A Mission Impossible-Style Art Op Birthed One of the Largest Mural Galleries in the World
Street artists went vertical to enliven a levee in Pueblo, Colorado. As the project grew toward record-breaking scale, city officials swooped in.
July 07, 2026
Articles
The 48th Annual Whitehawk Show Brings Global Ethnographic Works to Santa Fe
The 2026 Whitehawk Show will showcase more than 130 vendors and two special exhibits featuring Aboriginal works and Navajo Germantown weavings, August 6-9 in Santa Fe.
July 07, 2026
Southwest Art News: July 2026
Denver museum workers ratify historic union contract, Dallas mural fight escalates to $25 million lawsuit, and more top Southwest art news for July 2026.
July 02, 2026
From Drag Racing to Drag Performance, New 516 Arts Exhibition Explores Route 66
As the iconic Route 66 reaches its centennial year, 516 Arts marks this momentous milestone with The Rest is Drag, the last exhibition before the art center moves to its new, expanded location.
June 30, 2026
Critics Called the Whitney Biennial “Weird”—These Southwest Artists Say That’s the Point
New Mexico–based besties Erin Jane Nelson and Sarah M. Rodriguez are both in New York's Whitney Biennial. They have notes on its critical reception.
June 30, 2026
Editor’s Picks: Southwest Contemporary’s Summer 2026 Exhibition Guide
As the nation marks 250 years this July, SWC arts editor Natalie Hegert picks thirty-two exhibitions that offer an antidote to the flag-waving displays of patriotism.
June 29, 2026
Nani Chacon’s Whitney Biennial Sentinels Tell of Southwest Extraction, and Rematriation
Nani Chacon's steel gods at the Whitney Museum match Manhattan's skyline. Now she's bringing the project home to the Navajo Nation.
June 25, 2026
In From the Mediterranean to New Mexico, Erin Currier Contemplates Paths to the Divine
In her latest series at Blue Rain Santa Fe, artist Erin Currier's subjects have touched the divine—and inspired the lives of others.
June 23, 2026
Alternative Arizona: 10 Hidden Art Spots in the Grand Canyon State
Arizona's underground art scene hides burlesque fashion shows, a world-class street art collection, a museum of miniatures, and more.
June 23, 2026
Southwest Contemporary Denounces ArtReview USA, an AI Slop Machine Victimizing Creatives
A shadowy outlet is scavenging content from reputable art publications. It's a striking example of an AI-driven scam targeting artists.
June 22, 2026
What Can We Learn From Artists Using Data As Material, Before the AI Age?
Run the Code explores technological obsolescence, interactivity, and the limits of software as an artmaking tool, revealing a data-driven approach to conceptual art.
June 18, 2026
Meet Exit, the Multimedia Collective Building Community for Borderlands Artists
Young borderlands artists often face a choice: leave or turn art into a hobby. A nascent El Paso group is shooting for a "second chance."
June 16, 2026
Utah Artist Fellowship Program Awards $90,000 to 18 Artists
The Utah Artist Fellowship Program recognizes exceptional creativity in Utah artists with $5,000 awards.
June 15, 2026
Dual Colorado Exhibitions by Ana María Hernando Unfurl Revolutionary Ideas in Tulle
In the wake of Argentina’s last dictatorship, Ana María Hernando's artwork only grew softer. Her practice is undergirded by "unstoppable" community.
June 11, 2026
For this Borderlands Museum, Moving Art Across the Line is a Moral Imperative
At the El Paso Museum of Art, a slate of binational projects blurs everyday logistics with ever-intensifying border politics.
June 09, 2026
A Boutique Fair with a Global Roster, Aspen Art Fair’s Third Edition Features 35+ Exhibitors
The Aspen Art Fair returns for its third edition at the Hotel Jerome with more than thirty-five exhibitors from around the world, July 29-August 1, 2026.
June 08, 2026
The Twisty Afterlife of James Luna’s The Artifact Piece is Poignant and Devastating
Native artist James Luna bequeathed his most famous performance to protégé Erica Lord. On the eve of a rare reprise in Santa Fe, she recounts its fraught evolution.
June 05, 2026
In This Film Noir–Themed Exhibition, That Shadowy Silhouette Is Your Own Reflection
Chase a Crooked Shadow, a blockbuster group show in Dallas, yanks a cinematic trope from the nostalgic fog into an equally murky present.
June 02, 2026
China Marks’s Lucid Perturbations Reconcile Beauty and Menace
Lucid Perturbations: The Sewn Drawings and Books of China Marks is an exhibition of 239 sewn works by China Marks at Zane Bennett Contemporary Art.
June 02, 2026
Calling All Creatives: NM CreativeCon Convenes the Creative Industries in Albuquerque
Join creatives, entrepreneurs, artists, organizations, developers, and community leaders from across New Mexico for a full day of learning, networking, inspiration, and opportunity.
June 01, 2026
Southwest Art News: June 2026
Border wall damages ancient Indigenous site in Arizona, Meow Wolf union votes on Santa Fe strike, and more top Southwest art news for June 2026.
June 01, 2026
Rocky Mountain Underground: Six Radically Remote Colorado Art Experiences
Quest to an “authentically dangerous” castle, a James Turrell Skyspace, a water tank-turned-recording studio, and other Colorado art experiences worth a long detour.
May 28, 2026
Clay, Connection, and Continuity
A collaborative set of four Pueblo jars by SAR Native Artist fellows headlines the auction at the School for Advanced Research's Annual Gala on Saturday, June 6 in Santa Fe.
May 26, 2026
Studio Visit2026 New Mexico Field GuideNew Mexico
Jake Trujillo: Neon Tonalist
With an electric palette and layered technique, Santa Fe–based painter Jake Trujillo gives familiar Southwest landscapes a surreal spin.
May 22, 2026
Field Report2026 New Mexico Field GuideNew Mexico
Field Report: Gallup, New Mexico
New Mexico’s “Carbon City” celebrates Native arts and traditions, vibrant galleries, and public art, carving its own path beneath the tourist economy’s glare.
May 22, 2026
Feature2026 New Mexico Field GuideNew Mexico
Adobe Eternal
This summer, Unearthing Futures / Desenterrando Futuros brings together six artists working in adobe, tracing the material from ancestral building tradition to radical contemporary art practice.
May 22, 2026
Feature2026 New Mexico Field GuideNew Mexico
Uncontainable!: Here’s Your Primer on New Mexico’s Ever-Expanding Performing Arts Scene
From flamenco in Albuquerque to jazz in Taos, a guide to the visionary venues and companies shaping New Mexico's performing arts scene now.
May 22, 2026
Feature2026 New Mexico Field GuideNew Mexico
30 Years In, Keshet Dance Company Has Perfected the Generational Handoff
At the Albuquerque nonprofit, students become performers, family members become colleagues, and a community built on access and belonging continues to grow.
May 22, 2026
Feature2026 New Mexico Field GuideNew Mexico
516 Arts at 20: An Albuquerque Anchor Prepares for its Next Chapter
After twenty years at 516 Central Avenue SW in Albuquerque, 516 Arts marks a flagship anniversary with a move to a new, renovated space.
May 22, 2026
From the Editor2026 New Mexico Field Guide
From the Editors: New Mexico Field Guide 2026-27
This edition of the New Mexico Field Guide is an invitation to take in a dynamic year of New Mexico arts programming—and then experience it in motion.
May 22, 2026
