Axle Contemporary
a mobile artspace based in Santa Fe, New Mexico
Come see the museum exhibition of all the portraits and more
at The University Art Museum at NMSU
UAM’s Mullennix Bridge Gallery from June 5-August 20, 2025
Join us for the opening reception on June 5 from 5:30-7:30 PM.
308 E. University Avenue, Las Cruces, NM, and is open Tuesday to Saturday, 10 AM - 4 PM.
Las Cruces, NM– The University Art Museum (UAM) is excited to partner with Santa Fe-based, Axle Contemporary, to present E Pluribus Unum: Mogollon in the UAM’s Mullennix Bridge Gallery from June 5-August 20, 2025.
E Pluribus Unum features over 800 portraits from residents across New Mexico that were collected from from August 23rd to October 20th, 2024, while artists Matthew Chase-Daniel and Jerry Wellman traveled around South-Central and South-Western New Mexico in Axle Contemporary, a mobile artspace and solar-powered photography studio. This is the sixth and final phase of Axle’s E Pluribus Unum project in New Mexico, which focused on communities south of Interstate 40 and west of Interstate 25. The artists captured portraits of residents from Belen, Deming, Lordsburg, Columbus, Truth or Consequences, Hatch, Socorro, Magdalena, Pie Town, Zuni, Pine Hill, Grants, Acoma, Las Cruces, and Silver City.
Founded in 2010 by Chase-Daniel and Wellman, Axle Contemporary was built in a retrofitted 1970 aluminum bread truck. As part of E Pluribus Unum visitors were invited to sit for a portrait holding an object of personal significance. Each participant received a photo, and another was posted on the mobile studio’s exterior–creating a dynamic, growing portrait of the region. By the end of the tour, more than 800 portraits covered the truck.
The exhibition at the UAM and the accompanying book, captures the time and place of this project and underscores that, while unique, we are part of a larger whole. This concept is reflected on the book’s cover, where all the portraits are overlaid in translucent layers, aligned by the eyes of each subject. The exhibition will present this singular image, the full set of over 800 portraits, photos of the 2024 project in action, and a life-size image of the mobile studio.
Axle Contemporary, a collaborative project by Chase-Daniel and Wellman, has evolved since 2010 to include book publishing, performance art, and other socially engaged projects. To date, it has featured over 400 New Mexico artists in more than 180 exhibitions.
Join us for the opening reception on June 5 from 5:30-7:30 PM. For more information on UAM exhibitions and programs, visit www.uam.nmsu.edu. The UAM is located at 1308 E. University Avenue, Las Cruces, NM, and is open Tuesday to Saturday, 10 AM - 4 PM.
E Pluribus Unum: Mogollon book now available!
E Pluribus Unum: Mogollon
Axle's traveling photo portrait project
Aug 23 – Oct 20, 2024
Las Cruces, Deming, Lordsburg, Columbus, Silver City, Truth or Consequences, Hatch, Socorro, Magdalena, Belen, Pie Town, Zuni, Pine Hill, Acoma, and Grants.
Axle Contemporary is a mobile artspace - founded in 2010 by artists Matthew Chase-Daniel and Jerry Wellman - and built in a retrofitted 1970 aluminum bread truck. Axle is an innovative forum for arts presentation and distribution which engages, surprises, and enriches the communities of New Mexico, outside coffee shops, casinos, high schools, community centers, parking lots and on city streets. We present contemporary art to a wide community in the course of their daily lives.
Axle's mobile artspace will be be converted into a traveling natural-light solar-powered photography studio. Visitors sit for a portrait holding an object of personal which they bring. They leave with a photo portrait, and another is pasted to the exterior of the mobile studio-gallery, creating a growing engaging portrait of the community. By the end of the tour, the vehicle is covered in hundreds of portraits. Later the portraits will be gathered in a book and presented in a museum exhibition at NMSU in Las Cruces.
The participatory photo portraiture is open and free for all. Copies of the book are donated to libraries in each of the participating towns. 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 members of a unified whole that is larger than the sum of its parts.
Our locations will include commercial centers, plazas, schools, roadsides, and festivals. We offer a unique opportunity for community members to participate, express, and present themselves in the way they see themselves and want to present themselves to the world.
SCHEDULE
Friday, August 23: Belen 12-3pm, Harvey House/Whistle Stop Cafe
Saturday, August 24: Deming NM All Day, at the Duck Races parade AM, at THE DEMING LUNA MIMBRES MUSEUM, PM- 301 S. Silver
Sunday, August 25: Lordsburg 10-6, Ramona's Cafe, 1405 Main St.
Monday, August 26: Columbus 10am-7pm, at the Borderlands Cafe
Friday, August 30: Truth or Consequences at Rio Bravo Fine Art 12-5, then at T or C Brewing, 6-8
Saturday, August 31: Hatch at the Chile Festival all day, Hatch Valley High School, 170 E Herrera Rd
Sunday, September 1: Socorro at the Plaza 12pm-4pm, (110 Plaza St)
Saturday, September 7: Magdalena: Farmers Market 9-12, Tumbleweeds Diner 1-5, Kind of a Small Array 6-8
Saturday, September 14: Pie Town for the Pie Festival at the Pie-o-neer 10am–4pm
Sunday, September 15: Zuni, Halona Marketplace, 9am–1pm & 3pm–6pm
Monday, September 16: Pinehill-Pine Hill Early Childhood Parking Lot, 9:30 am–11:30 am AND Pine Hill Market Parking Lot , 12 noon–3:00 pm
Tuesday, September 17: Grants: 9am–12pm & 2pm–5pm at 911 Avenue by the Drive-Through Arch/Fire and Ice Park
Wednesday, September 18: Acoma at the Sky City Cultural Center & Haak'u Museum, 9am–noon & 2pm–5pm
Friday, October 4: Las Cruces—11am-3pm at NMSU Art Museum afternoon AND Fine Arts Flea Market, Plaza de Las Cruces, 5-9pm
Saturday, October 5: Las Cruces-10am-2pm at Doña Ana Arts Council, 230 S Water St. AND Nopalito, 310 S Mesquite St, 3:30-7pm
Sunday, October 6: Las Cruces- Farmesilla in Mesilla, 9am-noon
Friday, October 11: Silver City- Evening at Light Art Space, 5-7pm
Saturday, October 12: Silver City- at the Southwest Print Fiesta, Mainstreet Plaza, 704 N Bullard Street, 10am - 4pm
The Axle Contemporary mobile studio/gallery is traveling around South-Central and South-Western New Mexico making photographic portraits of and with members of the community. All are welcome to participate. As part of this project we invite participants to reflect, in words, on the phrase “e pluribus unum..” The phrase, in Latin, means “from many one.” It was the original motto of the United States of America, and can still be found on our paper currency. We ask you to reflect: In this time and place, what does this phrase mean to you? What makes your community? How is this area of New Mexico the same and/or different from other communities in New Mexico, in the United States of America, in the world? Axle Contemporary will be publishing a book with all the photos and writings from this project. If you participated in the photo project, we hope you will participate with your writing as well. Send your writing by e-mail or by mail, and please include your name. info@axleart.com, Axle Contemporary, PO Box 22095, Santa Fe, NM, 87502
Thanks!
Ways to be involved
—Get the word out to your community– the when and where.
— Share your contacts with local press television and radio.
— Help us with lodging and food during our stay in your community.
—Connect us with funders and sponsors in the area.
—Donate funds to support the projet
See our past E Pluribus Unum projects at these links:
E Pluribus Unum: El Norte (2022) https://www.axleart.com/epu-el-norte
E Pluribus Unum: New Mexico Southeast (2018): https://www.axleart.com/copy-of-epu
E Pluribus Unum: Dinétah (2016): https://www.axleart.com/epu-dinetah
E Pluribus Unum: Albuquerque (2014): https://www.axleart.com/epuabq
E Pluribus Unum: Santa Fe (2012): https://www.axleart.com/epu-santa-fe
Feel free to call or write us with any questions. CONTACT
This is the last part of the state that we will visit, culminating a 14 year project to cover the entire state of NM
We are grateful for all of our local partners and supporters. We couldn't do this without you! Thanks!
City of Belen, Whistle Stop Cafe-Belen, Deming Luna County MainStreet Program Crooked H Ranch, Lordsburg MainStreet, Ramona's Cafe-Lordsburg, Econolodge-Lordsburg, Los Milagros Hotel-Columbus, Borderland Cafe-Columbus, Sierra County Arts Council, Rio Bravo Fine Art-T or C, Truth or Consequences Brewing Co, Hatch Chile Festival, Warehouse 1-10-Magdalena, ART Magdalena, Tumbelweeds Diner, kind of a small array, Pie Town Pie Festival, Pie-o-neer-Pie Town, Zuni Pueblo Mainstreet, Halona Marketplace-Zuni, Inn at Halona-Zuni, Leisure Lodge Motel-Grants, Grants Mainstreet Project, Sky City Cultural Center & Haak'u Museum, Ramah Navajo Continuing Education, Pine Hill Market, NMSU Art Museum, Doña Ana Arts Council, Mad Hatter Gallery, SABA, Fine Arts Flea Market, Nopalito, Courtyard by Marriott Las Cruces at NMSU, Farmesilla, Silver City Mainstreet Project, Palace Hotel-Silver City, Southwest Print Fiesta, Light Art Space.
Sponsorship for this project generously provided by form & concept and Zane Bennett Contemporary Art
This project is funded in part by The FUNd at Albuquerque Community Foundation, Sulica Foundation, the Meow Wolf Foundation, and New Mexico Arts, a division of the Department of Cultural Affairs, and the National Endowment for the Arts
