"Few states are richer in history, anthropology and the arts than New Mexico, and the Museum of New Mexico Foundation offers a superb opportunity to contribute to the preservation of our cultural resources, and to bring to all of the people an understanding and appreciation of this rich heritage."
    
       -Tom Catron, founder, Museum of New Mexico Foundation

The Museum of New Mexico Foundation provides critical private funding to one of the nation’s largest collection of state-run museums, historic monuments and arts and cultural programs. Here’s a look at where the Foundation has been – and where it is today.

 

Then & Now
1962: The Museum of New Mexico Board of Regents asks Tom Catron to establish a private foundation to support the four state museums located in Santa Fe. Today, the Foundation provides a full range of fundraising and financial services to the four museums as well as the Office of Archaeological Studies and the six historic monuments.

1963: Business Men’s Assurance Company of America gives $251.30, one of the Foundation’s first gifts. In the 2009-10 fiscal year the Foundation facilitated $2.8 million in gifts, grants and returns on investments.

1965: The first museum shop–the Artes Shop–opens in the Museum of Fine Arts (presently the New Mexico Museum of Art) basement. Sales in the first few months were $5,469. Today, the Foundation Shops post annual sales of about $3 million.

1966: The Foundation has 250 members and annual membership dues are $10. Today, the Foundation has the largest arts membership in New Mexico with more than 12,500 members in more than 7,300 households.

1966: Acquiring collection items for the museums' collections and conservation are the Foundation’s major activities. Today, the Foundation writes more than 8,000 checks annually for programs in all areas of the museums.

1972: The Foundation helps establish a formal volunteer and docent program. Today volunteers give more than 50,000 hours of their time to the museums, Foundation and the shops--the equivalent of 25 full-time employees.

1974: El Palacio becomes a member benefit. Today, this venerable, century-old publication is the oldest museum magazine in the country. It continues to be a quarterly publication on art, culture and history in the Southwest and a valued member benefit.

1978: Susan and Alexander Girard give 100,000 folk art objects to the Museum of International Folk Art. Today, the Museum of International Folk Art, with the addition of the Neutrogena Collection in 1998, is considered the world’s largest collection of folk art.

1979: Ann Baumann, daughter of the late artist Gustave Baumann, gives the Foundation Shops sole distribution rights in New Mexico for Baumann’s famous woodblock prints. Today, Baumann’s woodblock prints are part of the Foundation’s successful licensing program.

1987: The Museum of Indian Arts & Culture opens. Today, the museum is one of the premier institutions dedicated to Native American arts and cultures of the Southwest, with unparalleled collections of approximately 10 million pieces from 9,500 BC to the present.

1995: Fiber artist Maggy Ryan leaves a $1 million bequest to the Foundation and the Maggy Ryan Legacy Society is formed. Today, the Society has 70 members with more than $15 million in planned gifts.

2001: Edwina and Charles Milner provide the lead gift in a $1.5 million campaign. Today, Milner Plaza on Museum Hill connects the Museum of International Folk Art and the Museum of Indian Arts & Culture and is a welcome place to enjoy some of the area’s most breathtaking views.

2009: The Foundation completed the Shape the Future Campaign, raising $25 million in cash and planned gifts for the museums, monuments and Office of Archaeological Studies.

2009: The New Mexico History Museum opens its doors to record crowds. The History Museum has hosted more than 220,000 visitors since opening.