Gallup’s WPA Art Collection: Exploring Past & Present Perspectives in a Virtual Art Exhibit

FAIN: MD-258841-18

gallupARTS, Inc. (Gallup, NM 87301-6205)
Rose Alexa Eason (Project Director: June 2017 to June 2019)

Development of a website showcasing Gallup, New Mexico’s collection of New Deal art.

gallupARTS proposes to design a website showcasing Gallup, NM’s unique collection of New Deal art. A New Deal Federal Art Center, Gallup is home to ~90 New Deal artworks, from paintings to tinwork light fixtures. Currently housed in four separate locations, this collection is disjointed and mostly inaccessible. It is largely forgotten/overlooked, and consequently underutilized as a humanities resource. The proposed project would digitally unify the collection, making it publicly accessible and able to be interpreted. Bringing together art historians, historians and cultural studies experts alongside web developers, designers and digital archivists, this project would also involve local artists, creatives and stakeholders in planning a creative, dynamic, community-based engaging virtual art exhibit, featuring both scholarly and creative content. The website will also function as a digital archive helping to preserve and protect the at-risk collection.