Art show focuses on families of the Navajo Code Talkers

Three years into World War II, the U.S. military decided they needed a new approach to defeat Nazi Germany and its allies. One strategy they devised was to use young Native American men attending boarding schools across the country to craft a coded language. The idea was to use men who were fluent in both English and their traditional tribal language to send secret messages during battle.

The first class of 29 Navajo Code Talker U.S. Marine recruits completed their training in 1942. According to the National WWII Museum website, these men learned basic military training while also developing and memorizing a unique military...

Gallup High senior art students had a chance to showcase their art to the community at the ART123 Gallery. This is Gallup High art teacher Kelly Stapp’s second year working with gallupARTS to promote her students’ work.

“A lot of my students are very shy about their artwork, but as their teacher I try to encourage them to push through that,” Stapp said. “With my constant saying ‘you know let’s try new things, it’s good to go outside of your comfort zone’ they were trusting enough in me and in themselves to really put themselves out there.”

Twenty-five students are featured in this year’s showcase. Matthew Shirley is one of them. He said the hardest part about...

Gallup kids – and adults –  will soon be getting another chance to express themselves artistically as gallupARTS is opening its Studio123 at ART123 Gallery.

According to a press release published Jan. 17, Studio123 is an “artist-led, dynamic classroom and workshop space” and it’s meant for all ages. gallupARTS’s goal with the studio is to increase access to arts education for the Gallup community and provide “high quality arts learning and creative experiences for young and lifelong learners.”

In an interview with the Sun, gallupARTS Executive Director Rose Eason explained that there’s not a lot of art programming for youth in Gallup, inside or outside of the...

Raphael Begay curates show featuring five Diné artists

Raphael Begay is of the Honágháahnii, Kin łichii’nii, Tábaahí, and Áshíí hí tribes. Honágháahnii is literally translated as “one who walks around,” and that’s exactly what Begay does with his camera. He calls what he does “cultural landscape photography.”

Begay grew up in Hunters Point, Ariz. He now lives in Window Rock, Ariz.

In an interview with the Sun, he shared the story of how he became interested in photography. He was involved in his middle school’s newspaper, and the photography instructor gave the students the opportunity to exhibit a piece. They were told to shoot something that they found...