Poeh Museum, Native American art museum in Pojoaque, United States
The Poeh Museum is an art museum in Pojoaque, New Mexico, run by the Pojoaque Pueblo and dedicated to works by indigenous artists from the region. The building combines gallery spaces displaying pottery, textiles, jewelry, and sculpture with working studios where artists practice and demonstrate their crafts.
The Pojoaque Pueblo founded the museum in 1987. Construction of the Poeh Center, its home, began in 1992 with gaming revenue and was completed in 2003. Funding also came from the New Mexico State Legislature, the Bay Foundation, the New Mexico Youth Conservation Corps and the National Endowment for the Humanities. Joyce Begah-Foss was curator in the 1990s and Vernon Lujan director in the 2000s.
The museum features artists from the surrounding Pueblos, and visitors can watch them work in open studios inside the building. Pottery, weaving, and jewelry-making are among the crafts practiced there, giving the visit a hands-on quality that sets it apart from a standard gallery.
The museum stands off U.S. Route 84 beside Pojoaque Pueblo's Cities of Gold Casino and Hotel, about 16 miles (26 km) from Santa Fe, so a car is the practical way to arrive. The Poeh Center also houses the Poeh Arts program and the Poeh Tower Gallery, and the Poeh Tower is the tallest adobe structure in New Mexico.
The name Poeh comes from the Tewa language and means something like path or road, reflecting the museum's intent to connect past and present. This linguistic root signals that the place is thought of as a passage, not just a display space.
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