The University of New Mexico Foundation has announced a $2.5 million gift from Rosalyn Roembke Hurley in honor of her late husband, Wilson Hurley, a prolific painter whose work focused on landscapes of the American West, seascapes, aviation, and outer space.

The gift will establish the Wilson Hurley Collection Endowment and benefit the University of New Mexico (UNM) College of University Libraries and Learning Sciences and the Center for Southwest Research and Special Collections (CSWR). The endowment will support the acquisition, processing, and digitization of 40 years of paintings and fine art studies of Hurley’s work as well as the creation of a website portal that anyone can explore, and fund a UNM graduate fellow to help process the collection and work on related projects. The endowment also will create a visiting scholars program.

“We express our profound gratitude for the extraordinary contribution from Rosalyn Hurley and the late artist Wilson Hurley,” said UNM dean of the College of University Libraries and Learning Sciences Leo Lo. “With this generous support, we will be able to enhance accessibility to Wilson Hurley’s artistic legacy for generations to come. We are dedicated to managing this invaluable gift to advance the growth of CSWR and the college.”

(Photo credit: Getty Images/sshepard)