Swelling crowds and violent incidents during the city's monthly art walk has spurred Phoenix to reconfigure First Fridays in the Roosevelt Row arts district and return the event’s focus to the arts.
September 22, 2026
Tucson artists are reeling—and reminiscing—amid the displacement of a forty-six-year-old photography gallery with international clout.
August 27, 2026
With Artist Hopid Unveiled, the Museum of Northern Arizona celebrates the shared cultural voice of the groundbreaking Indigenous artist collective founded in the 1970s.
August 25, 2026
Since a seismic round of NEA grant retractions in 2025, arts organizations have overhauled funding strategies with stability in mind.
August 21, 2026
They were fast friends who started a frame shop in El Paso. Five years later, their "extra risky" move has paid off for the local creative community.
August 18, 2026
Santa Fe’s last video store, a nonprofit in Albuquerque, and an archive in Texas venerate and preserve analog media in the age of AI.
August 11, 2026
As the Rubin Center for the Visual Arts's first homegrown director, Andres Payan Estrada understands the opportunities and challenges of borderlands arts.
August 04, 2026
Pueblo leaders lobby for Chaco protections, Shepard Fairey unveils New Mexico murals, and more top Southwest art news for August 2026.
August 04, 2026
Colorado's Anderson Ranch Arts Center honored Marilyn Minter for its 60th anniversary, affirming its faith in artistic risk and grit-infused glamour.
July 30, 2026
NewsInside Southwest Contemporary
Southwest Contemporary announces a weekend of programming this September, encompassing a convening to consider the state of the Southwest art ecosystem and the second annual Art Party and auction in support of Southwest's independent art journalism.
July 28, 2026
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
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
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
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
At the El Paso Museum of Art, a slate of binational projects blurs everyday logistics with ever-intensifying border politics.
June 09, 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
When Will Durham realized Nevada's iconic neon signs were going dark, he started collecting them. Decades later he's opening The Light Circus Nevada Neon Museum in Reno.
May 13, 2026
A biographical show fortifies the legacy of visionary artist Leonard Knight in Ocotillo, California. If only his rainbow-hued magnum opus were as sturdy.
May 07, 2026
IAIA fights another proposed federal funding elimination, Acoma Pueblo challenges AI data center developer, and more top Southwest art news for May 2026.
May 01, 2026
Before a recent fall from grace, Chávez was a rare Latino hero in Southwest public art. Now, arts leaders are asking how to de-center an icon without obscuring entire histories.
April 30, 2026
Ephemeral Collective's roving performance festival in Moab holds lessons in pooling resources to shape a tiny counterculture.
April 23, 2026
After decades of decline and political inaction at Great Salt Lake, Olafur Eliasson flies in with a temporary public art project. Can this art-world Hail Mary provoke positive change?
April 16, 2026
As Phoenix overhauls its mural directives, local artists are weighing how more structure could professionalize—or narrow—the field.
April 14, 2026
New Mexico Governor vetoes arts-related funding, Colorado lawmakers propose artist-first business bill, and more top Southwest art news for April 2026.
April 01, 2026
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
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
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
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
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
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
