NEA Grants awarded to Paseo, STEMArts and Wise Fool
THE PASEO PROJECT has been approved for a second Grants for Arts Projects award from the National Endowment for the Arts to support their Artist in Residence Program. This project will assist in bringing international artist CHiKA to Taos for a one-month residency engaging with our community in Augmented Reality experiences and workshops. The Paseo Project is among 1,125 projects across America totaling more than $26.6 million that were selected during this second round of Grants for Arts Projects fiscal year 2022 funding.
With this funding, The Paseo Project will present a summer 2022 Media Arts residency and installation by CHiKA, a NY-based artist who has been featured at The PASEO in 2015 and 2018.
“We are thrilled to learn that The Paseo Project will be receiving their second NEA grant in 2022. This support helps us to continue bringing free, community centered — and cutting edge — art to Taos. We’re excited to include youth workshops and apprenticeship opportunities with this residency that will make deeper impacts throughout the county,” said Paseo Project Executive Director, Matthew Thomas. “CHiKA’s time spent working with the Taos community will help inform this engaged month-long residency, grounding it in regional geographic and social dynamic.”
For the summer 2022 residency, CHiKA will present GO03_Taos, a fusion of physical and nonphysical structures acting in harmony with each other through augmented reality to inspire people to explore our world with fresh eyes. GO03_Taos follows GO02_NowHere, on display in Manhattan, May-June 2021; and GO01_GI, developed at the 2020 NARS Satellite Residency on Governors Island in New York City.
The physical heart of GO03_Taos will be placed at Taos Plaza; the five nonphysical, virtual structures will be placed at significant locations around Taos Plaza, forming a star shape. The five elements of Chinese philosophy and the five Platonic solids are embedded inside of the star for the public to discover, using a custom geolocational app on their smartphone.
GO03_Taos will add a layer of ephemeral vibrancy to the town, and encourage audiences to experience each location in the uncanny space between real and virtual. In the month of July, CHiKA will work closely with local apprentices to build her installation and give a site-specific projection mapping workshop.
The first Arts Projects Grant from the National Endowment for the Arts was awarded to The Paseo Project in January to support the annual PASEO Festival scheduled for Sept. 16-17, 2022. For more information on other projects included in the Arts Endowment grant announcement, visit arts.gov/news.
The Paseo Project Artist in Residency Program is just one of a number of events The Paseo Project has planned for 2022. This summer, the Paseo will be hosting a total of three artists in residence, each featuring a variety of artist talks and community workshops and events, as well as their annual PASEO outdoor art festival scheduled for Sept. 16-17. See paseoproject.org for more information as these events unfold.
STEMArts Lab, the brainchild of Creative Director Agnez Chavez (cofounder of The Paseo Project with Matt Thomas), has also been approved for a Grants for Arts award from the National Endowment for the Arts to support the Space Messengers: a multi-artist mixed reality sci- art installation live-streaming into VR Stations to allow youth in rural schools and community spaces to become part of the space-themed immersive experience and share their ‘space messages’ with the world.
Space Messengers is an immersive mixed reality (MR) installation with VR experiences and a youth exchange program whose mission is to develop artistic, scientific and humanistic literacy and our collective identity as planetary citizens. The interdisciplinary spacethemed curriculum can be accessed freely for unique sci-art activities that integrate into a middle/high school teachers’ core curriculum and allow students to become part of the Space Messengers culminating installation.
Space Messengers is an educational sci-art experience that is part of the STEMarts International youth exchange program in partnership with the U.S Embassy of Portugal and the U.S. Consulate General of Guadalajara. A virtual workshop connects middle/ high school classrooms in New Mexico, USA with classrooms in Lisbon, Portugal and Guadalajara, Mexico (more embassies/countries to be added). Students contribute their ‘space messages’ which become part of the final Space Messengers installation.
Space Messengers travels to three festivals/events this year. The PASEO Festival: Sept. 16-17 in Taos, FIC.A (Festival Internacional de Ciencia): Oct. 15-17, in Oeiras, Portugal, and Centro Cultural Universitario: Nov. 17-19, in Guadalajara, Mexico.
Wise Fool New Mexico has been approved for a $30,000 Grants for Arts Projects award from the National Endowment for the Arts to support the development of a bold and creative public production; a magical, entertaining, and educational event that will raise awareness about local racial injustice issues. Wise Fool New Mexico’s project is among 1,125 projects across America, totaling more than $26.6 million that were selected during this second round of Grants for Arts Projects fiscal year 2022 funding.
Wise Fool New Mexico is a nonprofit theater arts project created and staffed by local women artists with a passion for creating the world we envision through the arts. It is WFNM’s mission to ignite imagination, build community and promote social justice through performances and hands-on experiences in the arts of circus, puppetry and theater.
For more information about Wise Fool New Mexico, visit wisefoolnewmexico.org