The Animas Museum - Building links to the past

Animas Museum is located in the historic 1904 Animas City School building at the corner of 31st Street and West Second Avenue. (970) 259-2402. Exhibits on local history and archaeology. Authentic turn-of-the-century schoolroom. Restored 1870s pioneer log cabin on premises. Museum gift shop. Research library and photo archives. Summer hours: May through October, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Winter hours: November - April, Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. www.frontier.net/~animasmuseum 

The Children's Museum of Durango -- 802 E. 2nd Avenue upstairs in the Durango Arts Center. (970) 259-9234. Wednesday - Saturday from 9:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m., Sundays 1-5 p.m. Adults, $5.50, children $4, seniors and children under 2 are free. Call for information about special hands-on workshops and events. www.childsmuseum.org 

The Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad Museum -- 479 Main Ave. (970) 385- 8854. Located in the Durango railyard roundhouse. The museum features a large collection of railroad memorabilia, full-size locomotives, historic rolling stock, maps, photos, artwork and gift shop. Museum hours 7 a.m. - 7 p.m. Admission is $5 per adult, $2.50 per child. Admission fees are waived for ticketed passengers.

Center of Southwest Studies is on the Fort Lewis College campus, located at the north end 1000 Rim Drive. 970-247-7456, Web site: swcenter@fortlewis.edu. Open Monday-Friday 1-4 p.m. and gallery tours by appointment. The Center of Southwest Studies, founded in 1964, is in a new $8 million, 48,000 square foot facility on the Fort Lewis College campus. Parking permits are required during the academic year but not in the summer. The Center features a 4,400 square foot gallery, a 2,000 square foot archives and special collections research library, and a 100+ seating lyceum for lectures and public programs. The gallery exhibits continually change with major traveling exhibits of photography and artifacts of the greater Southwest. Always on display will be samples from the Durango Collection ®, which represents 800 years of weaving in the Southwest with one of a kind, rare prehistoric and historic textiles from Pueblo, Navajo, and Hispano weaving traditions. Fort Lewis College has free tuition for Native American students who work at the Center and assist with curation and exhibit preparation. Additional exhibit cases are in the Robert Delaney Southwest Research Library, which has over 160,000+ photographs, hundreds of maps, and over 12,000 volumes on the Southwest. Visitors and researchers are always welcome.

Durango Art Galleries

Image Counts - 835 Main Ave. #108, (970)382-0055. Fine-art nature photography by owner/photographers, Jim and Eileen Baumgardt. Alpine photography by noted photographer, Larry Carver. Other local photographers, including Darel Crawford and Bill Proud also featured. Highest quality custom framing. Conveniently located in the Main Mall with free garage parking.

Open Shutter - 755 E. 2nd Ave., (970)382-8355. Featuring contemporary fine art photography from around the Four Corners and around the world. Also specializing in digital and film photography classes as well as regional and international photography tours. Photography books and cards available. Open Monday - Saturday 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. www.openshuttergallery.com 

Rain Dance Gallery - 945 Main Ave., (970)375-2708. Featuring American Indian sculpture, pottery, jewelry, weavings, baskets, Edward S. Curtis vintage photography as well as original paintings and one-of-a-kind home furnishings by renowned Western artists. Open Monday - Saturday 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. Sunday 12 p.m. - 5 p.m.

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