IN ITS PRIME
Vintage Albuquerque celebrates 25 years of events benefiting local arts
Opening the vast world of arts to children who might never have the opportunity is the mission of Vintage Albuquerque. “We support multiple beneficiaries every year because we want to support arts education to kids all over the state in a variety of different art mediums because those can be life-changing, life-altering experiences,” said Steve Wedeen, board member and past event chairman for Vintage Albuquerque. “I know personally, and a lot of people involved in our organization have had some kind of child pivotal moment, whether they’ve been exposed to theater or whether they’ve been exposed to music or visual arts or dance or whatever that’s just opened their eyes to what’s possible in the world. It changes things.”
Vintage Albuquerque, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary, raises money by hosting events featuring fine wines from around the country and the world, as well as fine cuisine. This year’s event begins Wednesday, June 22, and runs through Sunday, June 26. Each year, Vintage Albuquerque puts on a number of events, including an opening-night gala, grand tasting and several wine dinners throughout Albuquerque.
Through the years, Vintage Albuquerque has developed an impressive reputation in the wine community not only for the money it has raised for children’s art programs but for its impressive list of honorary chairs. This year’s honorary chair is California’s Wagner Family of Wine, which recently celebrated its 40th anniversary and is known for founding the prestigious Caymus Vineyards in Napa Valley.
“Winemaking itself is an art,” Wedeen said. “People who are winemakers are making really good wines. It’s agricultural, but it’s a passion and kind of expressive practice. We looked at it at the standpoint, from the fact at 25 years we’re really hitting this point that now we’re hitting multiple generations and also we’re expanding. We’ve really put a lot of effort this year to expand our reach in terms of multiple generations of people that come. … They’re setting up programs within Vintage Albuquerque to attract millennials and younger people who really love wine or want to know more about wine. Great arts span generations. We have an honorary chair who is now three generations of winemakers.”
Proceeds from the events will benefit children’s programs provided by the Albuquerque Youth Symphony Program, Art in the School, New Mexico Jazz Workshop, National Dance Institute of New Mexico and the New Mexico Philharmonic.
“We seek to best transform the lives of children who without our gift they live lives without the enlightenment and creativity that the arts can expire,” Wedeen quoted Vintage Albuquerque’s mission statement. “Our goal is to benefit New Mexico schoolchildren through their exposure to arts of every and any kind. We intend for our donations to provide transformational experiences for the children served. We expect our donations to have a significant impact on children, not only to make them better and measurably happier but to make our world better in return.”