Canyon Road Contemporary Art, Santa Fe

Canyon Road Contemporary Art was founded in 1986 and occupies the historic Rios family home, an adobe building that retains the domestic scale and character of old Canyon Road. Its rooms and garden spaces display work by around 30 contemporary artists in media ranging from painting and sculpture to glass, ceramics, jewelry, and mixed media.

The collection includes both recognizable subjects and more experimental work. James Ayers creates detailed figurative and landscape paintings inspired by the history and cultures of the American West. Barry Thomas offers a more contemporary interpretation of Western life, while Noah Desmond uses expressive brushwork and intense color in his paintings. Visitors may also see Lorri Acott’s elongated figurative sculptures, which explore human relationships, compassion, and emotional connection.

Other artists demonstrate the gallery’s range of materials. Tim Church works directly on copper, using chemical processes to produce richly colored and textured surfaces. Doug Gillis creates kiln-formed glass wall sculptures that incorporate materials such as metal, while Lydia Piper also experiments with kiln-formed glass.

The displays change as new exhibitions and artist events are organized, so the selection may vary from one visit to another. Rather than concentrating on a single school or style, Canyon Road Contemporary Art brings together landscapes, figurative paintings, abstract works, glass, metal, and sculpture.