9 Best Sights in Railyard District, Santa Fe

In a striking, high-ceilinged space, EVOKE ranks among the more diverse contemporary galleries in town. It veers away from the standard Southwestern focus seen in many Santa Fe galleries and more toward modern pieces that evoke (wink, wink) conversation and personal reflection. Single artist and group exhibitions rotate through the schedule, featuring creatives from around the globe. Intriguing lectures on varied topics also draw crowds.

This longtime Santa Fe art dealer is a leader in both contemporary and modern art, with a dramatic 14,000-square-foot neo-industrial building across from the farmers' market. You'll also find a dazzling collection of abstract sculptures, photography, and paintings by up-and-coming regional and international talents.

A 12-acre expanse that helped redefine the neighborhood, Railyard Park is an urban park with orchards, a community garden, a bird and butterfly garden, children’s play areas, picnic areas, and some fantastic public art. In summer, there are free outdoor evening movies. The park runs past SITE Santa Fe to the Railyard Plaza via the walkable and bikeable “Rail Trail.”

The events at this 18,000 square foot nexus of international contemporary art include lectures, concerts, author readings, films, performance art, and gallery shows. The facility also hosts a biennial exhibition, SITElines, staged every even-numbered year. Exhibitions are often provocative, and the immense, open space provides an ideal setting for the many larger-than-life installations. The on-site museum store, Curated, offers a tasteful selection of unique, artist-made items.

The newest outpost of the New Mexico Museum of Art, Vladem boasts a more modern approach to the artistic experience than the city’s historic buildings provide. The striking structure was purposefully designed to accommodate large-scale installations, multimedia exhibitions, performances, educational programs, and much-needed art storage, including a photography vault for fragile historic photos. With nearly 10,000 square feet of gallery space and over 2,500 square feet of outdoor space, plan to spend at least a couple of hours exploring the artwork and grounds. The $12 admission also gets visitors into its sister museum at 107 West Palace Avenue in the Plaza.

This industrial and airy space set in a renovated warehouse focuses primarily on monochromatic "radical" painting and sculpture. Many of the pieces here are large-scale, with "drama" as the guiding force. Exhibitions rotate every few months so check the website for current and upcoming showings.

Also operating as a community gathering space with lectures and classes, the 31,000-square-foot El Museo celebrates New Mexico's rich Hispanic heritage with a wide range of events, from children's theater to musical concerts. It also hosts the Antique American Indian Art Show, during which dozens of craftspersons and artists exhibit their work in early August along with the Mercado, held on weekends from late September through late May and featuring a varied array of vendors selling folk, tribal, and Western art and memorabilia. A small gallery shows contemporary art by Hispanic artists.

A massive-walled adobe structure built by Franciscan missionaries between 1776 and 1795, this is the oldest shrine in the United States to Our Lady of Guadalupe, Mexico's patron saint. The church's adobe walls are nearly 3 feet thick, and among the sanctuary's religious art and artifacts is a beloved image of Nuestra Virgen de Guadalupe, painted by Mexican master Jose de Alcibar in 1783. Highlights are the traditional New Mexican carved and painted altar screen called a reredos, an authentic 19th-century sacristy, a pictorial-history archive, a library devoted to Archbishop Jean Baptiste Lamy that is furnished with many of his belongings, and a garden with plants from the Holy Land.

The sleek design of this airy, two-story gallery with a skylighted atrium is a fitting venue for the cutting-edge photography, paintings, sculptures, and mixed-media works within. Next door, its sister venue Form & Concept is focused on crafts and design. The space sits on a parcel of Native land within the town which the gallery owners consciously acknowledge with respectful reverence.