As a budding encaustic artist, the Encaustic Museum was a delight. The owners are very knowledgeable and are excited to help you learn about the art they love. This is the only museum I have ever been to that I was allowed to touch an artwork! If you love painting, sculpture, collage, photography or just plain enjoying the creativity of others, this museum is worth the trip. You will find a new and interesting way of creating art. located on County Road 55A just after the town of Cerrillos off North 14, it is a glorious hidden gem.

We arranged for our group of 10 kids 8-13 to do a workshop. Doug was charming and a great teacher encouraging the kids to explore the medium of melting crayons. Our kids had a blast. The workshop is free and no pressure to give a donation. However it is impossible not to make a donation to show ones appreciation. We spent 2 hours and probably could have spent more. We travel extensively with our 5 grandchildren this ranks very high on our recommendation list.

I'm a Canadian, and getting to go the Museum of Encaustic Art in Santa Fe was just about enough reason on its own to make the trip down to New Mexico! There are very few museums or galleries worldwide specializing in encaustic, so this was a real delight for me. I love that the museum purposely showcased a wide range of styles and techniques. While we were there, they were also letting guests vote on a sort of audience's choice award for the current show, which was a lot of fun. There was a room dedicated to kids activities (some really cute and interesting pieces there), and the MEA does classes and workshops as well! All the staff and/or volunteers I met were also very friendly and polite, very easy to talk to. Reasonably priced and definitely well-worth the visit for any encaustics enthusiast in NM. :)

How exciting to find this place! Can you imagine - every piece, drawing, sculpture, etc. is made out of wax!? To be truly encaustic it has to be made out of beeswax, but there are 2 other acceptable waxes. There is a great explanation of the process (eg, pigmented, hot or cold process, mixed media, etc.). Every piece was unique, some whirls of colors and textures, and others detailed pictures of people and more. And all high quality. I found it so tempting to want to touch each piece, as it was almost unbelievable as to what they could create out of wax. They state that they have the largest collection of encaustic/wax work in the nation (I dont even know if there is another such museum?) It takes from 1 to 2 hours to see the approx. 200 works of art in the Permanent Collection. There is also a side gallery of un-juried Members art, that is for sale. They were currently putting up a temporary exhibit. They also have a section where classes are taught. /// When you see their sign, go down a long gravel driveway to their parking lot. Note, they seem to be closed for a while during the winter months (at least in 2019) The $10 fee is nothing for what you will experience: This is well worth the visit, as you may never see such art any where else. (although they say it is growing in popularity.)

We tried the museum after a chance to tour and demo the art projects. The man that owns and runs it is amazing. Super friendly, passionate, a lot kind to kids and adults I highly recommend it.