The United States economy collapsed on October 29, 1929, plunging the nation into “The Great Depression.” The Depression was further complicated by several years of drought. The Dust Bowl, encompassing eastern New Mexico, forced homesteaders to migrate.

When Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected in 1933, his administration put together a package of public work projects called "The New Deal," administered by the Works Progress Administration (the WPA). The New Deal was the largest investment in art, architecture, agriculture, and infrastructure in U.S. history. The package included financial reforms, regulations, and various programs to jump start the economy.

Between 1933-1943, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) programs funded numerous construction projects. They paid artists to paint murals in public buildings, like state houses, schools, and courthouses. They commissioned decorative furniture makers and tin workers to provide the interior details. The WPA also funded preservation of culture and heritage, funding traditional crafts and documenting local folklore and traditions. Photographers, like Russell Lee, John Collier Jr., Dorothea Lang, and Jack Delano, were dispatched to capture scenes of everyday life in New Mexico's small towns.

More than 65 murals, 650 paintings, 10 sculptures, and a variety of other works of art artworks were funded by the WPA in New Mexico. Many of the artists who defined the “southwestern look" in the early 20th century were involved, like Peter Hurd, Gustave Baumann, Bert Phillips, and Ernest L. Blumenschein. The WPA programs also boosted the careers of up-and-coming native artists in the 1930s, like Allan Houser, Pablita Velarde, and Maria Martinez.

Gallup has an impressive collection of New Deal creations, including architecture, hand-carved wood furniture, Spanish Colonial-style tinwork, prints, murals, western American paintings, and Native art. It is one of the largest collections in New Mexico. In total, there are 156 objects housed in five different locations, not all of which are open to the public. However, the McKinley County Courthouse is a readily accessible opportunity to see several New Deal creations, including the building itself.

Located at 201 West Hill Avenue in downtown Gallup, The McKinley County Courthouse is eye-catching. The courthouse is a New Deal art project. Designed in Spanish Pueblo Revival Style, the building is distinctly “New Mexico.” The facility is home to 19 pieces of New Deal art, including several murals, tile work, lamps, and furniture. One of the most ambitious murals, by artist Lloyd Moylan, depicts the “Allegory - History of the Region.” Moylan completed the painting in 1940. It was restored in 1991.

The 10-foot panels cover the walls of the courtroom, with each panel highlighting different aspects of Gallup’s history and heritage. The painting begins in one corner of the room with fading outlines of dinosaurs. Waves of human arrival are depicted, from the Puebloans and Navajo to the Spanish conquistadors and American soldiers. The mural comes to a conclusion with images of western migration; mountain men, miners, railroad workers, and homesteaders.

360 tour of the Lloyd Moylan Mural

Lloyd Moylan studied at the Minneapolis Art Institute, the Art Students League in New York, and the Broadmore Academy in Colorado Springs prior to venturing to the Southwest. He later became the Curator of the Museum of Navajo Ceremonial Art in Santa Fe. His work can be found in the Museum of New Mexico and the Penrose Public Library. He died in Gallup in 1963.

GallupARTS is working to restore the legacy of the New Deal in Gallup, unifying the collection on a website, making it widely available as an artistic and historical resource. They received a $30,000 Public “Discovery” grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) to develop the Gallup New Deal Art website. They received an additional $100K grant in 2020 to build the prototype. The design team is a collaboration of Gallup’s artists, key stakeholders in community, and web developers. The site will compile academic information for researchers as well as curating creative content.