A Year to Remember Many More Reasons to be a Member in 2022 It began in 1966, when Thomas B. Catron III paid the $10 annual fee for the Museum of New Mexico Foundation’s brand new membership program. The Santa Fe attorney (1922-2020) became the first official member of the institution he had founded four years earlier. That small payment would fuel a legacy of support for New Mexico’s largest arts and culture collective far into the 21st century. Sixty years later, the Foundation has raised more than $90 million in private giving from 25,000 donors and nearly 14,000 members dedicated to the wellbeing of the Museum of New Mexico system. Catron’s far-ranging vision established the Foundation as integral to the expansion of the museum system to include four Santa Fe museums, eight historic sites statewide and the Office of Archaeological Studies. While the State of
New Mexico funds building operations and staff salaries, Foundation support sustains exhibitions and public programs that distinguish these world-class cultural resources. As Catron said when launching the membership program: “The Foundation provides a way for private funds to be directed to three vital areas of cultural support: education, collections and exhibitions.” Now more than ever, there’s reason to join one of the largest membership programs per capita in the United States.
