An art gallery on Route 66 in New Mexico is working to support local art and culture

GRANTS, N.M. (KRQE) — There’s an art gallery tucked away in a small town in New Mexico that’s bringing a dose of culture and talent to the Land of Enchantment’s stretch of Route 66. Double Six Gallery by the Cibola Arts Council has a variety of southwestern art on display, just in time for the Mother Road’s centennial celebration.

And according to the gallery director, visitors have been in for a pleasant surprise so far. “I think they’re surprised that Grants has artists,” said Debbie Doggett, director of the Double Six Gallery. “I get more, ‘oh, I had no idea…’ [The artists have] worked with a lot of big-name galleries and stuff, and people are always surprised. It’s like, ‘this is here in Grants?’”

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The Cibola Arts Council has been in operation since 1977. Doggett said the gallery has been at its current Route 66 location for about 15 years now. It’s aiming to provide a place for artists to exhibit and sell their work, but as for the overall goal? Simply bring art and culture to Cibola County.

“That’s kind of what we do,” said Doggett. “We do art camps for children and adults. We do workshops for adults. We’ve done candle making, water marbling, all kinds of different techniques we did… We’ve tried to provide these art camps for artists here.”

Along with that, they’ve held a Filipino Cultural Festival known as “Bayanihan,” as well as Day of the Dead celebrations. Those events are part of a bigger picture for the Cibola Arts Council, according to Doggett.

“We would like to be a cultural center and art gallery. We’d like to do more cultural festivals, more, you know, exhibits of the kind of music, dance, art, that the different cultures that make up Grants and Cibola County have to offer,” said Doggett. “Hopefully, the goal is to show that we know how to exhibit art. We can make it look great. You know, we can sell your work. But also, we do some cultural things to kind of highlight the wonderful cultures that make up both New Mexico in general and Grants.”

When we asked Dogget if she hopes people will stop by during their Route 66 centennial celebration trips, she said she “sure does.”

Artists are rotated out every few months. Artists currently on display include Gary Yazzie, John Boomer, Jonnie Head, and Joan Sheski. Their respective bios are below.

Gary Yazzie

“Award winning artist Gary Yazzie is a Diné of the Navajo Nation painter who lives in New Mexico.  Yazzie was born in Phoenix, Arizona, to Diné parents.  He grew up in Arizona and New Mexico before moving to Oklahoma to study building construction at Oklahoma State Tech.  In 1977, he enrolled at the American Academy of Art in Chicago.  There, he studied oil painting and figure drawing.  He completed his education in 1980 and has been a working artist ever since.

Gary D. Yazzie (1946- ) has exhibited widely and received many notable accolades for his work.  According to his artist statement, he is a “representational painter with an emphasis on the horse and Southwestern subjects.”  His work here is gentle and attractive, and his chosen color palette is unique and appealing.  He signs his works as G. Yazzie.“

John Boomer

“John Boomer was born in California on October 6, 1945. He remained in California until he graduated from California State University at Chico with a B.A. in Psychology. In 1968 John moved to the Navajo reservation to become a teacher. It was while teaching that John gained interest in sculpting and began to teach himself how to work with wood. Claro Walnut, Black Walnut, Cedar-Juniper, and Birds Eye Maple are some of the first types of wood John learned to sculpt. His media interest grew to include works in Granite, Basalt, and Marble.

John loved to work with these materials because of their color, texture, hardness, and smell. In 1972, John began work as a full-time artist. Living on the reservation, the people around him were traditional Navajos; a timeless humanity and serenity came through. The women in particular seemed to be the very mothers of the earth, calm, yet proud and enduring. The wood, especially the Cedar-Juniper, seemed to suggest these traditional women in their long dresses and blankets. These women became a very strong theme in John’s work.

After ten years of sculpting, his interests were turning to the construction of painted wall pieces. He chose wood for the construction and different colors of sand for the paint. He sometimes highlighted with acrylic and oil paint to incorporate more brilliant colors. Even after 30 years as a self-taught artist, John is still searching and expanding his art concepts with new vision, techniques, and materials.”

Jonnie Head

“In spite of myriad family and community commitments, Jonnie Head found time to hone an artistic talent that was, unfortunately, sometimes given short shrift during years raising children, leading a premier 4-H club, running a highly successful real estate agency, acting as president of the local chamber of commerce, and serving in various leadership roles in any number of local community endeavors.

Past president and current treasurer of the Cibola Historical Society, Jonnie was born on a dairy farm in Bosque Farms, NM and has a deep connection with and love for New Mexico–especially western New Mexico–that is evident in her art. Jonnie began taking art lessons locally but went on to study with Art Maestas, Leona Turner and a number of other much-loved New Mexico artists in addition to formal coursework with the University.“

Joan Sheski

“I have had the opportunity to learn technical skills from two art departments in two differentuniversities and was influenced by childhood visits to the Philadelphia Museum of Art and theBarnes Foundation there. However, it was not until I came to New Mexico that I becameinspired so much by its rugged fragility as to try paint it.

In the process, I learned that for me, the essence of creativity comes from a visceral connectionwith New Mexico’s landscape; it enters through my eyes and guides my hand to colors andshapes on the paper. It is the deepest kind of love imaginable. The mountains and mesas, thewild rock formations, and above all, the way sunlight and shadow interact to show “changeling”colors all have captured my heart.

I came to New Mexico in 1968 and with only two absences, have lived in various parts of it tothe present day. I’ve been a member of the Double Six Gallery since the 1980s.Even though New Mexico has a long history of art expression, it is still untamed, and I expect itto stay that way. Perhaps that is what connects to the creative soul in each of us.“

Cibola Arts Council receives support from the city, New Mexico Arts, and various grant funds.

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