New Mexico Museum of Art

The New Mexico Museum of Art is defined by its thick, curved adobe walls and the hand-hewn wooden beams poking through its exterior. It opened in nineteen seventeen as the first art museum in the state. Edgar Lee Hewett, who pushed for its construction, wanted a space to house paintings by the Taos Society of Artists. During the Second World War, the museum basement held precious items from the Manila Museum to protect them from conflict, hidden away behind those heavy earthen walls.