Gallup, New Mexico: Gallup Cultural Center

Gallup Cultural Center, Gallup, New Mexico

Sadly, the Gallup Cultural Center seems to get short shrift in the review universe. I'm not sure why - perhaps it's the lack of a firm identity online as a cultural center rather than just a building that happens to house a cafe, museum, gift shop, art gallery, railway station. Some would say it has no strong "brand."

I'd like to meet the people responsible for the interior's design to express my appreciation.

There is a plainness evocative of, in my midwestern/eastern experience, the Shakers. But perhaps it's a function of a Navajo artistic sensibility. I don't know about that.

In the cultural center, particularly upstairs in the museum and gallery, there is a rightness of space, the filling of space, and light.

Gallup Cultural Center, Gallup, New Mexico

Gallup Cultural Center, Gallup, New Mexico

Gallup Cultural Center, Gallup, New Mexico

The cafe on the street level maintains a historical vibe, with interesting vintage photos of people who have lived or visited around Gallup.

Gallup Cultural Center, Gallup, New Mexico

The building's exterior is a handsome structure and it sits alongside the multiple railroad tracks, which is fitting, as Gallup exists because of the railroad. The story is that Gallup got its name from the railroad paymaster, whose name was Gallup, and workers got in the habit of saying, "let's go up to Gallup to get paid." Or something like that.  Here is a transcript of an interview with a native Gallup man, Tom Woodard, who was (still is?) an arts and crafts trader. He was a member of the UITA, the United Indian Traders Association. 

Gallup Cultural Center, Gallup, New Mexico

 My favorite quote of his about trading is this:

It's been a very interesting life to me. And I have just started learning. I don't know it yet. An expert's somebody's that been in this for less than two weeks. Then you find out how much you don't know, and you get quieter and quieter as the years go by, because you realize how much you don't know. But it's really been fun for me.

Go here to read or listen to other members - or artists who traded with - the UITA.