“I’ll Be in Debt”: What it Takes for Artists to Show at International Biennials
Accepting an invitation to a major biennial is one thing, closing gaps in institutional support is another. Three Southwest artists sound off.
March 10, 2026
For Her First Major Museum Solo Show, Cara Romero Does It in Her Own Time
Over six years, artist Cara Romero and curator Jami C. Powell resisted the art world’s rush to capitalize on Native art. Their show just arrived in Phoenix.
March 05, 2026
Southwest Art News: March 2026
Texas university cancels ICE-critical exhibition, History Colorado expands its Borderlands initiative with Ken Salazar, and more top Southwest art news for March 2026.
March 03, 2026
Letter to the Editors: Paula Castillo on Moving Beyond “Hybridity” to Frame Mestizaje
In response to Joshua Ware's critical reflection on her Denver public artworks, Paula Castillo warns against flattening lived inheritance into a “surface mixture.”
March 02, 2026
Kay WalkingStick Takes on American Romanticism Using This Sharp Tactic
In a head-on collision with the Hudson River School at Heard Museum, the Cherokee painter sends Indigenous patterns bristling across the American landscape.
February 24, 2026
Nevada Artist Residencies: Neon Canyons to Open Skies
Experiences for artists abound in Sin City, but Nevada's remote residencies are just as dazzling. Discover nine programs that match any artist's pace.
February 17, 2026
How Phoenix Art Museum’s First “Local Art” Curator Built a Regional Launchpad
Christian Ramírez's scope is technically local at Phoenix Art Museum, but the assistant curator channels years of Southwest connections from Tucson to El Paso.
February 12, 2026
Charlie Chaplin’s Cabin, and Western Mythologies, Teeter on the Edge at Cookie Factory
In the cyclonic installation Rush, Gary Simmons critically blurs history, cinema, and Western propaganda. He also makes space for wishful grief.
February 05, 2026
SITE Santa Fe Taps London-Based Curator Ekow Eshun for 2027 International
The just-announced curator of SITE Santa Fe's next biennial reveals his multi-venue ambitions for a show punctuated by immersive "moments of encounter."
February 03, 2026
Southwest Art News: February 2026
IAIA avoids being federally "zeroed out," historic Native lawmaker and artist Ben Nighthorse Campbell dies, and more top Southwest art news for February 2026.
February 03, 2026
An Artist Who Put His Stamp on the Southwest—and Vice Versa
After Ed Mell’s passing, his Phoenix studio tells the story of a low-key artist whose Southwest images reached the nation on a postage stamp and beyond.
January 29, 2026
Guided by Pueblo Artists, Georgia O’Keeffe Museum Unclenches from Foundational Myth
Tewa artists and scholars offer a challenge—along with tea, letters, and a remarkable map—to an institution whose namesake claimed their ancestral lands.
January 27, 2026
In Cedar City, Contemporary Art Finds a Place among Indigenous and LDS Histories
Contemporary art is gaining ground in Cedar City, Utah. Inside the former Mormon frontier town, ten years after the founding of its flagship art museum.
January 22, 2026
An Artist Who Recasts Care as Ceremony, from Kitchen to Nail Salon
Tucson-based artist Anh-Thuy Nguyen declares "rice is mother" in her current solo exhibition. At her studio, a visit begins with a meal.
January 20, 2026
Unpacking the Uneasy Cultural Hybridity of Paula Castillo’s Denver Monoliths
In Paula Castillo's three new public artworks across downtown Denver, cultural fusion is an optimistic and ideologically risky proposition.
January 15, 2026
Sprung from Suburbia, Summer Raine Young Seeks Inherent Queerness of a Desert City
In cyanotypes and soft sculptures, genderfluid artist maps queer elements of Phoenix—from dilapidated signs to their own body.
January 08, 2026
Southwest Art News: January 2026
Roswell Museum's one-year update after major flood, three international biennials tap Southwest creatives, and more top Southwest art news for January 2026.
January 06, 2026
Why Write About Art at the End of the World?
At the unofficial wake of a legendary art magazine, a SWC editor weighs the real-world purpose of arts journalism.
December 18, 2025
Editor’s Picks: Southwest Contemporary‘s Winter 2025-26 Art Guide
The Southwest art world doesn't hibernate. SWC editorial director Jordan Eddy selects thirty-five exhibitions—and three hot trends—for the cold season.
December 16, 2025
Books + LiteraryInside Southwest Contemporary
Our Favorite Books (and One Apocalyptic Podcast) of 2025
Desperate times call for exceptional reads. Pick up an ode to "bad" writing, a novel set in the West Bank, and more 2025 book picks by the Southwest Contemporary team.
December 15, 2025
Cabin Fever? Apply to These CDMX Residencies and Escape Your Studio
If you're feeling cooped up, Mexico City delivers intense cultural saturation. Discover residencies that drop artists and curators straight into the action.
December 11, 2025
Will the Long-Awaited Las Vegas Museum of Art Serve Locals or Tourists? Here’s a Clue
A forthcoming Las Vegas museum may be linked to LACMA, but its preemptive show Family Album threads the needle between national and local dialogues.
December 09, 2025
Southwest Art Museum Shatters Its Permanent Display for a Grassroots Rebuild
In Colorado Springs, an art center's landmark reinstallation of its collection reconsiders the Southwest—breaking the old shape of regionalism in art history.
December 04, 2025
Southwest Art News: December 2025
Utah-born artist Alma Allen tapped for Venice Biennale, Colorado artist Danielle SeeWalker headed to the West Bank, and more top Southwest art news headlines for December 2025.
December 02, 2025
Southwest Museum Shop Gift Guide: Don’t Just Shop Local—Support Artists
Your 2025 holiday guide to affordable gifts by local artists at Southwest museum stores, in person and online. Shop Black Friday, Museum Store Sunday, and beyond.
November 25, 2025
Formulas or Feelings: Artists Tackle The Tough Question of How To Price Their Art
From pure intuition to a pricing calculator, artists and gallerists across the Southwest reveal how they actually put numbers on their work.
November 18, 2025
Colorado Artist Residencies: Mountains to Metropolis
From the High Plains to the Four Corners region, Colorado’s artist residencies are as rangy as its landscape. Find out which one is right for your practice.
November 13, 2025
Plot Thickens in Colorado Censorship Row as Artist—and Her Subjects—Speak Out
A Denver museum’s alleged act of censorship is stirring national debate, as stakeholders clash over who gets to tell the story—and who gets heard.
November 11, 2025
Manic ExxonMobil Impersonators Pitch a Rising Protest Aesthetic: Razor-Sharp Silliness
The Yes Men used slick branding to spoof ExxonMobil in New Mexico. Inside the cloak and dagger intervention by a wave of "laugh-tivists" with a serious cause.
October 30, 2025
Places Planted in the Mind: Jorge Ruiz Brings Together Cross-Border Towns, in Miniature
Jorge Ruiz intertwines Tucson and Nogales in his exhibition at Arizona's Mini Time Machine Museum of Miniatures. His "imperfect" process is grueling.
October 28, 2025
