Native art has a rich history, but young artists want to expand.
Indigenous artists are fighting stereotypes, protesting appropriation and advocating for their own work.
- Reyes plans to renovate the Art of the Americas and Europe galleries, highlighting global connections and ensuring the museum feels welcoming to all backgrounds.
- Her “hemispheric approach” will challenge narrow narratives of the West and emphasize the role of globalization, incorporating local Arizona artists and resources.
- Reyes’ first curatorial project, a renovated collection installation, will debut in late November 2025.
For JoAnna Reyes, selecting art for museum walls is a much different job than her father’s work as a roofer.
Reyes, one of the Phoenix Art Museum’s newest curators, tries to keep her father and her background in mind when selecting each piece of art.
“I always think about that in the way that I write, approach, and put things out,” she said. “Because if my dad can’t connect with it … I need to rethink my approach.”
From ranch-town Amarillo, Texas, to Phoenix-based art devotee, Reyes’ role as a curator for the Art of the Americas at the Phoenix Art Museum is much more than a career milestone for her — it’s a time of renaissance.
Reflecting the complexity of a community in a museum space is a tall order.
She wants to zoom out and look across the entire hemisphere to find how societies and cultures are influenced.
First, she plans to tackle the Art of the Americas and Europe installation, which has gone 10 years without renovation. The refreshed America’s exhibit and galleries, led by the curation team and Reyes, will debut in late November 2025.
She aims to show, through the exhibit, how European culture was gradually absorbed by Latin American countries, like a chain reaction.
To curate art, Reyes hopes that the installation will provide a sense of agency for people from a wide range of backgrounds, highlighting gaps in the portrayal of Western narratives.
“The museum should be a space, or is a space, that people should feel belonging,” she said.
Uncovering hidden, shared histories
One of her interests is the idea of “shared identities” across the globe. Specifically, the cultural exchanges between Japan and Mexico, noting broader connections of various continents over centuries. Her mission is to shed light on the histories, which she said may not be widely known or understood.
She wants to link traditions from around the globe to today’s modern art. By hanging old and new art next to each other on the wall, she can show how history continues to shape and influence the meaning of local art today.
“I love the way that art has the ability to connect people, and underscore these histories that we share, right?” Reyes said.
She wants to localize shared histories. Her objective is to rethink how the multiplicity of histories in the museum is represented and to contextualize “unseen objects” with emphasis on the Age of Discovery.
“I want there to be spaces where people see some of their culture reflected or they see some history that connects with them in some way,” Reyes said.
For example, she mentioned the San Xavier del Bac mission, a Spanish Colonial structure near Tucson, that has not only symbolized important European relevance but also made a prominent local impact.
“I’m highlighting those global connections and also thinking about how European culture was absorbed and brought into the New World,” Reyes said.
To achieve localization, Reyes will draw from resources, such as ASU’s rare book collections, to uncover the connections in history across America, Latin American, viceregal and Spanish Colonial art.
Viceregal art encapsulates European and indigenous traditions from the Spanish colonies, specifically in religious contexts. Reyes will use the museum’s current art collections to show how artists in Latin America interpreted and adapted imagery from Asia and Europe. Reyes’ exhibit will also feature modern artwork by today’s artisans who continue to draw from old traditions.
“(There are) points of intersection and points of exchange, cultural exchange, where our history is aligned with other peoples in the ways that we might be surprised by.”
The ‘hemispheric approach’ to curiosity
Part of the curation process assesses both the collection’s strengths and areas to develop.
As Reyes put it, “there’s an aesthetic side of doing exhibitions and looking at objects. But there’s so much more to it and there are all these different layers,” she said.
Museum Director and CEO Jermey Mikolajczak said Reyes’ appointment marks a transition in how art across the Americas is looked at, especially as it is a pivot for the museum. He said Reyes contributes a broad stroke perspective on how Western art continues to expand.
Mikolaiczak said he knew Reyes would be a great fit after their first conversation because of her background experiences at museums and her practice in academia, but most importantly, her curiosity.
Reyes uses a “hemispheric approach” in her work, which underscores the ways narratives of exchange and connection have shaped the regional history of the Americas at large. Mikolajczak said this approach aims to broaden the narrow narratives of the West in the movement toward the role globalization plays in our definitions.
“I think that’s really critically important for us specifically in Phoenix, given our location, given our community makeup,” he said.
Mikolajczak said the museum’s idea of the West is not as an isolated region, but rather it is an amalgamation of cultures. This stance dismantles the often romanticized cowboy versus indigenous tropes, he said.
“(Reyes’) ability to sort of respond to it and be open to understanding some of the challenging dialogues around American art … is a lot to absorb and she … she had a response for everything,” he said.
As director, Mikolajczak appreciates a curator who sees beyond the formal research and takes on a responsibility to the people. He said he and Reyes both agree the collection doesn’t just show art that is important in history, but also pushes forward modern creations for the community today.
“This is not just necessarily a historic look back, but really looking at how this collection is important to the present. We were really grateful to bring JoAnna in at this critical time,” Mikolaiczak said.
Mikolajczak has had several conversations with Reyes about upcoming local art installations in development.
“We want to ensure that the community has that opportunity to also have their voice on the wall,” Mikolajczak said.
Establishing her love of art
Reyes said, an art history class in high school initially opened her realm of imagination. Later, in her 20s, she lived at her great aunt’s house in Mexico. While there, she fell in love with the architecture, and wandering the city streets helped solidify her calling.
Today, the connection to art she first felt has transformed into a mission of giving back — as a thank you to art — through teaching. She wanted to be a teacher growing up. With this job, she said, she can marry her passions: a curator, researcher and educator.
Reyes will soon lead a seminar in collaboration with the museum in the education building. The class will draw on the reinstallation of the museum’s North Wing, 15th to 16th-century history and the theory behind art collection.
“I love teaching with objects. I love giving people the opportunity to actually see stuff, not just look at slides,” she said. “So that’s something I care a lot about in my teaching.”
Connecting art to identity
A strength Reyes noticed in the Phoenix Art Museum’s Latin American collection is its set of devotional paintings of saints, specifically Catholic devotional imagery. She said devotional objects are often a point of pride within communities and are among the few art forms to survive the test of time.
While she doesn’t pick favorites, a painting of Saint Teresa of Avila is one of many objects Reyes connects to. She said her sweetly painted face carries a lot of emotion for such a small piece. It could be easy to skip past if you weren’t paying attention, but it is one she keeps returning to, she said. When she saw it, she was reminded of the small religious cards, saints and statuettes at her grandmother’s house. She is also excited to bring out a painting of Santo Domingo to add to the exhibit.
“When people have the opportunity to actually look at objects in person, it can be really impactful and it can create opportunities to kind of want to dig a little bit deeper.”
Reyes said images and symbols affect how she and others think about place and culture, especially in borderland regions home to a wide array of identities.
A famous example of an iconic piece that reflects identity is the image of the Virgin of Guadalupe, Reyes said.
“It was a way to kind of root Catholicism as a Mexican, like this distinctly Mexican icon,” she said.
Reyes said the image can be taken for granted in the modern day, for the Virgin of Guadalupe has been a cultural symbol for Mexican identity for centuries before her image became popularized. This goes with her theory of uncovering untold stories.
“She appears like on, you know, air fresheners swinging from your car to earrings to whatever, but really, when her image was being spread in the 18th century, it was really kind of revolutionary,” she said.
The opportunity to curate in Phoenix is a full-circle moment for Reyes. One of the first things Reyes did when she got into town was get her library card. As she stepped inside, she saw everything come together when she saw an important name on the wall: Sybil Harrington.
Philanthropist Sybil Harrington was a woman from Amarillo who enjoyed collecting art from around the world. Reyes grew up admiring Harrington’s meaningful advocacy in the arts in her hometown, which helped shape Reyes’ passion. Harrington donated several renowned art pieces to the Phoenix Art Museum, including one from Claude Monet, according to the museum. Seeing Harrington’s name all across Phoenix showed Reyes the job was meant to be.
Reyes said this close connection between her hometown and the Phoenix Art Museum felt like a true synchronicity.
“I’ve already been able to build bridges across different institutions, across different collections. And so that opportunity is something that is just really exciting to me.”
The installation has connected her to the community even further, with local artists, visitors and the vibrant art scene of Phoenix.
“Arizona has been really, really good to me.”
How and when to attend the exhibition
While the exhibit Reyes is curating will be closed for renovation until November, the museum is still welcoming visitors to check out its many other exhibits.
The Phoenix Art Museum is located at 1625 N Central Ave, Phoenix, AZ.
It is closed Mondays and Tuesdays, but is open Wednesday – Sunday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. and weekends 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. each week. For more information, visit phxart.org.
Reach the reporter on Instagram @Violets_Journalism or bucaro.violet@gmail.com