Current and Upcoming Exhibitions

Roswell Artist-in-Residence: Qwist Joseph



January 26 - March 10, 2019
Opening Reception:  Saturday, January 26, 5:30-7 pm
Artist's Lecture at 5:30 pm
Marshall and Winston Gallery

For Qwist Joseph, his thought process travels through object creation, collection and composition, working intuitively to reveal the poetic nature of how something transitions from an idea to the physical world. He then freezes these ephemeral moments in permanent materials like ceramic and bronze to create a tension between the past, present and future. This record sheds light on the effects of life, encouraging vulnerability and self-reflection.  ​
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Eleventh Hour (002)


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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Life Along the Rio Grande

December 1, 2018 - January 27, 2019
Opening Reception: Saturday, December 1, 4- 6:30 pm 
(During our Holiday Open House)
Artist's Lecture at 4 pm
Spring River Gallery

Quilting has become an increasingly diverse and prominent art form since the late twentieth century. What was once considered primarily a craft, is rightfully being appreciated as an art form, with artists creating a diverse range of works. From naturalistic, pictorial quilts to expressive, nonobjective works, quilts have become as diverse as the contemporary art world itself, reflecting new and different ideas as more people contribute to its ongoing development as art. Read more


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Still Life
November 17, 2018 - April 1, 2019
Entry Gallery

For centuries, still life painting has been an important artistic genre. More than a depiction of objects, artists have used this subject to discuss broader themes of mortality, wealth, cultural exchange, and other ideas. In New Mexico in particular, still life has been used as a means to explore this state’s rich and complex multicultural heritage, with artists painting santos, blankets and other objects that highlight Spanish and Native American influences. Read more

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Roswell Artist-in-Residence: Joshua Hagler

November 3, 2018 - January 6, 2019
Opening Reception:  Friday, November 2, 5:30-7 pm
Artist's Lecture at 5:30 pm
Marshall and Winston Gallery



In Love Letters to the Poorly Regarded, Joshua Hagler presents a group of new paintings, each addressed to specific individuals such as Tonya Harding, Zachary and Nicholas Cruz (Parkland school shooter and his brother), and even his own great great grandfather Arastas. Read more

Longlegs by Josh Hagler

Exploring Lithography

August 25, 2018 - February 10, 2019
Horgan and Graphics Galleries

Lithography is among the most versatile printmaking methods available today. Invented in 1796 by German playwright Alois Senefelder, lithography operates on the opposition of oil and water. To make a lithograph, an artist draws onto a stone with an oily, ink-receptive crayon or other substance. The stone is then inked, rinsed, and pressed onto a piece of paper. Compared to the limited shelf life of etching plates or woodblocks, which can begin to wear down after a few dozen impressions, lithography can produce hundreds of images inexpensively, making it one of the most ubiquitous printing techniques of the Industrial Revolution. Read more
Gilot, Spring Water, 1977, color lithograph on paper web

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
RMAC postcard exterior 1937-1938 web

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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