Special Exhibits

The Art and Artists of “The Indian New Deal”

Take a close look at the collection’s Native art and a deep dive into the origins, implications and complications of the era-defining “Studio Style.”
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Views on the Southwest

Explore different artistic approaches to landscape painting, (re)examine romanticized notions of the “cowboys and Indians,” and peel back the layers of history, authorship, and perspective in Western art.
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New Deal Nuevomexicano and Decorative Arts

If these walls and tables and chairs could talk . . . The furniture, wall paintings, and decorative arts in the collection and the example of Hispano artist Eliseo Rodriguez have a lot to tell us about the New Deal’s approach to “craft” and cultural traditions and the uniquely New Mexican aesthetic it helped to foster and promote as a result.
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Plate-by-Plate: The Navajo Blanket Portfolio

From 1939 to 1942, the Laboratory of Anthropology in Santa Fe, NM, sponsored a New Mexico Federal Art Project initiative to create a portfolio of prints of fifteen Diné (Navajo) weavings from its collection, hiring artist Louie Ewing to orchestrate the effort.
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Lloyd Moylan: The Evolution of Gallup’s Principal New Deal Artist

Two-thirds of the collection’s paintings and its 2,000-square-foot mural were created by an artist keen to experiment and philosophize. Trace the development of Lloyd Moylan’s artistic theories and their ultimate expression in a body of work that holds a mirror up to a racially divided 1940s Gallup.
Coming in September 2025

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Gallup and McKinley County are situated on the ancestral and current homelands of the Diné and Ashiwi peoples.

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Art Collection

Gallup’s New Deal art collection consists of over 120 objects created, purchased, or donated from 1933 to 1942 through New Deal federal art programs administered by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to support artists during the Great Depression.

View the Collection
View and search all 120+ objects in the collection.
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Facts & Figures
Get the 411 on artwork locations and provenance and collection statistics.
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History
Trace the origins and evolution of the collection.
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Themes
Browse by theme: landscapes, history paintings, Native cultures, and more.
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Art Exhibits

The Gallup New Deal Art Virtual Museum features three types of exhibits, combining traditional and non-traditional approaches to illuminate academic, creative, and individual understandings.

Special Exhibits
Take an expertly curated deep dive into southwestern and New Mexican art history.
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Creative Perspectives
Explore creative responses to the Gallup New Deal Art collection from contemporary artists, writers, poets, historians and educators.​
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Do-it-yourself
See how visitors like you have interpreted Gallup’s New Deal art and hang your own virtual gallery wall of artworks from the collection.
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Artists

Gallup’s New Deal art collection includes works by a demographically, professionally, and stylistically diverse group of named and unnamed artists.

Meet the Artists
Meet the collection’s 30 named artists and learn more about why some artists were not credited by name.
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Professional Backgrounds
Discover the roots of the collection’s artists, who came from a variety of schools, movements, and philosophies.
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New Deal Involvement
Learn about the New Deal art programs' approaches to ethnic and economic diversity.
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Artists as Workers
Dig into the nuts and bolts of New Deal art programs' employment practices.
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interactive Timeline of Gallup
By way of historic photos, time travel back to Gallup's founding in the 1880s and survey the town's development through the New Deal period in the 1930-1940s.
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Visitor Map & In-Person Tours
Get information on how to see Gallup's New Deal art in person through self-guided and guided tours.
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About Gallup
Check out all that Gallup has to offer and plan a visit!
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Teacher Resources
Incorporate the Gallup New Deal Art Virtual Museum into your teaching.
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Lesson Plans
Download free lesson plans for K–12 grade levels.
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Image Use Notice: Images of Gallup’s New Deal artworks are available to be used for educational purposes only. Non-collection images are subject to specific restrictions and identified by a © icon. Hover over the icon for copyright info. Read more