Santa Fe architect to design new Georgia O'Keeffe Museum

Teya Vitu, The Santa Fe New Mexican
·2 min read
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May 15—Santa Fe-based DNCA Architects will design the new Georgia O'Keeffe Museum.

The new museum will be located at the site of the former Safeway at 123 Grant Ave., across the street from where the O'Keeffe has been since 1997.

DNCA, headed up by architect Devendra N. Contractor, is the architect for the New Mexico Museum of Art Vladem Contemporary in Santa Fe. DNCA also designed the new Nene & Jamie Koch Comprehensive Movement Disorder Center and Senior Health Center, both at the University of New Mexico.

Earlier, DNCA designed the Tamarind Institute and Meteorite Museum at UNM.

"We are ecstatic to bring DNCA on board to lead the design of our new building," museum director Cody Hartley said in a news release. "To have architects with this same pride of place and who have expert knowledge in designing art museums in our state and southwestern climate — it's invaluable."

"As a New Mexico-based firm, designing a new Georgia O'Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," Contractor said in a news release. "We hope to be just one of many New Mexico businesses and tradespeople creating an incredible, sustainable building in historic, downtown Santa Fe to share the life, art and independent spirit of Georgia O'Keeffe with local and global visitors."

The Georgia O'Keeffe Museum owns nearly the entire block bounded by Grant, Marcy Street and Sheridan Avenue. The museum intends to build a new 54,000-square-foot museum on the east side of Grant now occupied by the museum's education center and a parking lot.

The new museum will have 13,000 square feet of gallery space for permanent and temporary exhibitions, more than double the current 5,000 square feet of gallery space with no temporary exhibition space.

Hartley said the new museum is expected to be completed in 2026.