Tiaso seeks a broader audience
Member-owned co-op has sights set on building a strong arts community
Artists are often looking for ways to grab a bigger audience by collaborating with others.
This is the impetus behind the member-owned, memberrun art cooperative Tiaso Artist Cooperative.
In existence for nine months, the coop offers professional and financial support to artists.
There are nine full members, including former Albuquerque Poet Laureate Hakim Bellamy, poet Carlos Contreras and Michelle Otero and Kei Tsuzuki and Molly Luethi from Kei and Molly Textiles.
“The focus of Tiaso is on artists who with and behalf of the community,” says Dr. Shelle Van Etten de Sanchez, a member of the cooperative’s board of directors. “The full members aren’t all studio artists. Each artist has a different background and that adds to what the co-op has to offer.”
Van Etten de Sanchez says the co-op also has support from the McCune Charitable Foundation, and this summer, it hosted the Chair from the National Endowment for the Arts.
A few member projects have been successful. They include:
“Time Served,” an intimate ■ performance and exploration of the human experience inspired by Contreras’ years spent teaching incarcerated students.
It has been presented in several venues and festivals, and the poems are published as a collection.
“Stories of Route 66: The ■ International District,” by Valerie Martinez, which engaged more than 130 individuals (ages 5 to 75, from seven countries, speaking eight languages) from the most ethnically diverse legislative district in New Mexico. In partnership with an artist team, this community worked weekly from January through July 2014 to co-envision and co-create works of visual and performance art.
Kei and Molly Textiles, located in the International District of Albuquerque, supports and fosters community through sustainable employment (which includes on-the-job training, health and education benefits, flexible hours, and a great place to work), environmental stewardship, meaningful partnerships, and the creation of beautiful and functional textiles that embody and reflect the culture and creativity of the community.
“We have a really vibrant group of artists,” Van Etten de Sanchez says. “They see their work beyond the studio.”
More information can be found at tiaso.coop.