Free Museums

The word “Museum” stops many from  considering a visit, even the well educated think “how boring”. Our day was enhanced by three museum visits that were not only not boring but also were Free – not something we often find. First stop was the Las Cruces Art Museum. We visited to see the current exhibition of the Gustave Baumann, a renowned New Mexico printmaker. Although we have several of his prints and books this show included many works we had never seen plus we learned of Baumann’s talents as a marionette artist.

The Las Cruces Museum of Nature and Science is in an adjoining building. With the intention of just taking a peek the well presented exhibits lured us into a complete walkthrough. In the process we learned a great deal about the surrounding Chihuahuan Desert. Next door is the Branigan Cultural Center which we will check out on our next visit.

Sixty miles west of Las Cruces, in Deming, New Mexico, we made another discovery. Again a particular interest drew us in only to find a treasure trove. The Luna County Museum is known for their collection of Mimbres Indian pottery.

Two hours later we were still exploring the amazing collections found in the rambling structure.  A thousand antique dolls, the military room, transportation wing, original art, western history, quilts, bells, on-and-on. Besides the Mimbres pottery the most amazing to us was the geode collection. This compares with those we’ve seen in university mineral museums. We made a note to visit nearby Rockhound State Park on a future trip.