Through Big Ideas, Engage People
The Coe offers unique, hands-on programs and exhibitions to engage and support communities, artists, and students of all ages. This enables deeper appreciation of the value of cultures all over the world…because the more we know about one other, the more we can work together for the common good.

Bruce Bernstein, PhD, Director of Innovation, Chief Curator
Bruce develops the Coe Center public programming, working directly with Indigenous artists and the permanent collection of traditional arts.
Bess Murphy, PhD, Curator
Bess assists in developing and coordinating public programs including workshops, conversations, research visits and demonstrations with Native American artists.
Samantha Tracy, Collections Manager
Samantha Tracy is Diné from Fort Defiance, Arizona, and is a recent graduate of the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA), where she received a BFA in Museum Studies.
Collection Spotlight with Neebinnaukzhik Southall
Collections Spotlight, a program developed in partnership with First American Art Magazine, is an interactive, online discussion that brings together diverse scholars and Native artists who select artworks from the Coe’s collection to interpret and discuss. The...
Collection Spotlight with Tracy Newkumet Burrows
Above photo: Tracy Newkumet Burrows (Caddo/Delaware) The Coe Center has partnered with First American Art Magazine to present an interactive Zoom series in which Native artists discuss artworks in the Coe Collections. Collections Spotlight brings deep dives...
#NMTWINNING—a partnership with Vital Spaces, Santa Fe
The Coe Center is very excited to be partnering with Vital Spaces, IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts, the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum, the Museum of International Folk Art, and the New Mexico Museum of Art for #NMtwinning. We challenge you to recreate or reinterpret...
SPRING IS FOR THE BIRDS
Our Santa Fe springtime snowstorm arrived and departed, leaving us with sunny skies, unknown fruit blossom outcomes, and birds! In keeping with springtime thoughts, this week I thought I would concentrate on birds, so I searched our collections database and found 106...
Postcards from the Coe
Art, as an act of gift-giving, is central to history and the ongoing stories of creative making in communities around the globe. Making something and offering it freely to another is a profound act of generosity and even sacrifice. Gifts come in many forms: a tiny...
2020 Hands-On Curatorial Program
(I’m Nostalgic for) Memories I’ve Never Lived Before The Hands-On Curatorial Program provides an opportunity for high school students to work hands-on with the Coe collection of over 2,300 works of Indigenous art from around the world. Through museum visits and...
Adrian Wall: Mapping Our History, Projecting Our Future
The artist and musician Adrian Wall (Jemez Pueblo) will host a free evening public program at the Coe Center. This program has been postponed due to COVID-19. We plan on rescheduling with Adrian once the Coronavirus pandemic has subsided. Through a week of intensive...
First Friday with Guest Artist Eliza Naranjo Morse
Introducing First Friday with Guest Artists! The Coe's monthly First Friday open house will now be graced by a roster of brilliant artists who will visit with guests, discuss favorite pieces, and more. On March 6, 2020 our guest artist is the wonderful Eliza Naranjo...
HOW IT WAS HANDED TO ME: Conversation with Adrian Standing Elk Pinnecoose, Kenneth Johnson, Samuel LaFountain, and LeOreal Wall with Santa Fe Indian School Jewelry Students
Friday, February 21, 2020 at 5:30 pm the Coe Center is pleased to host in conjunction with the exhibition How It Was Handed to Me: The Caesar Family Legacy a conversation with Adrian Standing Elk Pinnecoose (Navajo/Southern Ute), Kenneth Johnson (Muscogee/ Seminole),...