EXPLORE BELEN

​Through the Flower Art Space is a hub for educational resources and creative opportunities that connect visitors to cultural institutions across the US.

In addition to exhibits relating to the history of artist Judy Chicago and her photographer husband Donald Woodman, as residents of Belen, NM, Through the Flower Art Space features changing art exhibitions and a video and book library.

Computer stations provide access to the Judy Chicago Portal, a collaboration between the three institutions that hold Chicago’s archives: Penn State University's Judy Chicago Art Education Collection, the Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America at Harvard University, and the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, DC.

Through these dynamic exhibitions and supporting programs, Through the Flower Art Space aims to serve the community as a cultural anchor for Belen's growing Arts District.

Books on Becker

The Friends of the Belen Public Library Bookstore

Thousands of books for $1 or less! 

Books on Becker, a nonprofit 501(c)3, is a charming secondhand bookstore in downtown Belen. It is a great place to shop for yourself and the readers in your life. We have gently used books in many genres and for all ages, and spread over seven rooms (yes, we have a kids room!). The nonprofit organization, Friends of the Belen Public Library, operates Books on Becker. Book sales help fund vital Library programs and materials. The Friends also provide four $1,000, Deborah Graham Scholarships to local graduating seniors who have been accepted at a college of their choice.

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Hardcover books, trade paperbacks, CDs, and DVDs are $1.00 each. Mass market paperbacks are only 25 cents each. Vintage and specialty books are priced individually. CASH ONLY.

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Hours of operation are:

Wednesday through Saturday, 1 to 4 pm

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Books on Becker is right next door to the Bugg Lights Museum in Belen. Our physical address is 513-B Becker Avenue in Belen, between 5th and 6th Streets. Free street parking is available.

Email address is booksonbecker@gmail.com

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Gaze Art Gallery

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Also home to the Howling Rose Apothecary. 
 

Guest artists and special events featured monthly.

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Hours

By Appointment

Friday: 11am - 6pm

Saturday: 11am-6pm

Sunday: 10am -4pm

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Red, green, turquoise, desert tan, sage green, purpled, peachy-red sunsets, the colors of our region, our foods and landscapes. An invitation to our creative senses and spirits. You will find that and so much more as you explore your artistic inclinations at the Belen Art League Gallery and Gifts, be it the gallery or website.

The Belen Art League is composed of people who share an interest in promoting and encouraging art in all its forms-oil, acrylic, pastel, photography, pottery and many others.  

Come see what’s behind our turquoise doors. We carry an exciting, changing array of art, at all skills and price levels. Experience traditional art in the spirit of the Southwest, as well as modern. You will find watercolors, pastels, oils and acrylics, earthy or brightly fired clay and porcelain works form pots to fountains, exceptional jewelry and rainbow hued fiber arts. Photography that captures and evokes feelings of places and things we might or wished we had experienced; finely honed woodwork, prints, whatever you can imagine. If it’s not there, surely we can create it for you! Many of our artists are pleased to do commission work.

Local artist Kelly Cross renovated the historic Belen Health Center on Becker Avenue in Belen, transforming it into a home and gallery space.

Studio 508 is not a retail business, and it’s not a normal gallery. It’s a private studio, and Cross loans the front of the building and its patio to local artists for art shows.

These art shows take place on weekends throughout the year, and you can find out about them on Studio 508’s Facebook page or by following the Belen Arts District on Facebook.

Cross invites local artists to display their work in the gallery, and he invites the public to visit his studio during one of these shows to view the wonderful art made in Valencia County and New Mexico.

The Belen Harvey House opened in 1910. It served Santa Fe Railroad passengers until 1939. It re-opened during World War II to feed troop trains, then became the Santa Fe Reading Room, a break room and dormitory for railroad employees' until 1980. Saved from demolition and restored by the citizens of Belen, it re-opened as a museum in 1985. The building looks much the same as it once did, but now there are permanent historical exhibits in the formal dining room and upstairs where the Harvey Girls' dormitory rooms were. Temporary exhibits are displayed where the lunchroom and kitchen once were.

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Managed by the Belen Public Library, there is a branch library at the museum that specializes in local, regional and railroad history. The museum also houses the Belen Model Railroad Club and its permanent model train displays. The old wood-lined newsstand is now the museum's store.

Many visitors like to sit in the shade and watch trains go by a few feet away. Others come for the annual Festival of Trees during the Christmas season. 

The City of Belen has been the caretaker of the Bugg Lights since May 2014. The display was created and displayed for over 40 years by Norman and Joyce Bugg, at their Albuquerque home. Since it was donated to the city, the display has been a Christmas tradition at the Belen Harvey House Museum.

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Because the display had to be put up and taken down every year at the Belen Harvey House Museum, display items began to break down over the last couple of years, due to weather and vandalism.

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The display has now been moved and will be on permanent display year round at a city-owned building, now called the Bugg Lights Museum, at 513 Becker Avenue. A grand-opening celebration was held from 5-8 p.m., Friday, June 21, 2019.

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There is no fee to visit the museum, but graciously accept donations. All money generated at the Bugg Lights Museum, goes into fixing, maintaining and growing the display.

The Bugg Lights Museum is open from noon to 5 p.m., Saturday and Sunday. Look for expanded hours starting this fall.