Catch up on recent art news headlines in the Southwest region, including people on the move, grants, and more.
News
Virginia Dwan Passes Away at Age Ninety
American art philanthropist, collector, and patron Virginia Dwan, the namesake for the Dwan Light Sanctuary near Las Vegas, New Mexico, passed away in early September in Santa Fe, according to several news reports. Dwan—in addition to designing and funding Dwan Light Sanctuary, a mediative space on the campus of United World College in Montezuma—financed land art projects such as Michael Heizer’s Double Negative (1969) and Robert Smithson’s Spiral Jetty (1970).
Dia Art Foundation Workers Unionize
Employees for contemporary arts organization Dia Art Foundation unanimously voted to unionize with Local UAW 2110 during a September 13, 2022, election. Hyperallergic reports that the unionized employees—who alleged low salaries, dicey job security, and paltry recognition—work in Beacon, New York, several other New York locations, and New Mexico, where Dia is charged with maintaining Walter De Maria’s The Lightning Field.
Ucross Set to Reopen Its Art Gallery
Ucross, known for its dynamite artist residency in Northern Wyoming, is re-opening its renovated Ucross Art Gallery housed inside of a big red barn. The space, which has been closed for approximately a year, is set to debut to the public on November 4, 2022, with the opening of Time, Mark, Memory: Ucross at 40, a Leah Ollman-curated exhibition featuring works by fifteen contemporary artists, including New Mexico creatives Michael Berman (Silver City), Munson Hunt (Santa Fe), and Katarina Wong (Santa Fe).
New Businesses/Organizations
Gone Tomorrow, Tucson
The new collaborative gallery, co-run by Taylor Marshall and Craig Johnson and located in Tucson’s historic warehouse arts district, shows works by established and emerging artists. The gallery is currently in-between shows—a Halloween-themed exhibition by Tempe, Arizona-based artists Maura Dixon and Hyde Groat is scheduled to open October 22, 2022.
Grants and Awards
Tulsa Artist Wins Joan Mitchell Fellowship
Shane Darwent of Tulsa, Oklahoma is one of fifteen recipients of the Joan Mitchell Fellowship for 2022. The coveted prize awards $60,000 in unrestricted funds to painters and sculptors.
VIA Art Fund Awards Two Utah Arts Institutions
Granary Arts in Ephraim and Utah Museum of Contemporary Art in Salt Lake City are among several small visual arts organizations to be awarded funding from the 2022 VIA | Wagner Incubator Grant Fund. The five arts organizations received a total of $200,000 in general operating support.
Phoenix Art Museum Receives $1 Million Grant from Men’s Arts Council
Men’s Arts Council, a Phoenix-based nonprofit, awarded the Phoenix Art Museum $1 million in funds to support free quarterly family days, free museum admission for Maricopa Community College District students, technology updates, education programming, and the rebooting of the Amplified music festival. It’s the largest grant in the council’s fifty-five-year-plus history, states a press release.
Leadership Changes and Appointments
MCA Denver Names Associate Curator
Leilani Lynch, previously a curator at the Bass Museum of Art in Miami Beach, is the new associate curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art Denver. Lynch is expected to start her role at MCA Denver on October 17, 2022.
Phoenix Art Museum Names New Director of Education, Engagement, and Community Programs
Paul A. Rogers, formerly a curator of public programs and education at the Museum of Art and Design at Miami Dade College, will be charged with looking after exhibition-related and artist-led programming, virtual engagement, and the Phoenix Art Museum’s volunteer educators, including its docent corps.
Lauren Camp Becomes New Mexico’s Newest Poet Laureate
Poet, visual artist, educator, and radio deejay Lauren Camp is the state’s second poet laureate, succeeding Levi Romero. Camp, who has published five poetry collections, including Took House and One Hundred Hungers, will serve a three-year term.
