Keith Haring’s City-Spanning Phoenix Takeover Almost Didn’t Happen
Keith Haring was a Phoenix teacher's second choice for a 1986 art workshop, but the invite made a major mark on the city.
January 14, 2025
public art
Mourn the Dead, Fight for the Living: How Should Salt Lake City’s Fleet Block Murals Be Commemorated?
The artists and families tied to soon-to-be-demolished Salt Lake City murals depicting people slain by police diverge on how best to preserve their legacy.
September 19, 2024
Succumb to Defeat or Persevere: Lessons from Rejected Public Art Proposals at the Arvada Center
I Regret to Inform You: Rejected Public Art explores the process of applying to and proposing a public art project, while grappling with the ubiquity of rejection.
July 23, 2024
Jeffrey Gibson’s Rainbow-Wrapped Venice Pavilion Has a Gritty Southwestern Origin Story
Meet the team behind the Santa Fe-based mural project that brought Jeffrey Gibson's Indigenous, queer dreamland to the Venice Biennale.
July 09, 2024
The Holland Project Shatters the “White Cube,” Curating Reno’s Skyline with Billboard Initiative
Prolific DIY arts organization the Holland Project takes its community-oriented message to the streets.
May 23, 2024
Reaching for the Light: Daniel Hawkins’s Wild West Dream of a Desert Lighthouse
Daniel Hawkins's surreal, fifty-foot Desert Lighthouse is a glowing, perplexing beacon in the desolate Mojave Desert, on the site of ecological catastrophe.
May 21, 2024
Wading in the Shallows: The Conundrum of Cj Hendry’s Public Pool
Cj Hendry's Public Pool delights some and confounds others, as it celebrates Las Vegas pool party culture while ignoring serious realities of PVC manufacturing, drought, and the wealth divide.
April 19, 2024
Memory and Meaning: Histories of Violence in Dallas’s Public Monuments
In this psychogeographic account, Emma S. Ahmad wanders the West End Historic District in downtown Dallas and considers how the various memorials reflect the shifting political landscape of the city.
April 05, 2024
How Commemorations to the Disenfranchised Have Forced a Reckoning with Utah’s History and Present
The narratives of the many racial and ethnic minorities whose experiences have indelibly shaped both Utah and American history deserve recognition and reckoning.
March 29, 2024
FeatureColoradoVol. 9 Living Histories
Whispers in the Walls: Navigating the Preservation of Colorado Murals Amid Urban Evolution
Amid rapid urban development, Colorado struggles with the preservation of murals as living testaments to cultural identity.
March 01, 2024
ArtistsArizonaVol. 9 Living Histories
Chip Thomas: Living Histories
Medical doctor, photographer, and public artist Chip Thomas has taken a historical turn in his work, building on deep, place-based research and activating architecture with archival discoveries.
March 01, 2024
Southwest Cities Win Millions of Dollars from 2023 Bloomberg Public Art Challenge Awards
Bloomberg Public Art Challenge funding will help Phoenix and Salt Lake City address climate change, and Houston examine homelessness, through temporary public art that engages artists and community members.
November 21, 2023
Hannah Eddy Paints Life and Death in Technicolor
Reno-based artist Hannah Eddy, in her bold paintings and murals, strikes a balance between fun visuals and fervent reminders of what we have to lose with climate change.
September 27, 2023
Groundswell at the Nasher Expands the Conversation Around Land Art to Include a Multiplicity of Perspectives
Groundswell: Women of Land Art features twelve artists—some names familiar, some fresh—all working concurrently yet in the shadow of their male Land Art counterparts.
September 18, 2023
Public Art That’s Not a Bummer: A Roundup of Denver’s Linger-Worthy Outdoor Artworks
Denver's public art collection boasts outstanding examples of monumental outdoor sculptures and includes works by Hebert Bayer, Sol LeWitt, Anthony Magar, Beverly Pepper, Bernar Venet, and more.
June 02, 2023
The Art of Collaboration at Santa Fe’s Railyard Park + Plaza
The Santa Fe Railyard Park + Plaza is a site of creative collaborations, with recent projects presented in collaboration with the Railyard Park Conservancy’s Railyard Art Project and local arts organizations.
June 01, 2023
2023 New Mexico Field GuideNew Mexico Artists to Know Now
Lynnette Haozous: 12 New Mexico Artists to Know Now 2023
New Mexico artist Lynnette Haozous (Chiricahua Apache, Diné, Taos Pueblo) combines art and activism with murals that bring representation of Native peoples and cultures into public spaces.
May 26, 2023
FeatureUtahVol. 6 Rooted: Poetics of Place
“This is the Place”: Utah’s Public Art as Religious Mythmaking and Resistance
A survey of Utah’s public monuments and architecture reveals devotion to the LDS faith, but various prominent examples of resistance to this narrative abound.
August 26, 2022
ArtistsNew MexicoVol. 5 Collectivity + Collaboration
Friends of the Orphan Signs
Friends of the Orphan Signs is a collaborative art organization that works with community members to bring their voices to empty billboards and signs in Albuquerque.
February 25, 2022
Utah’s Outsider Art Gilgal Sculpture Garden Might Be Bizarro Defined
Gilgal Garden in Salt Lake City is perhaps Utah’s most unusual homage to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
February 11, 2022
Ten Mural Artists Making their Mark in the Southwest
Mural artists in the Southwest 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.
January 10, 2022
Anonymous Art Collective Depicts Victims of Police Violence in SLC Murals
In Salt Lake City, Utah, murals of individuals killed by police have become a community site of remembrance and activism.
January 04, 2022
