Gallup New Deal Art

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Currently, Gallup’s collection of New Deal architecture, Spanish Colonial-style tinwork, oak furniture, murals, prints, western American paintings, and Native art (156 objects in total) is housed in six different locations which are not all publicly accessible. Through a multi-faceted, interpretive, and highly interactive website, gallupARTS hopes to restore the legacy of the New Deal, unifying the collection, making it widely available as an unparalleled artistic and historical resource, and using it to promote community building.

In 2018, gallupARTS received a $30,000 Digital Projects for the Public “Discovery” grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) to plan the Gallup New Deal Art Virtual Museum. 

In 2020, it received a $100K Digital Projects for the Public “Prototyping” grant to continue developing the Gallup New Deal Art Virtual Museum by building and evaluating a prototype.

In 2023, gallupARTS is proud to announce it has received  a $400K Digital Projects for the Public “Production” grant to build, launch, and distribute the Gallup New Deal Art Virtual Museum.  

The forth-coming Gallup New Deal Art Virtual Museum will contain both scholarly information as well as creative content, being designed by experts in collaboration with Gallup’s artists and community members.

gallupARTS Executive Director Rose Eason is the Project Director. 

INTERPRETIVE SPECIALISTS

  • Dr. Molly Medakovich, Ph. D. – Teaching Specialist for the Denver Art Museum, Affiliate Faculty at the University of Denver School of Art and Art History, and Adjunct Faculty at the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs
  • Micaela Seidel, M.F.A & M.A. – Community arts educator, curator, writer and editor
  • Madalena Salazar, M.A. – Freelance art historian, museum educator and grants administrator
  • Rose Eason, Ed.M. – Arts and museum educator 

EXPERT PEER REVIEW PANEL

  • Ms. Allison Johnson, M.A. Candidate in Community and Regional Planning at the University of New Mexico and LOOM Gallery Co-Chair
  • Dr. Kency Cornejo, Ph.D. – Assistant Professor of Modern/Contemporary Latin American Art History at UNM
  • Winoka Yepa, M.A. – Institute of American Indian Arts Museum of Contemporary Native Art
  • Kevin Brown, M.A. – Program Specialist for the Indigenous Nations Library Program at UNM

GENERAL ADVISERS

  • Ms. Carol Sarath, M.L.S – Secretary of the gallupARTS Board of Directors and freelance researcher and writer
  • Ms. Kathy Flynn, M.S. – Self-titled “New Deal Lead Detective” for New Mexico
  • Ms. Carolyn Milligan, M.F.A. – This grant builds on the decade of work Ms. Milligan did to archive Gallup’s WPA collection and conserve and curate the County’s portion of the collection.
  • Dr. Andrew Connors, Ph.D – Director of the Albuquerque Museum of Art and History

WEB DEVELOPERS 

  • Percent Invisible
    • Kevin Wolf, Web Developer
    • Kyle Gulau, Web Developer
  • Media Tonic 
    • Danielle Reilly Weed, Web Project Manager
  • Grey Dot
    • Brett Johnson, Web Developer

DIGITAL MEDIA ADVISERS

  • Tammi Moe, M.I.L.S. –  Director, Octavia Fellin Public Library

  • Suzanne Hammons – President of the gallupARTS Board of Directors and freelance web designer

The Gallup New Deal Art logo indicates the project’s goal to promote the historical value of Gallup’s New Deal art collection at the same time as advancing its contemporary significance. The image is an abstract take on the classic thunderbird, referencing the National Recovery Administration’s bald eagle logo and putting a Southwestern, modern spin on it.

In Summer 2023, gallupARTS is offering six FREE public tours of Gallup’s New Deal art collection. 

1. Collection Highlights
  • Check out major New Deal artworks, including a 2,000 square foot mural. 
  • Friday, June 2
  • 4pm 
  • Meet in front of the steps to the historic Courthouse (in Courthouse Square)
2. Gallup Through the Eyes of Lloyd Moylan
  • Explore one artist’s New Deal journey. 
  • Friday, June 16
  • 4pm
  • Meet at the entrance to the McKinley County Courthouse. 
3. Native New Deal Art
  • Take a look at a transitional and defining period in Native art. 
  • Friday, June 30
  • 4pm
  • Meet at the entrance to the Octavia Fellin Public Library. 
4. The What, Why & How of Western American Art
  • Dig into the origins of western American art.
  • Friday, July 14
  • 4pm
  • Meet at the entrance to the McKinley County Courthouse
5. The Art & Craft of the New Deal
  • See how the New Deal helped create a uniquely New Mexican aesthetic.
  • Friday, July 21
  • 4pm
  • Meet at the entrance to the Octavia Fellin Public Library. 
 
6. Collection History
  • Learn the story of Gallup’s New Deal art collection.
  • Friday, August 11
  • 4pm
  • Meet at the intersection of 4th St. and Coal Ave. in downtown Gallup. 

Want to tour Gallup’s expansive and impressive collection of New Deal art? gallupARTS offers customized Gallup New Deal Art Tours on a by-appointment basis. Please call 505-488-2136 or e-mail executivedirector@galluparts.org to discuss.

Check out virtual tours and talks produced in conjunction with the Gallup New deal Art project.
(Click thumbnail images to view.) 

If These Walls Could Talk: 
The Past, Present and Future of Lloyd Moylan‘s Southwestern History Mural
 
Take a “slow look” at a 2,000-square-foot mural painted for the WPA McKinley County Courthouse by artist Lloyd Moylan in 1939 and consider questions of authorship, representation and public art.
 
 
Then check out the New Mexico Tourism Department’s 360-degree image of the mural here: https://tourmkr.com/F16hiMTrOl/34423866p&227.39h&76.19t
 
 
J.R. Willis: Postcard Artist and Entrepreneur
 
Librarian and local historian Joe Sabatini chronicles the life and career of J.R. Willis, a compelling and problematic artist who helped establish Gallup’s art market in the early 20th century and who helped perpetuate and shape stereotypical perceptions of the Southwest through his work before, during and after the New Deal. 
 
 
 
 
Western Art in the New Deal Art Collection: What, Who and How
 
Learn about artworks in the Gallup New Deal Art collection, consider what (and whose) stories they tell about the past and present, and go behind the scenes of an online exhibition with art historian and museum educator Molly Medakovich.
 
Sample Gallup's New Deal Art collection:

The Gallup New Deal Art Project has been made possible iby
funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this project do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

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