CURRENT EXHIBITION

70 Years Young
This year the Wheelwright celebrates its 70th Anniversary as New Mexico’s oldest, independent, non-profit museum!

From the Railroad to Route 66: The Native American Curio Trade in New Mexico. Starting with the arrival of the railroad in 1880, Pueblo and Navajo artisans collaborated with non-Indian dealers to invent artifacts that had no purpose but to satisfy the demand for Indian goods. From its inception, the curio trade comprised cottage industries, retail spaces, and a vast mail-order trade, and objects were sold by the thousands.

From the Railroad to Route 66:
The Native American Curio Trade
in New Mexico
May 18, 2008–April 19,2009

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The Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian hosts changing exhibitions of contemporary and historic Native American art with an emphasis on the Southwest. Main gallery exhibitions change twice a year. Smaller galleries feature one-person shows by Native American artists and photographers, or items relating to the main gallery exhibition.

The museum and the Case Trading Post museum shop sponsor talks, seminars, meet-the-artist receptions, and many other events. A private, not-for-profit institution, the Wheelwright Museum does not charge an admission fee, and most of its events are free. Donations are welcomed.
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JUST RELEASED! The Native American Curio Trade in New Mexico Jonathan Batkin, 2008 10.5 x 8 inches, 336 pages, 151 color illustrations, appendix with information on more than 200 silversmiths who worked in curio shops before World War II. Hardcover $85; softcover $55. To reserve a signed copy, click here!