Diné artist joins fight to close uranium hauling loophole on the Navajo Nation, and more Southwest art news headlines for September 2024.
News
Diné Artist Launches Fundraiser to Support Protests Against New Uranium Hauling Through the Navajo Nation
Protests erupted this month on the Navajo Nation against the transportation of uranium ore from the newly reopened Pinyon Plain Mine near the Grand Canyon. Despite a national monument designation that bans new mining claims in the area, the Arizona mine continues to operate under preexisting rights and started producing uranium ore earlier this year. Diné artist Sabrina Matheus Manygoats launched a fundraiser in support of the protests in early August, raising $2,229 to date. Manygoats is known for working with antique uranium glass, which glows green under ultraviolet light, and collaborated with Chip Thomas on a recent installation at Albuquerque Museum. The protests reflect deep-seated fears rooted in the history of contamination from abandoned uranium mines in the region, despite the mining company’s assurances of safety.
Lubbock City Council Votes to Fund Security at First Friday Art Trail After Sparking Controversy Over Event
Last month in West Texas, the Lubbock City Council voted to cut $25,600 in funding for the local First Friday Art Trail, accusing the immensely popular walk of “promot[ing] the LGBT agenda” due to satellite events involving LGBTQ+ artists and performers. Now the city’s leadership has incrementally backtracked, voting to reinstate $5,000 in funding following hours of public statements from community members. The money will support security protocols at the monthly art walk, which became a greater concern after the initial vote for funding cuts. Glasstire reports, “Ultimately, the [Lubbock] Mayor proposed that security funding for this year be reinstated, ‘because of the temperature that has been increased, I’m concerned about how things might play out at FFAT and I’m a little concerned about our responsibility to them for that.’”
Art Historian and Curator Who Fostered the Legacy of Abstract Expressionist Clyfford Still Dies
David Anfam, a renowned art historian and former senior consulting curator at the Clyfford Still Museum in Denver, passed away on August 21, 2024, at the age of sixty-nine. Anfam helped the museum’s founding director, Dean Sobel, review Still’s collection for the first time after Denver was selected to receive it in 2007. He curated five exhibitions and co-curated four others at CSM, helping to solidify Still’s place in the Abstract Expressionist pantheon. Critic John Yau, a friend of Anfam, told Hyperallergic that the historian “started with no theories, and got all of his information from talking to people who knew the artist, from looking at the artist’s work, from reading anything and everything he could find written by the artist.”
Grants and Awards
MOCA Tucson Recognized as Sole Southwest Recipient of 2024 Teiger Foundation Grant for Climate-Conscious Curatorial Projects
The Museum of Contemporary Art Tucson is the only institution in the Southwest to receive a 2024 grant from the Teiger Foundation, which awarded a total of $3,925,000 to curators across the United States. This grant will support MOCA Tucson’s curatorial team in their efforts to integrate climate consciousness into their projects, as part of the foundation’s newly launched Climate Action for Curators program. In other climate-related grant funding news, earlier in August the Helen Frankenthaler Foundation awarded $3.3 million to arts organizations across the U.S. to support environmentally sustainable facilities improvements. Several institutions in the Southwest received funds, including New Mexico Highlands University and the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center.
Jeffrey Gibson’s $45,000 Sculpture Sale Boosts Record-Breaking $1.1 Million Fundraiser at 2024 IAIA Benefit & Auction
The 2024 IAIA Benefit & Auction raised a record $1.1 million to support scholarships for students at the Institute of American Indian Arts. Held in Santa Fe on August 14, the event attracted nearly 350 attendees. A highlight of the evening was the auction of Jeffrey Gibson‘s mixed media sculpture YOU’RE ALL I NEED TO GET BY, which sold for $45,000. In a video statement ahead of the sale, Gibson said, “The students who are attending IAIA—they really are those people who have made the choice to move forward as artists in the world, and we should give them all the support to make that as easy as possible for them.”
Southwestern Artists Scott Anderson and Joe Harjo Among 2024 Joan Mitchell Fellowship Recipients
The Joan Mitchell Foundation has awarded 2024 fellowships to fifteen artists, including two from the Southwest. Scott Anderson of Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Joe Harjo of San Antonio, Texas, will each receive $60,000 in unrestricted grants, spread over five years, to support their artistic practices.
Arizona Biennial 2024 Announces Artists Lineup, Highlighting Diverse Perspectives and Critical Conversations
The Tucson Museum of Arts‘s 38th Arizona Biennial, curated by Natasha Becker, has selected forty-one artists from a record-breaking 560 submissions. The exhibition will feature forty-two works that engage with contemporary social, cultural, and environmental issues. Notable participants include Safwat Saleem (who has previously appeared in the biennial), Granville Carol, and Heather Bentz.
516 Arts Selected for Andy Warhol Foundation’s Philanthropy Factory Initiative as New Director Leads Expansion
516 Arts in Albuquerque will benefit from the Andy Warhol Foundation’s new initiative Philanthropy Factory, which offers Warhol artworks for purchase with proceeds directly supporting the organization. This announcement closely follows the appointment of April Chalay as executive director, who will lead 516 Arts in its expansion efforts, including the development of a new downtown facility.
Leadership Changes and Appointments
SFAI Executive Director to Lead Santa Fe’s Midtown Arts and Design Alliance as Organization Searches for New Leadership
After serving for nine years as executive director of the Santa Fe Art Institute, Jamie Blosser will transition to a full-time role leading the Midtown Arts and Design Alliance early next year. Blosser has been instrumental in spearheading MADA’s development, working with multiple partners to create a new arts and culture center on the former college campus that is home to SFAI. SFAI is now searching for a new executive director to further the organization’s mission of supporting socially engaged artists.
Maria Hajic Retires as Director of Gerald Peters Gallery, Santa Fe Location to Close in September
Maria Hajic, the long-serving director of Gerald Peters Gallery, will retire later this year, marking the closure of the gallery’s Santa Fe location at Bandelier House on September 28. Hajic joined the gallery in 1998 and is credited with developing its naturalism offerings with a special focus on wildlife art. The nearby Gerald Peters Contemporary will remain open, along with the gallery’s New York location.
Marti Meyerson Elected Chair of SITE Santa Fe’s Board as Institution Prepares for 12th International Exhibition in 2025
Marti Meyerson is the new chair of SITE Santa Fe’s Board of Directors. She has served on the board since 2017 and succeeds Marleen De Bode. Meyerson will guide the organization as it prepares for the 2025 debut of the 12th SITE Santa Fe International, curated by Cecilia Alemani, the fourth curator to organize both the SITE International and Venice Biennale exhibitions.
