A Goal-Shattering 70th Anniversary Year: Providing Extraordinary Fiscal Year Support

The Museum of International Folk Art shattered its private fundraising goal for its 70th anniversary year during the Museum of New Mexico
Foundation’s 2023-24 fiscal year (July 1, 2023 to June 30 2024) by an astounding 73%. The Friends of Folk Art played a key role in the success with its record-breaking Folk Art Flea raising over $189,000 in May.

Conceived by Judith Haden and Ginger Smith in 2010, the Folk Art Flea has contributed over $1 million to the museum's exhibitions and education programs. 'We never imagined this group of like-minded individuals would become such a fundraising powerhouse,” says Charlene Cerny, director emerita of the museum.

Indeed, another Friends of Folk Art initiative, the World of Treasures auction, last November raised more than $70,000 for the Alexander Girard Legacy Endowment Fund. “The Fund provides essential financial support for the Girard collection and the Multiple Visions installation,” says Connie Jaquith, fund co-chair and a long-time museum supporter.

To date, over $2.2 million has been raised toward the $5 million endowment goal, including $172,000 raised in fiscal year 2023-24. This is thanks in part to a transformative gift from the Girard family through Greer Enterprises Inc. in fiscal year 2023-24.

“The Girard family feels that the Girard Wing at the Museum of International Folk Art is a treasure for all the world to experience,” says Alexis Girard, president and CEO of Greer Enterprises Inc. “This celebration of global humanity through folk art is interwoven with the rich history of Santa Fe, and we feel strongly it should be maintained and preserved for many generations to come.”

Private support for exhibitions and education also remained robust—generating $1,038,097 in revenue. Among the museum’s standout exhibitions launched in fiscal year 2023-24 is Amidst Cries from the Rubble: Art of Loss and Resilience from Ukraine, a powerful commentary on the tragedy of war by Ukrainian artists that opened in June in the Mark Naylor and Dale Gunn Gallery of Conscience.

One popular exhibition, Staff Picks: Favorites from the Collection, opened in February while another, Ghhúunayúkata/To Keep Them Warm: The Alaska Native Parka, closed in April. And a major donation of nearly 400 South African wire baskets along with a significant lead cash gift from Foundation trustee David Arment enabled the museum to create iNgqikithi yokuPhica/Weaving Meanings: Telephone Wire Art from South Africa, the first major exhibition of telephone wire art in a North American museum. Arment says he is “so excited to be
sharing the art of telephone wire with the museum and the world.”

All told, the museum welcomed 71,048 visitors, reached 22,510 people via public programs and served 11,180 youth through award-winning education programs in the fiscal year. Many programs reached communities throughout New Mexico, including Abiquiú, Chama, Cochiti, Columbus, Española, Hobbs, Las Cruces, Los Alamos, Ohkay Owingeh, Santa Fe, Socorro and Tesuque.

Charlie Lockwood, the museum’s executive director who recently marked his first year in the role, reflected on some highlights of fiscal year 2023-24. “We celebrated the museum’s 70th anniversary, completed a much-needed upgrade to the Atrium roof (partially funded by a $130,000 grant from The Helen Frankenthaler Foundation Climate Initiative) and received $873,750 in capital outlay funds from the New Mexico State Legislature.”

“We are deeply grateful for the extraordinary support of our community members through the Museum of New Mexico Foundation,” Lockwood continues. “We look forward to another year of enriching programs and exhibitions, and to continuing to build bridges between cultures through the celebration of folk art.

This article and images are from the Museum of New Mexico Foundation’s Member News Magazine.