The University of New Mexico Art Museum (UNMAM) is honored to announce a one-time grant of $650,000 from the Frederick Hammersley Fund for the Arts at the Albuquerque Community Foundation. The gift will support acquisitions and conservation initiatives while honoring the legacy of Frederick Hammersley (1919-2009), an influential American abstract painter who taught at UNM and made Albuquerque his home. 

Expanding the Collection, Supporting Artists

The grant is designated for the acquisition of visual art that reflects Hammersley’s dedication to experimentation, the exploratory nature of artmaking, mastery of artistic skills and the practice of artmaking as a source of personal growth and community engagement. 

Funds will focus on works created after 1945 by artists who have a connection to New Mexico, demonstrate sustained engagement with the broader art world, and are recognized for innovative contributions to modern and contemporary art. These criteria align closely with Hammersley’s own practice, which extended from the second half of the 20th century into the 21st. 

The grant will also support artists via purchases and will expand public access through exhibitions, digital resources and interpretation. Additionally, funds may be used to conserve existing artworks in UNMAM’s permanent collection. 

Recognizing Student Engagement

The advisors to the Hammersley Fund for the Arts created the large gift to recognize UNMAM’s innovative approach to involving students in its daily operations.  

As the staff utilized students as part of the decision-making process, non-art students from across the campus found the museum’s programming relevant to their studies. Attendance skyrocketed. Kudos to staff, students and faculty for working together as a team,” said Joseph Traugott, a fund advisor.

Kathleen Shields, also a fund advisor, echoed Traugott’s sentiments, noting that advisors were impressed with how UNMAM involves students in the selection process for acquisitions, a form of teaching that Hammersley valued.  

UNMAM Director Arif Khan said that receiving the grant award is an extremely gratifying endorsement of the museum’s work during the past decade under his leadership. “The fund advisors are here in New Mexico and have extensive experience in the art and museum communities in the state. They’re paying attention to what we’re doing. That means a great deal.”

He noted that the funding will help the museum in multiple lasting ways. 

We’re very grateful for this support from the Frederick Hammersley Fund for the Arts. It enables us to strengthen the depth and quality of our collection by acquiring significant works and supporting artists. Just as importantly, it provides critical resources for conservation, allowing us to care for the artwork we already hold.”

Khan added that the grant carries special significance. “It’s especially meaningful to receive recognition from colleagues and community members I’ve known throughout my career, reflecting their longstanding attention to and support for the museum.”  

Investing in Students and Access

Traugott emphasized the advisors’ confidence in UNMAM’s vision. “Our gift signifies our trust in Arif’s leadership of the Museum,” he said. He added that the advisors have faith in the museum’s direction, noting that they “will not second-guess what artworks are needed to expand the collection in contemporary directions.”

He also highlighted UNMAM’s growing role within the university, recalling how former UNMAM Director Peter Walch allowed students to curate exhibitions during the 1990s. Traugott said the new acquisitions will continue to support students’ creative projects and art history research.

This gift will increase the importance of the museum’s collections and programming for the whole university, not just art students.” 

Grants from the Frederick Hammersley Fund for the Arts at the Albuquerque Community Foundation are intended to extend Hammersley’s artistic legacy through charitable activities that expand the public’s awareness, appreciation and understanding of his art and life, and of the cultural and art historical context in which he worked, as well as to promote the value of art in the life of the community.

Frederick Hammersley and UNM 

Frederick Hammersley was an influential American abstract painter and a pioneer of West Coast hard-edge abstraction. Born in Salt Lake City, Utah, he studied at the Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles and the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. In 1968, he moved to Albuquerque to join the art department faculty at UNM, where he taught from 1968 to 1971 before devoting himself fully to his studio practice. He received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1973 and National Endowment for the Arts grants in 1975 and 1977. 

Hammersley gained national recognition when he was included in the landmark 1959 exhibition Four Abstract Classicists, which helped define hard-edge painting. During his career, he developed an intuitive yet rigorous approach to abstraction. In addition to painting, his work encompassed photography, computer-generated art, prints and drawings. 

While teaching at UNM, Hammersley was introduced to Art1, one of the earliest computer art programs,  and created hundreds of computer drawings, now widely recognized as a remarkable example of early digital art. In 1975, UNMAM exhibited a retrospective of his work, and he went on to produce numerous prints at Tamarind Institute in the ensuing decades. The UNM Art Museum holds the full set of Hammersley’s Art1 computer-generated drawings and additional paintings and prints. He lived and worked in Albuquerque until his death. 

Honoring a Lasting Influence

Khan’s connection to Hammersley is also personal. Early in his career, as Curator of the Governor’s Gallery in Santa Fe, Khan met and interviewed the artist in 2005, when Hammersley received the New Mexico Governor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts. He recalls Hammersley as a scholar and a gentleman, in an encounter that became a highlight of his early career and a lasting source of inspiration. 

Given Hammersley’s history and impact, including his work in the museum’s High Five Hall of Fame: Highlights from the UNMAM Collection exhibition was logical, Khan said. The exhibition was featured at the 2025 Association of Academic Museums and Galleries Annual Conference, hosted by UNMAM, and was an important opportunity to share significant works from the UNMAM collection with museum colleagues from throughout the country, Khan said. 

Khan said the UNMAM staff, in particular the curatorial team, is eager to use the funds thoughtfully, honoring Hammersley’s legacy while supporting artists and students for generations.