FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

THE SANTA FE INVITATIONAL: A NEW MODEL FOR THE FUTURE OF CONTEMPORARY ART, COLLECTING, AND CULTURAL EXCHANGE

SANTA FE, NEW MEXICO — October 9, 2026 — The Santa Fe Invitational (SFI) announces its inaugural edition—a new annual international art fair taking place April 8–11, 2027, at the Santa Fe Convention Center. Bringing together approximately 45 leading international galleries alongside artists, collectors, institutions, and cultural leaders from Santa Fe and around the world, SFI reimagines what an art fair can be—creating an institution that extends beyond the traditional fair model and into the city itself, in collaboration with its cultural institutions, hospitality ecosystem, and broader community.

At a moment when the traditional art-fair model is being reconsidered across the global art market, SFI proposes a different future: not simply another fair, but a cultural summit built around cultivating the relationships, knowledge, confidence, and curiosity that allow collecting and contemporary art to flourish.

At its center is a highly curated marketplace; around it, an institution—creating a new model for how contemporary art can be experienced, discovered, and collected.

Presentations are built around a single artist, or a tightly conceived dialogue or grouping of two to three artists—intentionally creating deeper, more immersive opportunities to engage with today’s most compelling artistic visions and voices. Alongside the galleries, SFI brings together artists, collectors, institutions, and cultural leaders from Santa Fe and around the world for deeper engagement with individual ideas and practices.

At the heart of SFI is a commitment to cultivating the next generation of collectors. SFI creates an environment where curiosity is cultivated into knowledge, confidence, and discernment, and where meaningful relationships with artists, gallerists, and institutions deepen over time. Through exposure, education, dialogue, and meaningful experiences, SFI creates the conditions for new collectors to discover contemporary art, develop their own perspectives, and allow collecting to flourish.

“I believe the contemporary art world has an extraordinary opportunity to create a more human and relationship-driven model for how art is experienced and collected. The future of collecting begins not with acquisition, but with cultivating the capacity to see—to develop curiosity, knowledge, confidence, and discernment through meaningful encounters with artists, galleries, institutions, and one another. The Santa Fe Invitational was created around that idea. At its center is a highly curated marketplace; around it, we are building an institution designed to create the conditions for discovery, connection, cultural exchange, and collecting to flourish. We want to build something that begins in Santa Fe, connects to the world, and grows for generations to come.”

— Michael Phelan, Artistic Director & Curator, Santa Fe Invitational

SFI will be stewarded by the SFI Culture Council, a distinguished group of collectors, gallerists, institutional leaders, philanthropists, entrepreneurs, artists, designers, writers, and cultural leaders who have dedicated their lives to cultivating culture through creativity, leadership, and meaningful human connection. More than an advisory body, the Council serves as the human embodiment of SFI’s philosophy—bringing together diverse perspectives, relationships, and networks across contemporary art, collecting, philanthropy, design, and cultural leadership.

Additionally, SFI has established relationships with Santa Fe’s leading cultural institutions and organizations, creating opportunities for collaboration, shared programming, dialogue, and exchange throughout the city. Among them is SITE Santa Fe, with whom SFI will partner to present a conversation with two of the most influential voices in contemporary art and culture: Jerry Saltz and Roberta Smith.

The Santa Fe Invitational was conceived and spearheaded by Michael Stein, who has led the institution’s development and financing and is bringing together the investment and relationships necessary to bring the vision into being. Stein selected Michael Phelan to serve as Artistic Director & Curator, entrusting him with shaping the artistic and curatorial vision of the Invitational and its philosophy of cultivating the next generation of collectors through a more human, relationship-driven approach to contemporary art and collecting. 

Michael Phelan brings more than two decades of experience through and around contemporary art, including curatorial, advisory, collecting, and exhibition experience. His work has centered on bringing together artists, collectors, galleries, institutions, and cultural leaders through exhibitions, cultural experiences, and meaningful relationships—shaping the artistic and curatorial direction of SFI around a more human and relationship-driven approach to contemporary art and collecting. 

Michael Stein brings two decades of experience at the intersection of hospitality, culture, and community in Santa Fe through his ownership and leadership of Tesuque Village Market. Over that time, he has cultivated relationships throughout the city that have made the Market a gathering place for artists, cultural leaders, and communities from across Santa Fe and beyond—including an ongoing relationship with the Indigenous and lowrider community of Northern New Mexico. These relationships are part of SFI’s DNA—connecting contemporary art with the living cultural traditions and creative practices of Santa Fe. 

 “I’ve learned that culture happens when people have a reason to come together—and a place that makes them want to stay. For two decades, Tesuque Village Market has been that kind of place for me and for so many people in Santa Fe. The Santa Fe Invitational grows from that same belief in the power of bringing people together—artists, collectors, galleries, cultural leaders, and communities—to share ideas, discover new perspectives, and create meaningful connections across cultures and disciplines. We want it to become part of the life of Santa Fe while connecting the city to a broader international conversation about contemporary art and culture.” 

— Michael Stein, Founder, Santa Fe Invitational 

WHY SANTA FE 

The world’s great cultural institutions are inseparable from the places that inspire them. The Santa Fe Invitational could have been imagined elsewhere. It could only have been built in Santa Fe. 

The Santa Fe Invitational is the first major international art fair of its kind in the Southwestern United States.

Few places in the world possess the artistic legacy, cultural richness, architectural beauty, and creative spirit that define Santa Fe. For more than a century, artists, writers, collectors, and visionaries have been drawn here—not simply because of its extraordinary landscape, but because of the culture that has flourished within it. 

Santa Fe offers a singular context for a new model of contemporary art, collecting, and cultural exchange—connecting the international contemporary art world with the extraordinary cultural ecosystem already flourishing here, across local institutions, artists, hospitality partners, and businesses throughout the city. Santa Fe has long been a place where artistic traditions, cultures, and ideas converge, with Native and Indigenous contemporary art forming an essential part of the city’s living cultural fabric. SFI will engage this extraordinary community through relationships with Indigenous artists, institutions, collectors, and cultural leaders—including the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA). Through site-specific projects, institutional collaborations, and other shared initiatives, the Invitational will create opportunities for dialogue and exchange between Santa Fe and the international contemporary art world. 

Reflecting the belief that meaningful cultural exchange happens not only within exhibition spaces, but through the places and relationships that bring people together, hospitality is essential to the Santa Fe Invitational experience. Through relationships with Santa Fe’s leading hospitality partners—including Bishop’s Lodge, Auberge Resorts Collection, and Four Seasons Resort Rancho Encantado Santa Fe—SFI will welcome collectors, artists, galleries, and cultural leaders into the life of the city. 

SFI has been built as an enduring cultural institution—one that extends beyond a single edition to support artists and galleries, cultivate future generations of collectors, strengthen cultural exchange, and contribute to Santa Fe’s continued emergence as a global destination for contemporary art and culture for generations to come. 

Further details on participating galleries, programming, and partnerships will be announced in due course.

Rooted in Santa Fe and connected to the world, the Santa Fe Invitational is building a new kind of cultural institution—one grounded in the belief that culture is not simply presented, but cultivated through the relationships we build, the curiosity we nurture, and the connections we create.

ABOUT THE SANTA FE INVITATIONAL 

The Santa Fe Invitational is a new cultural institution dedicated to the future of contemporary art, collecting, and cultural exchange. Rooted in Santa Fe and connected to the international contemporary art world, SFI brings together leading galleries, artists, collectors, institutions, and cultural leaders through a highly curated marketplace and an expanding program of exhibitions, conversations, collaborations, and cultural experiences throughout the city. Founded on the belief that collecting begins with cultivating the capacity to see, SFI is committed to creating the conditions for discovery, dialogue, human connection, and collecting to flourish. The inaugural Santa Fe Invitational will take place April 8–11, 2027 at the Santa Fe Convention Center in Santa Fe, New Mexico. 

For more information, visit santafeinvitational.com.

MEDIA CONTACT 

Talia Trauner 

SUTTON Communications 

sfi@suttoncomms.com 

+1 212 202 3402 

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