Museum of International Folk Art | October 2026

Discover La Nueva México: Art & Life in the Interior Lands

La Nueva México: Art & Life in the Interior Lands will open on Sunday, October 18 to the public. Donors who contribute $1,000 or more to La Nueva México are invited to an exclusive reception on Friday, October 16. You can be among the first to experience the exhibition and enjoy an evening inspired by New Mexico’s rich cultural traditions, with Spanish tapas, Mexican bites, New Mexico wines from Gruet Winery and music by Juani de la Isla and David Morales Boroff, along with lavender Gin Mules from Los Poblanos and chocolate elixirs and treats from Kakawa Chocolate House.

About the Exhibition

New Mexico is a land of artistry, innovation, and cultural adaptation. Throughout the Spanish and Mexican periods from 1598 to 1848., cross-cultural influences, reliance on the land, the use of materials both brought up the Camino Real (the Royal Road from Mexico City to Santa Fe) and sourced locally merged to create a unique Nuevomexicano culture and regional artistic traditions.

Coinciding with the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States, La Nueva México features a special section highlighting the contributions made by Nuevomexicanos in support of the U.S. War of Independence.

Items on display date from the early 1600s to the mid-19th century. All were either brought up the Camino Real from Mexico and used in New Mexican homes or made right here in the tierra de adentro. Highlights include men’s and women’s dress and adornment, regional textiles, furniture, 18th-century hide paintings, bultos and retablos, horse gear, and utilitarian items made of copper, iron, and silver. Many items have never been on view and are coming out of the museum’s vaults for the first time. The objects show how ingenuity and creativity enhanced everyday life in La Nueva México.

Generous funding for La Nueva México: Art & Life in the Interior Lands is provided by donors to the Museum of New Mexico Foundation Exhibition Development Fund, including the New Mexico Multi-Cultural Foundation, the William H. and Mattie Wattis Harris Foundation; Friends of Folk Art; and the International Folk Art Foundation.