The New Mexico Capitol Art Collection features nearly 500 artworks exhibited throughout the State Capitol Complex—including the main Roundhouse building, the Capitol North Annex, and outdoor grounds.
New Mexico’s Living Capitol
A Civic Space. A Cultural Treasure.
Explore one of the largest permanent, public art collections housed in any U.S. state capitol. The New Mexico State Capitol—affectionately known as the Roundhouse—is alive with art by more than 300 New Mexican artists. Each piece is a voice. Together, they tell a story of place, people, and imagination.
Annex Walkway (162) Capitol 1st Floor (4) Capitol 2nd Floor (120) Capitol 3rd Floor (126) Capitol 4th Floor (36) Capitol Grounds (9) Capitol North (19) Featured (7)
The Capitol Art Collection is not curated from above—it emerges from within the creative body of New Mexico itself. Installed throughout the State Capitol, it includes over 600 works of art by New Mexican artists in every medium imaginable: painting, photography, sculpture, weaving, ceramic, and beyond.
This collection reflects the cultural, geographic, and generational diversity of the state. Each hallway and chamber becomes a gallery. Each artwork becomes part of a democratic dialogue—between artist and citizen, place and memory, idea and form.
“Art in the Capitol affirms that democracy is not only a legal system but a cultural conversation.”
| Topic | Details |
|---|---|
| Collection Size | Over 600 artworks |
| Artists Represented | 300+ artists living or working in New Mexico |
| Media | Painting, sculpture, weaving, ceramics, photography, digital, and more |
| Locations | Throughout the NM State Capitol (Roundhouse) |
| Funding | 100% privately funded through donations and in-kind gifts |
| Management | Capitol Art Foundation (CAF), a nonprofit 501(c)(3) |
Why Art in the Capitol?
Because public art is public memory. It grounds democracy not just in laws and policies—but in shared imagination. The Capitol Art Collection invites the public into that shared space. It is not decoration. It is dialogue. The artists represented here are citizens of New Mexico and creators of its cultural story.
“This is a living collection—not fixed or frozen—but evolving with the community it represents.”