STEMarts Lab is pleased to announce the launch of the STEMarts [AR] AstroTour, an evening of sky gazing and storytelling through art, science, and technology. This special event is part of our continued collaboration with the Harwood Museum of Art and UNM Taos, and is sponsored by the Lor Foundation.

The AstroTour will begin at 8:30 PM in the back courtyard of the museum, where guests are invited to settle in for a quiet reflection under the early night sky. Our guest storytellers — Dr. Julia Blue Bird, Lakota astrophysicist at the NRAO/VLA; Henrietta Gomez, Taos elder; and Arwen Hubbard, NASA Solar System Ambassador — will guide us through personal and scientific narratives that trace our connection to the stars.

In Taos, New Mexico, on July 12th, it will get dark enough for optimal stargazing around 9:30 PM, when astronomical twilight begins — the time when the sun is 12–18 degrees below the horizon. At this point, the event will shift to the front parking lot, where participants can explore a series of Augmented Reality Astro Stations created by the STEMarts Youth Ambassadors. Using your phone, you’ll point to the night sky to unlock animated overlays of constellations — offering artistic interpretations that blend astronomical science with speculative futures.

The AstroTour culminates with a telescope viewing station, where participants will have the opportunity to observe celestial objects up close and engage with Dr. Colin Nicholls, Associate Professor at UNM Taos; Dr. Julia Blue Bird, Lakota astrophysicist at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory/VLA; and Arwen Hubbard, NASA Solar System Ambassador.

This immersive sci-art experience was inspired in part by the exhibition Charles Ross: Mansions of the Zodiac, currently on view at the Harwood. Ross’s lifelong exploration of starlight, time, and planetary motion provided a creative spark for the student coders who developed the generative visualizations for the AR stations using P5.js.

This event is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served, and guests are encouraged to arrive early for a relaxed and thoughtful evening under the stars. We hope you’ll join us to explore the sky in new ways and to celebrate the creativity of our local youth.

The STEMarts [AR] AstroTours are made possible thanks to the Lor Foundation, with continued support from the Space Valley Foundation.

Join us from 4pm to 7pm the first Friday of every month for pay-what-you-wish extended hours at the museum!

Join poet Dan Beachy-Quick for an expansive two-day workshop inspired by the paintings of Charles Ross. Participants will grapple with what it means to make art of cosmic care and work towards making an art-piece (be it poem, mico-fiction, micro-essay, painting, pottery, etc.) that considers the larger mystery of the world.

Space is limited in this collaborative workshop that will take place in the Harwood galleries and studio. Basic materials provided. Ages 16+. 

Dates: August 9 + 10, 2025

Time: 9am-12pm. Harwood Studio open to participants after the workshop.

Charles Ross creates cosmic art—the stars are one of his primary cares, but not only the stars themselves. He works towards a complex understanding of cosmic pattern, and the hidden mutability in what seems, over the course of a single human life, unchanging and eternal, but is not. Drawing from the disciplines of fine art, philosophy, astronomy, and astrology, Ross is an artist who reminds us that consideration and constellation are cognate, and that to learn to think is also to draw a shape in the night sky that tells us the story of who it is we are. Using Charles Ross’s paintings as our most immediate inspiration and considering a number of fragmented texts from some of our most ancient philosophers in the Western tradition—Thales (credited with creating ancient astrology), Heraclitus, Anaximenes, and Empedocles—on our first we’ll discuss art and art-making, and work toward a generative sense of possibility for each one of us. The second day will create space for sharing and reflection with the goal of leaving with the inspiration we always seek but seldom find: an urge to make what art we make because the world needs it, and so do we. 

About Dan Beachy-Quick 

Dan Beachy-Quick is a poet, essayist, and translator, whose most recent book is How to Draw a Circle: On Reading and Writing (Michigan UP’s Poets on Poetry Series, 2024). His work has been long-listed for the National Book Award in Poetry, and supported by the Monfort, Lannan, and Guggenheim Foundations. He is Interim Chair of the English Department as Colorado State University, where he is a University Distinguished Teaching Scholar.

About Charles Ross 

Charles Ross (b. 1937, Philadelphia, PA) discovered his passion for making sculpture while studying mathematics at UC Berkeley, where he received his BA in Mathematics in 1960 and an MA in Art in 1962. Ross is a 2011 Guggenheim Fellow and recipient of the Andy Warhol Foundation Grant in 1999. He has also received grants from the NEA, the Thaw Charitable Trust, the McCune Charitable Foundation, The Frost Foundation, and many others for the construction of Star Axis. Ross has created 25 permanent solar spectrum artworks around the world including Solar Spectrum, at the Dwan Light Sanctuary, United World College, Montezuma, NM; Spectrum 14, Getty Center, Los Angeles, CA, 2024; Spectrum Chamber, Museum of Old and New Art (MONA), Hobart, Tasmania; Conversations with the Sun, Meiji University, Tokyo, Japan; and Spectrum 8, National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI), Washington DC. His artworks reside in the permanent collections of numerous institutions internationally, including the Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France; the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC; the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY; and the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota. 

Image Credit: Charles Ross, Mansions of the Zodiac, 1973-76/2012, acrylic paint and collage using bakelite powder xeroxes of Verenberg photographic star atlas images on canvas, 190 x 63.5 inches. Courtesy of the artist. © Charles Ross / Artist Rights Society (ARS), New York.

Join us for an in-gallery reading by our special guest, Poet and Scholar Dan Beachy-Quick.

About Dan Beachy-Quick

Dan Beachy-Quick is a poet, essayist, and translator, whose most recent book is How to Draw a Circle: On Reading and Writing (Michigan UP’s Poets on Poetry Series, 2024). His work has been long-listed for the National Book Award in Poetry, and supported by the Monfort, Lannan, and Guggenheim Foundations. He is Interim Chair of the English Department as Colorado State University, where he is a University Distinguished Teaching Scholar.

Image Credit: Dan Beachy-Quick in Marfa, by Kristy Beachy-Quick

Missed out on the prom experience you truly wanted?

Taos Pride’s Second Chance Prom is your opportunity to rewrite the night—on your terms! Whether you couldn’t attend with your dream date or just want a do-over, this is your chance to celebrate authentically with your chosen family. 💖🏳️‍🌈

Dress up, dance, and make the memories you deserve!

All are welcome.

Purchase Tickets Here.

We invite you to bring your most cosmic selves to a night at the museum unlike any other. We’re throwing a closing party for Charles Ross: Mansions of the Zodiac on September 5, 2025!

Ross’s’ work offers a mysterious, alluring backdrop for live music by Dallas Acid, an outdoor DJ set by pretty666, astrology readings by Sage the Cosmic, backyard stargazing, and a pop-up bar by Rolling Still Distillery. Take a break from dancing to explore the museum galleries, which will be open throughout the event.

Get your tickets online or at the door.
All are welcome!

Image: Star Axis (1971 – still in progress) Looking north at Star Axis, 1.5 hour time lapse star trails.
© 2024 Charles Ross / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photo by Charles Ross.

Join us in celebrating the opening of Pursuit of Happiness: GI Bill in Taos.

Flashback to post WWII era and come dance the night away with Swing music by Albuquerque based Burque Jazz Bandits.

This is event is free and open to the public.

Pursuit of Happiness: GI Bill in Taos refocuses the story of post-World War II artistic movements by highlighting those artists working, communing, and connecting in Taos from ​​1945 onward. These artists founded the next great wave of abstraction that took root in the region, bringing their vast creativity and international connections to the community. Highlighting works from Harwood Museum of Art’s permanent collection and sourcing significant loans regionally and nationally, this exhibition tells the story of how Taos contributed to conversations and explorations in the national art scene during the post-World War II period.