young @ art
SANTA FE'S NEXT GENERATION
Santa Fe’s young artists may not be the most visible demographic in a town that often seems to cater to the over-fifty crowd. But there is a plethora of educational programs at area schools and arts venues that are designed to inspire and promote the younger generation’s artistic pursuits. Also, the city’s reputation for not being youth-friendly appears to be changing. Art collaboratives are popping up all over town, and some, like Strangers Collective, are specifically geared toward the young. Meow Wolf’s Art Complex, slated to open in March, has numerous initiatives in the works, as well as new facilities for arts education. SITE Santa Fe is committed to promoting new talent in its SITE Scholar and Young Curators programs, while expansion plans for SITE and the New Mexico Museum of Art call for even more on-site facilities for workshops and classrooms. Schools including NDI New Mexico and New Mexico School for the Arts keep churning out wave after wave of dancers, artists, actors, and musicians. Galleries such as Red Dot on Canyon Road are focusing on the talent coming out of Santa Fe Community College and the Institute of American Indian Arts. Those looking for a career in the arts need go no farther than Santa Fe to complete their education and, should they choose to remain in town, to pursue their passions. Pasatiempo spoke with a number of talented young creatives — from teenagers to young adults, from high school students to college graduates — about their creative practices and their goals for the future. These are the inheritors of Santa Fe’s artistic legacy. Like their parents and mentors before them, they’re not only taking advantage of the opportunities available to them — in some cases, they are leading the way.