We believe that a fine arts education benefits UNM, the city of Albuquerque, the state of New Mexico, and national and international communities. To achieve these aims, we are committed to maintaining a world-class faculty that is actively engaged in creative pursuits, artistic production, and research. It is the priority of each department in Fine Arts (Art, Film and Digital Arts, Music, and Theatre and Dance) each and unit (UNMAM and Tamarind Institute) to have endowed chairs, professors, and directors. The prestige of the endowed positions will enable CFA to recruit and retain our faculty and directors. 

Endowed positions provide financial stability to the departments and units within CFA, help ensure the long-term viability of the College, and improve faculty salaries, which are some of the lowest at UNM. This stability also ensures that we can keep our excellent faculty and directors engaged and employed and attract the best and brightest new faculty and directors. 

$10 million of philanthropic funding will help us establish endowed chairs, professors, and directors. 

CFA departments find it challenging to recruit graduate students because we are unable to compete with the level of scholarship support other institutions offer. Increasing the number of scholarships for graduate students, especially endowed scholarships, will allow departments to likewise increase the number and quality of graduate students. 

$10 million of philanthropic funding will fund graduate scholarships. 

Additionally, the Department of Art needs facility improvements to attract and inspire the best students and faculty. 

$3.1 million of philanthropic funding will support capital improvements. 

Established in 2005, ARTSLab (ARTS stands for Art, Research, Technology, and Science) is an award-winning interdisciplinary center and public exhibition space for emerging media with an emphasis on immersive and interactive technology. It serves UNM and the greater New Mexico community. Currently located inside the Center for Collaborative Arts and Technology (CCAT), the ARTSLab features an 1,100-square-foot production studio with a fully outfitted control room, a 16-foot-tall dome for immersive projection, and an audio isolation booth for sound recording. It is equipped with resources and technology to support its users’ diverse research interests. 

In fall 2026, ARTSLab will move to the new CCAT. The new location will provide for a more welcoming, ADA-compliant entrance, and allow access to on-campus public parking. It also will allow us to upgrade our existing film and television production facility, including the integration of projection technology, and expand our trainings and research with extended reality (XR) or motion-tracking technologies.  

XR is rapidly transforming the film and television production industry. It involves the use of virtual and augmented reality tools to create immersive and interactive experiences for viewers. This requires a highly specialized skill set and advanced production workflows. By investing in the training and development CFA students – who, after graduation, become part of the production workforce – skilled in XR film production, New Mexico can position itself as a hub for innovation and creativity in the entertainment industry and bring economic benefits to the state. 

ARTSLab will continue to increase UNM’s role in driving New Mexico’s creative economy by meeting the growing pipeline demand for our state’s historic leadership in arts and culture, the burgeoning film industry, and the urgent need for innovative problem-solvers in all sectors. It will be a national model that makes CFA a destination college, thus increasing our ability to recruit the most talented, driven students, faculty, and staff. 

$2 million of philanthropic funding will fund technology for ARTSLab at CCAT.

$1 million of philanthropic funding will establish an endowed director position at ARTSLab.

$2 million of philanthropic funding will create 5 endowed graduate student fellowships at $400,000 each.

Once completed, CCAT will be the locus of leading-edge work, teaching, and collaboration that will fuel the future of our students and our state. In addition to completing the capital campaign, CFA will need additional staffing to fully utilize the new space. 

In many ways, CFA is flourishing. Our enrollment has increased, our graduates are highly sought after, we have more than 250 community partners, and we play a large role in sustaining and increasing New Mexico’s creative economy. However, we urgently need contemporary, purpose-built spaces. Our artistic endeavors and projects are siloed, not supporting the interdisciplinary nature of the arts, and not fostering the collaboration that is core to the UNM experience.   

Our vibrant activity is hidden from the campus and challenging for our students, faculty, community, and partners to navigate. Our faculty teach our students and show work in facilities that are not built to accommodate their disciplines. Safety and accessibility problems exist in most buildings and retrofitting them would be difficult and expensive. We often must rent facilities off campus for our performances. In the Department of Music, classrooms and rehearsal spaces were designed in a time when the College had 125 music majors – and we now have twice that number. Our faculty offices and classrooms are scattered across campus. Finally, the lack of an appropriate concert hall has been cited as jeopardizing program reaccreditation.   

CCAT presents an opportunity to enhance the education and future careers of our students while deepening community partnerships and increasing economic growth and development. The new CCFA will be the heart of CFA’s interdisciplinary education, innovation, performance, and exhibition.  

$1.5 million of philanthropic funding will allow us to acquire new musical instruments.

$2 million of philanthropic funding will fund 5 endowed arts management fellowships at $400,000 each.

$2 million of philanthropic funding will help us expand gallery programming. 

Notes: 

• $1 million in philanthropic funding is outstanding. 

• In addition to the $45 million from the general obligation bond passed in November 2022, additional funds in the amount of $100,00 were secured during the 2025 legislative session. 

Founded in 1962 as a teaching museum, UNMAM houses the largest fine arts collection in New Mexico. It is known for its photography and printmaking collections as well as for bringing cutting-edge contemporary artists to campus to exhibit and interact with students and faculty. Throughout its history, UNMAM has provided access to historically significant artwork and continues to expand its collections to remain relevant to evolutions in the art field, growing a trust for future generations of New Mexicans.   

The existing UNMAM space is inadequate for the storage of this historic collection, which needs a climate-controlled, secure space. Also, the exhibition space is insufficient because UNMAM serves the entire UNM campus and the New Mexico community. Although the collection easily surpasses that of other university museums, the space itself lags behind comparable university museums. Our prominent collection merits a space that will help keep UNM at the forefront of art in our culturally rich state.     

The museum recently completed a feasibility study investigating the needs and viability of moving to the existing UNM Bookstore, as well as a new structure in another location (the findings are forthcoming). Both options need to give UNMAM a prominent footprint on the UNM campus so it can draw students, faculty, and visitors to experience its collections and exhibitions and engage in educational opportunities. We are seriously considering repurposing an existing on-campus facility, as this would support best practices for institutional and space management.  

We are in the final stage of a capital campaign for CCAT and feel this is an excellent opportunity to begin planning for a campaign to raise funds for UNMAM. Based on feedback during the CCAT campaign, a new UNMAM facility is an effort the community would rally around, and one that would ignite excitement across the campus. 

$5 million of philanthropic funding will provide needed general UNMAM support. 

$1 million of philanthropic funding will establish an endowed UNMAM director position. 

$1 million of philanthropic funding will create 2 curator positions at $500,000 each. 

$2 million of philanthropic funding will create 5 endowed curatorial fellowships at $400,000 each. 

$1.5 million of philanthropic funding will support acquisition of art.