Museum makeover in Santa Fe comes with contemporary twist

Contemporary art is getting a prominent new pedestal in Santa Fe with the architectural transformation of a warehouse venue into a full-blown museum. (Photo: SITE Santa Fe/Facebook)

SANTA FE, N.M.—Contemporary art is getting a prominent new pedestal in Santa Fe with the architectural transformation of a warehouse venue into a full-blown museum.

SITE Santa Fe on Friday inaugurated a sweeping expansion and redesign of a former beer warehouse to add a snack bar, museum shop, lecture hall, outdoor “sky terrace,” educational workshop space and an admission-free introductory gallery.

The redesign also adds new climate controls to a non-collecting contemporary art museum that displays borrowed works from across the globe.

Visitors pass into the revamped building through an overhanging aluminum lattice, designed by New York-based SHoP Architects as a deliberate departure from Santa Fe’s adobe-dominated skyline.

The overhaul adds lustre to redevelopment efforts in the city’s railyard district. SITE Santa Fe is expanding operations to seven days a week.