Taos Art Museum in Taos, NM is located in the home and studio of Nicolai Fechin. He built this same home for his family in the late 1920s. Born in Russia, he was able to carve and shape his adobe style home into a combination of Russian, Spanish and Native American design. The Taos Art Museum opened in 1994 and didn't move to Fechin's home until 8 years later.
The Taos Art Museum is dedicated to promoting the art from the early twentieth century Taos as well as locals that are trying to expand their talent. The Board and Trustees that run the museum are trying to bring art that was created in Taos back to Taos to keep the heritage.
The Taos Society of Artists comprises most of the museum's walls with their many paintings. This is a group of twelve artists and their associates who created work starting in 1898 and continued through 1930. Although the museum is about to be expanded to increase their collections, the main purpose right now is to preserve the art of the past.
The plans for a new building are underway with the plans calling for it to be next to the current Fechin House. The anticipated cost of this expansion is five million dollars. The new building will allow more of the current art collections to be shown to the public. It will also help many museum programs such as hands-on children's activities, art classes and exhibits be held in larger rooms to bring culture to residents of all ages.
November 2006 brought the 125th anniversary of the birth of Nicolai Ivanovich Fechin, the famous Russian-American artist. To celebrate this, the Taos Art Museum & Fechin House put together a Homecoming Exhibition with the help of the Stark Museum of Art from Orange, Texas. Many pieces of Fechin's art were on display in Fechin's Taos residence in August, 2007.
