Roswell Museum

The Roswell Museum (formerly Roswell Museum and Art Center) was founded in 1936 and is located in Roswell, New Mexico, United States.[1] The museum features exhibits about the art and history of the American Southwest, as well as the Robert H. Goddard laboratory.[1]

Roswell Museum
Former name
Roswell Museum and Art Center
Established1936
Location1011 N. Richardson Avenue,
Roswell, New Mexico, U.S.
Coordinates33.4042°N 104.5237°W / 33.4042; -104.5237
TypeMunicipal museum
Key holdingsRobert H. Goddard
CollectionsVisual art collection,
education center,
planetarium
OwnerCity of Roswell
Websiteroswell-nm.gov/1259/Roswell-Museum

The museum operates the Patricia Lubben Bassett Art Education Center, opened in 1998,[2] as a learning facility. The facility houses two classrooms, a ceramics studio, and research library, all of which supports a museum-school-community creative exchange that provides arts education opportunities for all ages.

The Robert H. Goddard Planetarium was built through an initiative shared by the museum and the Roswell Independent School District in 1968. Once considered the largest planetarium in New Mexico, it is capable of reproducing the night sky as seen from any point on Earth.[3] The Robert H. Goddard Planetarium is home to a state-of-the-art, full-dome digital theater system with Digistar 6 programming.[4]

History
The Roswell Museum and Art Center in 1941, a community art center established by the WPA Federal Art Project

The museum was founded in 1936, after funding from New Mexico's Works Progress Administration (WPA) (authorized by manager Lea Rowland), with the goal of storing Southeastern New Mexican items for the local historical and archaeological society and acting as a community center.[5] The museum opened on December 10, 1937,[6] as one of the numerous cultural centers established by the WPA during the Depression-era. Early museum exhibits included regional archaeological and ethnographic objects; artifacts; paintings by Peter Hurd and Henriette Wyeth (daughter of N.C. Wyeth); and others.

After the restructuring of the WPA in 1941, the City of Roswell assumed control of the museum.[1] From 1952 to 1955, Vernon Hunter served as the museum director;[7] followed by the directorship of David Gebhard from 1955 to 1961;[8] and Joseph M. Stuart from 1961 to 1964.[9][10]

By 1986, museum attendance reached over 45,000 visitors yearly.[11] From 1967 to 2002, the Roswell Museum oversaw the operation of the Roswell Artist-in-Residence (RAiR) program.[12]

The museum has been accredited by the American Alliance of Museums since 1978.

Collections and exhibition galleries

The Roswell Museum’s permanent collection features a historical collection, and a visual art collection. The historical collection includes the American West historical collection, Native American collection, Spanish colonial historical items, and the liquid-propellant rocketry collection. The visual art collection includes regional art, modernist works from Santa Fe and Taos; 20th-century artworks, Southwestern Art; Peter Hurd and Henriette Wyeth Collection;[13] contemporary art, international print collection; WPA-era art; decorative arts; and landscape artists. A donor program brought in works by Georgia O'Keeffe, Marsden Hartley, Stuart Davis, John Marin, and others.

Goddard Galleries

Esther Goddard gifted the museum with one of its most significant historical collections, Dr. Robert H. Goddard's material research on liquid-fuel rockets.[14] In 1959, the museum added a new wing dedicated to Goddard, and includes a reproduction of his laboratory.[15][11] Goddard's rocket tower now stands in the museum's courtyard. The Robert H. Goddard exhibit contains a Moon rock donated by Harrison Schmitt from the 1972 Apollo 17 Mission.

In 1980, the museum received a collection of western art and historical artifacts donated by Rogers and Mary Ellen Aston which prompted the opening of the wing named, the Rogers Aston Gallery of American Indian and Western Art.[16]

See also

References
  1. "RMAC launches new brand, changes name". Roswell Daily Record. Retrieved 2022-05-08.
  2. "Roswell Museum and Art Center". Currents New Media. Retrieved February 20, 2015.
  3. "Roswell Astronomy Club". Roswellastronomyclub.com. Retrieved February 20, 2015.
  4. "Goddard Planetarium | Roswell, NM". roswell-nm.gov. Retrieved 2021-12-08.
  5. "Rosewell Gets Museum and Highway Building". Newspapers.com. Albuquerque Journal. December 31, 1936. p. 5. Retrieved 2022-05-08.
  6. "Dedicate Museum". Newspapers.com. The Albuquerque Tribune. December 14, 1937. p. 3. Retrieved 2022-05-08.
  7. "Hunter Memorial Exhibition at Deming Public Library". Newspapers.com. The Deming Headlight. April 10, 1956. p. 5. Retrieved 2022-05-08.
  8. Grimes, William (1996-03-08). "David Gebhard, 68, an Expert On California Architecture, Dies". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-05-08.
  9. "Joseph Stuart Named Director of Roswell Museum, Art Center". Newspapers.com. Albuquerque Journal. September 16, 1961. p. 10. Retrieved 2022-05-08.
  10. "Stuart Hired as Director of Boise Gallery of Art; Expanded Program Listed". Newspapers.com. The Idaho Statesman. April 24, 1964. p. 16. Retrieved 2022-05-08.
  11. Man in Space: Study of Alternatives. United States National Park Service, United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The Service. 1987. p. 55.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  12. Abatemarco, Michael. "Time is on their side: Roswell Artist-in-Residence Program". Santa Fe New Mexican. Retrieved 2022-05-08.
  13. Fleming, Elvis E. (July 1978). "The Hurd Family of Roswell". La Cronica de Nuevo Mexico. Historical Society of New Mexico. 6: 2.
  14. Bragg, Terry A. "Register to the papers of Robert H. & Esther C. Goddard". Gordonlibrary.wpi.edu. WPI Gordon Library. Retrieved February 20, 2015.
  15. "Von Braun Will Honor Rocketry Pioneer". Newspapers.com. St. Louis Post-Dispatch. April 26, 1959. p. 19. Retrieved 2022-05-08.
  16. "Museum Slates Opening, Reception". Newspapers.com. The Odessa American. May 18, 1980. p. 52. Retrieved 2022-05-08.
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