Museum Foundation

Celebrate Dad’s special day the Cowboys Real and Imagined way. Bring him to the New Mexico History Museum for these special events:

• Meet the Royal Court of Rodeo de Santa Fe in the first-floor lobby. The queen and princess will sign autographs and offer information about the 64th annual event, June 19—22. (rodeodesantafe.org)

• Hatmaker J.D. Noble, co0owner of The HatSmith of Santa Fe, demonstrates hat-shaping techniques and talks cowboy-hat lore in the second-floor Gathering Space. (thehatsmith.com)

• Professional photographer Cheron Bayna Ryan snaps free photos of dads in hats—or without, should you wish.

Join Toni Gibson and Sharon Snyder at noon on Wednesday, June 19, for “The Manhattan Project in Los Alamos: An Eyewitness Perspective,” part of the Brainpower & Brownbags Lecture Series. Gibson, of Grosse Pointe, Mich., is the author of Los Alamos: 1944-1947 (Arcadia Publishing, 2005), and, with Snyder, co-author of Los Alamos and the Pajarito Plateau (Arcadia Publishing, 2011). Snyder, of Rio Rancho, also wrote At Home on the Slopes of Mountains: The Story of Peggy Pond Church (Los Alamos Historical Society, 2011). 

The lectures are free and held in the Meem Community Room; enter through the History Museum's Washington Avenue doors.

In the hallowed tradition of campfire tales and cowboy poetry, the Alzheimer’s Poetry Project holds a special session at the New Mexico History Museum on Friday, June 21, 10–11 am. People living with dementia, their family members and the general public are invited to participate in performing and creating poetry inspired by the new exhibit Cowboys Real and Imagined, led by poet Gary Glazner, founder and executive director of the Alzheimer's Poetry Project.

The event is free by reservation, but limited to 30 participants. For more information or reservations, contact Gary Glazner at (505) 577-2250 or gary@alzpoetry.com.

Oral historian Jack Loeffler discusses his friendship with the late author Edward Abbey and shows Lonely Are the Brave, the movie version of Abbey's novel The Brave Cowboy, filmed in New Mexico. A free event at 6 pm on Friday, July 19, in the History Museum Auditorium. Part of Cowboys Real and Imagined.

Out West producer Gregory Hinton and photographer Blake Little speak on "Pride in the Saddle in New Mexico: The Story of Gay Rodeo," at 2 pm on Sunday, Aug. 4, in the History Museum Auditorium, part of Cowboys Real and Imagined. The event is free with admission; Sundays free to NM residents.

Music historians Mark Gardner and Rex Rideout perform and discuss the cowboy ballads collected by New Mexico cowboy, rancher, surveyor, and state cattle inspector N. Howard “Jack” Thorp, who published the very first book of cowboy songs at Estancia, NM, in 1908. Their performance, part of the museum's "Wild West Weekend," is at 6 pm on Friday, Aug. 9, in the History Museum Auditorium. A free event, part of Cowboys Real and Imagined.

Saturday and Sunday, August 10 and 11, 10am to 4pm—“Wild West Weekend.”

Join us for two days of family fun celebrating the heritage of cowboys, featuring singing cowboys, hatmaking, rawhide-brading, silver work, trick ropers, poets, dutch-oven cooking demonstrations, and lots more. Learn how to tie cowboy knots, measure your height in hands, and figure out your cowboy hat size. On Saturday, Mark Gardner and Rex Rideout will lead a one-hour workshop for families on traditional cowboy songs and discuss the New Mexico cowboy lifestyle and culture as represented in the songs. Free with admission (Sundays free to NM residents; children 16 and under free daily).

Saturday and Sunday, August 10 and 11, 10am to 4pm—“Wild West Weekend.”

Join us for two days of family fun celebrating the heritage of cowboys, featuring singing cowboys, hatmaking, rawhide-brading, silver work, trick ropers, poets, dutch-oven cooking demonstrations, and lots more. Learn how to tie cowboy knots, measure your height in hands, and figure out your cowboy hat size. On Saturday, Mark Gardner and Rex Rideout will lead a one-hour workshop for families on traditional cowboy songs and discuss the New Mexico cowboy lifestyle and culture as represented in the songs. Free with admission (Sundays free to NM residents; children 16 and under free daily).