The Phoenix Art Museum has received a gift of 185 works of modern and contemporary Native American art from collector William P. Healey, the largest such donation in the museum's history. Assembled over the past decade with guidance from Diné artist Tony Abeyta, the collection will anchor a new exhibition titled "The Way We Came: A Century of Indigenous Art," opening August 26 and co-curated by Abeyta and JoAnna Reyes. Featured artists include Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, Fritz Scholder, Allan Houser, T. C. Cannon, Kay WalkingStick, and Emmi Whitehorse, though only one artist, Michael Chiago, represents local Phoenix-area Tribes, and the Akimel O'odham, on whose ancestral lands the museum sits, have no representation.
This acquisition matters because it marks the third large gift of modern and contemporary Native American art to a major U.S. museum in the past year, following similar donations to Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art and the New-York Historical Society. However, the article highlights critical gaps: the collection lacks local Tribal representation and mostly features deceased artists, raising questions about whether such gifts provide cultural capital without the ongoing investment in living artists, studio visits, or community engagement. The exhibition is being curated without permanent Native curatorial staff, and the concept of "survivance"—defined by scholar Gerald Vizenor—frames the show, yet local artists and scholars point to a disconnect between institutional collecting and community stewardship.