Phoenix Art Museum Receives 185 Indigenous Artworks in Major Gift
7June 12, 2026
Arizona’sPhoenix Art Museum, the largest art museum in the American Southwest, has received a gift of 185 works made by Indigenous artists from the William P. Healey Collection of Native American Art, the institutionannouncedon June 2nd. Artists featured in the Healey trove includeCara Romero(Chemehuevi), Allan Houser (Apache) andJaune-Quick-to-See Smith(Confederated Salish and Kootenai).
In celebration of the acquisition, the museum will premiere an exhibition titled “The Way We Came: A Century of Indigenous Art(The William P. Healey Collection atPhoenix Art Museum)” in August of this year. The show will include more than 100 of the newly-acquired artworks, and will remain on view until July 11th, 2027.
Additionally, the exhibition will center around the theme of “survivance,” a word that combines “survival” and “resistance” to describe the particular strength embodied by Indigenous peoples; “survivance” was coined by Anishinaabe scholar Gerald Vizenor. The show will be curated by Dr. JoAnna Reyes, the Phoenix Art Museum’s adjunct curator of Art of the Americas, alongside Tony Abeyta, a second generation Native artist whose work is also included in the Healey gift.
“American Indian art has always been telling a vital American story,” Abeyta told Hyperallergic. “We’re always going to be moving and transitioning, whether that’s due to technology, education, or interconnection between different tribes. The great story is really about ‘survivance,’ and immense individual creativity.”
“We are deeply grateful to William Healey for this transformational gift to the Phoenix Art Museum Collection,” Jeremy Mikolajczak, the Museum’s Sybil Harrington Director and CEO, said in a statement. “These works address a critical gap in our holdings and represent a significant step forward in our commitment to telling a more expansive story of the Americas, one that not only recognizes the profound impact of Native artists in the Southwest, but also honors their enduring influence across North America and their essential role in shaping modern and contemporary art.”