Image: Georgia O'Keeffe Museum, Santa Fe
The Georgia O’Keeffe Museum will open its annual Art & Leadership show with a free public reception on August 7, bringing together work by local young artists at the Santa Fe Community College Visual Arts Gallery. The opening runs from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. MT, and the exhibition remains on view through September 2, 2026, with gallery hours Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
According to the museum, ‘O’Keeffe Art & Leadership Annual Art Show Opening Night’ is the conclusion of the Art & Leadership Program, the museum’s flagship summer art program for middle school youth. Each year, the program ends with a professional exhibition of work created over the summer, giving participants a public platform for their paintings, illustrations, sculpture, ceramics, fused glass, and other media.
The museum describes Art & Leadership as a long-running youth initiative founded in 1998. It was originally created to build self-confidence, self-esteem, leadership skills, and self-expression in middle school girls, and is now gender inclusive. The program centers on creativity through artmaking, theater, music, creative writing, and self-expression, and is led by museum staff, program leaders, interns, and teaching artists.
This year’s show is offered in partnership with the Santa Fe Community College Department of Fine Arts. The exhibition takes place inside the Santa Fe Community College Visual Arts Gallery, located at 6401 Richards Avenue in Santa Fe. The museum notes that visitors should follow campus directions to the Fine Arts Center to reach the gallery.
The opening is free and open to the public, and the exhibition continues after the reception for daytime viewing on weekdays. The museum also lists support for the Art & Leadership Program from Diane Buchanan and Rick Andrew, the Andrew Family Foundation, Century Bank, Sheila Fortune Foundation, and Don and Cathey Humphreys and the Humphreys Family Foundation.
In its event materials, the museum says dozens of young artists take part in the program each summer. The 2026 exhibition brings their work into a public gallery setting after a season of instruction and shared studio practice, with the opening night serving as the first opportunity for visitors to see this year’s selections at the Santa Fe Community College Visual Arts Gallery on August 7.
