As humans, we learn best when we don't realize that learning is taking place. We’re naturally drawn to hands-on displays and curious about reenactments. We can recall tiny details from those experiences more enthusiastically than the rote memorization of our school days.

Heather Reed is convinced that more people love history than let on precisely because they don’t realize they love history. She’s spent her career breathing life into dusty dates, artifacts, and historical personalities, then sharing that information under the guise of fun. As executive director of the New Mexico Farm & Ranch Heritage Museum in Las Cruces, NM, she continues that legacy, bringing her passion for teaching to this unique institution, inviting everyone to discover something new about the land beneath their feet.

Guests find a mix of indoor and outdoor exhibits spread across 40 acres, showcasing 4,000 years of the region’s farming and ranching history, from Indigenous traditions to the agricultural contributions of women. And, of course, there’s livestock, sheep and cattle breeds, some of which are native to New Mexico, as well as the ranch hands that care for them.

Farm & Ranch has a community center feel about it. On any given day, visitors explore the exhibits and interact with staff while area residents wander in to provide entries for the museum’s oral history project. If Heather had her way, every museum would feel like this: welcoming.

Plan a visit to New Mexico Farm & Ranch Heritage Museum. Las Cruces, NM, the next time you find yourself tooling around the southern end of I-25.

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

El Palacio - Spring 2021

Visit https://newmexicoculture.org for info about our museums, historic sites, virtual tours and more.

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Encounter Culture, a production of the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs, is produced and edited by Andrea Klunder at The Creative Impostor Studios.

Hosted by Charlotte Jusinski, Editor at El Palacio Magazine

Technical Director: Edwin R. Ruiz

Recording Engineer: Kabby at Kabby Sound Studios in Santa Fe

Executive Producer: Daniel Zillmann

Show Notes: Lisa Widder

Associate Editor: Helen King

Theme Music: D’Santi Nava

Instagram: @newmexicanculture

For more, visit podcast.nmculture.org.