On September 1, an interview with UNMAM Collections Manager Andrea Perez-Martinez kicked off the fourth season of the podcast It’s (Probably) Not Rocket Science. The podcast series, produced by the University of New Mexico’s Marketing and Communication (UCAM) team, delves into fresh research around contemporary, intricate topics. The podcast highlights UNM faculty recognized worldwide as some of the top researchers in their respective fields.
In the episode, found here, as well as on Apple Podcasts and on Spotify, Perez-Martinez discusses collections stewardship, UNMAM’s Collections Year and how she uses research to ensure that works in the museum’s collection are handled properly and safely. The episode runs just under 25 minutes.
It’s (Probably) Not Rocket Science, with a new episode released every other Tuesday, explores some of the hottest and most complex topics impacting our society, through conversations with UNM faculty and staff.
The podcast’s website notes that its goal is to bring listeners informal conversations on a wide variety of topics featuring researchers from UNM, which is an R1 University with high levels of research activity. Exploring topics takes place through engaging discussions with research specialists and scholarly experts, giving listeners the opportunity to get to know UNM’s faculty and staff who have expansive topical knowledge.
While certain topics may seem difficult to understand, the podcast intends to demystify academic subjects to confidently declare, “it’s not rocket science.”
Podcast host Cameron Goeldner is a senior public relations specialist at UCAM. In addition to his work producing the podcast, he produces stories, photos and videos for the UNM Newsroom. University Communications Representative Anna Padilla helped produce the UNMAM episode. Thank you, Cameron and Anna!
Earlier this summer, the UNM Art Museum said goodbye and best wishes to Collections Associate Joseph McKee, whose four years with the museum, from student intern to collections professional, helped shape student-centered programs, strengthen collections stewardship and advance important initiatives. McKee has accepted a new position as Registrar for the Judy Chicago and Donald Woodman Studio. We’re grateful for all they’ve done for UNMAM!
From Student to Museum Leader
McKee joined UNMAM as a graphic design assistant in spring 2022, completing a practicum requirement for their museum studies minor. They also earned a bachelor’s degree in art history at UNM. During their practicum, they focused on creating UNMAM’s first printed visitor brochure and on designing an exhibition introductory panel.
Their skills quickly made an impact. They were hired as Coordinator of Student Engagement and Technology in spring 2023 before moving into collections work as Collections Assistant in July 2025 and later as Collections Associate. In each role, McKee helped shape programs that connected collections, exhibitions, research and creative practice while underscoring the museum’s mission to place students at the center of its work. McKee concentrated on creating meaningful opportunities for students as collaborators in museum work, from serving as the staff liaison for the Student Advisory Council (SAC) to helping train Collections Apprentices during Collections Year.
Joseph’s career at UNMAM illustrates what makes a teaching museum so special. They began here as a student and in the course of four years, embraced opportunities to grow along with the museum,” said UNMAM Director Arif Khan. “As our needs changed, Joseph was always willing to step into new roles and take on new challenges. On a small team, that kind of adaptability is invaluable.”
Creating Opportunities With and For Students
Among their numerous projects, the ones they’re proudest of are those created alongside students, they said.
One such example was the SAC, which gave students the chance to work directly with the UNMAM collection while gaining professional development. The group also served as an advisory group for UNMAM functions. Between fall 2023 and spring 2025, the SAC developed a reading list that paired with exhibition content, created an online reading list and playlist, organized a museum birthday celebration, produced two exhibition-inspired zines, produced a Beaumont Newhall Study Room guide and developed a pull list around a Lines theme.
McKee said that they’re especially excited about the zine linked to the UNMAM exhibition Hindsight Insight 5.0. Inspired by exhibition artworks, SAC created original scholarship and creative work. Their projects ranged from comics illustrated with handmade cottonwood tree ink to a reimagining of a 19th-century microscopic album through the collection and documentation of everyday trash.
McKee notes that the zine is an example of how collections can inspire unexpected forms of research and creativity. They credit participating students for the impressive outcomes and for creating reciprocity.
I learned that not only could I lead a group of students, but also learn from them. I really see the success of the SAC projects as a result of their thoughtfulness and hard work,” they said.
In their work with students, McKee says they focused on creating space for students to develop ideas collaboratively, conduct research and take ownership of the final product. “There’s a lot of space that students want to take up to do creative work that is not graded,” they said.
When designing a program or outreach activity, McKee said they asked themselves: “What would I have been excited to work on as an undergraduate student?” The answer led to projects such as those for the SAC, but also activities such as managing Here to Inspire: The UNM Art Museum Journal, which invited students to submit academic articles, and coordinating outreach activities.
“One of Joseph’s greatest strengths is their ability to connect with students in meaningful ways,” Khan said. “They helped build a culture at UNMAM where student ideas are valued and where students and staff work alongside each other.”
Associate Director of Operations Devin E. Geraci also reflected on the contributions McKee made to UNMAM.
“I had the pleasure of first working with Joseph as a student and graphic designer in 2022. Welcoming them back to the museum as a staff member and witnessing their growth as a peer, professional and trusted collaborative partner has been a privilege. Over the past four years, Joseph has brought innovation and creativity into every area of the museum. They have been a thoughtful advocate for the student experience across all levels and a valued mentor to our student employees,” she said.
Joseph will be dearly missed by everyone at UNMAM but their contributions will have a lasting impact on the museum’s legacy. As McKee begins the next installment of their career, the programs and student opportunities they helped build will continue to shape UNMAM in the future,” Geraci said.
Helping Guide Collections Management
During the museum’s 2025-26 Collections Year, UNMAM paused public exhibition programs to focus on collections stewardship. McKee first served as Collections Assistant before becoming Collections Associate.
Their responsibilities included helping supervise and train students hired as Collections Apprentices, who gained hands-on experience in object handling, condition reporting, cataloging and collections research.
Working with objects from across five centuries gave apprentices insight into all aspects of the care needed to steward a museum collection. McKee again credits students for adapting to highly technical work. “It’s not an easy feat to go from working at the front desk or as a gallery monitor to handling objects, conducting research or doing some very technical tasks.”
In the process, apprentices learned what McKee also came to understand: that collections management never ends. For example, projects that once seemed to be complete may require revisiting years later, given new information or updated records.
Such a realization also helped reshape McKee’s understanding of institutions, they said. “We think of institutions as stable, permanent things, but they’re actually very delicate.”
Supporting UNMAM’s Digital Future
During Collections Year, McKee helped lead the museum’s transition to The Museum System (TMS), a collections database that will improve collections management and lay the groundwork for the future launch of eMuseum, giving the public online access to portions of the museum’s permanent collection. Leading the onboarding of TMS started with the transfer of more than 30,000 object records and more than 12,000 photographs.
McKee also trained senior staff on the new system and designed customized workflows and database views to support museum departments. They led efforts to standardize object classifications and terminology, improving searchability, consistency and the use of culturally sensitive language throughout the database. Their work will make such information at UNMAM available publicly for the first time.
Additionally, McKee developed UNMAM’s first digital asset management and preservation protocols, helping the museum build the infrastructure needed to care for born-digital and time-based media. Their work included creating guidelines for file format, condition reporting and digital preservation, establishing new procedures for UNMAM’s first born-digital video piece, Rose B. Simpson’s Seminar.
“With their work on initiatives such as TMS and digital protocols, Joseph has greatly helped update the museum’s collections practices. They’ve also helped create a foundation for strengthening access to and stewarding the collection in the future,” Khan said.
Celebrating Collaboration
McKee says that UNMAM’s greatest strength is in its role as a teaching museum, with a collection that serves as a resource for collaboration and experimentation.
When they consider their time at UNMAM, arriving as a student employee and returning as a staff member, they note the trust the UNMAM team provided to support experimentation and imagine possibilities.
I’m really grateful to the team here for allowing me to take space and make space for all I was able to do.”
We’re grateful for all you’ve contributed, Joseph. We wish you great success in your new role! Thank you!
Although we didn’t offer public exhibitions during the spring 2026 semester, the entire UNMAM team has kept busy during the second half of Collections Year. Our collections team continued to catalog new acquisitions, conduct condition reporting, move objects and start administrative work in The Museum System (TMS), among many other activities, detailed in the linked story. We’re so proud of all we’ve been able to accomplish during this innovative initiative!
We’re equally proud that we welcomed 584 guests this semester, through visits to the Beaumont Newhall Study Room, including individual visits, class visits and open hours. We also hosted our first collaborative class with UNM’s museum studies program, “Contemporary Perspectives on the Art Museum (MSST 486/586).”
Our galleries are being prepared for the upcoming exhibitions, Tamarind Goes Global (1980-2020) and Abundance: New Acquisitions from 2016 to 2026. We look forward to opening these shows and welcoming you back in August.
Special thanks to Marketing Assistant and Collections Apprentice Chloe Cecil for her contributions compiling and writing this roundup!
Learn about spring 2026 semester highlights below.
This semester concludes our official Collections Year at UNMAM, and we’re proud to have accomplished an amazing amount of work and to have met our goals on several major projects. Special thanks to Collections Manager Andrea Perez-Martinez, Collections Associate Joseph McKee and Collections Technician Ethan Aronson for their continued leadership. We also celebrate and thank our Collections Apprentices, without whom we could not have accomplished all that we did.
Some of our major accomplishments during spring semester:
- Inventoried 865 archive folders.
- Inventoried 781 materials and documents, including paper ephemera, photographs, cassette tapes and CDs.
- Inventoried 460 Tamarind Institute prints.
- Cataloged 167 new acquisitions.
- Photographed 157 objects.
- Created 77 custom book enclosures.
- Updated 234 object condition ratings and reference images in The Museum System (TMS).
- Created 52 new object records in TMS.
- Edited 118 object records in TMS.
In January, UNMAM staff members, museum assistants and collections apprentices attended TMS (The Museum System) training, where they learned the particulars of our new digital database. The Museum System is an upgrade to our record management system that will boost the museum’s efficiency, as well as lay the foundation for eMuseum, which will allow the public to have online access to UNMAM’s permanent collection.
Led by Collections Associate Joseph McKee and Collections Apprentices Cruz Davis-Martinez and Misti Starkey, we made major strides in stewarding the Raymond Jonson Archive. The team created 77 custom book enclosures this term to house objects within the archive and completed cataloging previously uncatalogued objects.
Along with these major projects, the collections team has continued to prepare galleries for our new exhibitions opening this fall, Tamarind Goes Global (1985-2020) and Abundance: New Acquisitions from 2016 to 2026.
Even though our official Collections Year has come to a close, the collections team doesn’t plan to stop anytime soon. During this summer and next academic year, we’ll continue Collections Year stewardship initiatives that include a focus on photographing the UNMAM collection for eMuseum use.
Thank you to all the UNMAM staff and student assistants for your amazing work during Collections Year!
Fast fact: we handled more than 2,800 artworks with no damage and no injuries. We’re so proud of how that reflects the care every team member has taken along the way.
Read more about the totals for Collections Year from July 2025 to May 2026.
Support Collections Stewardship
If you wish to be part of UNMAM’s collections stewardship activities, sustaining the collection so future generations of students and community members can use and enjoy it, please consider a gift to our Art Restoration and Conservation Fund. Thank you!
The Beaumont Newhall Study Room maintained its busy pace this semester, welcoming 499 visitors in 40 separate groups, including UNM classes in drawing and painting, interdisciplinary arts, architecture, printmaking, photography, art history, art and ecology, and English.
The study room also hosted 12 class visits from UNMAM’s pilot museum studies course, “Contemporary Perspectives on the Art Museum (MSST 486/586).”
Jaune Quick-to-See Smith Open Hours
This spring, the Beaumont Newhall Study Room featured the work of the late Jaune Quick-to-See Smith and other artists in four open hours sessions. Open hours were presented in collaboration with Tamarind Institute’s exhibition, Jaune Quick-to-See Smith: All My Relations. Quick-to-See Smith (Salish and Kootenai, 1940-2025) was a distinguished alumna of UNM. She received a master’s degree in visual arts in 1980 and an honorary doctorate in 2008.
Delilah Montoya Study Room Visit
UNMAM was happy to host artist, educator and UNM alumna Delilah Montoya in March for study room sessions with UNM photography classes taught by Sara Abbaspour and Anna Rotty. Montoya’s visit aligned with the retrospective of her work on exhibit at the Albuquerque Museum, Activating Chicana Resistance, and offered an opportunity for her to connect with current UNM students.
We were honored to receive significant grant awards this semester. Both awards recognize our demonstrated excellence to uphold our mission as a teaching museum and our commitment to being an active educational partner at UNM.
Helen Frankenthaler Foundation $50,000 Award
UNMAM is privileged to have been awarded a $50,000 unrestricted grant from the Helen Frankenthaler Foundation to support exhibitions, teaching initiatives and institutional priorities. Director Arif Khan highlighted the impact the grant will have on UNMAM. “This generous grant from the Helen Frankenthaler Foundation is a welcome affirmation. It recognizes the role that UNMAM plays in creating collaborations and partnerships at and beyond UNM,” he said.
Frederick Hammersley Fund $650,000 Grant
UNMAM is honored to have received a one-time grant of $650,000 from the Frederick Hammersley Fund for the Arts at the Albuquerque Community Foundation. The gift will support acquisitions and conservation initiatives while honoring the legacy of Frederick Hammersley (1919-2009), an influential American abstract painter who taught at UNM.
The award is specifically designated for UNMAM to acquire visual art that reflects Hammersley’s dedication to experimentation, the exploratory nature of artmaking, mastery of artistic skills, and the practice of artmaking as a source of personal growth and community engagement.
Museum Studies Course
This semester, UNMAM and the museum studies department together launched a new course, “Contemporary Perspectives on the Art Museum (MSST 486/586).” Conceived and guided by Teaching Assistant Christina Cook, a graduate student in both art history and museum studies, and UNMAM Director Arif Khan, the class explored the roles and behind-the-scenes work in contemporary art museums.
Through conversations with curators, educators, collection managers, exhibition designers, directors and outreach coordinators, the course offered a firsthand look at art museum careers and presented a wide range of perspectives on contemporary topics facing art museums today.
Antonious-Tin Bui Workshop, ‘Objects of Meaning’
We were pleased to welcome artist Antonious-Tin Bui (b. 1992, Bronx, NY) as part of the 2026 Gale Memorial Lecture Series Out of Bounds, which explores expanded practice in contemporary art. Bui conducted a lecture and workshop entitled “Objects of Meaning: A Collective Altar of Story and Performance.” The event was a collaboration with the UNM Department of Art and was organized by Stephanie J. Woods, assistant professor of interdisciplinary art.
Ten students were selected to participate in the workshop, in which each brought an object of personal significance — an item carrying memory, identity, ancestry or imagination. As a group, participants created a collective altar as a temporary site of shared remembrance, reverence and reinvention. Through guided conversation, intimate storytelling and movement-based practices, Bui facilitated exploring how the objects could be animated through performance.
Support UNMAM Student Engagement
If you value activities like these, you may wish to consider a gift to our Student Opportunities Fund. Each gift directly helps UNMAM provide opportunities to students that they could not experience elsewhere.
Conferences and Professional Workshops
UNMAM staff members have continued to attend significant conferences and workshops throughout the semester. Director Arif Khan attended the 2026 American Alliance of Museums (AAM) Annual Meeting in Philadelphia, where he took part in the CEO & Directors Roundtable and focused on expanding UNMAM’s network. Khan also attended the 2026 Association of Academic Museums and Galleries (AAMG) Annual Conference at the University of Iowa in Iowa City; he continues to serve as an AAMG board member.
Khan, along with Senior Curator Mary Statzer and Graduate Assistant to the Director Christina Cook, attended the Southwest Regional Community Engagement Consortium (SWCEC) convening in January in El Paso, Texas. SWCEC focuses on bringing together faculty, staff, students and community partners in New Mexico, Texas, Arizona, Colorado and Utah to explore new ways universities and cultural organizations can collaborate for greater regional impact.
Finally, Statzer, along with Curator of Prints and Drawings Angel Jiang, attended the International Fine Prints and Drawing Association (IFPDA) Fair in New York in April.
Association of Academic Museums and Galleries (AAMG) 2026
Several additional members of our staff took part in the 2026 Association of Academic Museums and Galleries (AAMG) Annual Conference in June at the University of Iowa, Iowa City.
Associate Director of Operations Devin E. Geraci was a panelist for “Creative Problem Solving for Attendance Tracking in Academic Museums,” which focused on best practices for tackling and communicating visitation data in academic museums.
She also served on the AAMG 2026 Conference Committee and Awards Panel for the Distinguished Service Award and the Champion of Creativity Award. In addition, Geraci hosted a conference affinity dinner, “Empowering Student Employees.”
Four UNMAM team members presented the panel “Embracing Change: Collections Care Through Purposeful Apprenticeships.” Panelists were Manager of Visitor Experience and Collections Technician Ethan Aronson, Collections Associate Joseph McKee, Collections Apprentice and Marketing Assistant Idris Parker; and Collections Apprentice Misti Starkey. Parker served as panel moderator. Their discussion highlighted UNMAM’s student employee training program, the ways in which our Collections Apprentices helped meet Collections Year goals, what they learned in the process of completing those goals, and how both they and museum staff responded creatively to the challenges offered.
Milestones
We celebrated two major anniversary milestones for the UNMAM staff this semester. Our Director, Arif Khan, marked 15 years with UNM, and Coordinator of Exhibitions Steven Hurley celebrated 20 years with UNMAM. Congratulations, Arif and Steven! Here’s to many more at UNMAM!
Heather Kline, who served as Assistant to UNMAM Director Arif Khan, retired after nearly two decades of supporting student learning and collections stewardship at UNM, 10 of which were spent at UNMAM. Throughout her time at UNMAM, Kline coordinated class visits to the Beaumont Newhall Study Room, helped reimagine the UNMAM Clinton Adams Gallery as an interactive study space where classes could continue visiting UNMAM during the COVID-19 pandemic, and inspired UNMAM to expand study room activities into the galleries, among other accomplishments.
Congratulations, Heather, and happy retirement!
Staff Activities and Accomplishments
This semester, Manager of Visitor Experience and Collections Technician Ethan Aronson coordinated a panel presentation, “Embracing Change: Collections Care Through Purposeful Apprenticeships,” which was accepted for presentation at the 2026 Association of Academic Museums and Galleries Annual Conference in June. He also lectured on “Visitorship and Visitor Experience Public Programs” for “Contemporary Perspectives on the Art Museum (MSST 486/586),” a pilot course between UNMAM and UNM’s museum studies program, offered in collaboration with UNM’s museum studies program. In addition, Aronson was sworn in to a two-year term as UNM staff councilor for Precinct 4, representing staff in the College of Fine Arts and Tamarind Institute.
Associate Director of Operations Devin E. Geraci taught “The Business of Being an Artist (ALBS 2110)” for the third time through the UNM ArtsLeadership and Business (ALBS) program. The class is a “crash course” on a variety of business-related topics for entrepreneurial art professional hopefuls, including finance skills, branding and marketing, among other important business planning and career development strategies.
Additionally this spring, she presented her research proposal poster in the 2026 UNM Organization, Information & Learning Sciences (OILS) Student Research Showcase. Geraci is a doctoral student in the program. Her poster, “The Role of Engaging Leadership in On-Campus Student Employment Experiences,” aligns with her research, identifying how supervisors’ leadership behaviors may influence students’ perceived employability and academic engagement.
Geraci also reviewed two cycles of grant applications for the New Mexico Creative Industries Division.
Curator of Prints & Drawings Angel Jiang, along with Drs. Susanne Anderson Riedel, associate professor of art history, and Loa Traxler, director of the museum studies program, won a Teaching Allocation Grant from the UNM Center for Teaching and Learning to support a new travel seminar in the fall. Titled “Museums and Collections in Context (ARTH 421/529; MSST 429/529),” this first-of-its-kind, co-taught course will conclude with a week-long visit to museums in Los Angeles in January 2027. Jiang also attended the Renaissance Society of America annual conference in San Francisco, IFPDA and Brooklyn Print Fair in New York, and a study day for the exhibition Gothic By Design: The Dawn of Architectural Craftsmanship at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Additionally, Jiang’s research was published in the Hispanic Research Journal. The article explores the use and meaning of 16th-century grotesque ornament in Spain. [Citation: Jiang, Angel. “The Meaning of Ornament at the Ayuntamiento of Seville.” Hispanic Research Journal 25, vol. 5 (2025): 359–82.]
Jiang also served as co-curator with Curatorial Assistant Hannah Cerne for our upcoming exhibition Tamarind Goes Global (1985–2020), which they installed this spring and which opens to the public in August.
Collections Associate Joseph McKee delivered two guest lectures for “Contemporary Perspectives on the Art Museum (MSST 486/586).” The first explored the origins of computer art in the UNMAM collection. The second was a case study on the preservation of physical media and digital files using Drum Solo (2000) by Liliana Porter, a Tamarind Institute print that includes a CD, portable CD player and a pair of headphones. McKee also presented “Punchcards to Pixels: Computer Art at UNMAM” at UNM’s Tech Days in April. The presentation used works from the UNMAM collection to examine the origins, techniques and applications of computer-based art.
UNMAM Collections Manager Andrea Perez-Martinez got her hands dirty during spring break while attending the workshop Taller Internacional de Conservación y Restauración de Arquitectura de Tierra (TICRAT), an adobe restoration workshop in Arizona. Perez-Martinez, a master’s student in UNM’s Architecture, Historic Preservation and Regionalism program, was awarded a scholarship to attend the weeklong workshop, where she gained-hands on experience in the restoration of adobe from many skilled preservationists and networked with other attendees from throughout the region.
Our UNMAM Collections Apprentices and Assistants have had a busy semester! We are increasingly proud of all their accomplishments and honors.
Collections Apprentice AJ Calabaza was selected to participate in two student group exhibitions this semester: ¡Basta! at the John Sommers Gallery on the UNM campus and Augmented Spaces at UNM’s ARTSLab, as well as an installation work selected for display in the UNM art building. Calabaza will complete his Master of Arts in museum studies in the Fall 2026 semester.
Christina Cook, Helen Frankenthaler student assistant to the director, who is a dual master’s student in museum studies and art history, successfully taught the pilot course, “Contemporary Perspectives on the Art Museum (MSST 486/586).” In February, Cook participated in the Association of Academic Museums and Galleries (AAMG) Now and Next student summit, where she presented “The Art Museum as Academic Hub – Curriculum and Community,” focusing on the curriculum development process and how it fits into UNMAM’s philosophy.
Beaumont Newhall Study Room and Collections Assistant Gianna Ramirez was selected as a Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellow (MMUF) at the University of New Mexico. A second-year art history major with minors in museum studies and art studio, Ramirez is one of five students selected for this fellowship at UNM this year. Through mentorship, research funding and cohort-based community building, the two-year program prepares students of exceptional promise for Ph.D. study in humanities and related disciplines, and for future careers as university faculty members. Ramirez’s research examines the experiences of Chicano/a/x and Indigenous artists and explores how museums and academic institutions can better support future generations of New Mexico artists.
Ramirez was also selected as one of 12 students to attend a study abroad trip in Japan as part of the UNM Honors College “Arts and Culture of Japan” course. Prior to traveling, Ramirez took an eight-week course that focused on learning ways in which culture, religion/spiritual practices, traditions and arts are interrelated and expressed by both historical and contemporary artists. She spent two weeks in Kyoto, where she visited historical sites and museums, and collaborated with a professor and students at Kyoto University of the Arts.
Collections Apprentice and master’s student Rebecca Shalliker attended the College Art Association (CAA) conference in Chicago, Illinois, with members of her cohort, including Marketing Assistant and Collections Apprentice Chloe Cecil. Shalliker and Cecil were also selected for graduate assistantships in the Department of Art.
Cecil also kicked off her summer with a trip to Juneau, Alaska, to attend Celebration 2026. Celebration is a multi-day dance-and-culture festival put on biannually by the Sealaska Heritage Institute (SHI) to celebrate the Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian cultures of Southeast Alaska. Cecil, along with five other members of the UNM Graduate Art Association, was privileged to attend this year’s festival, where they were able to attend performances, visit local museums and develop relationships with local artists and professionals.
Marketing Assistant Lauren Thomson, a museum studies graduate student, attended the American Alliance of Museums Annual Meeting in Philadelphia in May, attending sessions on historic house museums, pollinator corridors and outdoor public art. She then conducted field research at institutions including Longwood Gardens, Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library, Brandywine Museum of Art, the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the University of Pennsylvania. Her research explores the university as an open-air museum, the role of living collections in institutional missions, placemaking, visitor experience and museum branding.
Graduating Graduate Students
UNMAM said goodbye to two of our wonderful graduate student assistants, Hannah Cerne and Rebecca Shalliker, this semester.
Hannah Cerne, a graduate student double-majoring in art history and museum studies (the first student to earn double master’s degrees in these disciplines), worked at UNMAM since the fall of 2023, when she joined as a museum assistant, later moving into the roles of study room and curatorial assistant. Cerne’s research focuses on modern and contemporary printmaking, specifically from Tamarind Institute lithographic publications. This interest led to a two-year internship at Tamarind Institute, as well as the topics of her theses. Cerne’s research culminated in her co-curation of the upcoming UNMAM exhibition Tamarind Goes Global (1985-2020), which explores several collaborations Tamarind Institute conducted with artists worldwide.
This semester, Cerne completed three extensive research trips to support her museum studies and art history master’s theses. She traveled to Santa Fe, N.M., where she interviewed Tamarind Institute master printers and visited the Institute of American Indian Arts; she visited the Harwood Museum of Art in Taos, N.M.; and in Washington, D.C., she conducted research at the Smithsonian Institution’s Archives of American Art. To support her work, she was awarded the UNM Graduate and Professional Student Association’s New Mexico Research High Priority Grant. Cerne has since successfully defended her theses and graduated from UNM.
Rebecca Shalliker, one of our collections apprentices who has been at UNMAM since fall 2025, graduated this semester with a master’s degree in art history. Shalliker is interested in 19th-century European and American painting and how social and cultural shifts fueled a growing interest in mysticism. In her thesis, “Symbolists Beyond the Magic: Appropriation in the Art of Elihu Vedder and Gustave Moreau,” Shalliker explored Symbolist painters and their participation in cultural appropriation as representative of the occult.
Congratulations, Hannah and Rebecca, on your graduation! UNMAM will miss you, but we can’t wait to see what you do with your very bright futures!
Graduating Undergraduate Students
Three of our undergraduate students, Cruz Davis-Martinez, Blaise Padilla and Misti Starkey, also graduated from UNM this semester.
Cruz Davis-Martinez has worked at UNMAM since the fall of 2023 as a museum assistant and collections apprentice. They graduated with dual bachelor’s degrees in studio art, where they focused on the iconography of New Mexico landscapes through drawing and painting, and psychology, as well as minoring in forensic science. In the future, Davis-Martinez hopes to attend graduate school and pursue a career in atypical forms of psychotherapy.
Davis-Martinez was also selected to participate in Cacophony, an exhibition for Professor John Abbott’s Advanced Painting and Drawing students and participated in the Rural Student Project (RSP) at UNM, where they completed more than 40 hours of community service work in the Albuquerque community. Davis-Martinez has been accepted into the UNM Master of Arts in Counseling program.
Collections Apprentice Blaise Padilla has been at UNMAM for only one semester, but she has made quite an impact. Padilla earned her BFA in studio art, concentrating on ceramics, with a minor in museum studies. Her practice focuses on ideas of nature, the human form and feelings of comfort through both functional and sculptural forms.
Misti Starkey, a collections apprentice who has worked at UNMAM since fall of 2024, graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Interdisciplinary Art, focused on museum studies and costume design. This semester, Starkey has focused on working in the Raymond Jonson Archive at UNMAM. Luckily, we aren’t saying goodbye to Misti just yet. In the fall, Starkey will also begin her master’s in museum studies here at UNM.
Congratulations to Cruz, Blaise, and Misti!
With the close of the spring semester, UNMAM’s pilot course developed in collaboration with the UNM Museum Studies Program, “Contemporary Perspectives on the Art Museum,” (MSST 486/586) also wrapped up.
The one-credit course introduced students to the wide range of roles and behind-the-scenes work in contemporary art museums. Designed to help museum studies students better understand both practicum opportunities and professional pathways, the course offered an inside look at museum careers and the issues shaping museums today.
Exploring Museum Careers and Current Issues
Through conversations with museum professionals, including directors, curators, collection managers and exhibition designers – many of them UNMAM staff members – students explored topics such as curation in the academic museum, diversity in collections management, digital time-based media evaluation and management, and New Mexico’s role in the global art world.
The seven students enrolled in the course leave with new professional connections across the area’s museum community and a broader understanding of careers in museums and cultural work.
Loa Traxler, Director of UNM’s Museum Studies Program, was instructor of record, with Christina Cook as Teaching Assistant. Cook is the Graduate Assistant to UNMAM Director Arif Khan and a Hibben Fellow in the UNM Museum Studies Program. Cook explained the impetus to create the class. “When we were thinking about how to deeply engage students at the art museum, this course felt like a natural fit – the art museum can be a hub for academic discussion, experience-based learning and professional development. As a student, the opportunity to design this course was incredible; how often do you get to make a class you want to take yourself? Thanks again to UNMAM, our partner organizations, and my fellow students for your trust!”
Khan notes that the course reinforced UNMAM’s role as a teaching museum that supports students academically and professionally. “We’ve heard from students that the course exceeded their expectations and that they wish it could have been longer. That kind of feedback affirms the role UNMAM plays as an active partner in their education,” he said.
Learning Beyond the Classroom
To showcase a variety of institutional models and perspectives, the class visited several area museums and galleries, including the Museum of International Folk Art and Art Vault, both in Santa Fe, and 516 Arts in Albuquerque.
“It was great to go behind the scenes, outside of our textbooks, and meet the people who make the museum run, and to be able to compare and contrast the multitude of roles in each museum,” said Lauren Thomson, a graduate student in the course.
Khan emphasized the importance of collaboration and community partnerships in shaping the course. “What made the course especially meaningful was the generosity of our partners. Students were welcomed into spaces where they could learn from professionals and better understand the many dimensions of museum work,” he said. “Guest speakers also generously shared their time and experience, giving students real-world points of view,” Khan said.
He adds that the feedback from students was overwhelmingly positive and that the Museum Studies program and UNMAM staff are exploring opportunities to offer the course again.
Institutional Partners and Contributors
We extend our gratitude to the staff at the off-site institutions who hosted class visits:
- Laura Addison, Curator of European & American Folk Art Collections, Museum of International Folk Art
- Lila Pickus, Exhibition Designer & Project Manager, New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs
- Kathleen Richards, Santa Fe Art Spaces Director & Exhibitions Manager, ArtVault
- Daniel Ulibarri, Programs Coordinator, 516 Arts
We also thank the guest lecturers, speakers and staff members who contributed expertise and support to the course:
- Lance Bad Heart Bull, Collections Specialist, Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, Broad Diversity Apprenticeship program, first cohort and UNM alumnus
- Evelynn Bird, IPM Recovery Conservation Technician, National Museum of the American Indian; Graduate Fellow, Garman Art Conservation Department, SUNY Buffalo State; Broad Diversity Apprenticeship Program, second cohort
UNMAM Staff Contributors
- Ethan Aronson, Manager of Visitor Experience
- Kathy Freise, Communication & Outreach Specialist
- Angel Jiang, Curator of Prints & Drawings
- Arif Khan, Director
- Joseph McKee, Collections Associate
- Andrea Perez-Martinez, Collections Manager
- Mary Statzer, Senior Curator
Administrative Support
- Anne Marie Carpenter, Program Administrator & Student Advisor
- Loa Traxler, Director
UNMAM
- Devin E. Geraci, Associate Director of Operations
After nearly two decades supporting student learning and collections stewardship at the University of New Mexico, including 10 years at the UNM Art Museum (UNMAM), Heather Kline will retire this spring. For the last four years, she has served as Assistant to the Director Arif Khan, following six years as a collections associate.
Kline leaves UNMAM after helping students engage with works of art, supporting the museum’s teaching mission and leading a major digitization initiative. Initially, she had planned to retire in 2021 but remained to support UNMAM’s Beaumont Newhall Study Room during a staff transition, and later, to assist Khan.
“The museum’s mission is so important, and it’s such a unique resource within the university,” Kline said. “I love being associated with it, and it hasn’t been hard at all to stay on.”
Kline began working at UNMAM in 2016, just months before Khan started as director, placing her in an ideal position to support the museum’s development under Khan. “I appreciate Heather’s patience dealing with a first-time director who didn’t know what he was doing,” joked Khan.
Originally from the Upper Midwest, Kline moved to New Mexico in 2007 after earning her undergraduate degree at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. After working at a Santa Fe gallery, she entered UNM’s Master of Arts program in art history, focusing on the art of the Americas and New Mexico rock art, and served as a research assistant at the College of Fine Arts Bunting Visual Resources Library.
Shaping Student Learning
When the library closed, Kline joined UNMAM as a collections associate, managing the Beaumont Newhall Study Room and coordinating class visits. “I loved it. Interacting with students was the best part of the job. For many of them, it was their first experience being around works of art,” she said.
During the COVID‑19 pandemic, Kline helped reimagine the Clinton Adams Gallery as an interactive study space so classes could continue visiting UNMAM. “It was very valuable. Otherwise, it would have been a real loss to students. Without it, we wouldn’t have been able to have any students in at all,” she said.
To reinforce UNMAM’s teaching role, she installed works from the collection to support UNM art and art history classes. Khan credits her efforts with keeping students engaged and also with inspiring him to rethink how study room activities could extend into the galleries, a model that UNMAM continues to use.
Creating a Digital Foundation
In her collections associate role, Kline also led a large digitization project, supervising student photographers who created hundreds of images from the museum’s collection. Their work laid the foundation for TMS Collections, a new searchable database system being onboarded at UNMAM.
“It’s so exciting. We’ve wanted a publicly facing image database for a long time, but it’s a lot of work. I’m indebted to all those students who helped,” she said, noting that the project provided students with valuable professional experience.
Khan has entrusted Kline with nearly all aspects of his work in her assistant role. “Heather has always had the best interests of the museum at heart,” he said. “I trust her completely.”
Looking Ahead in Retirement
Outside the museum, Kline has continued documenting rock art sites across New Mexico, working with agencies including the Bureau of Land Management. In retirement, she plans to continue her research, spend time at her off‑grid property, travel and volunteer.
“I’m so grateful to have had the museum in my life and that I will continue to have it in my life. I plan to keep coming to the shows and coming to visit,” she said. “It’s been such a wonderful experience for me, and all the people I’ve known there have been wonderful and inspiring people.”
Khan says that Kline will always be a part of the UNMAM team. “It’s been a pleasure to work with Heather for almost 10 years. Museum work is teamwork. We talk and see each other more than we do our families, in many cases,” he said. “She’ll be deeply missed. On both professional and personal levels, I greatly appreciate all she’s done.”
As the academic year winds down, we’re excited to congratulate Hannah Cerne and Rebecca Shalliker, UNMAM assistants who are graduating with master’s degrees.
To mark this celebratory milestone, Marketing Assistant Chloe Cecil asked them to share thoughts about their time at UNMAM and about their graduate school experiences. We hope you enjoy learning more about them in the Q&As that follow. Congratulations, Hannah and Rebecca!
Hannah Cerne, MA in Art History and Museum Studies
I am from El Reno, Okla., where I attended Redlands Community College and earned an Associate of Arts degree in art. I continued my education at the University of Central Oklahoma, earning a minor in global arts and visual culture and a Bachelor of Arts in arts administration. After completing these degrees, I came to the University of New Mexico, where I completed a dual Master of Arts degree in art history and museum studies. My time at UNM began in the fall of 2023, which is also when I joined UNMAM as a student employee, serving as a visitors assistant. In spring 2024, I became a study room assistant and eventually served as a curatorial assistant.
Generally, I am pulling and putting away prints for study room visits from classes, researchers, and interested community members. This role has allowed me to gain knowledge about the museum’s collection and about object-based learning. As a curatorial assistant, I work alongside curators Dr. Angel Jiang and Dr. Mary Statzer, assisting with exhibition needs such as artist and object research, art handling, and exhibition preparation.
I entered UNM knowing that I wanted to pursue a career as a curator, initially enrolling in the museum studies program to build a foundation in collections care, exhibition development, and institutional practice. At that time, however, I did not yet fully understand the extent to which advanced training in art history is essential for curatorial work, particularly for specialized roles such as a curator of prints and drawings. After my first semester, and with guidance from UNMAM Curator of Prints and Drawings Dr. Angel Jiang, I came to recognize the importance of art historical study. This realization led me to pursue a dual master’s degree in art history alongside museum studies, aligning my academic training with my long-term goal of becoming a curator specializing in prints and drawings.
My research interests include modern and contemporary printmaking, specifically Tamarind Institute lithographic publications. This research interest evolved from an initial class I took in the spring of 2024 with Dr. Susanne Anderson-Riedel and Dr. Angel Jiang. The class focused on the history of printmaking and helped with the UNM Art Museum exhibition Print in Action (2024), with selected extended labels. At the end of the spring semester, I began an internship at Tamarind Institute, which ultimately cemented my interest in lithography and Tamarind publications. I have maintained my internship with Tamarind Institute for two academic years, allowing my research interests to be tackled within the institution’s walls with the staff’s guidance.
It has provided extensive time with the museum’s collection, specifically the Tamarind Institute Collection, and consistent guidance from all staff members alongside the evolution of my final master’s theses. My work at UNMAM will inform my future work by providing real work experience in multiple positions in the museum and extensive experience learning about the largest collection in the state, many of them prints, leading to my interest in printmaking. The museum changed the trajectory of my career through extensive knowledge and time with works on paper.
My inspiration for the exhibition, much like the project itself, emerged through a collaborative process shaped by ongoing conversations with my co-curator, Dr. Angel Jiang, surrounding the focus of my museum studies thesis. During one of our many discussions, she shared her initial ideas for an exhibition centered on Tamarind’s international collaborations. Building on this foundation, the specific projects and partnerships highlighted in Tamarind Goes Global were selected through continued dialogue with Dr. Jiang, informed by my research of the Tamarind Annual Reports, an especially significant resource for the exhibition. Through this process of research and collaboration, the exhibition’s title and checklist were developed, reflecting both the depth of Tamarind’s global engagements and the curatorial framework we established together.
My greatest takeaway from this experience was being involved in every stage of the exhibition planning process, from initial concept development to final implementation, while actively participating in key decision making and learning the workflows of collaborating with all museum staff. Serving as a curatorial assistant on this project has had a meaningful impact on my professional development by strengthening my curatorial strategies. In addition to gaining hands-on experience in co-curation, I am now able to carry this knowledge into future roles, building upon the skills I developed while also sharing the insights and practices I learned through my work at UNMAM.
I would like to emphasize the importance of working in a supportive environment. Being part of UNMAM has been the most meaningful aspect of my graduate school experience. In addition to gaining valuable professional experience, I have built lasting relationships with the UNMAM staff and expanded my network beyond the university. Early professional experiences can significantly shape a student’s perspective on their chosen field, and my time at UNMAM has both deepened my commitment to museum work and strengthened my confidence in my abilities as I approach graduation. This sense of excitement and assurance is a direct result of the incredibly supportive and collaborative environment fostered by the UNMAM staff.
Rebecca Shalliker, MA in Art History
I am from northern California. I initially went to the University of British Columbia, but ended up working and going to community college in California for financial reasons. I moved to New Mexico in 2022 to finish my bachelor’s degree and then continued straight to my master’s degree. Art history is my program and I have been at UNMAM as a collection assistant since the beginning of fall semester 2025.
I work with the collection on a daily basis. I have been the student lead on cataloging our new acquisitions and have also participated in rehousing of objects, condition reporting, and art handling.
I am interested in late 19th-century European and American painting and in how social and cultural shifts fueled a growing interest in mysticism. This evolved into an exploration of Symbolist painters and their participation in cultural appropriation as representative of the occult. My thesis title is Symbolists Beyond the Magic: Appropriation in the Art of Elihu Vedder and Gustave Moreau.
Working at UNMAM has made me question how items gain importance in museums. Particularly with my research surrounding Elihu Vedder, I have been considering how artists become cast as “commercial” or “fine” artists and how that affects their display in museums. Working at UNMAM has completely changed how I interact with museums and has inspired me to consider pursuing museum work full time.
I have gained so many skills from my time at UNMAM and my perspective on how museums run has completely changed. It has made me both more appreciative and more critical when visiting museums and has inspired me to pursue a job in the field. Even if I end up working somewhere outside of a traditional museum space, I know the diverse skills I have learned at UNMAM are going to be assets.
UNMAM is a fabulous institution to work at and visit. For students, I really encourage them to engage more with the museum and take advantage of the collection! There are so many fabulous works in the archive that align with a diverse range of student interests.
The University of New Mexico Art Museum (UNMAM) is honored to announce a one-time grant of $650,000 from the Frederick Hammersley Fund for the Arts at the Albuquerque Community Foundation. The gift will support acquisitions and conservation initiatives while honoring the legacy of Frederick Hammersley (1919-2009), an influential American abstract painter who taught at UNM and made Albuquerque his home.
Expanding the Collection, Supporting Artists
The grant is designated for the acquisition of visual art that reflects Hammersley’s dedication to experimentation, the exploratory nature of artmaking, mastery of artistic skills and the practice of artmaking as a source of personal growth and community engagement.
Purchases with funds will focus on works created after 1945 by artists who have a connection to New Mexico, demonstrate sustained engagement with the broader art world, and are recognized for innovative contributions to modern and contemporary art. These criteria align closely with Hammersley’s own practice, which extended from the second half of the 20th century into the 21st.
The grant will also support artists via purchases and will expand public access through exhibitions, digital resources and interpretation. Additionally, funds may be used to conserve existing artworks in UNMAM’s permanent collection.
Recognizing Student Engagement
The advisors to the Hammersley Fund for the Arts created the large gift to recognize UNMAM’s innovative approach to involving students in its daily operations.
As the staff utilized students as part of the decision-making process, non-art students from across the campus found the museum’s programming relevant to their studies. Attendance skyrocketed. Kudos to staff, students and faculty for working together as a team,” said Joseph Traugott, a fund advisor.
Kathleen Shields, also a fund advisor, echoed Traugott’s sentiments, noting that advisors were impressed with how UNMAM involves students in the selection process for acquisitions, a form of teaching that Hammersley valued.
UNMAM Director Arif Khan said that receiving the grant award is an extremely gratifying endorsement of the museum’s work during the past decade under his leadership. “The fund advisors are here in New Mexico and have extensive experience in the art and museum communities in the state. They’re paying attention to what we’re doing. That means a great deal.”
He noted that the funding will help the museum in multiple lasting ways.
We’re very grateful for this support from the Frederick Hammersley Fund for the Arts. It enables us to strengthen the depth and quality of our collection by acquiring significant works and supporting artists. Just as importantly, it provides critical resources for conservation, allowing us to care for the artwork we already hold.”
Khan added that the grant carries special significance. “It’s especially meaningful to receive recognition from colleagues and community members I’ve known throughout my career, reflecting their longstanding attention to and support for the museum.”
Investing in Students and Access
Traugott emphasized the advisors’ confidence in UNMAM’s vision. “Our gift signifies our trust in Arif’s leadership of the Museum,” he said. He added that the advisors have faith in the museum’s direction, noting that they “will not second-guess what artworks are needed to expand the collection in contemporary directions.”
He also highlighted UNMAM’s growing role within the university, recalling how former UNMAM Director Peter Walch allowed students to curate exhibitions during the 1990s. Traugott said the new acquisitions will continue to support students’ creative projects and art history research.
This gift will increase the importance of the museum’s collections and programming for the whole university, not just art students.”
Grants from the Frederick Hammersley Fund for the Arts at the Albuquerque Community Foundation are intended to extend Hammersley’s artistic legacy through charitable activities that expand the public’s awareness, appreciation and understanding of his art and life, and of the cultural and art historical context in which he worked, as well as to promote the value of art in the life of the community.
Frederick Hammersley and UNM
Frederick Hammersley was an influential American abstract painter and a pioneer of West Coast hard-edge abstraction. Born in Salt Lake City, Utah, he studied at the Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles and the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. In 1968, he moved to Albuquerque to join the art department faculty at UNM, where he taught from 1968 to 1971 before devoting himself fully to his studio practice. He received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1973 and National Endowment for the Arts grants in 1975 and 1977.
Hammersley gained national recognition when he was included in the landmark 1959 exhibition Four Abstract Classicists, which helped define hard-edge painting. During his career, he developed an intuitive yet rigorous approach to abstraction. In addition to painting, his work encompassed photography, computer-generated art, prints and drawings.
While teaching at UNM, Hammersley was introduced to Art1, one of the earliest computer art programs, and created hundreds of computer drawings, now widely recognized as a remarkable example of early digital art. In 1975, UNMAM exhibited a retrospective of his work, and he went on to produce numerous prints at Tamarind Institute in the ensuing decades. The UNM Art Museum holds the full set of Hammersley’s Art1 computer-generated drawings and additional paintings and prints. He lived and worked in Albuquerque until his death.
Honoring a Lasting Influence
Khan’s connection to Hammersley is also personal. Early in his career, as Curator of the Governor’s Gallery in Santa Fe, Khan met and interviewed the artist in 2005, when Hammersley received the New Mexico Governor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts. He recalls Hammersley as a scholar and a gentleman, in an encounter that became a highlight of his early career and a lasting source of inspiration.
Given Hammersley’s history and impact, including his work in the museum’s High Five Hall of Fame: Highlights from the UNMAM Collection exhibition was logical, Khan said. The exhibition was featured at the 2025 Association of Academic Museums and Galleries Annual Conference, hosted by UNMAM, and was an important opportunity to share significant works from the UNMAM collection with museum colleagues from throughout the country, Khan said.
Khan said the UNMAM staff, in particular the curatorial team, is eager to use the funds thoughtfully, honoring Hammersley’s legacy while supporting artists and students for generations.
The University of New Mexico Art Museum is proud to announce that Study Room and Curatorial Assistant Gianna Ramirez has been selected as a Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellow (MMUF) at the University of New Mexico. A second-year art history major with minors in museum studies and art studio, Ramirez is one of five students selected at UNM this year.
Named for educator and civil rights leader Dr. Benjamin E. Mays, the MMUF aims to broaden scholarly perspectives in the U.S. academy. Through mentorship, research funding and cohort-based community building, the two-year program prepares students of exceptional promise for Ph.D. study in the humanities and related disciplines, and for future careers as university faculty members.
Research Rooted in Representation
Ramirez’s fellowship research will examine the experiences of Chicano/a/x and Indigenous artists and explore how museums and academic institutions can better support the next generation of artists in New Mexico. She’ll conduct the first comprehensive diversity assessment of the UNMAM collection, identifying gaps in representation that reflect broader histories of exclusion in the state’s creative and academic spaces.
“When I think about New Mexico and the art produced here, there are still gaps, especially in the ways that dominant Western narratives shape what we see,” she says. “This project is about exploring those gaps and asking what’s missing.”
She plans to interview local artists about their experiences as students and artists of color, their creative practices, and how representation within academic museum collections can support artistic development and education. Her research aims to inform stronger institutional practices within museums and universities, supporting Chicano/a/x and Indigenous artists in their creativity and visual sovereignty
Ramirez’s interest in representation started in high school, during an internship with the Albuquerque Museum’s photo archivist, where she encountered a diversity assessment of the museum’s collection and noted inequities in representation, particularly of Latina artists.
In 2024, Ramirez was selected as a Young Ambassador with the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Latino, completing a four-week internship at the National Hispanic Cultural Center in Albuquerque. There, she researched the iconography of the fresco Mundos de Mestizaje, updated interpretive materials and contributed to digital resources. The work reinforced her commitment to reshaping historical narratives for contemporary audiences.
Scholarship in Practice at UNMAM
Since March 2025, Ramirez has worked as a Curatorial Assistant at UNMAM, supporting collections work during Collections Year, facilitating study room visits and contributing to curatorial research. Recently, she assisted with research for the major gift of photographs by 18 artists from the collection of Daniel Greenberg and Susan Steinhauser, preparing artist profiles, biographies and object descriptions. She notes that she is committed to developing research and exhibitions that spark positive change and ensure that visitors feel represented.
“Working at the UNM Art Museum has really informed and supported my interests,” she says. “I’ve always wanted to approach curation from the perspective of social movements.”
Fostering Mentorship and Community
As a Mellon Mays fellow, Ramirez will take part in weekly seminars and will receive close faculty mentorship, conference opportunities, graduate school preparation and research stipends.
“It’s a very prestigious program, and the fact that it’s paid research, especially as an undergraduate, is rare,” Ramirez says. “This feels like a springboard for what I want to pursue in graduate studies.” With plans to earn a Ph.D. in art history and become a museum curator, she adds, “I’ll be the first doctorate in my family. A lot of pieces had to align, and this program aligns with what I care about.”
As a student-centered teaching museum, UNMAM celebrates Ramirez’s achievement. Her fellowship award reflects the impact of collections-based learning, mentorship and undergraduate research. We look forward to supporting her scholarship as it continues to grow.
The University of New Mexico Art Museum (UNMAM) is delighted to announce that it has received a $50,000 unrestricted grant from the Helen Frankenthaler Foundation in support of its exhibitions, teaching initiatives and institutional priorities.
Upon announcing the award, James Merle Thomas, the Foundation’s Deputy Director, noted: “We are pleased to support UNM Art Museum in recognition of the strength of its programmatic vision, its exemplary participation in the Frankenthaler Prints Initiative and the dynamic exhibitions that resulted, and the Museum’s vital role within the University and the broader New Mexico arts community.”
Echoing the Foundation’s recognition of UNMAM’s collaborative vision, UNMAM Director Arif Khan highlighted the impact the grant will have. “This generous grant from the Helen Frankenthaler Foundation is a welcome affirmation. It recognizes the role that UNMAM plays in creating collaborations and partnerships at and beyond UNM,” he said.
Prints Initiative Spurred Exhibition, Curriculum Initiatives
UNMAM was a recipient of the Foundation’s 2023 Frankenthaler Prints Initiative. As one of 10 university art museums selected for the initiative’s second round, UNMAM received a group of Helen Frankenthaler prints and a $25,000 grant to support their study, presentation and interpretation.
In response, UNMAM developed the exhibition, Push & Pull: The Prints of Helen Frankenthaler and Her Contemporaries, and a corresponding art history course that permitted students to take part in exhibition development. “Abstraction on Paper: Curating Postwar American Prints and Drawings (AHIS 429/529)” met weekly in the UNMAM Beaumont Newhall Study Room, where students studied postwar American art and printmaking, worked directly with collection materials, and developed interpretive labels and sound pieces that were incorporated throughout the exhibition galleries.
Celebrating abstraction in all print processes, Push & Pull featured modern and contemporary abstract prints and drawings from UNMAM’s collection, focused on the works of Helen Frankenthaler and Elaine de Kooning. Displayed alongside their contemporaries, the exhibition highlighted their collaborations with American publishers such as Universal Limited Art Editions (ULAE), Tyler Graphics Ltd., and Tamarind Institute. The exhibition ran January 31-May 17, 2025.
UNMAM also issued an open call for students to create works on paper in response to Frankenthaler’s prints. Three students were selected and their artwork was featured in the exhibition.
To learn more about the exhibition and student collaborations, click here and watch interviews with student artists in the UNMAM Closer series here.
Leadership and Visibility Through AAMG
In June 2025, UNM Art Museum hosted the annual national meeting of the Association of Academic Museum and Galleries (AAMG). Representatives of the Frankenthaler Foundation attended the conference and participated in a panel session on the Frankenthaler Prints Initiative held in the Push & Pull Main Gallery.
The conference highlighted UNMAM’s role in strengthening connections among university museum leaders and curators and in advancing a growing national community of academic arts institutions at the intersection of curatorial practice, art historical training and campus engagement.
About the Helen Frankenthaler Foundation
Established and endowed by Helen Frankenthaler during her lifetime, the Helen Frankenthaler Foundation is dedicated to supporting broader public engagement with the visual arts through a range of philanthropic, educational, curatorial, and research initiatives. Since becoming active in 2013, the Foundation has strategically expanded its program through groundbreaking initiatives that sustain the field and foster systemic change. As a primary resource on the artist, the Foundation broadens the reach of her work to new audiences through exhibitions, publications, and programs that convey the relevance and dynamism of her creative vision.
This semester, UNMAM launched a new course developed in collaboration with the UNM Museum Studies Program, offering students a snapshot of professional careers in art museums. Designed to bridge classroom learning and museum practice, the course introduces students to the roles, responsibilities and contemporary questions shaping the field today.
“Contemporary Perspectives on the Art Museum (MSST 486/586)” meets Friday afternoons and has enrolled its first cohort of seven graduate and undergraduate Museum Studies students.
The one-credit course features weekly guest speakers, many of whom are UNMAM staff members, including Director Arif Khan, along with curators, collections managers, educators, exhibition designers and communications specialists. Field trips to area galleries and museums provide behind-the-scenes learning from working professionals, several of whom are UNM alumni.
Loa Traxler, director of UNM’s Museum Studies Program, serves as instructor of record, with Christina Cook as teaching assistant. Cook is a graduate assistant to UNMAM Director Arif Khan and a Hibben Fellow in the UNM Museum Studies Program. UNMAM is grateful to the Museum Studies Program for providing funding support for Cook’s position.
Learning the Museum from the Museum
The course expands curriculum-based professional opportunities for Museum Studies students by grounding learning directly in museum practice.
“The idea is that since we have such a great art museum on campus, it makes sense for students to learn directly from the institution rather than only thinking theoretically about museum practices,” Cook says. “They should be able to talk to people who are doing the job right now.”
While completing a practicum is a degree requirement for UNM Museum Studies students, identifying the right placement can be challenging. The course helps students better understand the range of museum roles available and imagine what hands-on practicum experiences and ultimately, professional careers, might look like.
We want students to get a taste of jobs in contemporary art museums and to see that meaningful professional opportunities exist right here. By opening up our museum as a classroom, we’re investing in a pipeline of emerging professionals and reinforcing UNMAM’s role as a teaching museum, one that supports students not just academically, but professionally. –UNMAM Director Arif Khan
Opening Doors to Professional Futures
Throughout the semester, students will explore current best practices and key questions in the field, including how museums approach access, collections care, curation, interpretation and community engagement today. The course includes visits to 516 Arts in Albuquerque and to the Museum of International Folk Art and Art Vault in Santa Fe, N.M., along with a planned roundtable featuring nationally recognized museum professionals who have UNM or New Mexico ties.
“Contemporary Perspectives on the Art Museum” is designed to help students begin building professional networks as they move into practicums and careers. It reflects UNMAM’s broader commitment to cultivating museum professionals locally and positioning the region as a home base for long-term careers in the field.
“This course reinforces what we believe at UNMAM,” Khan says. “That museums are not just places to visit, but places to learn, work and imagine a future.”