Museum of Contemporary Native Arts
The IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts (abbreviated as MoCNA) is a museum in Santa Fe, New Mexico dedicated to collecting and showcasing works of art by contemporary Indigenous artists and is considered the only museum in the United States to do so.
Also recorded as MoCNA · Santa Fe Federal Building · Federal Building · IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts
Museum of Contemporary Native Arts

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- Name
- IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts
- Founded
- 1922
- Headquarters
- United States
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Documentary summary
The IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts (abbreviated as MoCNA) is a museum in Santa Fe, New Mexico dedicated to collecting and showcasing works of art by contemporary Indigenous artists and is considered the only museum in the United States to do so.
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Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
gnd · 1023997738 · wikidata · Q72031682
In this article
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts • Alternate Names — MoCNA • Address — 108 Cathedral Place • Location Town — Santa Fe, New Mexico • Location Country — United States • Inauguration Date — 1991 • Owner — Institute of American Indian Arts
History
History
Founded by the Institute of American Indian Arts in 1991, the museum hosts nearly 10,000 works of art from 1962 and onward and is located in the Sante Fe Federal Building (the old Post Office), a historic Pueblo Revival building. Contemporary intertribal Native American art is the focus of exhibitions and the permanent collection. The MoCNA is located near the Santa Fe Plaza and Saint Francis Cathedral in the historic Santa Fe downtown area. In 2020, the museum was one of 20 recipients for funding from the Ford Foundation's America's Cultural Treasures philanthropic initiative. In 2025, the museum received an Access for All grant from the Art Bridges Foundation, allowing it to allow free admission on Fridays through to December 2026. In August of that year, the museum partnered with the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts to showcase Taiwanese Indigenous works. As of March 2025, the Museum's Director is Patsy Phillips, and its Chief Curator is Manuela Well-Off-Man.
Gallery
Gallery
• Illustration — IAIA MoCNA columns flanking a sculpture by Bob Haozous (Chiricahua Apache) • Illustration — The main entrance of MoCNA • Illustration — The MoCNA • Illustration — An outdoor sculpture exhibition at the MoCNA
Institutional history
Dated record
Institutional history
The full dated record · 2 entries
1922
Museum of Contemporary Native Arts established.
1922
Museum of Contemporary Native Arts is recorded from 1922.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
- United States
Exhibitions and collections
Exhibitions and collections
The museum collects, exhibits and interprets progressive art works by Indigenous artists. It has an active public programming series. Objects in the collection, when not on exhibit, are held in the museum's 7,000 square foot storage facility located on the IAIA campus 12 miles south of the museum; the facility also includes conservation laboratories. The Allan Houser (Chiricahua Apache) Sculpture Garden and Art Park is located in the courtyard west of the museum building. Selections of Houser's work is exhibited on a rotating basis, and is on loan from the Alan Houser Foundation.
Documents and archives
Primary material
Documents and archives
authority file
- Gemeinsame Normdatei 1023997738, Museum of Contemporary Native Arts.
General reference · Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
reference work
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q72031682: Museum of Contemporary Native Arts
Reputable secondary · Wikidata
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
authority file
Gemeinsame Normdatei 1023997738, Museum of Contemporary Native Arts.Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
Secondary witnessreference work
Secondary witness
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 16 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Institutions
3,152 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- Museum of Contemporary Art, TucsonOrganisation
- Museum of Contemporary Art, University of São PauloOrganisation
- Museum of Contemporary Art, VigoOrganisation
- Museum of Contemporary CraftOrganisation
- Museum of Contemporary PhotographyOrganisation
- Museum of Cultures (MUSEC)Organisation
- Museum of Cycladic ArtOrganisation
- Museum of Decorative Arts of BordeauxOrganisation
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