State looking for artists for Paseo Acequia project

The National Hispanic Cultural Center and Art in Public Places are teaming up for the Paseo Acequia revitalization project on the campus located in the Barelas community.

According to the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs, the local selection committee is looking for an artist or team to create an exterior, site-specific project to be located at the Paseo Acequia on the east side of the NHCC campus, south of the New Mexico Mutual Welcome Center and the Torreón.

The committee is exploring a range of ideas it hopes will engage visitors, including acequias, water, movement, journeys, voyages, passageways, connections, the river, the history of acequias, water as life. The project should also respond to the movement and shape of the acequia itself.

Artists should also consider the location of the acequia on the campus and the programming that occurs at the NHCC.

The Paseo Acequia is currently being used as a planter, but artists are encouraged to use all areas of the acequia in their artwork as they see fit. Proposals can incorporate artwork in, on and/or around the concrete acequia and adjoining graveled area.

“The NHCC Foundation is proud to contribute to this renovation project and thanks the New Mexico Gas Company and Bernalillo County for their support to help fund this project to beautify the main walkway leading to the Center’s Plaza Mayor,” said Roberta Ricci, executive director of the NHCC

Foundation. “This project will provide our visitors a beautiful pathway to connect with our evolving culture, while enhancing the look of the campus. Public art projects are essential to the missions of both the Center and the Foundation, connecting all of us to one another, how we experience the world in our surrounding environment, and an innovative way to experience our own sense of who we are.”

Submissions are being sought from artists or artist teams in Arizona, Utah, Colorado, Oklahoma, Texas and New Mexico. The deadline is midnight Aug. 6.