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E Pluribus Unum: El Norte

Exhibit in Santa Fe--through October 23, 2022

We've been on the road and visiting so many wonderful communities throughout Northern New Mexico since late August.  Now we are back in Santa Fe with our mobile gallery covered in more than 1,000 photographic portraits of people and their special objects.

We've been to Los Alamos, Española, Chimayo, Pojoaque, Ohkay Owingeh, Truchas, Peñasco, Dixon, Taos, El Prado, Questa, Costilla (Garcia CO), Raton, Watrous, Clayton, Roy, Mosquero, Tucumcari, Las Vegas, Mora, Abiquiu, and Chama.

Come by and see the stunning array of people represented in the photos pasted to the exterior of Axle Contemporary.

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E Pluribus Unum: El Norte is a mobile black and white photography studio, a mobile public exhibition, a book, and later a museum exhibition. Axle Contemporary is a mobile art gallery and for this project also serves as a natural-light photography studio. During the late summer and Fall of 2022, the studio/gallery visitedt communities in Northern New Mexico, offering free photographic portrait sessions to all. We set up at local businesses, schools, cafes, roadsides, festivals and other community gathering places.

 

In each portrait, the subject/participant holds a small object, brought with her/him that holds some personal significance. Each object reveals something about the identity of that individual, and anchors the photograph in a specific time and place.

 

Two copies of each photograph are printed immediately onsite in our solar-powered print studio. One is given, free of charge, to the participant. The other is pasted to the exterior of the studio/gallery, creating a growing mobile public exhibition. As the exterior is slowly covered in photographs, awareness and enthusiasm for the project expands for all passersby.

 

We plan to to visit communities throughout Northern New Mexico, likely including Taos, Española, Pojoaque, Los Alamos, Ohkay Owingeh, Dixon, Questa, Costilla, Abiquiu, Chama, Las Vegas, Mora, Raton, Roy, Mosquero, Tucumcari, and Clayton.

 

At the close of our tour, we will publish a book with all of the portraits, photographs of the onsite activity, an essay by the artists and an essay by a local leader and a poem by a local writer. The cover of the book will be an image created by digitally blending equal portions of every portrait in translucent layers. This image is part of the overall portrait of the community created by the project, and embodies the “e pluribus unum” (from many one) of the project title. Copies of the book will be donated to libraries in each of the participating towns. The book will also be offered for sale in local bookstores and online. The book is a document of the time and place where the project was created and a visual testament to the fact that we are unique individuals, and also that we are members of a whole that is larger than the sum of its parts.

 

An exhibition of the photographs will be presented at the Taos Center for the Arts' Encore Gallery in the summer and fall of 2023.

E Pluribus Unum: El Norte is the fifth in our series of E Pluribus Unum (EPU) portrait projects in New Mexico.Past EPU projects took place in Santa Fe (2012), Albuquerque (2014), on and adjacent to the Navajo Nation(2016), and in Southeastern New Mexico (2018). As we visit more regions of the state, we bring to light thedistinct cultures and traditions of New Mexico, share visions of the compelling contemporary individuals thatmake up this place, and also share a vision of our shared humanity and our strength as communities.

SCHEDULE/LOCATIONS

 

WEEK ONE

LOS ALAMOS - August 26 -afternoon/evening

downtown by Ruby K’s noon-4pm

Summer Concert Series, Ashley Pond, 6-9 pm

SANTA CLARA - August 27-morning

Road flooded-date cancelled!

CHIMAYO - August 27 -afternoon

2-5pm Benny Chavez Community Center

ESPANOLA - August 28 -morning

El Parasol 9-11am

POJOAQUE - August 28 -afternoon

Poeh Cultural Center noon-4pm

August 29 ESPANOLA   -Farmers Market 9-noon ... Moving Arts 1-4th 

WEEK TWO

Sept 2 WATROUS- Coffee Shop 11-1

Sept 3 RATON-Gate City Music Festival 10am-9pm

Sep 4 CLAYTON-Clayton Ranch Market 11-5

WEEK THREE

Sep 8 OHKAY OWINGEH- Library 3-5 pm

Sept 9 PENASCO- Sugar Nymphs 11-2 

Sept 9 TRUCHAS- Community Library/Truchas Services Center 3-5

Sep 10 EL PRADO -Millicent Rogers Museum- Paseo Warmup- 6:30 PM-9:30 PM

Sep 11 QUESTA-farmers market 10-2

Sept 11 COSTILLA/GARCIA CO- 101 Cafe 3-5

WEEK FOUR

TAOS

FRIDAY, SEPT 16

part of The Paseo

PLAZA  6pm -11pm

 

TAOS

SATURDAY, SEPT 17

at Farmers Market

PLAZA  10am-1pm

 

TAOS

SATURDAY, SEPT 17

part of The Paseo

PLAZA  6pm -11pm

 

DIXON

SUNDAY, SEPT 18

LIBRARY--11-4

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WEEK FIVE

                        

Fri. Sept 23-   Roy- Gabrielle’s Convenience Store/Claudia’s Coffee Shop 10:30 am-12:30 pm

                       Mosquero -Headquarters Restaurant 1:00pm-3:00 pm

Sat. Sept 24- Tucumcari- Fired Up Festival, Railroad Depot,  4pm -9pm

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WEEK SIX

Sat. Oct 1 LAS VEGAS- Farmers Market -University and 6th by Semilla 8am - 1pm

                  LAS VEGAS- The Skillet 4pm - 8pm

Sun. Oct 2  MORA -at Los de Mora 1-3pm

                   LAS VEGAS- Plaza/Byron T's Saloon/Prairie Hill Cafe- 5-8pm

Mon. Oct 3 LAS VEGAS- by the Spic and Span 9am -11am

                   LAS VEGAS- Highlands Campus (Trolley Building, 1183 San Francisco Ave.) Noon - 4pm

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WEEK SEVEN

Sat. Oct 8 ABIQUIU -Bode's General Store 11-4

Oct 9 CHAMA- Chama Chevron-  11-4

DULCE cancelled.

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E Pluribus Unum: El Norte is open to all to participate. Accomodations are available to those people with disabilities.  Please come by or phone or write for information.

 

info@axleart.com

 

Matthew (505) 670-5854

 

Jerry (505) 670-7612

Previous E Pluribus Unum projects here: https://www.axleart.com/epu-el-norte

Many thanks to our community partners and supporters who are working with us to make this project a success.  Los Alamos MainStreet, Los Alamos Commerce and Development Corporation, Comfort Inn Los Alamos, Santa Clara Pueblo Development Corporation, Benny Chavez Community Center,  El Parasol, The Poeh Cultural Center, Moving Arts Espanola, Espanola Farmers Market, Northern New Mexico College, Raton MainStreet, Clayton MainStreet, Clayton Ranch Market, Pòe Tsáwä Community Library, Truchas Community Library, Sugar Nymphs Bistro, The Millicent Rogers Museum, Questa Farmers Market, Questa Stories, LEAP, 101 Bar and Grill, The Paseo-Taos, The Harwood Museum Taos, Harding County MainStreet. MainStreet de Las Vegas, Plaza Hotel-Las Vegas, Byron T's Saloon + Prairie Hill Cafe, Tri County Farmers Market, The Skillet-Las Vegas, Semilla-Las Vegas, New Mexico Highlands University, Los de Mora, New Mexico MainStreet, Tucumcari MainStreet, Bode's Store, Chama Valley Arts, Chama Chevron, The Jag Cabin-Chama.

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E Pluribus Unum: El Norte is supported by Axle Projects, Inc.  Axle Projects is supported through individual donations, grants, and community partners. Funders include the National Endowment for the Arts, the FUNd of the Albuquerque Community Foundation, The Puffin Foundation, The New Mexico Humanities Council, The National Endowment for the Humanities, the Northern Rio Grande Heritage Area, the Native American Advised Fund of the Santa Fe Community Foundation, and The Paseo-Taos. This project is made possible in part by New Mexico Arts, a division of the Department of Cultural Affairs, and the National Endowment for the Arts. If you are interested in supporting Axle Projects, visit the website here.

 

Axle Projects
NMDCA
NM Arts
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