Jubilee Los Lunas
Things to Do:  Cultural Centers

Albuquerque Museum of Art & History

The new and expanded state of the art facility features art of the Southwest, 400 years of Albuquerque history, traveling exhibitions, a sculpture garden, and walking tours. The museum is open Tuesday-Sunday. To arrange a tour of Casa San Ysidro, the museum’s Spanish Colonel historic house in Corrales contact (505) 898-3915.

For more information, visit www.cabq.gov/museum or call (505) 243-7255.

Anderson-Abruzzo Albuquerque International Balloon Museum

Hot air balloons have been used for adventure, scientific experiments, warfare, the arts, espionage and the exploration of space. Opened in the Fall of 2005, the Anderson-Abruzzo International Balloon Museum emphasizes historic artifacts with modern multi-media technology to create a sense of excitement as well as a variety of educational opportunities in a new 59,000 square foot building located at Balloon Fiesta Park. The museum encompasses an international, national, and regional perspective demonstrating the global development of ballooning achievements.

For more information visit, www.balloonmuseum.com or www.cabq.gov/balloon or call (505) 880-0500.

Indian Pueblo Cultural Center

The Indian Pueblo Cultural Center is your gateway to the 19 pueblos of New Mexico and is dedicated to the preservation of Pueblo Indian culture, history and art. The museum houses an impressive photographic collection on loan from the Smithsonian Institution depicting Pueblo life from 1880 - 1910. Children can get a “hands-on” look at Pueblo Indian life at the Pueblo House Children’s Museum.

For more information visit, www.indianpueblo.org or call (505) 843-7270.

J & R Vintage Auto Museum

Enjoy up close views of 70 cars, ranging from a 1902 Oldsmobile to 1966 and 1967 Thunderbirds. The highlight of the museum is nine classic cars that competed in the Great American Race - including a 1995 winner, a 1917 Marmon. A bookstore and museum store with auto-related items is also on-site and open daily.

For more information, visit www.jrvintageautos.com or call (505) 867-2881.

LodeStar Astronomy Center

Explore the amazing cosmos in a world-class planetarium theater with biggest screen in New Mexico. LodeStar offers a variety of planetarium shows, a virtual motion simulator ride and observatory events - you can get a tour of the universe including the solar system, the Milky Way and the Virgo Super cluster. You can even go on a “Wilderness Adventure” in the virtual simulator - it's a boy’s adventure of experiencing life as an animal in the wilderness. LodeStar offers shows throughout each week. Visit the calendar for more information.

For more information, visit www.nmnaturalhistory.org or call (866) NM-DINOS or (505) 841-2800.

Maxwell Museum of Anthropology

Exhibits and educational programs dedicated to the cultures of the world, emphasizing the cultural heritage of the Southwest. Check out the replica of an archeological excavation at Pueblo Bonito and learn about the tools and scientific techniques used by excavators. Permanent exhibits include “People of the Southwest” which depicts 11,000 years of cultural heritage and “Ancestors” which traces more than 4 million years of human history. At the Maxwell Museum you can also discover what makes us “human” - why we're different from primate ancestors.

For more information, visit www.unm.edu/~maxwell or call (505) 277-4405.

Museum of Archaeology & Biblical History

Explore and learn about over 1,000 authentic artifacts from biblical times. You can touch and feel the authenticity of the biblical text through a variety of exhibits including feeling the weight of a softball-sized sling stone being used during Joshua's conquest of Canaan or feel coins like the ones widows put into the Temple treasury in biblical times.

For more information, visit www.mabh.org or call (505) 217-1330.

National Atomic Museum

The National Atomic Museum is America’s official museum of nuclear science and history and is the only Smithsonian Affiliate museum in Albuquerque. Permanent and changing exhibits cover atomic history from the beginning of the Atomic Age to present day nuclear technology. Check out a copy of the letter Albert Einstein wrote to President Franklin D. Roosevelt suggesting the possible need to beat the Germans at creating an atomic bomb or experience an exhibit on the peaceful uses of atomic energy and radiation. Videos, a gift shop and hands-on displays for all ages are offered at the museum, which is open daily.

For more information, visit www.nuclearmuseum.org or call (505) 245-2137.

National Hispanic Cultural Center

The National Hispanic Cultural Center is a national institution dedicated to the study, advancement, and presentation of Hispanic culture, art and humanities. Since its grand opening in 2000, the NHCC has staged over 20 art exhibitions and 400 programs in the visual, performing, and literary arts. Have an unforgettable cultural experience as you stroll the this magnificent campus viewing a world-class art museum, performing arts center, library & genealogy center, restaurant and gift shop. The NHCC is part of the Department of Cultural Affairs.

For more information, visit www.nhccnm.org or call (505) 246-2261.

New Mexico Holocaust & Intolerance Museum and Study Center

One of the few organizations of its type in the United States that educates people not just about the Holocaust, but also other genocides that have affected people around the world. This newly established museum displays artifacts, memorabilia, pictures, documents, and books of the Holocaust and other genocides perpetrated. The exhibits of the museum illustrate historical conflicts caused by local, national, and global prejudice, culminating in the most unspeakable of all horrors, the Holocaust. In addition, to its permanent collection, the museum will host visiting exhibits.

For more information, visit www.nmholocaustmuseum.org or call (505) 247-0606.

New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science

The New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science is an innovative and hands-on museum that explores paleontology, botany, geology and paleontology. The museum houses the skeleton of one of the largest birds ever, the Seismosaurus, which weighed about 30 tons, was excavated, prepared, studied and exhibited at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science. Experience exciting films shown on the Lockheed Martin Extreme Screen DynaTheatre. Interactive exhibits include the world’s longest dinosaur, Ice Age Cave, a walk through volcano, and Fossil works. Traveling exhibits, a museum store, and a café are also on-site.

For more information, visit www.nmnaturalhistory.org or call (505) 841-2800.

Georgia O’Keefe Museum

This beautiful facility can easily be considered one of the country's most important museums housing the works of one of the century's most important artists. The Georgia O’Keefe Museum includes a large body of her work, photographs and archival materials recovered from her estate. The 13,000 square-foot museum is located in downtown Santa Fe and is convenient to the Plaza.

For more information, visit www.okeeffemuseum.org or call (505) 946-1000.

The Museum of Spanish Colonial Art

The Spanish Colonial Arts Society collections were initiated in 1928. Today with 3,000 objects, the collections are the most comprehensive compilation of Spanish Colonial art of their kind. Dating from the Middle Ages to the New Millennium, the collections span centuries in art, place and time. Among the various media featured are Santos (painted and sculpted images of saints,) textiles, tinwork, silverwork, gold-work, ironwork, straw appliqué, ceramics, furniture, books and more. All combined, the collections represent the artistic history and ongoing evolution of Hispano culture in New Mexico while firmly establishing its important place within the global arts landscape.

For more information, visit www.spanishcolonial.org or call (505) 982-2226.

Palace of the Governors

Now a Southwestern history museum, the Palace was constructed as a government building by the Spanish in 1610. It remains the nation's oldest public building still in continuous use. The building faces Santa Fe's downtown Plaza, and American Indian artists sell their wares under its historic portal as part of the Native American Vendors Program.

For more information, visit www.palaceofthegovernors.org or call (505) 476-5100.

Albuquerque Biological Park

The BioPark is an environmental museum extending along a three mile stretch of the Rio Grande. All of the attractions are open daily.

- The Albuquerque Aquarium features marine animals and habitats of the Gulf of Mexico, from salt marsh to surf zone to open sea. Highlights include a moray eel tunnel and a 285,000 gallon shark tank.

- The Rio Grande Botanic Garden showcases seasonal color changes, formal walled gardens, a butterfly conservatory (open in summer), and a garden scale railway. The conservatory exhibits xeric and aromatic plants from the desert and Mediterranean climate zones.

- The Rio Grande Zoological Park exhibits exotic animals, including polar bears, tigers, and wildlife from Australian, Africa, and Tropical America, and ride a three-quarter scale train.

For more information, visit www.cabq.gov/biopark or call (505) 768-2000.

Sky City, Acoma

The Pueblo of Acoma - North America’s oldest continuously inhabited community - offers guided tours and world famous pottery. Today, fewer than 50 Acomans live in Sky City year-round and the remaining residents live in nearby villages. Only on feast days do all the Acomans gather on the mesa top. Recently archaeologists theorized the occupation of Acoma to AD 1150. Many interesting features of the mission can be seen. A previous settlement rested in the area now occupied by the mission. The establishment of the mission represents a tremendous amount of toil. All building materials were hand carried or hauled up the steep slopes of the mesa. Most remnants contained within the mission date between the mid-1600s to the later 1800s. Both the mission and the pueblo have been proclaimed National Historic Landmarks.

For more information, call (888) 759-2489