Five New Things We Know About Vladem Contemporary

When the Vladem Contemporary wing of the New Mexico Museum of Art opens its doors for the first time in September, visitors will reap the fruits of years of preparation, community input and even controversy, followed by more than two years of construction on a huge new Railyard space. It’s been a long time coming. Philanthropists Ellen and Bob Vladem donated $4 million in 2018 for naming rights, which led to an astounding public/private fundraising initiative that ultimately brought in more than $16 million with which to build and party. As the building has changed shape and interior walls are complete, SFR staffers recently joined a hardhat tour with NMMA Executive Director Mark White. With that start date coming, now seemed like a great time to dive into some of the features of the new space on the corner of Montezuma and Guadalupe Streets. Let’s get into it.

What’s Old is New Again

By way of a brief history, the Vladem will be housed in the building formerly known as Halpin (it was a repository for state archives, stop asking questions), constructed in 1936 as a warehouse by/for the Charles Ilfeld Company, a mercantile concern started by a German Jewish immigrant named—get this—Charles Ilfeld. That’s why it’s right there by the tracks, you see, so workers could load or unload mercantile...stuff. Anyway, the Ilfeld Company left the building behind in 1959, according to White, after which it became the state archives under director Joseph F Halpin in 1960 (the building was also named for Halpin following his death in 1985). So there’s this warehouse, right, and the archives and records are all moved out—and lo and behold, here’s all these beautiful exposed brick walls and cool industrial-looking metal support beams and stuff. When possible, architects from the design team of DNCA + StudioGP have incorporated those original elements into the new space, even going so far as to extend that industrial motif throughout the museum. Oh, sure, the floors are polished concrete and look all pretty and new, and there have obviously been updates to walls and rooms and stairs to the second story and the basement, but there’s still this feeling that you’re in place with some history.

Climate Control is a Biggie

The original New Mexico Art Museum on Palace Avenue adjacent to the Plaza dates back to 1917, which means its designers, architects and contractors weren’t super thinking about how interior climate would affect art long-term. In a presentation with White prior to our tour, we learned the museum might have played a role in Santa Fe’s ongoing love affair with boxy brown buildings, but other than a very cool open door policy for artists adopted by the museum’s 1917 leadership—which eventually evolved into the bitchin’ Alcoves series that featured a rotating guest list of local artists—the future of how the museum would show and store art wasn’t really part of the equation back in 1917. This is Santa Fe, man, where the dryness is so for real and where, despite the no-humidity thing, it gets kind of hot. And cold. At the Vladem, the design team took climate into account from the start. That means not only will the collection gets the star treatment, it will reportedly allow curators to widen their net in terms of the shows they can mount. In other words, when you can boast state-of-the-art climate control, you can ask to borrow crazier pieces that might not hold up as well without it.

Educational Opportunities Abound

Though White can’t say exactly what the programs will look like just yet, the Vladem has at least one dedicated classroom on the side of the building facing Montezuma Street. That room has a number of storage closets for art supplies and the kinds of sinks artists like, plus enough space to fit a projector and tables and, White says, up to 70 people for lectures and such. Now, I’m just spit-ballin’ here, but it sure would be great to see local arts educators like Alas de Agua getting paid to run workshops in a space like that. White also says there will be family workshop and project days, and that the classroom will not be limited to school kids.

The Residents

Vladem Contemporary’s first year will also boast three artist residencies, only two of which we know about for now: Oswaldo Macía and Mokha Laget. Not wanting to to spoil the surprise, White has only provided scant details on each’s plans, with Macía reportedly embarking upon a sound sculpture based in natural audio for the building exterior (think birds, bats and bugs, but in audio form) and Laget...well, we don’t know just yet, but given her masterful use of color, geometry and space, it’ll likely turn some heads. White also notes that residents will have 24-hour access to the dedicated second-story studio space they’ll use while at Vladem, and while there are no plans to show the artists themselves like they’re on display, if they so choose to engage with visitors, they may. Oh, and it’s not part of the residency program, but a front-facing window box on Montezuma Street will display rotating local artists starting with Cristina Gonzales, and a light installation by artist Leo Villareal that will inhabit the ceiling of the museum’s exterior breezeway already looks gorgeous.

Space—The Final Frontier!

In addition to a new publicly-viewable bit of collection storage on the second floor of the Vladem, the entire basement becoming a storage space will up the museum’s collection capacity square footage to 4,100. That’s a lot of art and, like the climate control thing, should open doors for the future. The designers even repurposed a walk-in meat freezer as cold storage for color photographs, which is great news given how museum Curator of Photography Katherine Ware always puts together brilliant shows. And speaking of curators, White tells SFR the museum is still conducting interviews for the Vladem position. Its inaugural show Shadow and Light, which will feature works by Virgil Ortiz (Cochiti), Angela Ellsworth, Erika Wanenmacher and freaking Yayoi Kusama among others, was curated by former Head of Curatorial Affairs Merry Scully just before she split for a museum director job in California. White says some elements of the final show changed from Scully’s initial vision, but with longtime Curator of 20th Century Art Christian Waguespack now heading up the curatorial staff at NMMA, he expects folks will be into it. We want to believe.

An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated the former Halpin building that now houses Vladem Contemporary was named for Joseph F. Halpin in 1960.