Lots of people put Deming down as a cultural backwater, but this museum must be seen. We like Deming, the restaurants, the people, the museum, the Rockhound Round-up! Three cheers for Deming.
We were in Deming for a day trip in March 2015. After lunch at Irma’s we decided to walk around the area and stumbled on the Deming Luna Mimbres Museum. There is no entry fee, but a donation is requested. It took about two hours to tour the entire museum. There are a wide variety of exhibits and something for everyone. It seems to be items collected from area residents and covers the period from the late 1800s to the present. The exhibits provide an introduction to the history of Deming through pictures, doll/toy collections, household goods, clothes, musical instruments, antique cars and other artifacts. The highlight of the museum is their collection of Mimbres pottery. The Mimbres lived in this area from about 950-1200 A.D. Most of the pottery is decorated with elaborate, beautiful geometric designs.
Many displays. No matter what your interest, there will be something there for you. Some of my favorites - medical display complete with an iron lung for a baby, displays for the New Mexico national guard who were subjected to the Batan death march, old clothing, antique china, antique dolls, and many more. No charge for this museum but am sure you will want to leave a donation. If you think you can absorb all this museum in one visit, you need to double your medication. Plenty of parking including for RVs.
Enjoyed touring this two story mostly volunteer run museum in an old armory building in downtown Deming. Admission is free yet donations are appropriate for the many different displays quite professionaly presented - including Mimbres Natives artifacts, theme rooms (Hispanic, Medical, LocalHistory), and an amazing array of rocks, in particular, thundereggs and geodes. There is a well stocked Gift Shop and the volunteer staff I met couldn't be any nicer - an excellent place to visit.
We were directed to this museum by a local vendor at the Las Cruces Farmer/Craft market and I am so glad we took his advice. After a very friendly welcome by a well-informed museum volunteer we journeyed into the past through the many descriptive displays. I particularly enjoyed the Mimbres exhibit that left me in awe of the amazing art work and pottery.This is definitely a must-see for those interested in history and past cultures.
We went to this museum just to have a look - no big expectations - and we were pleasantly surprised by the depth and breadth of their offerings! Great exhibit of Mimbres Indian pottery, some outstanding paintings (the one by Günther Widforss of the Grand Canyon is simply magnificent), collections reflecting the Wild West, and memorable exhibition for our veterans (I added my Dad to the memory tree). We highly recommend that anyone passing through Deming stop at this wonderful museum - it is a wonderful find!
Everyone we spoke with told us this museum is a "must see". Well they were right ! This is a free museum run almost entirely by volunteers. We're don't Usually visit too many museum but this had so many different rooms and all were displayed very well. It was quite an experience visiting this large museum.
The folks of the Deming area are keeping this wonderful building alive with donations from their estates. I especially enjoyed the Albee and Avon Collection. The docents are wonderful and very accommodating. A great little gem in the middle of the desert.
We were plesantly surprised that this was such a well annointed museum for such a small town. I was not expecting much when we went here. They have so many things. It was just one room after another filled to the brim with artifacts.....
Who would have thought the little town of Deming, NM would have such a fun museum. Set in an historic USO building, it specializes in prehistoric pottery, Mimbres pottery primarily, but also tons of Casas Grandes pottery. There are also lots of exhibits on local history, which goes back at least a couple hundred years. The exhibits are well-conceived and well-organized, and the staff is friendly and helpful. The only complaint we have is that we got there about 3:00 p.m. and the museum closed at about 3:45. We didn't realize it was closing so early until the lights started going out. So we weren't able to see all of the exhibits.