Southwest Contemporary’s most-read list for 2022 includes our 12 New Mexico Artists to Know Now announcement and our first longform feature.
Southwest Contemporary covered major regional ground in 2022—from Southwest-area artist and writer residencies to our debut investigative feature that dug into representation issues in Salt Lake City—and you read. Thank you, readers!
Our most-viewed articles this year also include outsider sculptures in Utah, the controversial firing of an Arizona arts leader, and a look back at a New Mexico artist gone too soon.
10. Ten Mural Artists Making their Mark in the Southwest
Southwest mural artists find inspiration in popular culture, social justice issues, and their own cultural heritage. Here’s a look at ten artists and what makes their work unique.
9. Critical Mass: MASS Design Group’s International Humanitarian Architecture Starts with Immersion in the Local
MASS Design Group, an international humanitarian architecture firm in Santa Fe, recasts architecture and design in the Southwest.
8. Southwest Artist and Writer Residencies with Fall 2022–Winter 2023 Deadlines
Southwest artist residencies in Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, and some beyond with deadlines between Fall 2022 and Winter 2023.
7. Anne L’Ecuyer Abruptly Fired from Arizona’s State Arts Agency
Arizona Commission on the Arts, which secured the state’s largest allocation of arts funding this past summer, dismisses executive director Anne L’Ecuyer less than a year into her term.
6. Meet Zara Kriegstein, the Forgotten Artist Who Spearheaded Santa Fe’s Most Embattled Mural
The recent destruction of Santa Fe’s Multicultural mural caused fierce controversy, but its little-told history reveals tough questions about authorship and cross-cultural collaboration.
5. In Memoriam: Tigre Mashaal-Lively
Memorial services for Tigre Mashaal-Lively, who made art about individual and collective trauma and healing, were scheduled for Friday, October 7 and Saturday, October 8 in Santa Fe.
4. A Rift Out West: Salt Lake City’s Arts Community Confronts Issues of Indigenous Representation at Local Gallery Modern West
Billy Schenck has made a successful career of cowboy-and-Indian pop-art imagery, but a recent exhibition of his artwork brings present-day debates over representation and authorship into the harshest of spotlights.
3. ABQ Small Businesses Fight Commission’s Decision to Remove Murals
To some family-run businesses, two murals by local Albuquerque artists are indicative of new creative energy in Old Town. To city officials, they’re out of character for the historic district and must go.
2. Utah’s Outsider Art Gilgal Sculpture Garden Might Be Bizarro Defined
Gilgal Garden, set in an inconspicuous section of Salt Lake City, is Utah’s most unusual homage to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
1. Announcing the 12 New Mexico Artists to Know Now 2022
Southwest Contemporary announces the 12 New Mexico Artists to Know Now 2022!
