Description: What do you do on a hot day in a big city? Go to a museum, and Albuquerque has a particularly fine museum. It is located adjacent to Old Town. Park the car in the spacious lot, do one in the morning, have lunch and do the other in the afternoon.The museum building has an unusual floorplan, however we had no trouble moving from one gallery to another with out missing something. Outside was a vast campus highlighted with sculptures. Inside in addition to the galleries there was an auditorium, museum school, small snack bar and an excellant museum shop. Unfortunately no cameras were allowed inside.
The day we were there a special exhibit was in place. It was African Sculpture from the New Orleans Museum of Art. How wonderful that they share. Oher galleries contained Art in New Mexico which was my favorite exhibit; a bizzare showing of collage art made from found and household items; PhotoShopped artwork from local school children (an exhibit only a mother could love); and a hallway of tribute to famous Albuquerquians (Tony Hillerman was the one I knew). I applaud the diversity and the challenge of creating some of these exhibits. If I lived here I would return for each change of special exhibits.
On the lower level of the building was a fine tribute to the discovery, settling and growth of The Duke City. The exhibit is called Four Centuries and started with dioramas of indigenous peoples. Next was an exhaustive study of weapons and armor worn by the conquistadors. Bill really enjoyed that. I was surprised at the variety of armor. Definately a case of you get what you pay for. Some pieces looked like the best protection they could give you was against the sun. We moved on to the infant town of Albuquerque were there is part of a hacienda. One section is dedicated to the rise and fall of Route 66. In a recreated movie house we watched a well done movie Route 66. Admission was only $4 at the most, with discounts for residents, seniors, and children. You can't beat that price/quality ratio.
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