Necessary Futures

The UAM is proud to present Necessary Futures. This exhibition features three New Mexico-based artists—sheri crider, Haley Greenfeather English, and Szu-Han Ho—whose work shares the strategic use of color, irony, joy, and hope as proposals for confronting and subverting the ongoing impacts of mass incarceration, racial capitalism, and colonialism. This exhibition presents a broad spectrum of art-making approaches, public projects, and community-driven collaborations, spotlighting coalitions committed to social change. Collectively, the artists in this exhibition propose art as both a space of reflection and a call to action. Beyond their studio practices, each artist actively engages with community partners, spotlighting organizations working on the frontlines of social justice in the Southwest.

This exhibition, which also presents work by hazel batrezchavez, daniela del mar, Juan Ortiz, and the fronteristxs collective, is part of a series of statewide exhibitions amplifying the voices and narratives of marginalized communities within the movement for criminal justice reform. The project is anchored in Albuquerque and Las Cruces, New Mexico—with additional activations in rural towns that are sites directly impacted by mass incarceration.

Please join us for the opening reception on September 19, 2025 from 5:30-7:30 pm. Visit our website for more information on upcoming programming. Necessary Futures will be on display from September 19, 2025, to March 7, 2026.