Roswell museum and art center

As we travel we find ourselves taking in a lot of museums.  I may actually start becoming cultured (sounds like yogurt!).  What I’m finding is that my horizons are broadening.  I now have three classifications for art – “art I like”, “art I don’t like”, and “how the hell did this get classified as ‘art’!”.  I’m finding that the small, city galleries tend to have the first two categories and and the bigger city galleries and the college galleries sprinkle in some of the third category.  When you are in Roswell, NM you won’t have to worry about anything being in the third category.   The Roswell Museum and Art Center, located in the downtown area, was founded in 1935 through an agreement between the City of Roswell, Works Progress Administration (WPA), Federal Art Project (FAP), Chaves County Archaeological and Historical Society, and the Roswell Friends of Art. The Museum opened in 1937, deriving its initial support from the WPA as part of a Depression era project to promote public art centers nationwide. Today, the Roswell Museum and Art Center is among a handful of these Federal Art Centers that remain in operation. In its proposed plan, the WPA established that “the root of the community art center idea is participation by the entire community in all forms of art experience…” The stated purpose of the Museum was “to serve the art needs of Roswell [through] continuously changing exhibitions in the fine and practical arts, lectures and gallery talks [music programs and an art school where classes were offered free to the public]. From the outset, the Roswell Museum and Art Center established itself as a cultural and educational locus for the community. When the WPA restructured in 1941, the City of Roswell assumed control of the Museum and a donor program brought in works by Georgia O'Keeffe, Marsden Hartley, Stuart Davis, John Marin, and others.  
 Esther Goddard also gifted the museum with one of its most significant historical collections: Dr. Robert H. Goddard's material research on liquid-fuel rockets. Goddard's rocket tower now stands in the museum's courtyard. In the Robert H. Goddard exhibit, visitors may see a moon rock donated by Harrison Schmitt from the Apollo 17 Mission. In 1967, the Roswell Artist-in-Residence program was established through the support of local artist and philanthropist Donald B. Anderson. The first Artist-in-Residence was American painter and Taos resident, Howard Cook. In the 1990s, the museum received a collection of western art and historical artifacts donated by Rogers and Mary Ellen Aston. Since its initial emergence, the Roswell Museum and Art Center has grown into a 50,000 square foot facility that includes twelve galleries dedicated to the exhibition of art and history.

As I become more pinky-in-the-air sophisticated I am noticing that each museum seems to have at least onbe display that really catches my attention.  The Roswell Art Center had two.  The first was some late 1930s hand crafted furniture.  The workmanship was just incredible.

The second was an extensive firearms collection. Hey, it's all art!!! 

The museum operates the Patricia Lubben Bassett Art Education Center, which opened in 1998 as a learning facility in the state of New Mexico. The facility supports a museum-school-community creative exchange that provides arts education opportunities for all ages. The Museum is accredited by the American Association of Museums and is southern New Mexico’s preeminent museum, lauded for the quality of its exhibitions, programs, and collections.

While I am not sure of your taste in art, The Roswell Museum and Art Center and mostly art that I liked.  The museum is free but accepts (and is worthy of your) donations.