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.
News:
Utah-Born Sculptor Alma Allen Tapped for U.S. Pavilion at 2026 Venice Biennale
Utah-born, Mexico-based sculptor Alma Allen was confirmed by the U.S. State Department as President Trump’s pick to represent the United States at the 2026 Venice Biennale, where his biomorphic, large-scale sculptures will anchor a pavilion framed as showcasing “American excellence.” Alex Greenberger of Artnews called the abstract artist’s selection “deeply dispiriting… not because Allen’s work is bad… but because the work has nothing to say about the state of our country at the moment.”
After Vail Settlement, Artist Danielle SeeWalker Takes Free-Speech Fight to the West Bank
Denver-based artist Danielle SeeWalker (Húŋkpapȟa Lakȟóta) will travel to the West Bank in April 2026 for a multi-week residency with the Palestine Artist Consortium, creating murals and leading workshops with local women and children in refugee camps. She will fund the trip with part of the First Amendment settlement she reached with the town of Vail after it canceled her 2024 public art residency over her pro-Palestinian painting G is for Genocide.
Texas Drag Performance Law Revived, Raising New Fears for LGBTQ+ Expression
A federal appeals court cleared Texas to enforce its 2023 drag law SB 12, narrowing who has standing to challenge it and vacating a prior injunction that found it unconstitutional. The ruling could chill performances across the state—like those featured in our 2024 coverage of a Lubbock controversy—even as the court suggested not all drag shows are “sexually oriented” under the law.
Dallas Artist’s “Antifa Materials” Indictment Raises Alarm Over Criminalizing Political Literature
The National Lawyers Guild condemned the federal indictment of Dallas artist and green card holder Daniel “Des” Sanchez, who is charged for transporting a box of alleged “antifa” zines and pamphlets. The group argues that authorities are treating nonviolent political literature as evidence of extremism rather than protected speech. Sanchez’s case is tied to federal prosecutions following a July 4 shooting at ICE’s Prairieland Detention Center near Dallas.
Also:
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- PBS’s Peabody Award–winning series Craft in America will spotlight the Institute of American Indian Arts in its new hourlong episode “West,” premiering December 19.
- The Hot Topic Foundation donated $25,000 to the Institute of American Indian Arts Foundation, part of a $50,000 Native American Heritage Month gift shared with the Day Hope Eagle Project.
- The University of New Mexico Art Museum reports strong progress on its “Collections Year” initiative, a yearlong pause in exhibitions and programs that has allowed for major condition reporting, rehousing, and archival projects.
- The Palm Springs Art Museum’s appointment of chief curator Christine Vendredi as director has prompted trustee resignations and public accusations that the search was rushed and insular—claims museum leaders deny.
- Vogue profiled violinist and composer Laura Ortman (White Mountain Apache) who grew up in East Fork, Arizona, and now lives in Brooklyn. The story highlights her experimental sound and Indigenous influences ahead of an upcoming Carnegie Hall collaboration with the Kronos Quartet.
- The Desert Caballeros Western Museum in Wickenburg, Arizona, received a $20 million donation from longtime supporters Carey and Jack Sigler, one of the largest arts and culture gifts in state history. It will now be known as the Sigler Western Museum, and work will begin on a $30 million pavilion and museum complex.
- Following community advocacy, the Affeldt Mion Museum in Winslow, Arizona, has relabeled “The Big Rug,” an iconic 1937 textile by Julia Bah Joe and family, under its original Diné name: Diyogí Tsoh.
- Father-daughter art fair organizers Kevin O’Keefe and Briana Dolan, founders of the Reno Tahoe International Art Show, will launch the first Salt Lake Art Show at the Mountain America Exposition Center in Sandy, Utah, May 14-17, 2026.
- Ucross raised more than $1.4 million to support its Wyoming-based artist residency program at a November 6 gala and benefit at Post Houston.
- The Dallas City Council is debating whether to repair, sell, or demolish I. M. Pei’s 1978 Dallas City Hall, as preservationists circulate a petition to save the Brutalist landmark amid concerns over mounting repair costs.
- The Dallas Museum of Art and the Nasher Sculpture Center will co-present more than fifty works by Roy Lichtenstein in 2026, from a major joint gift by the Roy Lichtenstein Foundation.
Grants and Awards:
UMOCA and Warhol Foundation Launch Assemblage Art Fund in Salt Lake County
The Utah Museum of Contemporary Art and the Andy Warhol Foundation awarded a total of $60,000 to nine Salt Lake County artists and collectives for experimental, public-facing visual art projects. Inaugural grantees of the Assemblage Art Fund include Cara Despain, Punto de Inflexión, and Sara Serratos.
Southwest Artist Paula Wilson Named Anonymous Was a Woman Grantee
New Mexico–based mixed-media artist Paula Wilson is one of fifteen recipients of this year’s $50,000 Anonymous Was a Woman grants, joining Candida Alvarez, Park McArthur, Lola Flash, Sonya Kelliher-Combs, and other woman-identifying artists over forty.
Also:
- The Institute of American Indian Arts renamed its academic building the Robert Martin Academic Center in honor of president emeritus Robert Martin (Cherokee Nation), celebrating his eighteen years of leadership at a November 3 ribbon-cutting ceremony in Santa Fe.
- The Native Arts and Culture Foundation‘s latest Shift awardees are Yup’ik artist and poet Merna Wharton, Choctaw filmmaker and curator Colleen Shaw, Blackfeet/Bitterroot Salish filmmaker Brooke Pepion Swaney, and Kha’p’o/Tewa Pueblo sculptor Nora Naranjo Morse. Shift provides multi-year project support including $100,000 two-year awards.
- Ucross has awarded the inaugural Al and Ann Simpson Fellowship, created to support Wyoming visual artists, to land artist Jennifer Rife.
- New Mexico–based artist Esther Elia is among the twelve artists selected for the 2026 Arts/Industry residency at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center in Sheboygan, Wisconsin.
Leadership Changes and Appointments:
Ceci Moss Resigns as Director of Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art
Scottsdale Arts confirmed to Southwest Contemporary that Ceci Moss resigned as director of Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art on October 14, after just three months in the role. The organization plans to launch a search for a new museum leader in early 2026 while continuing with its current and upcoming SMoCA exhibitions. “We wish Ceci well in her future endeavors and are thankful for her time and commitment to the mission of Scottsdale Arts,” wrote Gerd Wuestemann, president and CEO of Scottsdale Arts, in late October. “SMoCA currently has one of its strongest sets of exhibitions on display.”
Desert X Marks 10 Years with New Leadership and an Expanded Desert Season
Desert X named New Mexico–born curator Kaitlin Garcia-Maestas as its co-curator alongside artistic director Neville Wakefield. It also appointed Melissa Netecke as director of development, signaling a new leadership chapter for the Coachella Valley–based biennial. For its tenth anniversary edition in 2027-28, the organization will shift to a longer fall-to-spring season with a tighter geographic footprint and more temporal, ecology-focused commissions that unfold with the desert’s changing conditions.
Also:
- The Albuquerque Museum promoted Albuquerque-born historian Alicia Romero, its curator of history since 2023, to head curator following a national search. She will hold the role while continuing to shape and update the museum’s historical narratives and collections.
- The National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures named San Antonio–based administrator and artist Mari Hernandez, formerly its deputy director and alum of its leadership institutes, as its new CEO and president following a national search.
Editor’s note: This story includes original reporting from Southwest Contemporary contributor Lynn Trimble, who confirmed Ceci Moss’s resignation from Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Arts.
