Accelerate New Mexico
Harwood Museum of Art
Building the Future for Students, Faculty, and Communities
Photo by Shayla Blatchford
For over a century, Harwood Museum of Art has been a cultural cornerstone in Northern New Mexico. Located in historic downtown Taos in a building designed by John Gaw Meem, Harwood showcases the region's rich artistic legacy, fosters contemporary innovation, and serves as an essential learning resource for UNM and the broader public. Accredited by the American Alliance of Museums (AAM), Harwood is a vital partner in advancing UNM’s 2040 vision and plays a key role in northern New Mexico’s creative economy.
Through the Accelerate New Mexico campaign, we seek to address critical needs in accessibility, workforce development, and infrastructure, ensuring Harwood remains relevant, welcoming, and sustainable into its next century.
Photo by Shayla Blatchford
Overview:
As Harwood prepares to mark 110 years as part of UNM, we face a unique opportunity to invest in the people, spaces, and systems that will define our future by:
Expanding the current Harwood campus to build a welcoming museum for the future.
Renovating to create the Center for Creative Learning, which will unlock new possibilities for engaging with art.
Strengthening the museum workforce to attract and retain a highly skilled, talented, and diverse team, as well as expand equity and access in the museum field.
Donor support will allow us to deepen our impact; remain a leader in museum best practices; and create a more inclusive, accessible, and innovative cultural experience.
List of Priorities:
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Harwood’s current campus limits its ability to serve growing audiences, accept large collections gifts, and offer dynamic, inclusive exhibitions and programs.
Expansion is about more than adding space; it is about igniting the full potential of New Mexico’s arts where everyone can experience their transformative power. We will safeguard and expand our collections with optimized storage, increase exhibition and community spaces on adjacent gifted land, and ensure universal access through ADA compliance and enhanced education and outdoor areas.
We will launch a $30 million capital and endowment campaign to expand the museum with an additional 6,000 square feet of galleries, storage, and visitor space. This expansion will include climate-controlled storage, a new freight elevator, and an improved entrance and store. We will also optimize existing facilities with a $300,000 investment in retrofitted collections storage to relieve immediate capacity challenges. A bridge fund of $1-$2 million will support staffing and operational growth during the expansion phase.
Campaign planning began in 2025 with a goal to complete construction in time for Harwood’s 110th anniversary in 2033.
$300,000 of philanthropic funding will allow us to retrofit the existing climate-controlled space.
$5 million of philanthropic funding will help to build the ADA-accessible Museum and Education Center and improve infrastructure and outdoor public spaces.
$25 million of philanthropic funding will help us to add 6,000 square feet to the existing facility for exhibition galleries, additional climate-controlled collections storage, a freight elevator for collections transport, and an enhanced museum store and entrance for improved visitor experience.
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Harwood struggles to attract and retain a diverse and talented team due to below-market wages and limited paid training opportunities.
With $1.9 million in funding, we will invest in our staff, endow leadership positions, and establish paid internship and fellowship programs to expand equity and access in the museum field. These programs will offer meaningful, mentored professional pathways in curatorial practice, education, collections management, and public engagement—helping diversify and strengthen the creative economy regionally and nationally.
$1.5 million of philanthropic funding will create endowed director and curator positions.
$300,000 ($100,000 per year for three years) of philanthropic funding will allow us to align pay with industry standards to retain and reward experienced staff.
$100,000 of philanthropic funding will provide stipends, infrastructure, and staffing for internships and fellowships.
Photo by Andrew Yates
Juniper Leherissey
Dean / Harwood Museum of Art
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6.5K
6,500 objects in the Harwood collection
400+
400+ years of Taos-area art represented
795
795 artists represented
With your partnership through Accelerate New Mexico, we can reimagine what a 21st-century regional museum can be. Your support will ensure Harwood remains a national model for community-centered arts engagement, accessibility, and excellence. Let’s build the next 100 years together.