Mapping Spaces: Selections from the Lannan Art Collection at NMSU

Banerjee


Mapping Spaces: Selections from the Lannan Art Collection at NMSU
Opening: June 11th, 2026
Exhibition Dates: June 11th - September 5th, 2025

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Las Cruces, NM - The University Art Museum (UAM) is excited to announce the opening of Mapping Spaces: Selections from the Lannan Art Collection at NMSU. This exhibition will showcase selections from the generous gift of 63 works of art from the Lannan Art Collection to the NMSU Permanent Art Collection in 2024. Mapping Spaces will open in the Contemporary Gallery on Thursday, June 11th, and run until September 5th, 2026.

After almost 65 years, with 27 of those spent in Santa Fe, New Mexico, Lannan Foundation closed in 2024. As part of Lannan’s closure, the Foundation gifted its remaining collection of more than 1,600 objects to 55 institutions, including the NMSU Art Museum. By adding these pieces to the UAM’s collection, this gift deepens the significance of the works by placing them into an academic context, where teaching, research, and public engagement further activate each of them. The NMSU Permanent Art Collection continues to evolve and grow not only as a repository of contemporary art objects, but also as a living resource that invites ongoing dialogue about the role of artists in shaping how the NMSU and Las Cruces communities understand our dynamic border region. 

Featuring artists such as Claudia Andujar, Subhankar Banerjee, Max Cole, Pard Morrison, Victoria Sambunaris, and James Turrell, Mapping Spaces brings together a dynamic range of artists whose works explore landscapes and the environment, documentary photography, abstraction, and traditional art historical references. Together, this exhibition features artists at the center of the UAM’s mission, emphasizing the importance of continued support for art, research, and community-engaged practices in cultivating a creative ecosystem across New Mexico. 

Join us for the opening reception on June 11th from 4:30-6:30 PM. Opening concurrently with Mapping Spaces, the UAM is proud to present Homage to Then/Small Worlds, in the Mullennix Bridge Gallery. Homage to Then/Small Worlds is a solo exhibition of the artist Louis Ocepek, displaying a variety of his mixed media, prints, painting, and hybrid artworks exploring artistic influences and the abstracted physical world.

Museum Information:

UAM is open Tuesday-Saturday, 10am-4pm, at 1308 E. University Ave., Las Cruces, New Mexico, 88003. Admission to all programming is free and open to the public. For more information and a detailed calendar with associated programs and dates please visit uam.nmsu.edu.

More about Lannan Foundation:

Founded in 1960, Lannan Foundation championed cultural freedom, creativity, and diversity. Through decades of grant making, Lannan supported nonprofit organizations in the areas of contemporary visual art, literature, Indigenous communities, and cultural freedom. Guided by a belief in the transformative power of the creative process, the Foundation prioritized ambitious, experimental work that fosters freedom of inquiry, imagination, and expression. In April 2022, Lannan announced its closure and decision to spend out all assets in support of the existing mission. More information can be found at https://lannan.org

Image Credit:

Subhankar Banerjee, Near the Dead Pinon Where Birds Gather in Autumn (II), Digital dye coupler print photograph, 2008. Courtesy of the NMSU Permanent Art Collection. Gift of Lannan Foundation.

Link to High Resolution Images: 

Please contact artmuseum@nmsu.edu for high-resolution images."