The Roswell Museum and Federal Art Center opened to
the public in 1937, deriving its initial support from the Works
Progress Administration (WPA) who, at the time, promoted the
establishment of art centers nationwide. The mission-style
Founders Gallery, with its adobe walls, carved vegas, and tin
chandeliers, is the original museum structure and nucleus around
which a thriving cultural center for southeastern New Mexico has
developed. In 1941, with WPA restructuring, the City of Roswell
assumed control over the museum.
As an educational institution, the mission of the Roswell
Museum and Art Center is to increase public knowledge,
appreciation, and enjoyment of art, history, and cultural change
with an emphasis on the Southwest and its place within the
broader American society.
The Roswell Museum and Art Center is known as One
of the Southwest’s Great Museums, is
accredited by the American Association of Museums, and is ranked
among New Mexico’s top ten museums.
ART
The Roswell Museum and Art Center is known for its collection
of New Mexico modernism which includes impressive examples of
work by Georgia O’Keeffe, Marsden Hartley, Stuart Davis,
John Marin, Victor Higgins, Andrew Dasburg, and others from the
Santa Fe and Taos schools of art. Paintings by the important
regionalists Henriette Wyeth and Peter Hurd form the most
comprehensive collection of these artists’ works encountered
anywhere. Exhibitions of contemporary art from the Southwest
focus on New Mexico’s contemporary art scene and on the
artistic production found in the Roswell Museum and Art Center
Foundation supported Artist-in-Residence Program, an
internationally recognized program for emerging and professional
artists. Luis Jimenez, Milton Resnick, Robert Colescott, Harmony
Hammond, Willard Midgette, and Richard Schaffer are among those
represented in the Contemporary Collection.
HISTORY
The Rogers and Mary Ellen Aston Collection contains historical
and cultural artifacts that relate to Plains and Pueblo Indian
cultures, Spanish conquest and domination, the Spanish, Mexican,
Euro American horse and cattle cultures, and westward expansion.
The Robert H. Goddard Collection of liquid propellant rocket
technology, of national and international significance, preserves
an important aspect of America’s technological history. The
collection documents Dr. Robert H. Goddard’s eleven years of
experimental rocket research in Roswell (1930-1941).
SCIENCE
The Robert H. Goddard Planetarium is the largest facility of
its kind in New Mexico and, through its multi-media shows, is
dedicated to promoting an understanding and appreciation of space
science and its impact on our lives.
Hours
Monday - Saturday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Sunday and Holidays, 1:00 to 5:00 p.m.
Closed: Christmas Day, New Year’s Day, and Thanksgiving Day
Admission
Admission is free to the public. Certain fees are levied for
lectures, workshops, planetarium programs, studio classes, and
special events.
Address
100 West Eleventh Street (Eleventh and Main Streets).
From Santa Fe (Route 285 South):
Continue into Roswell on Route 285 (Main Street) to Eleventh
Street. The museum is located on the west corner of Main and
Eleventh Streets.
From El Paso, Las Cruces, Ruidoso (Route 70):
Continue on Route 70 (Second Street) to Main Street. Turn left
onto Main Street and travel north to Eleventh Street. The museum
is located on the west corner of Main and Eleventh Streets.
From Lubbock (Route 380):
Continue into Roswell on Route 380 to Main Street. Turn right
onto Main Street and travel north to Eleventh Street. The museum
is located on the west corner of Main and Eleventh Streets.
From Carlsbad (Route 285 North):
Continue into Roswell on Route 285 to Main Street. Bear right
onto Main Street and travel north to Eleventh Street. The museum
is located on the west corner of Main and Eleventh Streets.
© 1996-1997 Roswell Museum and Art Center. For Personal
Educational Use Only. All rights reserved. All images are the
property of the Roswell Museum and Art Center and may not be
reproduced without express written permission.