Founded in 1951, the Museum of New Mexico Press is the museum publishing arm of the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs. The Press's mission is to produce high-quality, culturally significant books that serve as outreach for New Mexico's museums by showcasing their collections and exhibitions. These are books that educate and entertain audiences about the arts, history, and cultures of New Mexico and the region.

Huichol Art and Culture: Balancing the World
Edited by Melissa S. Powell and C. Jill Grady

The Museum of New Mexico Press collaborates regularly with the four Santa Fe museums—New Mexico Museum of Art, the Museum of International Folk Art, the Palace of the Governors, and the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture—to produce books that serve as companions to important exhibitions and collections. Other museum partners include the National Hispanic Cultural Center (DCA), the Heard Museum, the Harwood Museum of Art, and the Millicent Rogers Museum. In addition, the Press is distinguished as a publisher of regional books that complement the disciplines of the museums of New Mexico and the Southwest.

The Museum of New Mexico Press has the distinction of being awarded a First Place Award three years consecutively (2005, 2006, 2007) in the prestigious American Association of Museums Publications Design competition.

In Fall 2007, the Press was gifted Red Crane Books, Inc. by Santa Fe arts patrons Michael and Marianne O'Shaughnessy. Founded in 1989, Red Crane published over sixty titles under the imprint, a diverse list including books on Hispanic and Southwestern art, cookbooks and bilingual literature and poetry.

MNMP titles are available in bookstores, museum shops, and libraries nationally and throughout the world.