Jonson Gallery

The Jonson Gallery is a historic Pueblo Revival building on the campus of the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Completed in 1950 as a combination residence and gallery for the modernist painter Raymond Jonson, it served for decades as a center for modern and abstract art in the state while housing a major collection of Jonson's own work. In 2009, the gallery's collections were absorbed into the University of New Mexico Art Museum, and the building was converted to office space. The structure was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on February 22, 2002.

The Jonson Gallery was built in 1949-1950 from designs by architect John Gaw Meem, who had prepared the plans the previous year. Raymond Jonson, a modernist painter who would live from 1891 to 1982, used the building as his home, studio, and gallery. During his lifetime and after his death, the gallery became a significant venue for modern and abstract art in New Mexico. The building's importance was formally recognized with its addition to the National Register of Historic Places in 2002. The gallery's independent existence ended in 2009, when its collections were transferred to the University of New Mexico Art Museum and the building itself was repurposed as office space.

The Jonson Gallery held a large collection of Raymond Jonson's own works and functioned as a center for modern and abstract art in New Mexico. The collection's focus reflected Jonson's position as a modernist painter and his commitment to abstract art in a region more commonly associated with traditional and representational styles. When the gallery closed in 2009, these holdings were absorbed into the University of New Mexico Art Museum, where they became part of a larger institutional collection.

The specific works in the Jonson Gallery collection centered on Raymond Jonson's own paintings, though the sources do not identify individual titled pieces. The gallery's significance lay less in a diversified collection than in the concentrated body of Jonson's modernist and abstract output, accumulated over his long career. These works are now held by the University of New Mexico Art Museum.

The Jonson Gallery is a relatively sparse Pueblo Revival style building designed by John Gaw Meem, a prominent architect who also designed several other buildings on the University of New Mexico campus. The structure sits on a hillside, with one story above grade in the front and two in the back. The front elevation consists of a main horizontal volume with a centered front entrance flanked by asymmetrical windows, and a lower wing projecting to the west. Steel casement windows with concrete sills are used throughout. The upper floor housed Jonson's residence, while the gallery space occupied the lower floor. Multiple additions were constructed at the rear of the building over the years. The French Wikipedia source dates construction to 1949, slightly earlier than the 1950 completion date given in English sources.

The Jonson Gallery building is located on the main campus of the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, within Bernalillo County, New Mexico. It is no longer open to the public as a gallery. Since 2009, the building has served as office space, and its art collections have been transferred to the University of New Mexico Art Museum. The structure remains listed on the National Register of Historic Places.