Catch up on recent art news headlines in the Southwest region, including people on the move, grants, and more.
News
Meow Wolf Set to Open First Texas Location
Santa Fe-based art entertainment company is scheduled to open its fourth immersive art production this summer in Grapevine, Texas, located in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. This will mark Meow Wolf’s fourth permanent exhibition space, following new ventures in Las Vegas and Denver—SWC toured the latter and encountered a dizzying experience.
Houston’s Winter Street Studios Sustains Devastating Fire
Winter Street Studios, a 75,000-square-foot complex inside a nearly 100-year-old building that’s home to numerous artist studios as well as arts businesses such as Fresh Arts, was the target of a suspected arson that destroyed artworks and damaged a majority of the studios. Nearly 100 artist tenants are attempting to pick up the pieces from the December 22, 2022 blaze, according to PaperCity, which also reports that clean-up and structural repairs are in the works.
Desert X Names Participating Artists
The fourth edition of the site-specific art exhibition in the Coachella Valley will feature eleven artists from North America, Europe, and South Asia, and includes Mexico City artists Paloma Contreras Lomas, Mario García Torres, and Héctor Zamora. The show, produced by the Desert Biennial, is scheduled to run from March 4 through May 7, 2023.
Grants and Awards
Andy Warhol Foundation Names Grantees
Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts has announced the forty-eight organizations that will receive more than $4 million in financial support for artists, exhibitions, residencies, commissions, publications, and curatorial research. Albuquerque Museum Foundation, The Contemporary Austin, Currents/Parallel Studios in Santa Fe, and the Menil Collection and Project Row Houses in Houston are among regional winners.
President Joe Biden Appoints Albuquerque Museum Director to National Committee
Andrew Connors, director of the Albuquerque Museum, is one of eleven members appointed by President Biden to serve on the cultural property advisory committee, which was formed to “ensure that the U.S. government receives advice from diverse public interests in cultural property matters.” Connors is scheduled to start his term August 2023.
National Endowment for the Arts Announces First Round of Fiscal Year 2023 Grants
The NEA has given out more than $34 million in nationwide arts funding. Regional organizations that procured funds include Carson Valley Arts Council in Minden, Nevada, Craft Lake City in Salt Lake City, Dallas Black Dance Theatre, Ethiopian Community Television in Denver, IndigenousWays in Santa Fe, and the Loft Cinema in Tucson.
National Endowment for the Humanities Announces Latest Round of Funding
The NEH, led by New Mexico-born and Arizona-raised Shelly C. Lowe (Diné), has granted $28.1 million for 204 nationwide humanities projects. Southwest area recipients include University of Denver, Diné College in Tsailie, Arizona, gallupARTS in New Mexico, and Texas Tech University in Lubbock.
Winners Unveiled for 2022 Denver Mayor’s Awards
Denver Gay Men’s Chorus artistic director James Knapp, BIPOC youth-focused organization Sacred Voices, multi-disciplinary artist and youth mentor Danielle SeeWalker (Húŋkpapȟa Lakȟóta, citizen of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe), Gamelan Tunas Mekar, and The Word, A Storytelling Sanctuary are recipients of the 2022 Denver Mayor’s Awards for Excellence in Arts and Culture.
Santa Fe Film Institute Awards More Than $10,000 in Grants and Scholarships
SFFI granted $10,300 to filmmakers, college students, and high school students pursuing film studies in New Mexico. Award winners include Benny Apodaca, Aleigha Begay, Alan Domínguez, Isabella Edmo, Scott Hussion, Emma Meyers, Raúl O. Paz Pastrana, Owee Rae, and Colleen Thurston.
University of New Mexico Art Museum Receives Terra Foundation for American Art Grant
Terra Foundation gave $75,000 to aid in the installation of Hindsight/Insight 2.0: Portraits, Landscapes, and Abstraction from the UNM Art Museum Collection at the UNMAM in Albuquerque. The exhibition is scheduled to open spring 2023.
New Mexico Actors Lab Receives Grant Funds from Actor Hugh Jackman
Broadway and film actor Jackman has given NMAL a $15,00 grant to the Santa Fe theater company, which recently signed a long-term lease on its Lab Theater. According to a press release, Jackman’s association with NMAL stems from an approximately thirty-year friendship with organization co-founder and managing director Robert Benedetti.
Nevada Humanities Hands Out $194,000 in Grant Funds
The state nonprofit affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities awarded major project grants to thirty nonprofits, libraries, museums, and schools, including the Mob Museum and the Neon Museum in Las Vegas, University of Nevada Press, Reno, and the Dam Short Film Society in Boulder City.
Colorado-Based Arts in Society Provides More Than a Half-Million in Grants
Twenty-three Colorado artists and organizations, including Storytellers of the Ancestral Red Road in Pueblo and Blue Sage Center for the Arts in Paonia, will receive a total of $527,500 in funds via Arts in Society, which, according to a press release, “… supports the integration of arts and culture into multiple disciplines critical to the health and well-being of Coloradans.” The program—funded by a collaborative of private and public foundations and government agencies—is administered by Denver’s RedLine Contemporary Art Center.
Regional Artists Among United States Artists Fellows
Tucson poet Ofelia Zepeda (Tohono O’odham) and Tulsa artist, composer, and academic Kite (Oglála Lakȟóta) are two regional artists to receive $50,000 in unrestricted funds from United States Artists. The fellowship program is awarded to artists working in rural, suburban, urban, and tribal communities across nineteen states, Guam, and Puerto Rico.
Fort Collins’s Center for Fine Art Photography Names Fellow
Beth Johnston, an interdisciplinary artist and educator whose work focuses on environmental justice, has been named the recipient of C4FAP’s annual 2023 Denis Roussel fellowship, which provides a $1,500 stipend and a host of resources.
Leadership Changes and Appointments
Institute of American Indian Arts Creates and Hires for New Provost Position
Felipe J. Estudillo Colón (Laguna Pueblo), IAIA academic dean since 2020, has become the Santa Fe school’s new provost. In his role, Colón will be responsible for the academic and student services divisions, all three Master of Fine Arts programs, and the IAIA Research Center for Contemporary Native Arts.
A New Director at the Lilley Museum of Art
Stephanie Gibson has become the director of the Lilley Museum, located on the campus of the University of Nevada, Reno. According to Double Scoop, Gibson, who replaces Vivian Zavataro, started her new job on January 23.
Bernalillo Museum Names Replacement for Founding Director
Ashley Flores is the new director for the Bernalillo Community Museum, and takes over for founding director Emily Stovel, according to reporting by The Paper in Albuquerque. The museum, which focuses on area history, is located in Bernalillo, New Mexico, approximately eighteen miles north of Albuquerque.
The Blanton Hires a Curator from the Midwest
Blanton Museum of Art at the University of Texas at Austin has appointed Hannah Klemm as curator of modern and contemporary art. Klemm, currently an associate curator of modern and contemporary art at the Saint Louis Art Museum, succeeds Veronica Roberts. Klemm is slated to join the Blanton in April 2023.
