The Route to Trade & Talent? The Arts Are the Way

By Rose Eason, Executive Director of gallupARTS

The theme of this year’s Economic Development Week is “Driving Gallup Forward: The Route to Trade & Talent.” For Gallup, the route to trade and talent is not paved in gold, but painted in vibrant colors, beaded in intricate patterns, inlaid with turquoise and coral, and woven with expressive designs. The arts have always been Gallup’s true economic engine, and, in order to continue driving Gallup forward, it is imperative that creative entrepreneurship and small business development be newly empowered.

To recap a principal aspect of Gallup’s trade history and sector: the arts generate tens of millions of dollars in local economic activity every year—double or triple that when you factor in how galleries, concerts, art markets, and cultural events generate spending on lodging, restaurants, and transportation, and feed the tourism industry. Arts and culture are known to be one of Gallup and McKinley County’s biggest exports; artwork produced in Gallup circulates through regional, national, and global markets, bringing outside dollars into the local economy.

The arts also play a key role in talent attraction and retention. Gallup’s dynamic creative landscape complements its natural beauty and offers a compelling value proposition for professionals and businesses looking to relocate or expand. The arts also catalyze development and growth, with creative placemaking and place keeping being nationally recognized, effective strategies for neighborhood revitalization.

Yet, investment has been lagging. The City of Gallup does not have an Arts & Culture Department, for example. McKinley County is lacking a proper art museum.

Cue gallupARTS: over the last decade, gallupARTS has procured $1.2M in state, regional, and national funding (in addition to the $187K provided by local governments) to invest in the cultural life of Gallup and McKinley County and to provide direct business and career support services to artists. This year, through a grant from the newly established New Mexico Economic Development Department’s Creative Industries Division (an initiative for which gallupARTS took a lead advocacy role), the organization is piloting an innovative model for artist business training that several Albuquerque- and Santa Fe-based organizations are tracking. It’s called the Creative Entrepreneurship Cohort Program, and the concept is to engage a small group of local artists with varying levels and kinds of career and business experience in co-designing  year-long program of targeted and tailored professional development and robust peer mentorship.

The program model is rooted in feedback from artists and creative entrepreneurs, who have told us they especially value multi-part professional development workshops for their opportunities for learning, implementation, and follow-up. gallupARTS has received repeated feedback about the need for a dedicated space to receive consistent, ongoing help. The Creative Entrepreneurship Cohort Program is designed to meet these needs and to provide meaningful and transformative support to local artists in starting or growing their businesses and/or advancing their careers. 

The Program launched last March, with the cohort of artists deciding that the best place to start is not with business planning or skill development, but rather with career coaching. They have since met to work on setting goals within the context of real life opportunities and constraints. We are excited about the direction the Creative Entrepreneurship Cohort Program is taking and will report on its progress in March 2027.

The “Route to Trade & Talent” requires not only infrastructure, but imagination. By embracing the creative industries as a cornerstone of community development, we can chart a path that is both economically robust and culturally grounded.
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About the Author 

Rose Eason has served as the Executive Director of gallupARTS since June 2016. She has a B.A. in Art History from Barnard College and an Ed.M. in Arts in Education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Under Rose’s direction, gallupARTS has become an integral part of Gallup’s creative ecosystem. Rose has developed gallupARTS’ two gallery programs to fully support artists and engage the community with art; has developed several mission-based annual programs including art festivals; has secured and executed over $1.1M in grant projects; has established many productive community partnerships; and has raised Gallup’s profile as an arts and cultural center at the local, state and national levels through advocacy work.