One of 40 black and white photographs by photographer Carlan Tapp featured in a new exhibition, ‘A Question of Power’, opening April 19 at the New Mexico History Museum in Santa Fe. Courtesy/NMDCA

NMDCA News:

The story of three remarkable Diné (Navajo) women who helped defeat the construction of a coal-fired power plant on the Navajo Nation, known as Desert Rock, is the focus of a new exhibition, “A Question of Power,” at the New Mexico History Museum in Santa Fe.

The museum, together with the Museum of New Mexico Foundation Women’s Board, is hosting a public opening reception, 1-3 p.m., Sunday, April 19.

The exhibition features 40 black and white photographs by photographer Carlan Tapp, as well as video and audio interviews with residents on the Navajo Nation between 2004 and 2011.

Tapp will attend the opening reception and answer questions and chat with visitors about his work. Sarah Jane White, one of the three Diné women who led the resistance, will also be at the event.

The exhibition captures the leadership of three Diné women who led a successful campaign against the construction of the Desert Rock coal power plant between 2004 and 2011 in Farmington. They organized and managed a protest camp near the proposed site, held campfire vigils, met with journalists, and spoke to New Mexico State legislators and Gov. Bill Richardson. Their efforts resulted in $85 million in tax credits to the power company being deferred, and construction of the plant was canceled in 2011.