A traveling exhibit celebrating the centennial of Route 66 is set to make its way across New Mexico this spring and summer.
Designed as an interactive, community-centered experience, the free Route 66 Centennial Traveling Exhibit blends film, art and music with hands-on activities aimed at visitors of all ages.
The exhibit will debut in Grants from April 25 through 27 at the Cibola Arts Center, 1001 W. Santa Fe Ave., before continuing to Albuquerque, Gallup and Santa Fe as part of a statewide tour marking both Route 66’s 100th anniversary and the nation’s 250th birthday.
“Watching a film can sometimes be a bit of a passive experience,” Parks said, adding that the exhibit was designed to engage youth and families.
The exhibit features 22 portable panels paired with short documentary segments, allowing visitors to move through the space at their own pace. Each panel includes activities, particularly for younger audiences, who are given “Route 66 passports” to guide their journey with questions, clues and creative prompts.
In Grants, opening day on Saturday runs from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., featuring a screening of the first episode of the accompanying documentary series at 11 a.m. and food vendors throughout the day. From 3 to 5 p.m., there will be a live performance by Thunder Ridge.
Sunday’s schedule continues from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., including a youth art activity led by Laguna Pueblo artist Marla Allison at 11:30 a.m., followed by another film screening and a panel discussion with Parks. Monday is dedicated to school visits, with guided tours and interactive learning opportunities for students.
“You can listen to a great band, you can enjoy food from a food truck, then you can come and spend 20 minutes in the exhibit,” Parks said. “We have designed this to be really accessible and you don’t want to miss out.”
The exhibit evolved from Parks’ documentary film series focused on women’s experiences along Route 66 but quickly expanded as additional stories emerged.
One story follows a Gallup woman who began as a Harvey Girl serving troop trains during World War II before becoming the head of a local restaurant. Another recounts the experience of a Laguna Pueblo woman who was taken to a boarding school along Route 66, where she was discouraged from speaking her language but later preserved her cultural identity and built a career in nursing.
“What I discovered interviewing the later Harvey Girls was that they forged interesting lives for themselves and work opportunities along Route 66 when the railroad went into decline,” Parks said.
As her research expanded, so did the scope of the project. Parks said she found far more than the mom-and-pop businesses often associated with Route 66. “And that’s certainly part of the story. But I also found women who were politicians, anthropologists, women working in wartime industries and many, many women entrepreneurs.”
The exhibit also incorporates contemporary perspectives, including members of the Red Water Pond community in the Navajo Nation who continue to advocate for environmental cleanup tied to uranium mining.
Parks said the project seeks to provide a broader perspective, using the road as a way to examine both opportunity and hardship.
“Birthdays aren’t just about celebration. Let’s face it, they’re also a time of reflection,” she said. “I think many people would agree America’s going through a particularly challenging time right now. And these stories definitely provide us with hope and inspiration because they show that Americans have overcome difficult things.”
Each stop is made possible through a combination of local partnerships and statewide support, including a grant from the New Mexico Tourism Department that helped fund the traveling exhibit and its New Mexico tour.
Parks said partnerships with organizations such as the Grants MainStreet Project, Cibola Arts Center, WHEELS Museum, Octavia Fellin Public Library and the New Mexico History Museum are essential to organizing each stop.
Partners help coordinate event logistics, arrange programming such as film screenings and panel discussions and connect organizers with local schools to schedule student visits. In many locations, one day is dedicated to school groups, offering guided tours and interactive learning opportunities tied to the exhibit.
After its debut in Grants, the exhibit will move to the WHEELS Museum in Albuquerque on May 6-7. From May 9 through Dec. 31, there will be a longer installation at the Rex Museum in Gallup. Additional programming is planned in Santa Fe in late August.
Additional details about these events, along with general information about the Exhibit, are available at www.route66exhibit.com.
