UNM-Gallup students visit Heard Museum for cultural learning trip

At the Heard Museum in Phoenix, UNM-Gallup students paused in front of basketry from Western Apache, Yavapai and Akimel O’odham artists and saw more than a gallery display. For Alicia Morris, Cory Herbert, Luke Haley, Katelynn Wilson, Ashley Thomas, Micah Gruber and Jaelyn Dakia, the four-day spring trip became a reminder that Native art is not separate from their lives in Gallup, but part of the same cultural ground they come from.

The Native American Student Success Center sponsored the outing from Thursday, March 5, through Sunday, March 8, and the trip stretched beyond a single museum visit. The group stopped at Oregano’s in Flagstaff the first night, then made a stop at Better Buzz Coffee in Tempe before reaching the Heard Museum. Once there, students took part in a guided tour and then had time to move through the exhibits on their own. The group also included Shynowah Bahe, Kristina Acothley, Julia Simms and Todd Armitstead.

Morris, who joined the trip as both a student and a UNM-Gallup public relations assistant, described the experience as grounding for her as a Navajo student. The chance to see other tribes’ culture and artwork up close, while also recognizing the comfort of her own language and traditions, made the trip feel personal as well as educational.

That kind of experience fits the mission of UNM-Gallup’s Native American Student Success Center, which was created in Fall 2024 after the campus received a five-year, $3 million U.S. Department of Education grant through the Native American Serving Non-Tribal Institution program. UNM-Gallup was designated a Native American Serving Non-Tribal Institution in 2023, and the center says it is primarily for Indigenous students but open to all Lobos. The campus said American Indian and Native Hawaiian students made up about 68% of its headcount in Spring 2025.

In McKinley County, where the 2020 Census population was 72,902 and county-level summaries show more than three-quarters of residents identify as Native American, that kind of cultural travel carries added weight. It gives students a chance to see Native work presented at the highest level, then bring that confidence back to classes, family and future careers in Gallup.

The Heard Museum’s 68th annual Indian Fair & Market gave the students a broad look at that world. The event featured more than 600 Native artists and represented more than 100 American Indian and Alaska Native Tribes and Canadian First Nations. It is a juried competition with a Best of Show award, which in 2026 went to Jacqueline Rickard of the Walker River Paiute Tribe for her basket, It Is Pure Joy, Basket Creation. For UNM-Gallup students, the trip offered a direct look at where Native creativity, identity and opportunity meet.