Zane Bennett Contemporary Art has evolved from a small Canyon Road space into a major Santa Fe gallery known for globally diverse, boundary-pushing exhibitions.
Since its 2005 beginnings in a small adobe on Canyon Road to its present two-story steel-and-glass home at the corner of Guadalupe and Read Streets, Zane Bennett Contemporary Art has been a bright star in Santa Fe’s gallery constellation, showcasing postmodern masters (Josef Albers, Ellsworth Kelly) and local luminaries (Bunny Tobias, the late Tigre Mashaal-Lively) alongside scores of contemporary artists.
Though no show at Zane Bennett is typical, Balancing Acts, an early 2026 exhibition of Janet Abrams’s work—sculptural ceramic forms paired with materials like copper and wood—is characteristic of Zane Bennett in its precise, playful presentation and eye-catching execution, filling the gallery’s lofty front room. As part of the show, there’s an Edith Wharton quote in large black print on an otherwise empty wall that reads, “Life is always either a tightrope or a featherbed. Give me the tightrope.”
This snippet could also serve as a motto for gallery co-founder Sandy Zane, who is an amateur pilot and not afraid of a little risk. (She rented the first space on Canyon Road following a dare from her late husband and co-pilot Ned Bennett.) “Over the years, we’ve done a lot of shows that were conceived as ways to acquaint people in Santa Fe with other countries’ arts,” Zane says. The gallery has hosted artists from around the globe, including Cuba, Japan, and China. In 2016, Zane Bennett founded a sister gallery, Form & Concept, to represent less traditional art forms, “what we called everything else,” Zane says, “an attempt to blur the lines between fine art and fine craft, good design, new technologies, including new media works.
While Form & Concept is in the process of being “folded back into” Zane Bennett proper, Zane is excited about a new direction for the gallery: print editions plus collaborations with fine art print workshops like Albuquerque’s Tamarind Institute and Gemini G.E.L. in Los Angeles. One reason for featuring works on paper? According to Zane, the decision was made partially with financial accessibility in mind, and an eye toward helping create new fine-art collectors.
