Roswell Museum’s one-year update after major flood, three international biennials tap Southwest creatives, and more top Southwest art news for January 2026.
News:
Southwest Presence Grows at Biennale of Sydney as Nikesha Breeze Joins 2026 Lineup
The Biennale of Sydney has added Taos-based artist Nikesha Breeze to its 2026 edition, Rememory, where they’ll debut their immersive installation Living Histories at White Bay Power Station in mid-March. The expanding roster also includes Southwest-based artists Cannupa Hanska Luger (Mandan, Hidatsa, Arikara, Lakota), Rose B. Simpson (Santa Clara Pueblo), and Daisy Quezada Ureña, selected by artistic director Hoor Al Qasimi.
One Year After Flood, Roswell Museum Faces $70M Rebuild and 11,300 Objects in Recovery
One year after a major flood, Roswell Museum reported in a newsletter that it is deep in collections recovery: about 5,300 objects are being treated at The Conservation Center in Chicago and another 6,000 remain in staff care. Most works are expected to be recoverable even as the museum continues fundraising to close remaining gaps for conservation and rebuilding that the museum estimates could cost up to $70 million.
Las Vegas Arts Nonprofit IndigenousAF Expands With New Arts District Space
Las Vegas nonprofit IndigenousAF is expanding from its Nuwu Art Gallery and Community Center with a new Las Vegas Arts District space called Wai. Set to open in early 2026, it will include a gallery, mixed-use space, and retail front spotlighting Native artisans year-round. The organization already offers below-market studio rentals amid rising district rents.
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- New Mexico is moving to safeguard the northern desert vistas that shaped Georgia O’Keeffe’s iconic Ghost Ranch paintings, with the New Mexico Land Conservancy and the National Ghost Ranch Foundation launching a 6,000-acre conservation plan to protect the land, water, and habitat in perpetuity.
- Taos-born, Santa Fe–based painter Lara Nickel was selected by artistic director Rosa Martínez for the 2026 Malta Biennale, where she’ll present her life-size installation 12 Horses—Homage to Jannis Kounellis at stables in Valletta. The exhibition launches in March 2026 under the theme “Clean/Clear/Cut.”
- Santa Fe’s LewAllen Galleries celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2026. Founded by powerhouse art dealer Elaine Horwitch in 1976, the gallery has changed hands twice: to Arlene LewAllen in 1991, and current owners Kenneth Marvel and Robert Gardner in 2003.
- Los Angeles gallery Cheremoya is relocating and relaunching in Santa Fe, a move first reported by Artforum’s Andrew Berardini during Miami Art Week and now echoed in the gallery’s own “one-way” New Mexico road-trip announcement
- Denver’s Mirada Fine Art Gallery, founded in Indian Hills and relocated downtown in 2020, closed on December 28. Owner Steve Sonnen cited a long-planned retirement and a lease timed to end in 2025.
- Glasstire newly reports that Dallas’s Holly Johnson Gallery quietly closed in mid-2025 after twenty years, shuttering without a public announcement. Its final round of shows ran through December 28, 2024.
Grants and Awards:
Nearly $300K in New Funding Boosts Indian Pueblo Cultural Center Initiatives
Albuquerque’s Indian Pueblo Cultural Center closed out 2025 with $299,700 in new grants, from organizations including the Henry Luce Foundation and Terra Foundation. The funding supports collections care, expanded exhibitions and staffing, and new Pueblo pottery, dance, and cultural tourism initiatives.
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- The Indian Pueblo Cultural Center was named Best Cultural Heritage Experience at the American Indigenous Tourism Association’s 2025 Excellence in Indigenous Tourism Awards, while its Indian Pueblo Entrepreneur Complex received the Economic Development Award at the 2025 New Mexico Infrastructure Finance Conference.
- The 2026 Santa Fe International Literary Festival announced that two of its featured speakers, Brandon Hobson and Mariah Blake, have been longlisted for the PEN America Literary Awards. The event’s newly released lineup also includes Judy Blume, Ocean Vuong, Isabel Wilkerson, and George Saunders.
- New Mexico Arts awarded ten arts organizations across the state Arts & the Military Mini-Grants of $2,500 each, including Center in Santa Fe, Off Center Community Arts Project in Albuquerque, and Otero Arts in Alamogordo. The grants assist organizations in creating and expanding arts programming for military connected participants.
- Santa Fe’s Art is Gallery received a Super Star award from the Santa Fe Gallery Association. Presented by executive director Lisa Keating, the award recognizes individuals or galleries for their outstanding support and promotion of the Santa Fe art community.
Leadership Changes and Appointments:
Wheelwright Executive Director to Depart New Mexico for European Museum Post
Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian executive director Henrietta Lidchi departs in mid-2026 to take a directorial role at three interconnected art institutions in Berlin. The Santa Fe institution begins a nationwide search for its next leader in early 2026. Meanwhile, Lidchi will continue overseeing planned exhibitions, including a two-part Emmi Whitehorse show and Outburst: Native American Art After Vietnam.
Denver Art Museum Curator Tapped for Taiwan’s Venice Biennale Presentation
Denver Art Museum curator Raphael Fonseca will spearhead Taiwan’s representative exhibition at the 61st Venice Biennale, working with Taipei-based artist Li Yi-Fan. Titled Screen Melancholy, the presentation is a single-channel video installation examining AI image-making and digital overload, on view at the Palazzo delle Prigioni in Venice starting in early May.
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- The Institute of American Indian Arts inaugurates President Shelly C. Lowe (Navajo) in late March, with two days of campus and IAIA MoCNA events including an academic symposium and an investiture ceremony.
- The New Mexico History Museum named Maria Sanchez-Tucker as its deputy director, tapping the former City of Santa Fe Community Services Department director to guide museum operations and cross-department planning.
- Albuquerque selected longtime public art leader Michael Ogilvie, formerly public art director for San José, to manage the city’s Public Art Urban Enhancement Division, overseeing a collection supported by the 1.5% for Art program.
Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story omitted Daisy Quezada Ureña in the list of Southwest-based artists featured in the 2026 Biennale of Sydney.
