Discover Las Cruces, New Mexico’s hidden art scene, with local galleries, craft markets, outdoor adventures, and authentic dining.
Field Report: Las Cruces
Elevation: 3,901 feet
Population: 111,385
Town Etymology: This land was ceded to the United States in 1848 as a result of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, and the settlement was named Las Cruces in 1849 for a stand of three crosses seen just to the north, thought to be grave markers or roadside memorials.
New Mexico has no shortage of renowned art towns. Silver City: relentlessly charming. Albuquerque: popping with UNM art students. Taos: steeped in art history. Santa Fe: goes without saying. But Las Cruces? Despite being the state’s second-largest city, Cruces is rarely praised as an art destination. Neighboring Old Mesilla gets attention for its quaint village charm and deep history. But truly, Cruces is an unsung destination deserving of exploration.
In some ways, LC is better known for its proximity: to White Sands National Park, the rich agriculture of southern New Mexico’s Mesilla Valley (shout out to plentiful chiles, vineyards, and pecans), Spaceport America fifty-five miles to the north, and Ciudad Juárez fifty-five miles to the south. This makes LC a solid home base from which to explore some of these surroundings. But there’s plenty of creative culture in the city to fill your itinerary for a weekend getaway.
Arts + Culture
NMSU Art Museum
The New Mexico State University’s University Art Museum is perhaps Las Cruces’s crown jewel of art spaces. Helmed by the force of nature that is director and curator Marisa Sage, the museum shows contemporary and historical works, including the thousands of works in NMSU’s permanent art collection, in its state-of-the-art, purpose-built new hall that opened in 2019. The museum is home to the largest collection of 19th-century Mexican retablos, and recent exhibitions have included national visiting artists along with NMSU student shows.
Las Cruces Art Museum + Branigan Cultural Center
The City of Las Cruces operates a robust roster of municipal cultural and education spaces, including the Las Cruces Railroad Museum, the Museum of Nature and Science, the Museum of Art, and Branigan Cultural Center, the latter three being pillars of the downtown’s Main Street. The Museum of Art features rotating contemporary art exhibitions, and the Cultural Center hosts installations of all stripes.
The Hood
The Hood is the space every arty neighborhood dreams of. Part retail space (think handmade jewelry, prints, and vintage finds), part art gallery, part event space (with a sweet patio replete with a bar and an airstream trailer outfitted as additional gallery space), part art studios—the Hood is an über-cool community hub owned and directed by mother-son duo Kimberly Chormicle and artist Marcus Xavier Chormicle. Here, you can also catch live music, pop-up events, and even aerial yoga classes.
ArtForms / For the Love of Art Studio Tours
ArtForms is a membership organization comprising Las Cruces–area artists, creative business owners, and more, and serves as a primary locus of arts organizing. Every February, ArtForms organizes For the Love of Art, a full month of programming that includes open studio tours every weekend, as well as exhibitions, openings, music performances, and workshops.
Farmers & Crafts Market of Las Cruces
I had the extreme luck of stumbling into LC’s Farmers & Crafts market on my most recent visit. Far more than a standard farmers market, the event takes over all seven blocks of Main Street every Saturday with more than 200 vendors. Farmers’ stands are complemented by arts and crafts, jewelry, local merchants, food trucks, live music, and a general air of festivity and community.
More to explore:
While you’re downtown grabbing coffee at Grounded Lounge and perusing the farmers market, be sure to check out M. Phillip’s Gallery, a Main Street fixture featuring traditional local and European art along with other eclectic antiques and objets. In the same building, you can also find newcomer the Mad Hatter Gallery, which focuses on contemporary art and community programs. At the whimsical MEW & Company boutique, you can find delightfully designed children’s toys, stationery, craft supplies, prints, home décor, and more.
A few blocks from the downtown corridor on Mesquite Street, find your way to Gallery 925, where owner and artist Diane Alire invites local artists to submit their work for rotating one-month shows, and Trails End Gallery and Studios, where artists maintain working studios and an inviting patio hosts first-Friday openings. At the Mandrake Fine Art & Botanica, check out the art while picking up handmade perfumes, salves, and body oils or sourcing medicinal herbs and teas.
To get crafty yourself, check out Cruces Creatives, a bustling makerspace and creative community. The 12,000-square-foot facility has tools, materials, and training available across a variety of modalities, including fine arts, textiles, woodworking, a jewelry studio, A/V lab, electronics, a bike shop, and a small gallery. Check their event calendar for programs and workshops, or drop by to explore (some facilities require safety training prior to use).
If you’re lucky enough to visit around Labor Day weekend, be sure to check out the Franciscan Festival of Fine Arts, LC’s biggest annual arts festival held at the Holy Cross Retreat Center.
Stay + Rest
Most of the hotels around Cruces are standard chain fare, so two standouts easily rise to the top of the list. A stone’s throw from the downtown hub, the locally owned Lundeen Inn of the Arts occupies a restored historic inn with seven unique guest rooms named for esteemed local artists and an art gallery with work by local and regional artists. Across town, the Hotel Encanto de Las Cruces offers a more conventional hotel experience but features a beautiful property with an absolutely stunning pool scene.
Sustenance
There are coffee lovers, coffee snobs, coffee connoisseurs, and then whatever Picacho Coffee Roasters is. Master roaster Chad Morris’s farm-to-cup ethos results in some of the best brews around, including single-origin selections and small-batch, exotic micro-lots. You can find Picacho beans around the state (including at Whole Foods in Santa Fe and Albuquerque), but I recommend going directly to the source and subscribing to their “Roaster’s Choice” monthly delivery service.
La Posta de Mesilla is housed in a sprawling, Territorial Style compound that dates to the 1840s. According to the restaurant, Katy Griggs originally opened La Posta Café in 1939 with “just four tables on a dirt floor, her mother cooking in the back,” and they’ve been preparing recipes “handed down over the years from the Fountain, Chavez, and Griggs families” for the last eighty-five years. With charms for days and decorations exuberant, this is a can’t-miss stop.
Dry Point Distillers, also in Mesilla, is a local hang with excellent cocktails made with their artisanal craft spirits. They host regular trivia nights and live music, and you can call ahead to book a distillery tour. Packaged bottles can be found at liquor stores statewide.
Lastly, for this Midwestern girl, a trip to Cruces is not complete without a stop at Caliche’s Frozen Custard. Modeled after the drive-ins of yore, they have shakes, malts, and a surprisingly long menu of hot dogs, but a simple cup of fresh vanilla custard is sublime enough.
Outdoors
Dripping Springs Natural Area
Dripping Springs Natural Area is a popular choice to get up close and personal with the beautifully craggy Organ Mountains, given the relatively easy trails and several historic ruins dating to the late 19th century. Here, you can see the ruins of Dr. Nathan Boyd’s 1910 Sanatorium, a facility for tuberculosis patients, and Colonel Eugene Van Patten’s Mountain Camp, an 1870s health resort for the elites of the day (Pat Garrett and Pancho Villa were purported guests).
New Mexico Farm & Ranch Heritage Museum
In the lush Mesilla Valley, it’s only fitting to explore southern New Mexico’s 4,000-year history of agriculture at this state-of-the-art, state-run museum that gets rave reviews from visitors. A 100,000-square-foot facility with permanent and rotating exhibitions, the Farm & Ranch Heritage Museum is situated on forty-seven acres of land and encompasses barns, live animals, gardens, children’s play areas, an amphitheater, a greenhouse, and more.
Unexplained Phenomena
See the world’s largest chile pepper sculpture at the Big Chile Inn & Suites, clocking in at forty-seven feet long. It’s made of concrete, though, so if you’re looking for an edible variety, head to NMSU’s Chile Pepper Institute and scoop up some chile seeds, chile cookbooks, and various chile sundries at their gift shop.
