The Phoenix Art Museum just scored the biggest single boost to its Indigenous art holdings in its 65-year history: a 185-piece gift of modern and contemporary works gathered by collector William P. Healey. The cache of paintings, drawings, photographs and sculptures is set to significantly widen the museum’s Art of the Americas collection, with more than 100 of the works headed for a new exhibition this summer that spans generations and artists from dozens of tribal nations.
What the gift contains
According to the Phoenix Art Museum, the Healey gift brings in 185 works by 99 artists representing 44 tribal nations. The museum describes it as the largest single gift of Native art it has ever received and notes that Healey built the collection over decades in close collaboration with Diné artist Tony Abeyta. The lineup includes artists such as Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, Allan Houser, Emmi Whitehorse and Cara Romero, with a mix of historical and contemporary pieces that are meant to reshape how Indigenous art shows up in the museum’s American art galleries.
Museum response
Museum CEO Jeremy Mikolajczak said the donation "helps address the critical need for Indigenous works from the modern and contemporary periods" and highlighted the chance it creates for new partnerships and platforms for Native artists, according to reporting by KJZZ. Museum leadership says the acquisition will feed into expanded programs, publications and community-focused initiatives built around the new collection.
The Way We Came exhibition
The museum plans to debut The Way We Came: A Century of Indigenous Art (The William P. Healey Collection at Phoenix Art Museum), co-curated by Dr. JoAnna Reyes and Navajo artist Tony Abeyta, from August 26, 2026, through July 11, 2027, according to the Phoenix Art Museum. The show will feature more than 100 of the donated works and focus on themes of storytelling, modernism and artistic lineages, tracing throughlines across time and geography in Indigenous art.
Representation and stewardship questions
Coverage in The Art Newspaper raised questions about local representation. Out of the 99 artists included, only one, Michael Chiago, has ties to Phoenix-area tribes, a detail some artists say highlights gaps between institutional collecting and community stewardship. The outlet also reported that the museum has not yet made a firm commitment to hire permanent Native curatorial staff, though Mikolajczak told the publication that such a hire is "our intention, yes, absolutely."
Why it matters locally and nationally
Local and national coverage has framed the gift as part of a broader push to rebalance museum collections. Axios reported that the donation "fills a critical gap" in the museum’s Art of the Americas holdings and noted that roughly half of the pieces will appear in the upcoming exhibition. Observers caution that one-time acquisitions need to be paired with sustained investment in living artists, writers and curators if increased visibility is going to translate into lasting structural change.
Next steps and programming
Reporting from Frontdoors Media notes that the museum is planning a major publication in spring 2028 tied to the acquisition, along with a slate of public programs connected to the exhibition. The Way We Came opens Aug. 26, and museum officials say the new holdings will be used to build partnerships with other institutions and Indigenous communities as galleries, catalogues and programming roll out.
