Catch up on recent art news headlines in the Southwest region, including people on the move, grants, and more.
News
SWAIA Native Fashion Week Starts May 2
Southwestern Association for Indian Arts will kick off Indigenous Couture & Native Fashion Week Santa Fe with an evening reception at the Governor’s Mansion on Thursday, May 2. Runway shows will take place over the course of four days, from Friday, May 3 to Sunday, May 5. Organized by Indigenous fashion curator Amber-Dawn Bear Robe (Siksika Nation), the SWAIA Fashion Show debuted at Santa Fe Indian Market in 2014, hosting “four designers, twenty models and approximately 150 people in the audience.” Now, the showcase has flourished to become a standalone event, celebrating scores of innovative Indigenous designers with audiences surpassing 1,000 people, up to 100 models per show, and recurring coverage from Vogue and other fashion publications. Renowned names who have graced the runways over the years include Quannah Chasing Horse, Amber Midthunder, Kiowa Gordan, Jessica Matten, Eugene Brave Rock, D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, and Wes Studi.
Grants and Awards
National Endowment for the Arts Announces 2024 NEA National Heritage Fellows
The National Endowment for the Arts has recognized ten recipients in the folk and traditional arts as this year’s NEA National Heritage Fellows. Each fellow received a $25,000 award and will be celebrated in Washington, D.C., in Fall 2024. This lifetime honor recognizes individuals whose commitment to artistry fosters the preservation and development of diverse cultural traditions making up the fabric of the nation. Southwest-area recipients include:
New Mexico
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- Susan Hudson (Navajo/Diné), quilter, Sheep Springs.
- Zuni Olla Maidens, traditional Zuni dancers and singers, Zuni.
Texas
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- Rosie Flores, rockabilly and country musician, Austin.
Guggenheim Fellows for 2024 Announced
On April 11, the Board of Trustees of the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation announced the appointment of 188 Guggenheim Fellowships across fifty-two disciplines. Each fellow is awarded a stipend to pursue independent initiatives with minimal restrictions. Southwest-area recipients include:
Arizona
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- Safiya Sinclair, Phoenix, poetry.
Colorado
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- Raúl O. Paz-Pastrana, Denver, film/video.
- Emily T. Yeh, Boulder, geography and environmental studies.
- Brian A. Catlos, Boulder, medieval and early modern studies.
New Mexico
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- Susan York, Santa Fe, fine arts.
Texas
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- Andrew M. Riggsby, Austin, classics.
- Wang Xi, Dallas, music composition.
NEH Announces Next Round of Grants
The NEH recently awarded $26.2 million to 238 nationwide humanities projects. Southwest-area recipients include:
Arizona
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- Elizabeth Schwall, Flagstaff.
- Arizona State University, Tempe.
- Rudy Guevarra, Tempe.
- Tyler Peterson, Tempe.
- University of Arizona, Tucson.
- Wilson Silva, Tucson.
México
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- Patrick Inglis, México City.
Nevada
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- Nevada State Library and Archives, Carson City.
New Mexico
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- Jamie Bronstein, Las Cruces.
- University of New Mexico-Valencia, Los Lunas.
- Center, Santa Fe.
Texas
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- St. Edward’s University, Austin.
- Anna Lovatt, Dallas.
- Daniel Davies, Houston.
- Emire Yuksel, Houston.
- Jacob Baum, Lubbock.
- University of Texas-Permian Basin, Odessa.
- Prairie View A&M University.
- Victoria County Junior College District.
Tucson Museum of Art Awarded Grant from the Henry Luce Foundation
The Henry Luce Foundation granted $100,000 to the Tucson Museum of Art to continue and expand upon their existing platform of community-based curation. The museum will utilize the funds to curate a feature exhibition showcasing its Art of the American West collection (including a reinstallation of a collections gallery), to craft a collaborative anthology exploring the collection, and to support related public programs and interpretation. The leaders of this initiative are Christine Brindza, senior curator, Glasser curator of art of the American West, and Dr. Marianna Pegno, director of engagement and inclusion.
NALAC Announces Grant Awards for Latinx Artists and Arts Organizations
The National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures announced the recipients of the 2024 NALAC Fund for the Arts grants, totaling $510,000. NALAC awarded thirty-eight grants to artists and ensembles, and twelve grants to arts organizations. Southwest-area recipients include:
Arizona
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- Cultural Coalition, Inc, Mesa, folk and traditional arts.
- Safos Dance Theatre, Tucson, dance.
California
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- Alicia Rojas, Santa Ana, interdisciplinary.
- Andreína Maldonado aka Nina Limón, San Francisco, music.
- Chicano Park Museum and Cultural Center, San Diego, interdisciplinary.
- CubaCaribe, San Francisco, dance.
- Gabriela Garcia Medina, Los Angeles, film.
- Isaac Artenstein, Oceanside, film.
- Janeth Aparicio Vazquez, Los Angeles, visual arts.
- Ramon Ramos Alayo, Oakland, dance.
- Rebecca Basaure, Los Angeles, media arts/emerging practices.
- StormMiguel Florez, San Francisco, media arts/emerging practices.
- Yosimar Reyes, Los Angeles, literature.
Colorado
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- Dani Reyes-Acosta, Denver, film.
Texas
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- Abinadi Meza, Austin, visual arts.
- Conjunto Heritage Taller, San Antonio, music.
- Segundo Barrio Children’s Chorus, Houston, arts education.
Utah
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- Jorge Rojas, Salt Lake City, presenting and multidisciplinary works.
NMSU Art Museum Renews Mellon Foundation Grant
The NMSU Art Museum has secured a $300,000 grant renewal from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Funds will be allocated towards supporting the museum’s general operations and major initiatives—including exhibitions, residencies, and other programs—over the next three years. Marisa Sage, director of the University Art Museum, highlights that “the UAM stands as the sole contemporary art museum in southern New Mexico, playing a crucial role in bridging connections across both tangible and perceived boundaries.”
RedLine Announces 2024 Arts in Society Grantees
RedLine has selected twenty-seven grantees for its 2024 Arts in Society grant program, receiving a total of $661,000 in funding. The Denver-based arts nonprofit awarded each recipient between $15,000 and $35,000, selecting artists and organizations based on their contributions and dedication to cross-sector initiatives such as wellness, environment, and other human service programs throughout the state.
Devon Dikeou Awarded 2024-25 Rome Prize in Visual Art
The American Academy in Rome announced the winners of the 2024–25 Rome Prize on April 25. Denver-based artist, collector, and zingmagazine editor and publisher Devon Dikeou is a Jules Guerin Rome Prize recipient and will pursue her AAR residency from September 2024 through July 2025. During this residency, Dikeou aims to study landscape and how Baroque master painters influenced the genre in order to reimagine these visions in her own installations and sculptures.
Leadership Changes and Appointments
Ucross Announces Two Leadership Promotions
Ucross, the artist residency program and gallery situated on a 20,000-acre ranch in Wyoming, announced the promotions of Caitlin Addlesperger to deputy director and Tawni Shuler to residency director. Addlesperger was formerly Ucross’s director of external relations, and will formulate and implement a five-year strategic plan aligned with the organization’s mission. Her breadth of experience spans nonprofit leadership, marketing, development, and community building. Shuler was formerly an artist-in-residence at UCross and joined the team as a residency manager in January 2022. As residency director, she will be responsible for maintaining and fostering arts and programming at the organization.
San Antonio Museum of Art Hires Associate Curator of Latin American Art
Kristopher Driggers will be joining the leadership team at San Antonio Museum of Art as the associate curator of Latin American Art on June 17. Driggers will lend his experience as associate curator of Latin American Art at the Tucson Museum of Art from 2022 to 2024 and assistant curator from 2019 to 2022 to the role. In light of the announcement, Driggers stated, “This curatorial role is especially meaningful to me because San Antonio is my hometown. Having grown up in a Mexican American family living just a few miles west of SAMA, I know that the objects stewarded by the museum tell stories relevant to so many communities of the region.”
