After a year of pandemic delays and controversies, the New Mexico Museum of Art Vladem Contemporary will open with “Shadow and Light” on Sept. 23.
The 35,000 square foot, $19.7 million building located in Santa Fe’s Railyard District includes a dedicated artist-in-residence studio, expanded storage and an additional 10,000 square feet of exhibition space, executive director Mark White said.
“Our original mission in 1917 was to be a museum of contemporary art,” White explained. “Over the years that mission never changed but expanded. But the (Plaza building’s) size did not change.”
Construction began in early 2021.
“COVID delayed it,” White continued. “We were supposed to start construction in 2020.”
The inaugural exhibition “Shadow and Light” includes works by artists Virgil Ortiz, Agnes Martin, Larry Bell, Judy Chicago, Florence Miller Pierce and Nancy Holt, all of whom explore questions of light and shade, White said.
Bradbury Stamm Construction built the structure from the original Ilfeld Company Warehouse, a mercantile wholesaler.
The New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs drew criticism when the reconstruction removed the old “Multicultural” mural by Gilberto Guzmán. The DCA plans to pay homage to the mural at the new space.
The building features substantial storage facilities now lacking at the New Mexico Museum of Art Plaza building. It also features an educational classroom where art classes, hands-on activities and performance-based art can occur.
“We will be moving most of our contemporary art over there,” White said.
The Vladem Contemporary is named after Robert and Ellen Vladem. The couple made the lead gift of $4 million in the $12.5 million campaign. The state added $6 million. The funds to create the Vladem Contemporary were raised through a private-public partnership.
