MUSEUMS

Welcome to the Las Cruces Museums!

COVID-19 UPDATE

The Las Cruces Museum System is committed to ensuring the health and well-being of all our patrons and staff.  

Per the most recent public health order issued by the State of New Mexico regarding COVID-19, masks are REQUIRED for all guests ages 2 and up, regardless of vaccination status.  The health order is in effect until the State allows it to expire.  


The Museum of Nature and 

Science, the Museum of Art, Branigan Cultural Center and the Railroad Museum are OPEN with no reservations needed!  Our normal operating hours are: 

Tuesday – Friday, 10am – 4:30pm and Saturday – 9am - 4:30pm

Please check out our Calendar of Events for January - March, 2022.

The Las Cruces Museum System aims to provide a welcoming environment for the curious so they can gain new insights and experience personal and community enrichment. The museums showcase exhibitions on local, national, and global themes to educate and inspire visitors from near and far. Admission is FREE. Our museum system includes:

Senior Couple watching a old Mexican wrestler movie surrounded by luchador mask

BRANIGAN CULTURAL CENTER

The Branigan Cultural Center is dedicated to engaging visitors in the rich heritage of the Southwest and the world-at-large through artistic, cultural and historical exhibitions and programs. Housed in a 1935 Pueblo Revival- style building, it was the first library in Las Cruces.

Gallery with pictures, ceramic vases and a big wooden bench

MUSEUM OF ART

The Museum of Art features juried, invitational, and traveling exhibitions with artwork by nationally and internationally known artists. Through the Studio Program, the Museum offers professional art instruction for youth and adults in drawing, painting, ceramics, and other media.

Little Boy playing at the exhibit

MUSEUM OF NATURE & SCIENCE

The Las Cruces Museum of Nature and Science, or MoNaS, inspires curiosity about the sciences, facilitates life-long learning, and promotes stewardship of the natural environment of the Chihuahuan Desert and southern New Mexico.

Model railroad train

RAILROAD MUSEUM

The mission of the Railroad Museum is to preserve the heritage of railroading through a series of miniature representations of New Mexico railroads, as well as research and preserve the history of model railroading.

EXHIBITS

Japanese family portrait exhibit thumbnail

Righting a Wrong

January 22 - April 22, 2022


The Branigan Cultural Center is pleased to announce Righting a Wrong: Japanese Americans and World War II, a Smithsonian traveling exhibition that examines the complicated history and impact of Executive Order 9066 that led to the incarceration of Japanese Americans following the attack on Pearl Harbor. A coordinating exhibition, Bound in New Mexico, examines the four incarceration camps located in Lordsburg, Santa Fe, Fort Stanton, and Old Raton Ranch in New Mexico. 

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Take off Aviation

Cleared for Take-Off:

Aviation in Southern New Mexico

Oct 1st-Summer 2022 


Cleared for Takeoff examines over 100 years of regional aviation history, both military and civilian, in southern New Mexico, using photographs, oral histories, and historic objects. Starting with the introductory use of military airplanes in 1916 after Pancho Villa’s raid on Columbus, NM, the exhibition explores the local impact of aviation-related training programs offered through the New Mexico College of Agriculture and Mechanical Arts during World War II and the post-war era. It addresses the flourishing of civilian aviation in the 1950s–1960s, with the formation of flying clubs and shuttle airlines dotting southern New Mexico. With the decline of leisure flying beginning in the 1980s, it notes the changing nature of local aviation in the 21st Century. Come learn more about aviation history in southern New Mexico.

 

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black and white photo graph of an old building covered in graffiti.Place and Re-Place

October 15th 2021-January 15th 2022


The Branigan Cultural Center is pleased to announce Place and Re-Place: Las Cruces Urban Renewal, 1960–1975, a new exhibition that provides a multi-faceted examination of the urban renewal efforts in Las Cruces that dramatically changed the nature of its downtown and surrounding neighborhoods. It was curated by Jennifer Olguin and Dylan McDonald of the NMSU Library, Archives and Special Collections.


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Allure of the Near East 

ALLURE THUMB

Treasures from the Huntington Museum of Art

October 29, 2021 -January 22, 2022

This exhibition explores the arts and crafts traditions of the Near East and the West’s historic fascination with its decorative items.

Allure of the Near East was organized by the Huntington (WV) Museum of Art and is toured by International Arts & Artists, Washington, D.C.


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