Roadside 66: A Different Kind of Road Story

Roadside 66: A Different Kind of Road Story
Jun 5, 2026 – Jul 13, 2026

United States United States — Art Gallery
728 Canyon Road
Santa Fe, NM 87501

At Edition One Gallery, Roadside 66: A Different Kind of Road Story revisits America’s most storied highway without indulging in easy nostalgia. Timed to coincide with the centennial of Route 66, the exhibition assembles decades of material that trace not only the mythology of the road, but its quieter afterlives. Rather than polished Americana, what emerges is a layered portrait built from fragments—objects, photographs, and personal archives that linger somewhere between documentation and memory.

The project takes shape through the long-running explorations of David Allen Fishbein, who began traveling Route 66 in the 1970s as an antique picker. His practice—part scavenging, part storytelling—centers on what others leave behind: roadside signage, abandoned interiors, and the overlooked residue of everyday life. In the 1990s, artist Gloria Lopez joined the effort, photographing stretches of the highway at a moment when decline had already set in but traces of activity still clung to the margins. Together, their work resists romantic closure, instead observing a landscape in slow transition.

A pivotal element of the exhibition lies in the rediscovered archive of the Milner Studio in Albuquerque. For decades, photographer Alabama Milner documented travelers passing through the city, capturing an unvarnished cross-section of mid-century mobility. These images deepen the exhibition’s narrative, grounding its broader themes in individual encounters and local histories. The result is less a linear story than an accumulation of perspectives, where personal and collective memory intersect.

The photographic selection extends this multiplicity. Works by Mark Berndt, Edward Keating, David Michael Kennedy, and others offer distinct visual approaches, from stark black-and-white compositions to saturated color scenes. Complementing these images, Darryl Willison’s recycled sculptures introduce a tactile dimension, transforming discarded materials into objects that echo the improvisational spirit of the road. Across mediums, Roadside 66 frames Route 66 not as a fixed icon, but as an evolving terrain shaped by movement, erosion, and reinvention.


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