Attractions
Carlsbad Museum and Art Center
Admission is FREE. Donations are accepted. The Gift Shop is open during Museum hours, offering books of interest to the southwest region, cards, posters, gifts, toys and jewelry.
Founded in 1931, the Carlsbad Museum and Art Center fulfills its mission as a cultural and educational institution through the collection, preservation, exhibition and interpretation of artifacts, documents and works of art relating to prehistory, history and esthetic environment of the City of Carlsbad and the surrounding communities of southeastern New Mexico and the greater American Southwest (New Mexico, west Texas, Arizona and northern Mexico).
The Museum features permanent displays focusing on local and regional history, Native American art and artifacts, and modern, contemporary and Southwestern art, including the McAdoo Collection of "Taos Ten" paintings. Temporary exhibitions feature Southwestern artists, crafts persons and history topics of interest to people of the region. As a community art center, the Museum also hosts the annual Carlsbad and Loving schools exhibitions (in April and May), the Zia Quilt Guild show (in September) and two Carlsbad Area Art Association exhibitions (in March and October).