Art Student to Take Route 66 Research to National Conference

Madison Garay is a third-year master’s student at The University of New Mexico. Her research interests are in Art History-Art of the Americas, 20th-century design, Native contemporary art, Chicano art, and built environments of the Southwest. Her research at UNM focuses on transient spaces such as interstates and highways, place-making through material culture, and formulation of regional identities on historic Route 66 through the American Southwest. Garay is concerned with the internet space as a new facet in the visualization of geographic identify in the United States, and how it can platform communal archival projects.

She has been chosen to present at the 2025 College Art Association Conference in Manhattan in February. Her presentation will cover her research into the iconic mother road, Route 66, as a historical and haunted monument in Albuquerque. The CAA Annual Conference is one of the largest gatherings of academic arts professionals in the world. Scholars from diverse fields like Art History, Architecture, Design, and Cultural Studies converge each year to share ideas and research.

Garay submitted independently as a solo scholar, and her abstract caught the attention of the CCA committee. Her presentation, titled “Visual Hauntologies on Albuquerque’s Route 66: Place-Images after the Mother Road,” analyzes the iconic highway and explores its cultural legacy in Albuquerque. Looking forward to the conference, Garay said, “I hope I get to meet other interdisciplinary scholars who are thinking about built environments and public ‘art’ like me, with an eye to the sociological consequences of our aesthetic choices.”

Garay said she enjoys the UNM community that allows her to flourish and will be graduating in Spring 2025.