Alix Paloma Ami

On June 14, 2025, Alix Paloma Ami, 31, of Albuquerque, New Mexico, returned to the Creator’s loving embrace. Born on July 21, 1993, in Silver Spring, Maryland, to Donald Ami and Holly Halsey-Ami. Alix was an enrolled member of the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara (MHA) Nation of North Dakota; her maternal lineage also hailed from the Hunkpapa (Standing Rock) and Cheyenne-Arapaho peoples of the Great Plains. Her paternal lineage was the Tewa-Hopi of First Mesa. She was given the Ree (Arikara) name of “Holy House,” passed down through her maternal great-grandmother's ancestry. Alix graduated from V. Sue Cleveland High School in Rio Rancho as part of the inaugural class of 2011 and from the University of New Mexico (UNM) in Albuquerque with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 2019.

 Alix is a beloved member of the Albuquerque art community, igniting a love for art among her nieces, peers, and other artists she encountered. Alix was a mixed-media artist with a focus on painting and printmaking. She adored painting massive canvases. As a perfectionist, she was compelled to create complex and intricate prints. This was reflected in her piece, “Left on Red: Act 1,” of changing reflections. It was one of a three-part triptych series with mirrored elements featured in the exhibit, Binary Reflections at the Orpheum Community Hub in Albuquerque, New Mexico. “I would like to think my pieces live and reflect life wherever they are,” she wrote, inspired by the concept that life happens whether you create it or not. “What you see in the mirror is already old. It doesn’t exist, but you do.” Like many of her relatives, Alix was not only artistic but also musically inclined; she played the clarinet in her younger years, loved singing, and enjoyed playing the ukulele. 

Alix was both family-oriented and unity-minded, a sweet and sensitive soul who embodied compassion and held a reverence for her traditional ways, ceremonies, and medicines. Her devotion flowed easily to family and friends who fondly remember Alix as deeply loving, fiercely independent, passionate, curious, and insightful. She soaked up life, knowledge, and wisdom like a sponge, always striving to learn and do more. In a last incredible expression of her compassion and generosity, she made the brave choice to give portions of herself to bring the gift of life to worthy recipients. 

Immediate living family members include her parents, Donald Ami and Holly Halsey-Ami; siblings Lance Ami (Leslie Flager), Dione Ami (Justin Bardsley), G. Catlin Ami (Kelly F. Davis, fiancé), and her closest nieces and nephews: Bailey, Emma, Syrena, William, and Daylen. Alix’s legacy will also persist on through her MHA godparents, Vicki and Orville Fox; Tewa Corn Clan godmother Marlinda “Unty” Chavarria, and an endless list of friends, who are imbued with her courageous spirit, bellowing laugh, and critical eye.

Alix is predeceased by various grandparents, uncles, aunts, and cousins; preeminant among whom are Clifton Ami, Myron Ami, Roselle Nichols-Mason, and Jasper Makes Him First. 

Services will begin with visitation, Friday, June 20, 2025, 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM, Daniels Family Funeral Services - Southern Chapel, 2400 Southern Blvd. SE, Rio Rancho, NM 87124, followed by Service at 1:00 p.m.  Burial will take place following the service at Vista Verde Memorial Park, 4310 Sara Rd. SE, Rio Rancho, New Mexico at 2:00 p.m.

In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to the UNM Art Department in memory of Alix Ami at: unmfund.com/FineArts. You may also donate to the family on Venmo @AmiFamilyFund.