While Santa Fe may not be the site of the country’s first art colony (that’s in New York) or the third-largest art market (highly disputed), a fact-challenged tour guide we overheard was right about one thing: The city has a long and rich history as an artist community. Synonymous with Georgia O’Keeffe, Santa Fe became an art-world darling in the 1980s and ’90s, helped along by artist transplants like Judy Chicago, Bruce Nauman and Susan Rothenberg. Visitors today can browse exhibitions in nine museums and more than 250 galleries. These are a few favorite discoveries from my last trip.

Monroe Gallery of Photography

Specializing in 20th- and 21st-century photography, this downtown gallery showcases images “embedded in our collective consciousness,” and a visit is eye-opening and deeply moving. The owners, a husband-and-wife team with deep knowledge of the medium, have personal relationships with world-renowned photojournalists. Their gallery documents the highs and lows of our shared history through powerful snapshots in time. In a single visit, you might see how Tony Vaccaro captured the brutality of the battlefield and the beauty of fashion, how Charles Moore and Grey Villet snapped unsettling scenes from the Civil Rights Movement, and other notable photographers caught intimate moments with celebrities, athletes and heads of state. Taken together, the collection provides a chance to reflect on where’s we’ve been and where we may be going. Co-owner Sidney Monroe indicated that emotional reactions are commonplace here: “It is as it should be,” he deadpanned.