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Re-Discovering Gallup’s WPA Art Collection Digging into the Past with an Eye Toward the Future: Rose Eason
Digging into the Past with an Eye Toward the Future
A picture of Lloyd Moylan’s mural “Allegory--History of the Region” in the McKinley County Courthouse (painted in 1940).
A picture of the interior of the old McKinley County Courthouse (the Courthouse itself was built by the WPA and houses a large portion of the collection).
Lloyd Moylan “En Route to Ceremonial” Watercolor on paper, c. 1930s
By Rose Eason, Executive Director of gallupARTS
On your last visit to the Octavia Fellin Public Library, did you take notice of the paintings hanging on the walls? Has the finely carved oak furniture ever caught your eye? Watching the Nightly Indian Dances, you’ve probably enjoyed the beautiful backdrop the old county courthouse provides, but have you ever wondered about the building’s distinctive architecture? Were you aware that inside the old courthouse is a kaleidoscope of decorative wall paintings, tinwork light fixtures, colorful tiles, and stunning sand paintings?
Perhaps one of Gallup’s best-kept secrets is its significant and impressive collection of artworks made during the 1930s and 40s as part of FDR’s New Deal Program, one of the largest such collections in the State. Under the New Deal’s Works Progress Administration (WPA), Gallup served as one of four federal art centers in New Mexico. The history of the WPA in Gallup is alive today in the form of a suite of over 90 artworks—ranging from architecture to paintings to decorative objects to murals— housed in four separate locations: the Library, the old county courthouse, the Gallup McKinley County School District, and storage. A treasure trove of Depression-era art is hidden in plain sight! gallupARTS, a 501(c)3 arts nonprofit serving Gallup and McKinley County, now hopes to restore the legacy of the WPA by re-discovering and re-unifying these artworks, and re-gifting them to the public to whom they belong in the form of an online showcase. gallupARTS recently received a $30,000 Digital Projects for the Public “Discovery” grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) to design a one-of-a-kind virtual art exhibit of the Gallup community’s WPA art collection. gallupARTS envisions a community-oriented, informational, interpretive, dynamic, and creative web exhibit. Our work will be grounded in academic scholarship to highlight the historical, cultural, and artistic significance of Gallup’s WPA art collection. A multi-disciplinary team of expert humanities advisers including art historians, curators and historians from Gallup, Albuquerque, Santa Fe, and Denver will help guide development of the project.
Additionally, we will be taking advantage of the opportunities a digital platform presents to think outside the box. We will be collaborating with local artists, activists, community elders, and others to incorporate a myriad of viewpoints, insights, and ideas into the exhibit in exciting and thought-provoking ways in order to expand our understanding of the WPA artworks on view. The exhibit might, for example, compare and contrast artwork done by artists currently living and working in the Gallup area with that done during the WPA. It might also include music, audio oral history recordings, video, photographs, and/or other material from Gallup today that complements and sheds new light on WPA artworks. A major ethos of the proposed virtual art exhibit is to treat the WPA artworks not only as historical artifacts but as living objects as well, and, in doing so, to deepen our appreciation of the past as it relates to the present. Framing our work is the question: What can we learn from the past that will help us achieve a better present and Harrison Begay “Taking Down a Finished Rug” future? Casein on paper, c. 1930s One way to answer
this question is: a lot. Fundamentally, Gallup’s WPA art collection is one of remarkable stories. Through their art, artists endeavor to tell stories—ones of places, people, times, cultures. The results are not documentaries, but idiosyncratic expressions informed by individual backgrounds and presented from unique points of view.
True to form, Gallup’s WPA art collection is exceptional in terms of the diversity it represents. Gallup’s WPA artists include well-known painters of European descent from the East Coast and the West, mostly (and unfortunately) anonymous master Spanish/Hispanic woodworkers, recognized Native painters and (again, unfortunately) unnamed Native artisans. Importantly, Gallup’s WPA art collection is one of the few in the country that includes Native artist-created work. In terms of style, its artworks range from realistic to abstract, from decorative to historical, and from intimate to grandiose.
One of the directives of the WPA to the artists in its employ was to create an “American” aesthetic. Toward this end, the diversity of artists involved in Gallup’s federal art center is remarkable and meaningful. At the same time, by putting such a mix of artists and approaches in dialogue with one another, the collection necessarily raises complex issues of representation, authority, and perspective. Whose stories are being told? How are they being told? By whom? For whom? To what purpose? Who has the right to tell what stories? We’ve all heard the expression “history is written by the victor.” What voices are excluded? What would they say if given the opportunity?
We see Gallup’s collection of WPA art as the optimal context and venue not just for appreciating timeless artistry, but also for tackling tough issues raised by the past for the sake of community building. Our hope is that through the planning and development of this project featuring Gallup’s WPA art, we can, as community members, work together to uncover a richer and more inclusive Joseph Fleck “Pueblo Girl” (Westwind) Oil on Canvas, c. 1930s Jozef Bakos, “Cottonwoods” Watercolor on paper, 1938-39
understanding of our shared history that will translate into a more equitable vision of the future.
We are very much looking forward to getting the community involved in this project through a variety of public programs. Stay up-to-date with gallupARTS’ WPA art website project at www. galluparts.org/wpa-art or on Facebook @ART123 Gallery and @ArtsCrawl Gallup.
Free, Public WPA Art Tours
(no registration required!):
“Collection Overview: The 3 Stages of WPA Art in Gallup” Saturday, March 3rd from 11:00am - 12:00pm Octavia Fellin Public Library (meet in the Lobby)
Gallup’s History as told through WPA Art & Architecture Monday, April 30th from 4:00pm - 5:00pm County Courthouse (meet at the entrance to the new County Courthouse)
Native Artists & the WPA Thursday, May 3rd from 4:00pm - 5:00pm Starting at the Octavia Fellin Public Library (meet in the Library Lobby) and ending in the old county courthouse
