Fodor's Expert Review Museum of Spanish Colonial Art
Located at the entrance of Museum Hill, this adobe museum occupies a classically Southwestern former home designed in 1930 by acclaimed regional architect John Gaw Meem. The Spanish Colonial Art Society formed in Santa Fe in 1925 to preserve traditional Spanish-colonial art and culture, and the museum, which sits next to the Museum of International Folk Art and the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture complex, displays the fruits of the society's labor: one of the most comprehensive collections of Spanish-colonial art in the world. The objects here, dating from the 16th century to the present, include retablos, elaborate santos, tinwork, straw appliqué, furniture, ceramics, and ironwork. The contemporary collection of works by New Mexico Hispanic artists helps put all this history into regional context. The museum also hosts national traveling shows and its gift shop features artwork from participants in Santa Fe's yearly Spanish Market.