MUSEUM

The New Mexico History Museum and the Palace of the Governors National Historic Landmark are distinctive emblems of our nation’s history. The museum presents exhibitions and public programs that interpret historical events and reflect on the wide range of New Mexico historical experiences.


NEW MEXICO MUSEUM OF ART

The New Mexico Museum of Art began in 1917 as the Art Gallery for the Museum of New Mexico that was then located in the Palace of the Governors. The building helped establish the Pueblo Spanish Revival architectural style.


THE PALACE OF THE GOVERNORS

Originally constructed in the early 17th century as Spain’s seat of government for what is today the American Southwest, the Palace of the Governors chronicles the history of Santa Fe, as well as New Mexico and the region. This adobe structure, now the state’s history museum, was designated a Registered National Historic Landmark in 1960 and an American Treasure in 1999.


SANTA FE CHILDREN’S MUSEUM

The Santa Fe Children’s Museum builds upon a child’s natural sense of joy and discovery by cultivating habits of inquiry in the arts, sciences, and humanities. The museum’s informal learning environment fosters interactions among children and families, and encourages active participation in the learning process through interactive exhibitions and programs.


SITE SANTA FE

SITE Santa Fe creates significant experiences for visitors by presenting the most innovative visual art of our time in new and engaging ways. Since its opening in 1995, SITE Santa Fe has been committed to supporting new developments in contemporary art, encouraging artistic exploration, and expanding traditional museum experiences.


WHEELWRIGHT MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN

Founded in 1937, the Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian is New Mexico’s oldest non-profit, independent museum. The Wheelwright offers unique exhibitions of contemporary and historic Native American art.


EVENTS, FIESTAS & PERFORMANCES

BURNING OF ZOZOBRA

Zozobra is a unique cultural event staged each year by the Kiwanis Club of Santa Fe as a fiery and exciting kick-off to the annual Fiestas de Santa Fe. The ‘Burning of Will Shuster’s Zozobra’ is presented annually the Friday of Labor Day weekend. Friday evening at dusk the people of Santa Fe, friends new and old, all make their way to Fort Marcy Park where the Zozobra pageant takes place. Located just a few blocks from the historic Santa Fe Plaza. Zozobra, also known as Old Man Gloom (OMG) is the inspiration of artist Will Shuster and was introduced as part of the Fiesta events in 1926.


FIESTA DE SANTA FE

The Santa Fe Fiesta Council is a volunteer organization created by the Official Fiesta Proclamation of city forefathers on September 16, 1712 to commemorate the peaceful 1692 resettlement of the area by Spain.


IRONWEED PRODUCTIONS

Ironweed Productions produces plays rooted in the American experience. It is committed to utilizing the vast, eclectic talent within Northern New Mexico, cultivating young and emerging theater artists, and cooperating with other Performing Arts organizations to support and promote theater in our community.


LENSIC PERFORMING ARTS CENTER

The Lensic Performing Arts Center offers more than 200 events in dance, music, film, theater, opera, lectures and spoken word each year in a graceful interior and stunning exterior featuring both Moorish and Spanish Renaissance styles.


PANDEMONIUM PRODUCTIONS

Pandemonium Productions is dedicated to enriching the lives of young people through performing arts. Pandemonium’s Musical Theatre Program teaches students to become versatile in their approach to the performing arts.


RODEO DE SANTA FE

The Rodeo de Santa Fe began 1949 as a professional rodeo in Santa Fe. Today it is one of the top 60 PRCA Rodeos in the nation.


SANTA FE OPERA

Founded in 1957, the Santa Fe Opera now welcomes more than half its annual audience
of 85,000 from outside New Mexico, representing every state in the union as well as 25 to 30 foreign countries. The Santa Fe Opera’s mission is to advance the operatic art form by presenting ensemble performances of the highest quality in a unique setting with a varied repertoire of new, rarely performed, and standard works; to ensure the excellence of opera’s future through apprentice programs for singers, technicians and art administrators; and to foster and enrich an understanding and appreciation of opera among a diverse public.


SANTA FE CHAMBER MUSIC FESTIVAL

Since it was founded in 1972, the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival has become one of the world’s preeminent music festivals, guided by a visionary spirit and dedicated to artistic excellence and innovation. Contributing to its magic is the Festival’s unique Santa Fe setting, nestled amid the timeless splendors of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains.


SANTA FE INTERNATIONAL NEW MEDIA FESTIVAL CURRENTS

CURRENTS: Santa Fe International New Media Festival is an annual, citywide event. The Festival brings together the work of established, unrecognized and emerging New Media artists, from New Mexico, the US and the world, for events showcasing interactive and fine art video installations, multimedia performances, single channel video, animation, digital dome programs, experimental documentary, web based/app art forms, architectural mapping, the oculus rift, robotics and 3D printing.


SANTA FE PERFORMING ARTS

Santa Fe Performing Arts (SFPA) is devoted to educational and professional theatre in New Mexico, utilizing performing arts as a powerful tool for educating the youth in our community, developing a professional Adult Resident Company dedicated to innovation and excellence, and providing the community with a performing arts center that is affordable and fosters professionalism.


SANTA FE PLAYHOUSE

In 1922, American novelist and essayist, Mary Austin, incorporated the Playhouse as
the Santa Fe Little Theatre. With uninterrupted seasons since its founding, The Santa Fe Playhouse has earned the distinction of being “the oldest continuously running theatre west of the Mississippi.”


SANTA FE WINE AND CHILE FIESTA

The Santa Fe Wine & Chile Fiesta is an annual five-day weekend of events featuring the culinary artistry found in Santa Fe, New Mexico’s many excellent restaurants coupled with the sophistication and wines of national wineries. The weekend culminates with the Grand Tasting at the Santa Fe Opera where all participating restaurants and wineries serve samples of their best food and wine.


ST. JOHN’S COLLEGE SUMMER MUSIC ON THE HILL

The Music on the Hill™ concert series is in its 10th season offering free music each Wednesday evening in the summer.


SUMMER MUSIC ON THE PLAZA

Santa Fe Bandstand is a free summer music festival on the Santa Fe Plaza. Brought to you by Outside In Productions, a nonprofit, community-based group established in the spring of 1995, to bring free, live performances, presentations and workshops to people confined to shelters, residential treatment facilities, nursing homes, correctional facilities, and any other institutions or human services programs where people would otherwise not have access to the arts.


THEATER GROTTESCO

Theater Grottesco was founded in 1983 in Paris, France, by John Flax and Didier Maucort, former members of Minneapolis’ Theatre de la Jeune Lune and graduates of France’s Ecole Jacques Lecoq. Joined shortly thereafter by Elizabeth Wiseman, another Lecoq graduate, the company has evolved to 15 artists comprising a tremendous range of theatrical expertise. In 1996, Theater Grottesco moved to northern New Mexico to join an artistic community which had welcomed the company on three early U.S. tours.


ART, INSTITUTES & MARKETS FARMERS MARKET

The market that began with a handful of farmers in the late 1960s is now New Mexico’s largest farmers’ market and one of the most widely recognized markets in the United States. The Santa Fe Farmers Market represents over 150 active vendors and features hundreds of different agricultural products.


INDIAN MARKET

For the past ninety years, Santa Fe Indian Market has brought together the most gifted Native American artists from the U.S. with millions of visitors and collectors from around the world. The extended weekend of beauty and celebration ranks as the world’s largest and most highly acclaimed Native American arts show and as New Mexico’s largest attended annual weekend event.


INTERNATIONAL FOLK ART ALLIANCE

Over the past 11 years, the organization known as the Santa Fe International Folk Art Market has been providing opportunity to folk artists at the world’s largest market of its kind. The organization has expanded programs to meet the specific challenges that folk artists are facing in the global marketplace. The International Folk Art Market | Santa Fe (IFAM | Santa Fe) is its flagship program.


NATIONAL DANCE INSTITUTE NEW MEXICO

NDI New Mexico is founded with the knowledge that the arts have a unique power to engage and motivate children. The purpose of our distinctive programs is to help children develop discipline, a standard of excellence, and a belief in themselves that will carry over into all aspects of their lives.


SANTA FE ART INSTITUTE

The Santa Fe Art Institute (SFAI) was found in 1985 to provide a unique opportunity
for emerging artists to pursue a brief, intense period of study with critically acclaimed visiting artists.


SPANISH MARKET

Annually hosted by the Spanish Colonial Arts Society, the initial 1926 Spanish Market was an effort by this small group to support and promote the local New Mexican art forms, and the men and women who created them.


WAREHOUSE 21

Warehouse 21 is an arts, media & entertainment community center serving young people through mentorship opportunities in the arts and encourages all ages community engagement by combing collaborative resources.


OUTDOORS

HYDE MEMORIAL STATE PARK


KASHA-KATUWE TENT ROCKS NATIONAL MONUMENT


SANTA FE BOTANICAL GARDEN

The Santa Fe Botanical Garden celebrates, cultivates and conserves the rich botanical heritage and biodiversity of our region. In partnership with nature, we demonstrate our commitment through education, community service, presentation of the arts, and the sustainable management of our nature preserve and public garden.