Current and Upcoming Exhibitions

The Virtue of Ownership


April 7 - November 24, 2019
Opening Reception: Sunday, April 7, 2-5 pm
Panel Discussion at 2 pm followed by music and refreshments
Spring River Gallery



The African American Museum and Cultural Center of New Mexico, in partnership with the Roswell Museum and Art Center, is presenting a series of exhibition panels that examine the journey of African Americans in southern New Mexico.
The history of New Mexico is a complex blending of many cultures, but the contributions made by African Americans are often overlooked. This traveling exhibit from the African American Museum and Cultural Center of New Mexico reminds us that African American people have been in these lands just as long as white settlers... Read more
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Alien Forms

April 20-October 27, 2019
Entry Gallery


This spring, Curator Aubrey Hobart is throwing open the vaults to display some of the most unusual and rarely-seen works of art in RMAC’s collection. Alien Forms is a celebration of all things weird and wonderful in the world of art, from a tall, spindly textile sculpture by RAiR artist Rebecca Davis to the organic swirls of Emil Bisttram, and a goofy parody of modern art by Gustave Baumann. Images of enormous insects or a dozen screaming faces may be disconcerting to some, but the details of their production reveal new insights about the role that art is supposed to play in our society. Their forms might be alien and uncomfortable, but the fascination that many people have for curious and distinctive things is a very human trait.



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Roswell Artist-in-Residence: Akiko Jackson
Whereof One Cannot Speak


May 25 - July 7, 2019
Opening Reception:  Friday, May 24, 5:30-7 pm
Artist's Lecture at 5:30 pm
Marshall and Winston Gallery

It's often delicate and uncomfortable for many Americans to engage in a critical dialogue about race and culture. As a way to reconcile and understand intergenerational traumas in her family and life, Akiko Jackson addresses cultural identity through sculptural installations. She also works with artist communities in various parts of our nation to learn from different cultures and ways of living. Read More​
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Made in New Mexico

December 1, 2018 - long term display
Patricia Gaylord Anderson Gallery

New Mexico is home to a lot of great things, from important historical sites and diverse state parks to roasted green and red chilies. It’s also a land rich with artistic traditions, and continues to be an inspiration to artists today. Native artists and craftsmen have been working here for centuries, while artists such as Georgia O’Keeffe and Marsden Hartley have traveled here seeking new ideas for their work. Today New Mexico continues to attract artists from around the world, whether they seek the mountains of Santa Fe or the unique community of the Roswell Artist-in-Residence Program. Art has always been one of New Mexico’s strongest assets, and will undoubtedly continue to be one of its defining features in the twenty-first century. Read more

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Community Minded: The Roswell Federal Art Center
August 11, 2018 - May 26, 2019
Hunter Galley


For 80 years, the Roswell Museum and Art Center has enriched southeast New Mexico with its multidisciplinary collections and educational programs, and its community-driven mission takes inspiration from its origins as a federal art center. Opened in 1937 as the Roswell Museum Federal Art Center, the institution we know and love as RMAC developed out of a WPA initiative designed to bring arts access and education to rural areas, minority populations, and other underserved communities. Read More
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Robert H. Goddard: Dreamer, Tinkerer, Pioneer


On Permanent Display
Goddard Gallery and Workshop Recreation


In 1898, a teenage Robert Hutchings Goddard (1882-1945), captivated by the realism of H.G. Wells’ War of the Worlds, “…imagined how wonderful it would be to make some device which had even the possibility of ascending to Mars.” He began enthusiastically filling notebooks with ideas for getting off the planet. As a graduate student in physics at Clark College in Worcester, Massachusetts, his hometown, he conducted simple tests with gun powder that suggested it was indeed possible to construct a rocket for space travel. Read more

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Hurd & Wyeth: Picturing the Hondo Valley


On Permanent Display
Founders Gallery



The Roswell Museum and Art Center is home to the largest public collection of works by Peter Hurd and Henriette Wyeth, painters who have both become synonymous with the landscape and culture of southeastern New Mexico. Peter Hurd (1904-1984) was raised in Roswell where his father worked a small ranch southwest of town. Much of his youth was spent astride a horse, and he was known for his equestrian abilities. Roaming the countryside as a youth on horseback earned Hurd an intimate understanding of the hills, prairies, and arroyos that configured the surrounding landscape. Read more
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West of Beyond: The Rogers and Mary Ellen Aston Collection of the American West


On Permanent Display
Aston Galleries



Donated by Rogers Aston, The Aston Collection of the American West is one  of the most popular and historically significant aspects of the Roswell Museum and Art Center’s holdings. An independent oil producer, rancher, sculptor, and philanthropist, Aston developed a keen interest in the West during time spent on his family’s various ranches. Read more

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