Just Getting Started: More than 260 artworks beautify public buildings throughout New Mexico

Santa Fe, NM – Art is in New Mexico’s DNA, and New Mexico Arts, the state’s federally authorized state arts agency, is busy working year-round to support public art for New Mexicans. Through the Art in Public Places Program, the agency has assisted in placing more than 260 individual artworks in more than 65 public buildings and sites around New Mexico in 2025, with more to come in 2026.

(Left) Jamie Spinello Allochory Las Cruces City Hall, (Top Right) NMJC Window, (Bottom Right) Sean Rising Sun Flanagan Kokorunner and Northern Deer

Artworks have been placed in 20 counties, including Bernalillo, Chaves, Cibola, Colfax, Doña Ana, Eddy, Gallup, Grant, Hobbs, Rio Arriba, Santa Fe, and Taos, among others. Artworks were also placed in six Pueblos, two Navajo Nation Chapter Houses, and two Native American Colleges.

“The Art in Public Places (AIPP) team wants to thank our local partners, artists, and galleries in making these incredible artworks publicly accessible to every New Mexican. We are excited to share and celebrate another successful year of ensuring over $2 million dollars of AIPP funding was distributed to directly support local artists, galleries and in turn, New Mexico’s creative economy,” said Meredith Doborski, Public Art Director.

Artworks have been placed in a wide variety of places, from recreation centers to police and fire stations to college campuses. Buildings such as the New Mexico State Veterans’ Home in Truth or Consequences, the Santa Ana Pueblo Education Complex, the Artesia General Hospital, and the ABQ BioPark Bugarium have added public art this year. More than 100 artworks were placed in the newly built University of New Mexico Hospital Critical Care Tower in Albuquerque.

“Public art ensures creativity isn’t confined to institutions but shared freely in communities, making culture visible and accessible while allowing for moments of human connection in public life,” said Michelle Laflamme-Childs, Executive Director of New Mexico Arts. “Our AIPP team works hard to ensure that New Mexicans across our vast state have the opportunity to experience art in the course of their everyday lives.”

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AIPP was created in 1986 when the New Mexico State Legislature passed the Art in Public Places Act, creating a statute that one percent of eligible Capital Outlay appropriation funds be set aside for commissioning and acquiring works of art for new, or major renovations, of public buildings.The program operates during the state fiscal year, so while many of the artworks have been placed in 2025, more are in the works through mid-2026. Approximately $2.2 million in AIPP funds were encumbered in 2025.

New Mexico Arts supports public art in all 33 counties in New Mexico, and the AIPP program’s goal is to enrich communities with innovative and dynamic public art for all to enjoy. For more information about AIPP visit nmarts.org/public-art/info/.