Couse-Sharp Historic Site

The national treasure that is Couse-Sharp Historic Site encompasses a 2.5-acre campus featuring the homes, studios, and gardens of E. I. Couse and J. H. Sharp, two of the founders of the Taos Society of Artists (TSA). Formed in 1915 with the mission to create a uniquely American art and promote the native art of the region, the TSA focused on the vibrant Nuevomexicano cultures set in the dramatic landscape of the Taos valley.

Through the art and history of Taos, we seek to transform our shared understanding of the American story. Through its archives, collections, and programming, CSHS preserves and interprets Taos’ crossroads of cultures, promoting and facilitating research, education, and new perspectives on the Taos Society of Artists, early artists of Taos, and regional and Indigenous communities in relation to the greater story of the multicultural American West.

Interior of an art gallery with paintings on the walls and an easel displaying a floral painting in the center. A wooden balcony above with hanging textiles and a skull decor. Wooden flooring, windows, and display cases also visible.
Exterior of the COYOTE-SHARP HISTORIC SITE building with signage for THE UNDER RESEARCH CENTER TAOS SOCIETY OF ARTISTS, under a blue sky with some clouds.

The Couse Foundation

The Couse Foundation was established in 2001 to preserve the treasure the Site represents. Our purpose has since expanded: Initiatives include interpretive tours and open houses, exhibitions, fellowships and internships, lectures and panels, symposia, publications, demonstrations, Taos Pueblo Day School education program, and cataloguing, preserving, digitizing, and making publicly available a wide array of materials. Because of its authenticity and relevance, CSHS has become an international destination.

Image Makers for America: In Pursuit of a National Identity hangs in the The Lunder Research Center, a museum facility that incorporates the remnants of Sharp’s home and includes archival and collections processing and storage, a research library, and curatorial and administrative space.

Interior of an art studio with paintings on the wall, an easel with a painting, and a stage with a large framed artwork. There are shelves with pottery and a small table with art supplies.
A backyard with a well-kept lawn, flowerbeds, trees, and a stone birdbath in the foreground, and adobe-style houses with flat roofs and vines growing on the walls under a partly cloudy blue sky.

Our future

We envision residencies for scholars and artists, expanded K–12 education programs, major and traveling exhibitions, additional books and videos, preservation projects, and collaborations with scholars, artists, museums, gallerists, collectors, community members, and other stakeholders.

CSHS is conducting an endowment campaign, including a Legacy Society and Estate Art Program, to help sustain our vision for the future. Come pay us a visit in Taos and see for yourself what makes the Couse-Sharp Historic Site so special, and why the shared vision of the Taos Society of Artists remains relevant today.

A woman dressed in a colorful, possibly Native American-inspired outfit, performing a hoop dance outdoors on a grassy lawn. She is holding and spinning multiple hula hoops, with an audience of diverse onlookers watching behind her. In the background, there is a building with a unique curved roof, a large tree, and cloudy sky.
Donate to Couse-Sharp Historic Site today!

For information on non-cash ways to give, please visit our website

A garden with a stone pathway, lush plants, and trees surrounds a large tipi with a white canvas and wooden poles. A rainbow arches across a cloudy sky above.