Howl: The Voice of UNM-Taos 2024 : simplebooklet.com

HOWL: THE VOICE OF UNM-TAOS2024

THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO-TAOS

ART & LITERARY JOURNAL

Howl: The Voice of UNM-Taos Art & Literary Journal celebrates the creative work of UNM-Taos students, alumni, staff, faculty, and the greater community of Taos. It represents the power and diversity of Taos and Northern New Mexico culture. Howl's voices are thunderous. They resonate with the interconnected chords that serve to unite our personal, academic, and common realms. Howl hums across borders and fences, penetrating the minds and hearts of all who are courageous enough to listen. Taos is a place situated in ancestral rhythms and lies between the Sangre de Cristo mountains and the deepest canyons in all of New Mexico. Perhaps the magnetic pull between these two is what draws us in and out of ourselves and has attracted so many to settle in this valley.

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LAND ACKNOWLEDGMENT

The University of New Mexico-Taos sits on the traditional homelands of the Red Willow People of Taos Pueblo. The original peoples of current-day New Mexico Pueblo, Navajo, and Apache since time immemorial, have deep connections to the land and have made significant contributions to the broader community statewide. We honor the land itself and those who remain stewards of this land throughout the generations and also acknowledge our committed relationship to Indigenous peoples. We gratefully recognize our history and work to maintain healthy, fruitful relationships with our neighbors for generations to come.

University of New Mexico-Taos, Klauer Campus, photo by Enrico Trujillo

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INTRODUCTION

The University of New Mexico-Taos is pleased to present Howl: The Voice of UNM-Taos 2024 Art & Literary Journal. In its fourth year as a digital publication, Howl continues to use this format to uphold greater inclusion and representation of Taos creatives. The 2024 edition presents over 60 artists, writers, and filmmakers as well as the Fine Arts, Film and Digital Media faculty, the 3D Printing Program, a collaboration between the Art and English Departments, and the Historical Women of Taos mural. The vast array of contributors includes students from UNM-Taos, alumni, faculty, staff, and members of the greater community of Taos. Our featured local professional artist of 2024 is Laurel Taylor, aka Wilde.Ink, an alumna of the Fine Arts program, creative business owner, and community builder.

The work in the 2024 edition of Howl encompasses a wide range of styles, techniques, and mediums, each offering a unique perspective and voice. From traditional drawing, painting, sculpture, and functional ceramics to digital art, moving images, and interdisciplinary installations, this edition showcases the breadth and depth of artistic talent in Taos. This year, we also received an influx of poetry, both classical and experimental. The contributors are expressing pride in their cultural history, addressing the sociopolitical climate, and exploring personal narratives. Common themes across all disciplines include our relationships with loved ones, connection to the landscape, recovery from grief, and exploration of the body. One overarching quality of all of the work is a sense of joy, and this represents a shift from previous editions as artists grappled with life affected by the pandemic.

Taos has historically been propelled by a vibrant creative spirit, and this publication is a testament to the enduring vitality of Taos. As you look through the pages of this book, prepare to be captivated by the remarkable skill, unwavering dedication, and moving self-expression of this overwhelmingly creative community.

- Sarah Stolar, Chair of the Department of Fine Arts, Film and Digital Media

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FEATURED TAOS ARTIST

Laurel taylor, aka wilde.ink

Laurel Taylor, aka Wilde.Ink, is a multidisciplinary artist based in Taos, New Mexico. At her print studio in Arroyo Seco, NM, she hand-carves imagery inspired by the surrounding nature, wildlife, and the expanses of the mind and spirit. With Wilde.Ink imagery, Laurel creates apparel and accessories adorned with hand pulled prints, large scale hand dyed and hand made cotton tapestries in meditative patterns, and works on paper. She is also a painter, vocalist, and has created murals.

Imagery for Wilde.Ink is inspired from the high elevation Northern New Mexico desert, and weaves together imagery from deep meditative states to reveal the dance between spirit and nature realms that is prevalent in Taos, NM. The Wilde.Ink studio is located Arroyo Seco, and has regular open studio hours where visitors can see Laurel’s studio and purchase clothing and artwork. Laurel also teaches classes and facilitates community events to make creative practices accessible to the local community.

Laurel holds an Associate of Fine Arts (2020) from UNM-Taos with an emphasis in painting, sculpture, and interdisciplinary practices. She won multiple scholarships while completing her degree. She has exhibited her visual art in many notable Taos galleries, collaborated on internationally award winning films, and started her business immediately after graduating. In addition to her own work, she collaborates with local artists and businesses creating logos and prints. She currently works with Arroyo Seco Live, a local non-profit, brick and mortar space that supports local creatives and creative arts programing. Laurel designs all their merchandise, oversee’s the healing and creative arts programing, and fundraises to support local artists.

WILDE.INK WEBSITE

PEOPLE OF PRINT

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a writing collaboration: Alexa Pikcilingis & Maliya Morrison

The following work was co-authored by UNM-Taos English students Angel Moreno and Maliya Morrison.

Script for Podcast, Urban Legends of New Mexico, December 15, 2023

Urban Legends of New Mexico

Angel: Hello my name is Angel Moreno.

Maliya: My name is Maliya Morrison.

Angel: And this is our podcast on different Northern New Mexico cultural stories that we have heard during our childhood.

Maliya: The first story that we will be discussing is La Llorona.

Angel: One of the most popular tales in New Mexico is La Llorona. La Llorona is found in Central America, South America, Texas, and New Mexico. In English, La Llorona translates to "the weeping woman." This narrative is told in numerous variations in various contexts. According to a story that is circulated in Mexico, the woman's husband was traveling from Mexico into the United States for business. Her son drowned in the river after the mother attempted to cross it with him. She eventually passes away from depression. The many retellings of the La Llorona tale tackle a variety of topics, including misogyny, trauma, and grief. This is an additional explanation for why there could be numerous variations of the same story across the world. There may be debates and concerns affecting different areas. While these tales might not always impart knowledge, they can still foster empathy. How I learned about La Llorona was from my family, mainly my mother, who told me the story of how a woman lost her kids in a river and would cry out for them saying “Mis Hijos”. I was told this on camping trips so I wouldn't wander out alone, and if I heard something I would have to go back.

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Angel Moreno & Maliya Morrison cont.

Maliya: La Malinche is another well-known tale in Mexico, New Mexico, Spain, and other Spanish-speaking countries. La Malinche was a woman born in the first part of the sixteenth century. She was handed as a slave by the Nahua tribe of Mexico, where she originally resided, to the Mayans. She learnt Mayan while a slave and was fluent in Nahuatl. In the end, La Malinche served as a counselor and translator for Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortes. Since Nahuatl was a language that very few people spoke in Mexico when they arrived, she ended up translating for them. La Malinche's language and cultural proficiency in Nahuatl made her extremely valuable to the Spanish. Malinche was helpful during a lot of important talks, including bargaining. La Malinche's tale is a highly contentious one. Some perceive her as a strong woman who did what it took to live and thrive, while many others see her as a traitor to her own people. The complexity of cultural identity, power relationships, and colonization are all touched upon in this tale. It could be challenging to agree on whether she was a strong woman or a traitor when you are from different cultural backgrounds and on opposing sides of the narrative. I had never heard of this story until I took my Spanish Class with UNM. My professor taught us about many Northern New Mexican stories and this one interested me a lot just because of how controversial and perspective-based the story is.

Angel: Aliens have also been a popular tale in New Mexico. In Roswell in 1947, a rancher found unidentifiable debris in his pasture. Although Air force officials ruled it as debris from a crashed weather balloon, many still believed that it was the product of an alien invading our world. It has been a common tale for many years now in New Mexico. There has even been a show based on this called Roswell released in 1999. I believe in aliens because of how massive the universe is and my parents would also tell me how there a lot of things in the universe that we can't explain and how aliens could be real or not real, but we will never know the truth, but they would also say about others having experience of seeing UFOs and other unexplainable things in the sky.

I believe that these stories should be preserved not only because it shows cultures, it also shows history within these cultures. This podcast could help preserve these stories and also show how these stories have several different variations that all should be kept and preserved since each story and perspective has an important reason to be told, thank you for listening.

Maliya: In my experience, I learned about the story in my childhood during library class, our teacher would read us the story every Halloween. When my cousin and I would play near the river, we would get scared very easily.

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Alexa Pikcilingis cont.

Locating

Find your Taos

Go directly

pull down

at the bottom

Used, limited, run out

You have the option

You can determine the point for searching elsewhere; be sure

desired, authenticating

you will be provided For

YOU have not yet arrived:

THESE ARE the first few chapters.)

personal, supplemental collections

but in some cases,

Collection: does not have the space to carry most of the core

hold.

check

need

access

depend on requirements.

Some are borrowed

Others ARE available.

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Alexa Pikcilingis cont.

Where I’m From Poem

I am from a pile of shoes discarded in front of the door

From homegrown honey and fresh squeezed goat milk

I am from Sangre de Cristo Mountain views and hard hitting mesa dust

Fine, red, dry to the bone

I am from Russian olive trees, sagebrush, haybales

Grown in spite, hard as can be, spikes sharper than needles

I’m from blue corn, blueberry, pancakes on Christmas morning, and no talk, slow talk days, nights

From Judy with her own last name and New Buffalo neighbors

I’m from read by fire light and heat you own bath water

From “Go get wood.” And “milking done?”

I’m from church is a walk or a bike ride on Sunday, time not working to just enjoy

I’m from New Mexico and Lithuania

Green chile posole, holiday kugelis

From collecting wax cardboard behind grocery stores while Aaron’s idling car waits, ganja green smoke wafting out the cracked window

Pictures stacked in protective boxes, shelved, stored safe in the weaving shack

Nothing physical cherished, everything allowed to rot, breakdown, and blow away.

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Anna Bush Crews

Anna Bush Crews was born in Taos and after Taos High studied at UNM, BA, and San Francisco State (UCSF), MA. Involvement with photography from their teenage years and influences from living within an active artist community of Taos, plus curiosity about the world, have led to their artist practice that has sustained them along the way, if not financially, emotionally. Living and working in different situations in Zambia, Botswana, Malawi, England, Qatar, Ecuador and Wales has broadened their outlook and contributed to their art practice through the breadth of references they have gained from other cultures and travels that have so influenced the way they see their own. They have exhibited photography, collage, and video in various places, mostly in England and New Mexico, and have lots of unfinished projects. Teaching photography in a range of situations and different levels has taught them a lot and inspired their art work through involvement with students. They are a retired senior lecturer from the Newport School of Art & Design, University of Wales. They live in Ranchos de Taos and enjoy ceramics classes at UNM-Taos.

Tralala, ceramic, 14x8x6.5" (two views)

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Christie Serpentine

FRONT COVER ARTIST

Christie Serpentine is an interdisciplinary artist, gardener, baker, and folk herbalism enthusiast. Christie launched the creative ecosystem known as Garden Party Magic in 2023; but the seed for the project began sprouting after Christie spent 8+ years working on Conservation & Restoration projects in remote wilderness areas throughout North America. In 2020, at the crux of the pandemic, Christie went from doing fieldwork all over the country to tending to a small plot of land in Taos. This disruption demanded a new conversation about what it means to care for the environment while also tending to the complexities of oneself.

Christie began studying biodiversity while practicing self care through many mediums, which included crafting whimsical offerings for those she loved. Alongside that, she learned more about the local ecology by working for two sustainable agriculture organizations. This led to a crossover of creative outlets that incorporated growing an organic pollinator garden from the ground up, bursting with edible flowers and herbs.

Garden Party grew as an interweaving of practices built to learn from the plants, nurture the soul, shed limiting beliefs, and make creations that revel in the natural cycle of the seasons. Christie found that through rituals and plant allies, she grounded to the present in a way that celebrates our playful curiosities and imperfections. Garden Party became a meditation in wild beauty and romanticism that honors our unique interconnectedness and longing. Everything is dreamt into being with the intent to exercise tenderness towards ourselves, the earth, and each other.

Magic Flower Garden, photo of hand built garden, 2023

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Christopher Taylor

Christopher Taylor was born is San Diego, CA, and spent most of his early years living on a sailboat in the South Pacific Islands. When he was nine years old, he returned to the States where in lived in San Diego, CA, for three years. At 12 years old, he and his family moved to Hawaii where he lived until 1977 when he received a BFA from the University of Hawaii. After graduating, Christopher and his family traveled through a large part of Western Europe on bicycle for 14 months. During this time, he was able to study the old European Masters while visiting the museums along the way. This influenced his art greatly because he was able to stop whenever he wanted and draw his surroundings. In 1977, Christopher graduated from Loyola Marymount University in CA with a Master’s Degree in Marriage and Family Counseling with a focus on Art Therapy. In 1986, Christopher graduated from the University of New Mexico-ABQ with a Master’s Degree in Printmaking. His interest during this time focused on art by pre-verbal children. Christopher has been taking printmaking classes at UNM-Taos since 2010. He is also a Visiting Artist with Taos Municipal Schools and Taos Charter School and together with his wife, Debi Taylor, has been making large scale tile mosaic murals with elementary and middle school students since 2010. He is currently working on his ninth mural and has worked with approximately 2000 students in Taos County.

Taos Municipal School Mascots at Administration Building, tile mosaic, 108x168", 2014

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Cindy Brown

Cindy Brown received a certificate in Holistic Health and Healing Arts from UNM-Taos and is a Reiki Master and life coach. She has been a freelance writer and columnist for The Taos News for the past 13 years, writing on the outdoors, health, gardening, culture, community, and home. She is the author of the Taos Hiking Guide, available locally and from Nighthawk Press.

Shaman of the heart

The old heartache sits like a falcon on my arm

The talons dig in and make me bleed

Removing the hood

I raise my arm and

Toss it into the sky

It flies, jettisoning my heart from underneath its wing

My heart falls to earth

Red, whole and perfect

Once more.

March 2024

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Dashel Fullerton

Dashel Stone Fullerton was born and raised in Taos, New Mexico. He is a lover of the outdoors, the natural beauty of the desert, and the rich history it possesses, where he derives much of his inspiration. Currently he is pursuing an Associate of Fine Arts at UNM-Taos, where he also holds professional titles such as Atrium Galley Coordinator, and Assistant to the Chair of the Department of Arts. He also works at the Revolt Gallery as Preparator and Curator. Other times you can find him working as studio assistant for artist Sarah Stolar or assisting goldsmith Kimberly Thompson. As an interdisciplinary artist his favorite works are based around installation and his love of metalsmithing and unique jewelry.

Oxidize Copper Tones, silver, antique copper penny, dioptase crystal, 3x1", 2024

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Mis Crismes

Once Upon a time, in a cozy adobe house nestled in a small village in New Mexico, lived a young girl named Patricia. She came from a humble, loving family that struggled to make ends meet. Patricia had a heart of gold and cared for her two younger siblings, Clemente and Frutoso. Life was not always easy for them, but they found joy in the simplest things, especially when the first snowflakes began to fall.

As the winter chill settled in, Patricia's heart would be filled with anticipation for the upcoming Los Posadas celebration. The village would come alive with vibrant colored papal banners, flickering luminarias lining the street, and the aroma of traditional food filling the air, but what Patricia loved most was the Mis Crismes tradition.

On the eve of Christmas, the children of the village would gather together, bundled up in their warmest clothes. Patricia, Clemente, and Frutoso so eagerly joined their primos, their voices filled with excitement. They would go door to door, singing traditional Christmas songs and shouting “Mis Crismes” with all their might.

Their neighbors would open their doors, their faces lighting up with joy as they welcomed the children. Patricia's eyes were twinkling with excitement as she received treats from the neighbors. Some would offer juicy red apples, sweet oranges, peanuts, and Christmas candy. Others would give biscochitos and hot chocolate. The generosity of the community warmed Patricia's heart.

But the surprises did not end there. Those who were well off would go above and beyond, sharing homemade delights like warm tamales and delicious empanadas. The children's eyes would widen with delight as they savored the delicious flavors, feeling the love and care that went into each bite.

For Patricia, these treats meant more than just a temporary satisfaction of hunger. They were a symbol of love, compassion, and the true meaning of the holiday season. Despite their humble circumstances, the Mis Crismes treats reminded Patricia and her siblings that they were not alone; they were part of a loving community that cared for them.

Ernestina Baca

"I am Ernestina M. Baca, originally from Santa Rosa, NM. However, I have been living in Taos for almost six years. I work full-time at Taos Senior Living as a Certified Nursing assistant and Medication Aide. Last year I was tired of dead-end jobs and struggling so I started TECC to get my high school diploma. I accomplished that in May 2023 and went on to get my CNA over the summer so I would have a decent paying job to help me get through college. In December 2023, I finished my first semester of college. Last week I completed my Medication Aide training. I have almost six years clean and sober. When I was in rehab, I had the best recovery technicians that truly cared and believed in me. That is where I gained my passion to help people overcome or understand addiction. Though I have had setbacks I continue to push forward. I am currently enrolled at UNM-Taos in hopes to get my LADAC (licensed alcohol and addiction counselor). The key to my success has been empathy, kindness, perseverance. When it comes to empathy and helping others, there is a beautiful quote by Maya Angelou that I love, 'I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.' It reminds us that showing empathy and genuinely caring for others can leave a lasting impact. It is all about making a difference in someone's life and being there for them when they need it the most."

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Erica Parraz cont.

As the years went by, Patricia continued to care for Clemente and Frutoso, passing down the cherished traditions of Los posadas and Mis Crismes. She taught them the importance of kindness, gratitude, and the joy of coming together as a community.

Even as Patricia grew older and started her own family, the memories of those magical nights in December stayed with her. She would share stories with her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, passing on the traditions and the love that had been bestowed upon her.

And so, in the small village in New Mexico, the Mis Crismes tradition continued to thrive. Patricia's children grew up with the same sense of wonder and appreciation for the treats and the spirit of giving.

As Patricia's family expanded with grandchildren and great-grandchildren, she added her own special touch to the Mis Crismes tradition. Each year, she would prepare brown bags filled with apples, oranges, peanuts, Christmas candy, and two-dollar bills for her beloved little ones. It was her way of passing on the joy of giving and spreading happiness, just as she had experienced as a child.

The Mis Crismes tradition became a cherished part of Patricia’s family, a reminder of their roots, and a celebration of love and togetherness. The children would eagerly await the arrival of Mis Crismes, their eyes shining with anticipation as they carried on the legacy that Patricia had started.

And now, as the snowflakes gently fell outside, Patricia sat by the fireplace, surrounded by her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. They shared stories, laughter, and the warmth of their love. Mis Crismes treats were passed around, and Patricia's heart swelled with pride and happiness as she watched the tradition continue through the generations.

In that moment, Patricia knew that the true magic of Mis Crismes was not just in the treats themselves but in the love, generosity, and sense of community that they represented. It was a reminder that no matter our circumstances, we can always find joy in giving and coming together and in creating memories that will last a lifetime.

And so, Mis Crismes tradition lives on, carried in the hearts of Patricia's family and the village that embraced them. It is a testament to the power of love, the strength of traditions, and the beauty of spreading joy to others.

As the fire crackled and the voices of loved ones filled the room, Patricia could not help but feel grateful for the blessings in her life. And as the clock struck midnight, signaling the arrival of Christmas Day, she closed her eyes and whispered a heartfelt prayer of gratitude.

For in that moment, surrounded by love, Patricia knew that the true magic of Mis Crismes would forever be a light in her heart and the hearts of those she held dear.

03/12/2024

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Artwork by Petra Marguerite Balsley

found paper installation, 70x60", 2024

Feliz Mondragon

Feliz Mondragon is a Northern New Mexican Artist and graduate of UNM-Taos.

Everywhere All At Once

There Are Pieces of Me Everywhere

In old lovers.

In bird song.

I am everywhere all at once.

In the memory of friends past and present.

It doesn’t take much for you to say to the world

I was here.

And I lived.

What a beautiful thing...

to exist everywhere all at once.

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Feliz Mondragon cont.

Weeping Willow

December 16, 2021

My jaw feels heavy.

Like I have been carrying around bits and pieces of the sky tucked under each tooth.

The taste of the infinite on the tip of my tongue.

The stars are hiding in the back of my throat.

It is so beautiful.

But it is so heavy.

The weight of my existence hangs in between the branches of my grandmother's willow tree.

Those branches once used to be so thick like my Spanish hair.

I hid that version of myself somewhere deep in the mountain.

Under sunsets and goodbyes.

The willow fell in lust with winters wind.

The weight of my existence hangs between bare branches.

Bits of my stardust are slipping through.

I don’t know how to stop it.

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Feliz Mondragon cont.

Duality

Duality is always on my mind.

These two realms in which I live.

The known & the unknown.

I drive down familiar roads but do not know where I go.

I am both a wildfire & a calm breeze.

I have a deep love & a deep sadness about my existence.

I am a rather peculiar thing.

Beautiful & wretched.

Artwork by Sarah Parker

ink and acrylic on paper, 72x64", 2022

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G. Frank Oatman

G. Frank Oatman lives in Arroyo Hondo, NM, in retirement since 2004. He taught at the college level for 20 years and then founded and operated several businesses, including a landscape design firm and a tour company operating natural history-focused tours on four continents. His life partner is Franz Jon Wood.

Summer into Autumn

They’re your blazing yellows today, Van Gogh,

not in sunny Provence but a world away

in New Mexico’s mountains --

where late summer sliding into autumn

always evokes for me your pallet.

I gather arms full of sunflowers for the house,

smelly chamisas for the sandstone terrace,

both arranged as loosely, even akimbo

as I remember and love in your paintings --

those golden ones from the final tortured,

sun-struck days near Saint Remy and its asylum.

You’d understand I think, dear Vincent,

the connection I draw between your blazing

gunshot end, crows over yellow fields dispersing,

crying, and our overweening Sangre de Cristos,

our mountain brothers in the bleeding out

of Christ in sunsets -- as soon too the fading,

browning out of your sun-shot colors.

Arroyo Seco & Arroyo Hondo, NM

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Grace Fichtelberg

Grace Fichtelberg's stories have appeared in HOWL'S magazines for the past six years. Grace studied creative writing at UNM, with teacher Bonnie Black, a wonderful experience, a wonderful teacher. Grace moved to Taos in 1994, a native from New York. Taos is not New York, but she does not regret the move. This month (March), she will be 100 years old. (100 years of memories yet to be written.)

LIVE FOREVER

There’s this guy, his name’s Joe, he’s getting on in years, he’s rich, he’a got billionss and billions, and billions of dollars deposited in banks around the world—--- bank interest alone puts millions of dollars in his pockets. He’s the richest guy on this earth HE WANTS TO LIVE FOREVER.

Joe’s a science bug………so many discoveries in his lifetime to name a few—

Television, antibiotics, rockets, moon walking,atomic submarines, atoms, u.f.o’s, a,i, He’s got money to burn,made a bucket list —-explore the moon, own a submarine, visit Mars, buy every new discovery, etc.

Like I said before, Joe’s a science bug., he reads every dated 2024 science magazine in print. One article calls his attention, it’s all about a new experiment titled “YOU CAN LIVE FOREVER”---Joe turns page after page, so much detail, it’s difficult to comprehend, what?????.

Involves information, ( you can come back to life after death)—- you can live forever and forever.. After you die, your head is cut away from your body(the brain intact) frozen below 99 degrees and placed in a freezing tank for 20 years.

Joe dies—-- the head lays in the 99 below freezing tank for 20 years……. Time skips on, doctors remove Joe’s frozen head from the tank, place it on a operating table alongside a fresh headless dead body and operate,sewing Joe’s head to the dead headless corpse , stitch after stitch—-behold—success—--

Joe comes alive, sits up, looks around the room, smiles, shouts—-----------”I’M ALIVE.”

And then the inevitable happens: he has to urinate. He runs to the bathroom, bends over the toilet, his right hand seeking the penis to guide it over the seat–can’t feel it–looks down—no penis. OOOOPS—WRONG BODY.

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Isabella Oviedo

Isabella Oviedo is a Dual Credit student at UNM-Taos. She will be graduating spring of 2024. She will continue her education at UNM-ABQ, planning to get degrees in Environmental Science and East Asian Studies. She loves reading, writing, all types of fiber arts, and dance.

Spring Snow

It snowed this morning

Barely cold enough to

Drifted down in big, wet chunks

Melted a moment before it touched the ground

A sunny intermission

Wet bringing out the colors, the smells

Sagebrush and clay no longer seeming so dull

Sky still gray

A warm, soft blanket

Protecting the vibrant earth below

Snow again

Drifting thickly

Gray sky, wet spring snow

It drifts thicker, almost a wall

Now it sticks

Bushes and grass becoming soft white hills

For a moment, it is winter again

Drip drip drip

It fades away

Silence is filled

With sounds of gutters, running

Sun shines, everything glossed and bright

A bird sings

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Jessica Phillips

Jessica is from Peralta, New Mexico and has lived in New Mexico her whole life. She is currently a Math Lecturer at UNM-Taos and has been for the last 6 years. She has her masters in applied mathematics and has been teaching math for 20 years. She also is an art student who has finally claimed her artistic side. She has been taking art classes at UNM-Taos for the last two years and has found that she really enjoys doing art in many disciplines. Besides teaching math full time and taking art classes, she is also taking psychology classes and volunteering at the Equine Spirit Sanctuary. The Equine Spirit Sanctuary is where she fulfills her need to love and be around horses, as well as it is a place that gives her inspiration for her art.

A Reflection in the style of Henry Taylor, acrylic on canvas, 24x24", December 2023

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Jessica Phillips cont.

Empty

That is what my world feels like without you here

And probably what it felt like before you were near

But that was also your name

Empty Jimmer, from Jimmer Jr, he was the race horse with all the fame

And from Empty Stall

Your mother, who must not have been that tall

For you were a smaller quarter horse size

But that was perfect for my long lanky eight year old thighs

You were the soft, beautiful sorrel kind

With an even temperament and the ability to read my mind.

Together we grew,

From your young age of two.

We developed a bond of love and place in each other's heart

That nothing in this world could tear apart.

Twenty-eight years of my life,

Has been spent listening to your whispers, and them curing all my strife.

And together riding down in the bosque,

Feeling completely free

And avoiding those things that were horse eating monsters,

Like giant round bales of hay or wherever else your fears had fostered,

Together we survived…

In fact, at pony camp we thrived.

As time passed and I became too tall to ride

And you became too old, so we only walked by each other's side,

I knew the day would come where we would have to say goodbye

And we, together, could no longer fly.

But I didn’t know when,

You could no longer live in your skeleton.

When it was time, I wanted to be there when you dropped

But I was advised not to, so I changed that thought.

And now, I can only imagine

What you felt within

On that day your life was taken from your eyes

Your soft, kind loving eyes

You soft, gentle muzzle

No longer able to nuzzle

My hand or my face

And now there is an empty space

Where there was that sound

Of 1000 pounds of my sweet horse hitting the ground

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Jessica Phillips cont.

Little Pieces

Forever we stood

Strong and solid

No matter the number of times

That life and people tried

To bring us to our knees

Tried to knock us over

By repeated blows

We found our strength

And kept having faith

In our roles

But that hammer

Kept coming down

And it finally found

A weak spot

And something cracked.

I sit here now with all these

Little pieces scattered round

And wonder what to do next

Can it all be fixed?

Will it ever look the same?

No, it may be a new flame

A different fire

Let’s take these little pieces

Toss them in

And see where we

Should begin.

Artwork by Declan Plaster

Self-portrait in the Manner of Barry Magee,

charcoal and acrylic on paper, 44x32", 2024

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Kaili (Kai) Davidson

Kaili T. Davidson, more commonly known as Kai Temair, is a 31-year-old first generation freshman at UNM-Taos. Originally from the great pacific northwest, Kai has called New Mexico home for 14 years now. She is currently pursuing an AS degree in Pre-Science with the long-term ambition of obtaining a her PhD in Neuroscience. Dreaming big being her forte, she has plans to apply to Johns Hopkins BS/MS Neuroscience program with hopes to someday work alongside the research team at The Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research. She has an incredible passion for anything mind expanding and enjoys being able to share that through her writing. If there's one goal resounding throughout her literary work, it is definitely to make you THINK.

Found Poem, A Found Awakening, 2/26/24

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Kaili (Kai) Davidson cont.

Memoire of a Once Mute Girl

I am from dusty antiques,

from Pampered Chef and Partylite.

I am from people filling every room.

(Boisterous, bustling, the smell of coffee at 4:00pm)

I am from blackberry vines and evergreen trees.

Pine needles stuck to the bottom of shoes, tracked into the mud room.

I’m from summer days in ice cold lakes and annoying laughs.

From Christina Marie and Meagan Allira.

I’m from never being on time and constantly misplacing the car keys

From, “Hurry up we’re late again” and “I break that word curse”

I’m from religious oppression, brainwashing cults and breaking free from their hold.

I’m from the hospital with the big round windows, Celtic Viking warriors,

shepherd’s pie, blackberry cobbler.

From the scars on my back, left from picking gravel from my flesh when my sister wound the tire swing a little too tight

From the cute moles on my mother’s face, the empty photo albums, pfaltzgraff ceramic dishware, hippopotamuses.

The baby pictures burned by an angry sperm donor, replaced by all my mother’s favorite things. She did her best. We did too.

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Lindsay Clark

Lindsay is a student at UNM-Taos working towards her BSN. Born and raised in Minnesota, she moved to Taos in 2019 to be close to her family. She is passionate about mental healthcare, enjoys cooking, drawing, and reading, and spends her free time camping with her dog and partner.

Where I’m From

I am from swings

Beanie Babies and bug spray

I am from backyard

lush, green, cushioning my bare feet

I am from Lupine

northern skies illuminating stark purple

I’m from freckles and campfires,

from Sydney Lynn and Ashley Joy

I’m from Midwestern Goodbyes

and Irish Exits

from “Be nice to your sister” and “Don’t let the bedbugs bite!”

I am from earthworms and exploding stars

from 10,000 Lakes,

pancakes,

and grandpa’s fresh bread.

From my father’s worn sleeping bag

and island winds,

tangling my mother’s hair.

My parent’s basement protects a shoebox,

faded pictures holding every card I’ve ever been given

I am from the words in those cards

lovingly written

by people who made me.

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Reflections on Our Ancestors, oil on paper, 30x30", December 2023

Lucien Horowitz

Lucien is a native New Mexican who recently moved to Taos. He's currently focused on developing skill with oil painting and exploring portraiture. He is fascinated by the way a person's life is written into their face. He sees painting as a tool to learn to read this language with greater proficiency and depth. Portraiture highlights how even the most subtle change of a single line can have a dramatic effect on personality and mood. The attempt to create likeness brings him face to face with not only what he see in another, but more importantly, what he doesn't see. This process then becomes an invitation deeper into the text that we encounter each time our gaze meets another.

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Maliya Morrison

Maliya is a dual credit student currently attending high school at Moreno Valley High School. Maliya is planning to double major in film studies and psychology, due to her vast and varying interests. All kinds of art have been an interest of her's since her adolescence, as well as many kinds of sciences.

The Art of Listening

In the relentless noise of the world, where the hum of voices hangs in the air like smog, the art of listening, truly listening, has become as rare and cherishable as a radiant sapphire in a pile of rocks.

The craft of listening is not only about hearing, but listening: tuning into the raw emotions from man to man, woman to woman, human to human, and being to being. Listening is about reading between the lines of casual conversation, being able to discern when your friend is not okay when they say, “I’m okay.” Listening is about realizing that even in silence, feelings can be shared and bonding can occur. The most important exchanges happen with a squeeze of the hand, a reassuring nod, a smile.

Throughout my journey studying psychology and film, I have learned to become in tune with emotions. It has helped me become a better, empathetic friend. Studying these subjects brings out the bright and sunny side of my personality. Not only has this helped me bring out the best side of myself, but it has also helped me bring out the sunny side of my friend’s. Although it is nice to bask in the sweet sunshine, there is always room for gloomy, rainy days to wash the troubles away by letting out raw, real emotion.

Listening, truly listening, is the bridge between souls, the rope holding one’s heart to the next, and the hand from one shoulder to the other. Listening is a sign of respect, to show that you not only care about the words being spoken, but the character of whom is speaking the words.

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Maliya Morrison cont.

I Am From Poem

I am from flower pots,

From cherry lotion and chamomile tea.

I am from the snow valley that’s always quiet,

The peaceful, frigid feel of my home.

From iris fields,

Beaming purple, blue, and pink.

From pancakes and dark, wavy hair,

From Nadine and Jo Ann,

From perfectionism and ambition.

From “Do not argue,” and “Say please and thank you,”

I’m from catholicism, singed in us since birth.

From Albuquerque and the town where angels paint the sky,

From tacos and posole,

From walking labyrinths,

From checkers at the dinner table.

The garden, the old church,

Where my ancestry lies.

Artwork by Caroline Yezer

Still-life, oil on canvas, 14x12", 2023

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Mariebella Duran

Mariebella Duran is a dual credit student from Taos Academy. She will complete her Associate of Pre-science in May 2024, along with her high school diploma. Mariebella plans to attend New Mexico State University to receive her Masters degree in Speech Pathology. She enjoys music and plays seven different instruments including guitar, electric guitar, drums, piano, violin, ukulele, bass, and she sings.

I Am Me

I am from a mom from Puerto Rico and a dad from New Mexico,

I am from Arroz con Gandules and sopapillas,

From Salsa dances to the marcha,

I am from a house of chaos but with lots of love.

I am from terrible jokes to lots of fun,

I am from a strong belief in God and a strong religion,

I am the two beautiful cultures brought together through love.

Through the highs and the lows I am blessed to be who I am,

Little children running around and tons yelling “Titi” all around,

So blessed to be called “Titi” by my nieces and nephews.

So blessed to be part of the Familia Duran.

Although life can be hard, I am who I am.

I am a strong, beautiful Latina that is Puerto Rican and New Mexican and loves to be part of these two cultures brought together through love. I am me.

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Mariebella Duran cont.

The Strings to my Heart

As I lie awake in my bed

I hear your song in my head

I get up and grab my guitar

I begin to strum along to the beat

As I look at the guitar I see something different

I see a comparison between the one I love and the instrument I love the most

The strings on the guitar are like the strands of your hair

Each string is handcrafted to make a special sound

Just like each strand of hair is handcrafted by God

The soundhole of the guitar is made so you can hear the beautiful sound of the guitar

Just like your mouth is made to hear the wonders you have to say

The body of the guitar is made uniquely for each guitar

Just like how you were uniquely made

The fretboard of the guitar is there to help make the beautiful sounds you hear

Just like you are here to make beautiful memories

The neck of the guitar is there to support it

As my fingers touch the neck of the guitar I think of you and me becoming closer

The tuning pegs of the guitar help make sure the guitar sounds correct

Just like God is there to fix anything that sounds like a sour note in our lives

The color of the guitar is a golden brown

Just like the beauty of your skin

The headstock of the guitar is there to end off a beautiful creation

Just like when you were created you were complete and beautiful

With all of these different pieces of a guitar you create music

With all of these different pieces of you, you create a song in me

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Merle Derse

Merle Derse has been a ceramic student at UNM-Taos since Fall of 2015. Prior to enrollment at UNM-Taos, she attended Los Angeles Pierce College as an art major. Between 2005-2010 she was enrolled in the Ceramics Department at Pierce College. In 2007 & 2008 she participated in the California Conference for the Advancement of Ceramic Art in Davis, CA. It was an intercollegiate event, which included universities, prestigious art colleges, state universities and community colleges throughout California. UNM-Taos and the Taos community have provided numerous opportunities for Merle to participate in gallery shows including The Staples Gallery and The Millicent Rogers Miniature Show. Currently, a selection of her ceramic art is available for sale at The Harwood Museum gift store.

Jewel jar, Raku ceramic, 3.5x3.5x3.5"

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Nan Fischer cont.

Unexpected Healing

A plume of smoke floats into the sky pushed up the valley by a breeze.

Is that a permitted brush fire?

From my house on a ridge a half-mile away, through naked tree branches I see the flashing red lights of a volunteer firefighter’s pick-up truck.

Is he there to monitor it? Smart homeowner!

Different shades of smoke billow from various areas. With binoculars, I can see the flames.

They must be burning the entire lot.

It doesn’t occur to me that the sun will go down in less than an hour and that our yards are covered with fresh snow. I am in a time and place other than a mid-winter afternoon.

I can’t take my eyes off the quickly growing flames and thick, dark smoke.

How can one person deal with this growing fire? What’s happening over there? Why aren’t they doing anything?!

I peer through my binoculars again.

Put it out! PUT IT OUT!!!

Primal emotions of panic, dread, fear, and sadness arrive from a place I’ve never been able to name or from memories I don’t recall.

* * *

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Nan Fischer cont.

In nursery school, our teacher circled us up for an early morning announcement. If she were the 12 on a clock, I was the 6. I was looking directly at her when, in a serious yet gentle tone, she said, “Boys and girls, we’re going to have a fire drill.”

I jumped up from my chair screaming! Terror overtook my little body.

The staff couldn’t calm me, so they sat me next to my warm ’n’ fuzzy teacher. At three years old, I was terrified of fire but had not knowingly been in one. I was so young. How could I even know what fire was and how destructive it could be? How did I know what a fire drill was?

I loved my days at my nursery school, Helen King Reynolds. In fall, we were each given a shallow little box and told to go out and collect pinecones, pine needles, and twigs. I arranged mine in a tidy landscaped scene, so in love with the natural elements. I took my box home, and my adoptive mother gave me some empty wooden thread spools to add to it.

All the neighborhood kids went to Helen King Reynolds. When I look at the annual school photo, a well-loved black and white 8"x10" print, I see the friends my brother and I played with and those we would meet later in elementary school.

My friends and I, true three-year-olds mispronouncing words, called our school “Hennel King Rennel”. We didn’t know it was the name of the woman who founded it. They were just words to us, and they rhymed! In the car on the way home, we would have serious conversations about our day at Hennel King Rennel.

* * *

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Nan Fischer cont.

Investigators found human remains in the house. They were situated in a way that suggested this person was gathering up valuables and preparing to escape the flames. I wanted to exorcise the debilitating sense of helplessness that had overtaken me since first seeing the smoke two days before.

I had to drive through the neighborhood while running errands. The excessive traffic of eight fire engines had melted the snow off the road. The feeder roads were still glistening white.

Through the pine trees, I caught a glimpse of the collapsed portal. I sensed a creepy hand reaching for my solar plexus to tear me apart. My mind wasn’t afraid, but my body was.

Oh God!!! HELP ME!!!

Tears I’d been holding back broke through their duct openings. I had to stop the car and take off my glasses. They were spattered with decades of sadness.

Sixty-two years after that fire drill announcement, I imagine the anguish and helplessness the deceased must have felt in those last moments. I finally identify my own primal sense of helplessness, a consequence of being taken away from my mother at birth.

The nurse’s hands did not hurt me. They cleaned and swaddled me. Then they placed me in a nursery with dozens of other illegitimate babies who would grow up with their own primal wounds, which would overtake them at seemingly inappropriate moments.

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Petra Marguerite

Petra Marguerite is a Taos-based artist born in Albuquerque and raised in Vienna, Austria. She studied chemistry at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland with the presumptuous intention of working in pharmaceuticals and making a lot of money. While she maintained an art practice throughout her studies, she was creatively unsatisfied and made it her mission to connect the worlds of science and art. She did this by researching education and how to integrate creativity into teaching. After graduating, she moved back to New Mexico to pursue her own art. At UNM-Taos she has taken an oil painting class and is now enrolled in Art Practices II, where she spends her time investigating her experience of science through art. Themes in her work include science-art connection, intuition, and intersectional feminism.

Petra Marguerite is the recipient of the UNM-Taos / School of Visual Arts Fellowship. She will be attending the four-week Interdisciplinary Practices in Bio Art Residency in New York City this summer 2024.

Watch Me Press Resume, oil on canvas, 30x28x2", 2023

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Sandy Chestnutt

Sandy Chestnutt, a UNM-Taos alumni (English and Creative Writing) not only loves to write fictional short stories, but has a huge passion for creating random acts of eclectic art. A senior-senior citizen, she has many recollections, daydreams of things she’s done, books she’s read, movies she’s seen, places she’s been or dreamt of going...be it on this earth, or in the realms of infinite imagination... In these daydreams weaves the fantasies of displaced snippets that just pop in -- that wonderful sprinkling of surprise imagery that is captured in her art. Once a traditional watercolor/ink/acrylic artist, she has transitioned to completing all her creations in Photoshop. Her latest theme is miniature paintings: 6x6s and 4x4s.

Heading Home, photoshop, 6x6", 12/7/23

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Sarah Parker

Sarah Parker (b. 1975, Shawnee, Oklahoma, she/her) is an interdisciplinary artist living off-grid in the high desert tundra of Northern New Mexico. She currently works as a Special Education Teacher in Taos County. The breadth of her work includes paintings, drawings, printmaking, oral histories, audio documentaries, multi-media installation, film, video art, animation, and performance art. Her work examines the complex relationships between ourselves and our environments, focusing on the fragility of survival in nature and modern life while questioning the biproducts of American capitalism, such as mass incarceration, gender expectations, and modern relationships with the land.

Woodpecker Migrates for Habitat, ink, cut paper, pastel, colored pencil, gauche, and block print, 50x40”, 2023

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Selena Pacheco cont.

Where I'm From

I am from water

From Gamblin and Gamsol

From the clutter in every corner

Excess, chaos, will it ever be enough

I am from Hawthorn and Lily of the Valley

Acrid and bitter, tart or sweet

From generational trauma and abuse

From Rose and Jenny

I am from continuing the cycle and wanting to break it

From ”Happy Birthday” to ”Grow up already”

I am from the Land of Entrapment

From all the holes in the walls

And the family photos hidden beneath the mess

I am from resentment and forgiveness

A juxtaposition doom to survive

“Have You Ever Experienced Childhood Trauma?”, ink on paper and spackle on cardboard, installation dimensions variable, 2024

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Shyla Martinez

Shyla Martinez is a Taos High School senior taking classes at UNM-Taos. Shyla is interested in portraiture, still life, and fantasy works. Her mediums of choice are colored pencil and oil painting. Some of her favorite things to draw are grotesque heads. She has shown paintings in the Atrium Gallery and drawings in the THS UNM-Taos Spring showcase, Bareiss Gallery (Celebrando Exhibit), Taos Center for the Arts, NM Art Expo, NM State Fair, Millicent Rogers Museum, and featured at the Taos Library. She is eager to pursue a degree in Fine Arts at UNM-Taos. Shyla is also looking to pursue a singing career, taking lessons at the Taos Institute of Vocal Arts and leading praise and worship at her church every week. Shyla is very involved in school, being a straight “A” student, a top five finalist in the homecoming court, a dedicated EQ mentor, and mentoring at the Taos Arts Club and Teen Art Studio. She also makes sure to make room for her other hobbies: skiing, reading, and crafting.

Senior Self-portrait, oil on canvas, 24x20", December 2023

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Susan Mihalic

Susan Mihalic is the author of the critically acclaimed novel DARK HORSES (Scout Press, 2021), which received starred reviews from Publishers Weekly, Kirkus, Library Journal, and Booklist and was excerpted in Entertainment Weekly online. It was included in numerous “most anticipated, must-read” lists, including those from O Magazine, Parade, Country Living, Library Journal, Goop, the Bustle, and more. She has lived in Taos more than 30 years and currently serves on the board of SOMOS, Taos’s literary nonprofit, where she has been appointed curator of the Young Writers Program for 2024-2025. She is slated to return to the Taos Writers Conference this year to lead her workshop “From the Mind to the Page: A Generative Writing Workshop.” In 2015, she was selected to attend the highly competitive Tin House Writers Workshop, and in 2016 she received a work-study scholarship to Sean Murphy and Tania Casselle’s writing workshop at Ghost Ranch. As curriculum director of Taos Institute of Arts, she produced hundreds of workshops in the literary and visual arts. When she isn’t writing, Susan enjoys riding her American Warmblood gelding, Goldmark.

Relative Sorrow

Any story of my mother’s death when I was 32 is rooted in my father’s death when I was five.

My 19-year-old sister Margaret* specialized in screaming and slamming doors. We tried to avoid doing anything that would set her off.

My 14-year-old sister Patricia* was ultra-sensitive. All of us except Margaret tried to avoid hurting her feelings.

I was in my Cinderella years, referring to my sisters as “my two haughty stepsisters.” Daddy was Prince Charming. Mother wasn’t the wicked stepmother or the fairy godmother. She simply had no role in the story.

One sweltering late September morning, my kindergarten teacher took me out of class early and drove me home, which made me apprehensive. After a stroke, Daddy was rehabbing at a hospital in Hot Springs, Arkansas. I was terrified that he’d died, but I almost convinced myself he’d come home early.

I walked in the door, half-expecting to see him, and immediately knew the truth, even before Patricia sent me to my parents’ bedroom, where my mother sat at her dressing table in her slip, applying powder and lipstick.

“Daddy’s gone to live with Jesus,” she said.

She began to sob, and I ran out of the bedroom. Patricia told me I needed to apologize to Mother, so I did. This was the first time I remember apologizing for a nonexistent transgression.

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Susan Mihalic cont.

Within months of Daddy’s death, Margaret married and moved out. Patricia went to live with our grandmother. Then there were two: Mother and me. I understood my job was to take care of her; if she died, what would happen to me?

Mother was both short-tempered and hypersensitive. Equating her temper with the screaming fights she’d had with Margaret, I promised myself I’d never fight with her like that. When she cried, I felt insecure, so I resolved not to give her reason to cry. I was determined not only to keep her safe but also make her happy, so I tried to play along when she put a pillow over my face or held a flimsy plastic dry-cleaning bag over my head, but not being able to breathe panicked me, and I’d soon kick and writhe and tear my way free.

My terror irritated her. “I’m just playing,” she’d say, offended, and I apologized and tried to believe it was a game.

I knew better. She never carried it so far that I lost consciousness, but surely she thought about killing me and maybe herself. The Game continued occasionally over the next two years, until we moved to Union, a tiny rural town where we lived next door to my grandmother. Then we didn’t play it anymore.

When she was late coming home from work, I worried myself into near hysteria. In fourth grade, when I read in Weekly Reader the cost of rearing a child through college, I nearly ran away because I didn’t want her to spend that much money on me. I almost ran away again two years later after she said, “My life would have been a hell of a lot easier if you’d never been born.”

She’d spoken in sudden anger, but her long-held resentment was as clear as her words. After weeks of planning, I realized cops would undoubtedly find me and haul me home; she’d be furious and embarrassed, and she’d take it out on me. Besides, she said her life would be easier without me, but who would take care of her if I left?

Dinged and weird, I survived, though high school was so miserable that I graduated a year early. Now I see this as the first time I put my needs before Mother’s. Striving to come in under Weekly Reader’s budget, I attended a community college near Union for two years. Without a car, commuting wasn’t practical, so I moved into the dorm. First, though, I created a checklist and taped it to the inside of the carport door so it was the last thing Mother saw when she left the house: Do you have your keys? Did you take your medicine? Is the stove off? Is the back door locked? I called her during the week and went home every weekend. Even so, the limited freedom I had at community college allowed me to begin to discover who I really was.

“It’s ridiculous when people talk about finding themselves,” she’d say. “I know who I am.”

Maybe. Maybe she didn’t want me to find out who I was.

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Susan Mihalic cont.

Ten miles away, I became nicer. There are more important things than being nice, but I needed to be nicer. At home, my mother was acid-tongued and short-fused, so I was, too, all the time. Being nice had never even occurred to me.

After graduation, I stretched my wings further and traveled to Florida to teach therapeutic riding at a camp for children with disabilities. When I returned to Mississippi, I attended a university more than two hours from Union. Going home every weekend wasn’t an option.

In my junior year, I fell in love with another student. We spent the next summer apart when I returned to my job at camp and he went to California, moving there during my senior year. After I graduated, I visited him in San Diego and we were married. The day after our modest wedding (no guests), I was offered a job at a major publishing house that had recently relocated from New York. I accepted it. My boundaries were now a healthy 1800 miles wide.

Periodically Mother visited us, usually on her good behavior because I’m sure she didn’t want my husband to witness her temper. In 1990, she spent the holidays with us. One day when my husband was at work, I was baking cookies and thinking about my mother and my childhood. She’d been a young widow left with a five-year-old to bring up on her own. It was my turn to take care of her.

I was on the verge of saying exactly that when she abruptly announced that she felt like an imposition, unwelcome in my home. I’d hurt her feelings. Didn’t I ever think about her?

Stunned, I assured her she wasn’t an imposition and was very welcome. She huffed upstairs to the guestroom. I followed, thinking, All I’ve ever done is think about is her. I’m not apologizing, and I’ll be damned if I cry.

Her face flushed, she threatened to go home early.

Despite my resolve, I started crying, apologizing, begging her not to leave—all the while thinking, Goddammit, why am I apologizing?

“I’ll stay,” she said, as if rewarding me.

We didn’t talk about the incident. As always, she assumed not mentioning it had put it behind us. We parted coolly a few days into the new year, both of us pretending she hadn’t gutted me. But I’d been attacked, and I’d apologized to my attacker. My boundaries hadn’t worked because I’d invited her inside them.

I began seeing a counselor. At my first visit, she asked, “What brings you here?”

“It’s what brings everyone here,” I said. “I hate my mother.”

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Susan Mihalic cont.

I wasn’t sure I meant it. I’m still not sure. I recognize the heartbreaking hand she was dealt and want to believe she did her best, but part of me hurts for the child whose mother played the smothering game and told her she wasn’t wanted.

For the next three and a half years, we rarely talked on the phone. I sent her a letter or a card every week or two, mostly to head off phone calls.

Patricia was with her when she died. One morning while vacationing in the U.K., Mother became short of breath.

On the gurney in the back of the ambulance, she said, “Patricia, I’m dying.”

Patricia said, “No, you’re not. You’ll spend some time in the hospital, and then we’ll go home.”

Mother smiled, squeezed her hand, and died.

An autopsy revealed the cause: pulmonary embolism.

We assembled in Union, Margaret still a nightmare, Patricia still sensitive. I fulfilled my role: planned the funeral, cleaned Mother’s house, and ran interference between Margaret and Patricia.

The evening before the funeral, visitation was held at the funeral home. When I was shown to the reception room, my knees buckled. Seeing the closed casket and knowing her body was in it made the blood rush from my head. The next day, I felt wobbly as I followed the casket down the aisle of the church toward the altar. She was in there.

The early June afternoon was scorching and bright. At the cemetery, a worker sat on a yellow backhoe and watched while I plucked a red rose from the spray on top of the casket.

I bent over and kissed the casket, which was hot beneath my lips.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered. Then I walked over to thank the man on the backhoe, who was waiting to fill the grave.

*Names have been changed.

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Tenney Walsh

Tenney Whedon Walsh came to Taos on a Wurlitzer Fellowship for composing. Previously she lived in NYC where she worked as an actress before turning to writing street poetry and songs.

MINOTAUR

The labyrinth you go through

To avoid speaking the truth

Following the tiny white ball

Or the silken thread you think

It will lead you to the center and

you follow led only by your impulse

to find not the answer but the escape

people are dying all around you

so you enter the walled compound

led by the trailing string

and as children’s cries ring out over

the walls as planes fly above

you are focused deeper and deeper on the bell,

the mantra, the namaste,

the OM

the kneading of the challah

if only it could absolve you

threading deeper and deeper into loss

the more you run from the obvious slaughter

the more you guarantee that the Minotaur at center

will indeed destroy your heart

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Vanessa Martinez

Vanessa Martinez is majoring in ECED at UNM-Taos. She is taking two ECED course, English 1110 and science for teachers. She works at the UNM-Taos Kids campus

Artwork by Aristotle Arrambide

Starry Mimicry, based off of Malik Roberts, chalk pastels, charcoal, pencil, collage on paper, 24x18”, 2024

Stone Poem

Once as big as a mountain,

now small enough to fit in someone's hands

So much beauty in such a small stone

A stone that’s so rough and hard on the outside

But yet so soft, smooth, and gentle on the inside

Through all the harsh rough rivers and the calm slow ones

Reshaping the stone and reforming it many times

Traveling everywhere the water takes it

Every new place changes the stone's appearance

Unique and one-of-a-kind

Traveling through the roughest conditions

Fast rivers, landslides, earthquakes, and erosion

Through it all the stone stayed solid

The size and texture changed

Through it all, the stone stayed together

But came out looking and feeling very different

Finally, one day, the stone is collected

Being told it’s the prettiest, smoothest stone

No more hard times the stone thought

Soon enough the stone wasn’t pretty enough

Getting replaced with a new and prettier stone

Then being thrown in a bucket of other stones

Those were all once pretty enough

But still ended up being replaced

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Sarah Stolar

Sarah Stolar is the Chair of Fine Arts, Film and Digital Media and teaches Drawing, Painting, Sculpture, and Art Practices. She is an interdisciplinary feminist artist and internationally awarded filmmaker. Sarah grew up in her mother’s art studio and award-winning art school Schain Studios, received a BFA in Painting from the Art Academy of Cincinnati, and an MFA in New Genres from the San Francisco Art Institute. Sarah is an award winning filmmaker, and her visual art has exhibited internationally with solo exhibitions at the Harwood Museum, the New Mexico Museum of Art, BGMoCA in Montevideo, and the School of Visual Arts in New York City. www.sarahstolar.com

Kate in the Red Dress, oil on canvas, 36x30", 2024

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PETER WALKER

Peter Walker is a filmmaker, photographer and educator. He is also a lifelong student of Aikido, a Japanese Martial Art. Peter grew up in his fathers’ woodworking studio making sawdust. He earned his Master Degree in Education from the University of Oregon and his Directors’ Certificate from the Asian Academy of Film and Television in New Delhi, India. He honed his filmmaking craft during three years of productions in Malaysia and South East Asia, followed by documentary films in Costa Rica and New Mexico. Recently he spent a summer as an Artist-in-Residence at Arquetopia in Urubamba, Peru. He has been teaching media arts for 14 years and he is the Program Coordinator of the Film and Digital Media program. https://taoswalkermedia.com

Chingis Khaan Descendants Horsemanship Show

Stunning Mongolian performers and athletes demonstrate their horse prowess while on an American tour in Taos, New Mexico.

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Adrian Pijoan

Adrian is a new media artist and filmmaker based in Albuquerque, New Mexico. In his work Adrian explores the relationship between contemporary anxieties and stories of the paranormal. Adrian received his MFA in Art and Ecology from the University of New Mexico in 2016. The images here are from Adrian’s 2024 solo exhibition “The Moon Is Full and So Are All Our Inboxes” in the Art Vault at Gallery One inside of Albuquerque City Hall. You can call (505) 768-4747 any time to experience part of the exhibition from home. You can see Adrian’s full portfolio online at https://adrianpijoan.net

The Moon Is Full and So Are All Our Inboxes, installation, dimensions variable, 2024

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JAime knight

Jaime Knight is an artist, musician and educator whose practice investigates the radical intricacies of queer subjectivity. Born and raised in Albuquerque, he did his growing up in California. He received his BFA from the University of New Mexico, an MA in Arts Education from San Francisco State University and an MFA from the University of Iowa. His work utilizes drawn and printed material, sculptural objects and installation, and time-based media. Some of his recent projects explore the correlation between the AIDS crisis and nuclear threat of the Reagan era, ideas of queer utopianism and longing and representations of gays in history and contemporary media. jaimecknight.com

Untitled (Hero Worship), 15x12”, 2022

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KELLY CLEMENT

Kelly Clement teaches Film Studies for the Digital Media Arts Department. He is a self-confessed movie addict who received his MA in Film Production from San Francisco State University in 1990. He has since produced and directed numerous films, videos and multimedia projects and has taught film classes at Minnesota College of Art and Design and UNM-Taos for the past 20 years. From 1995-2003 Kelly was the co-founder and Director of Programming for the Taos Talking Picture Festival. He has also worked with the True/False Film Festival, the Nantucket Film Festival and the Denver Film Festival. Currently he is the documentary film programmer for the Mill Valley Film Festival and the DocLands Documentary Film Festival.

DocLands 2024 Official Trailer

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KIMBERLY THOMPSON

Kimberly Thompson is a New Mexico goldsmith, who specializes in producing wearable work inspired by cultural relics and sacred geometry. Over the past decade, she has studied numerous techniques from around the world in the classical tradition of metal arts and jewelry fabrication. Through her work as an instructor of jewelry and metalsmithing, she passes her knowledge of the craft to the next generation of prospective artists. Kimberly received her MA in Art History from CSU Sacramento, and has committed herself to the continual education and promotion of craft-based arts. She has taught both Art History and Metalsmithing at multiple college campuses in both California and New Mexico. Kimberly currently teaches Small Metals at UNM-Taos. https://dorisjeandesign.com/

Chalcedony Pendant, 14k gold, chalcedony, green diamond, 1.5x1x.25”, 2024

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LEE AKINS

Lee Akins teaches Ceramics and Sculpture at UNM-Taos. He was born in Texas and grew up in Taiwan. He received his B.F.A. from the Dayton Art Institute, Dayton, Ohio in 1975 and M.F.A. in Ceramics from Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas in 1986. Lee has been teaching ceramics for more than 45 years. He feels teaching provides a good balance to his studio practice. Lee enjoys sharing all the insights and techniques he has discovered while being inspired and enriched by the creativity of his students. He has exhibited internationally in Taiwan and Japan and nationally, including The Dallas Museum of Art. Lee’s work has been featured in ceramic magazines and books including a feature article in Ceramics Monthly, August/September 2006. leeakins.com

Round Vase, terracotta, 7.5x6x2", 2023

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PAULA KING

Paula King teaches Intro to Art and a variety of Art History courses at UNM-Taos. Serving UNM-Taos since 2008, Paula shares her love for working with student learners, art-making, and the study of art appreciation and art history through online education. Paula's experience includes teaching studio art, digital photography, image editing, video production, and new media. She delivers art instruction to learners across the state of New Mexico and beyond. She continues to improve the experience of online instruction through research and training, designing UNM-Taos art courses to Quality Matters Standards. Degrees: Master of Fine Art Studio Art / Art History, Universidad de Guanajuato, Mx., Master of Science Studio Art / Art History, Texas A&M University, Bachelor of Fine Art, Studio Art / Art History, University of Texas, Austin.

Sunset moment for the fishing boys of Civitavecchia, digital photography, 2023

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Existential Slices, Alex Simeti - Program Coordinator

3D Printing Mini-Certificate Program

The 3D Printing Mini-Certificate Program at UNM-Taos teeters on the cutting edge of the ever-evolving technological future. Students learn the power behind project based learning as applied to 3D design and 3D printing. They engineer architectural, sculptural, conceptual, novelty and functional objects from the ethers and bring them into the tangible world. Ongoing interdepartmental collaborations continue to prove the industry permeating nature of 3D printing and design. Students are currently collaborating with the Math Department and Art Department. The one-semester certificate is designed for students who want to gain knowledge about 3D printing and hands-on experience using 3D printers. 3D printing is particularly relevant for students in pre-engineering and computer-aided drafting degree programs, but the courses are open to anyone interested in turning a design idea into a real physical product.

Program coordinator - Alex simeti

Alex Simeti is the instructor of 3D Printing and Design at three Taos County Schools: UNM-Taos (Mini-Certificate Program), Penasco ISD (After-School Program) and the Taos Pueblo Day School (K-8). Alex also stays busy as a father, a multi-disciplinary artist, and owner operator of Argot’s Oddities & 3D Print Shop, Taos’ first 3D Print Shop. These days, Alex’s true passion lies in character design, and follows the meandering pathway from conceptual doodles to meticulously hand painted and packaged collectable figures.

3D Printed Math Cubes

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project professors

Sarah Stolar, Chair of Fine Arts, Film and Digital Media

Amber Gordon - Humanities Chair

The art department

The Art Department is committed to engaging students in a rich dialogue on contemporary art and art history. Students learn hands-on skills, traditional foundations, contemporary approaches, interdisciplinary practices, and conceptual problem solving. Art students understand the ever-changing nature of art, its impact on contemporary culture, and the discovery of their place in the global art community.

The english department

The English Department provides a strong writing foundation for student writers across our certificate and degree programs. Through the teaching of writing, we provide students with relevant writing tools to succeed in our community and a global world. We value and embrace our unique cultural and language heritage while supporting diversity and the mission of the University of New Mexico – Taos.

vanitas: an art AND english composition collaboration

In spring of 2024, the Art Department and English Department at UNM-Taos engaged students in a drawing and writing collaboration. Students in Drawing I created charcoal drawings from still-lifes that included various objects, including bottles, fruit, and skulls. Students learned technical skills, such as composition (the arrangement of objects on a page), mark-making (their individual style of line-work), and value (blending the gray scale). The Enhanced Composition and Composition I classes were given photographs of the still-lifes and asked to write poems inspired by the imagery. The overarching theme for the student writers was Vanitas - a genre of art in the 16th and 17th-centuries that used still life imagery of ephemeral items to show the transience of life and represented a higher ideal. It was heavily employed by Dutch painters during the Baroque period and Spanish painters working at the end of the Spanish Golden Age.

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Vanitas: An Art and English Composition Collaboration cont.

Aristotle Arrambide

cloaked in satin luxury

disguised demise

of fate to be

deepest Desires

gravest sins

are you satisfied

with the life you live?

There is a cure for all that ails

but no one's lived to tell the tale

By Kaili Davidson

Death is the end of all things.

The unknown beyond the veil.

The relief from pain and sorrow.

The reminder of mortality

The cycle we all can't escape.

By Mikayla Leon

Aubrey Cheatham

Colorful Grapes.
Hanging from the vine.
Ripening into a wonderful wine.
Memory and bond of you.
Only gets better.
With Time.

By David Perea

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Vanitas: An Art and English Composition Collaboration cont.

Declan Plaster

Deep Vanity

Rich colors that spread like strokes,

Deep fantasy striking.

Aged and shallow.

Autumn consuming,

Dark impending.

Rich colors fading,

Deep space sliding.

Shallow and meek.

Winter becoming.

By Julia Bradley

Marguerite Dunn

It starts sweet and ripe

then it becomes tart and spoils

until it fades and shatters

never to be the same again

but to be born again as something new

By Caiden Stone

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Vanitas: An Art and English Composition Collaboration cont.

The last breath.

Shallow and weak

Thou, not a tear in sight

Peace is what is brought.

Comfort, and relief

No more pain. No more pain.

Is what is said, after emotions arise.

No more pain is felt

An awkward celebration

Pity that your allowed to fest

You remember, the purpose

We come and go

All emotions or none.

Our last breath

We think of life.

Say your goodbyes

No more pain will be felt.

By Idania Gutierrez

Summer Hartbauer

Life:

shiny, lush, proud

juice dripping down faces

collecting dust

until the end

By Lindsay Clark

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Vanitas: An Art and English Composition Collaboration cont.

Ellie Pope

Glass bottles that sit so clear, glass

that reflect the grapes, grapes that

hang to the table bottom, a bottom

that holds apples and pears with shapes

and tastes so different, to a motionless head that

sits looking into the distance, a distance

of different directions.

By Alexandra Salazar

The fruits and wines are sweet.

Can make you drunk and sleep, if you consume too much,

and when you look at me, you think I'm ghost,

because your sensation was lost.

By Amparo Manjares

Vicky Sparks

the apples from the tree

the grapes on the vine

the blue moon from behind

afraid of desolation

cursed

to bring retribution

under the crimson moon.

By Ariel Sauter

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Grapes,

glass bottles

like on Shrek where he meets

Fiona's parents for dinner

skulls and apples

like his swap

By Alissa Concha

Vanitas: An Art and English Composition Collaboration cont.

Caroline Scarabelli

Glistening globe grapes
Red ripe ready
Draped dangling down
Hanging harvest heavy
Grabbed gathered gotten
Squished smooshed smashed
Fingered filtered finished
Racked rested relished!

By Alexa Pikcilingis

Dashel Fullerton

grapes and pears

bottles and peppers

skulls

and apples

all surround each other

on the blue table

By Juan Ramirez

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the historical women of taos mural

In June 2023, internationally recognized muralist Jenny Ustick created a mural on the south wall of Rio Grande Hall on Civic Plaza Drive. The mural features four historical women of Taos, who were chosen by the community of Taos and the Taos Pueblo. The mural represents diverse women whose lives both embodied and helped create the story of Taos. These women experienced and contributed to the greatest magnitude of conflict, growth, bravery, genius, curiosity, conviction, and generosity for which this ancient, yet contemporary, community is known to be. This project was funded by the Taos Arts Council and the University of New Mexico-Taos, and managed by Sarah Stolar, Chair of Fine Arts, Film and Digital Media.

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María Rosa Villalpando

María Rosa Villalpando is considered the ancestral matriarch of several prominent Taos families and one of the historic women of the Santa Fe Trail. In 1760, around sixty women and children were taken captive in a Comanche raid on Ranchos de Taos. That raid is an example of the danger of living on New Mexico's frontier during the 17th and 18th centuries, for both Hispanic and Indigenous communities. Both were traded for labor or goods, and were also traded back to their own societies. María Rosa was taken in this raid, traded to the Pawnees and, after ten years, was ransomed by her future husband, a French trader from St. Louis, and had six children. 1802, her first child, Joseph Julian Jacques, a son from New Mexico who survived the raid, crossed the plains to visit his mother. She acknowledged him and made an estate settlement with him. In 1824, her grandson, Antoine Leroux, married into the New Mexican Vigil family. Today, the Taos Valley has many Jacques, Villalpando, and Leroux surnamed people who are distant cousins. All are descendants of María Rosa Villalpando.

Cleofas Martinez Jaramillo

Cleofas Martinez Jaramillo was an author, historic preservationist, and businesswoman. She had a major impact on the preservation of northern New Mexico’s Spanish culture. Born in Arroyo Hondo in 1878, Cleofas was educated at Catholic schools in Taos and Santa Fe. By 1931, her husband and only child passed away. After these deaths she felt called to document centuries old Spanish traditions that were beginning to fade from the northern New Mexico landscape. Cleofas wrote four books that recorded Spanish oral traditions, including Spanish Fairy Tales (translated from her mother’s stories), a cookbook, and two more about cultural traditions. She created unprecedented texts and that also featured aspects of women’s life, recognizing the importance of domestic activities. In 1935, Cleofas founded La Sociedad Folklόrica, which preserves Indo-Hispano folklore, colcha embroidery, traditional attire, tinwork, literature, dance, music, art, and other cultural practices.

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Helene Wurlitzer

Helene Wurlitzer was a philanthropist who started a pivotal artist residency in Taos. Born in Salt Lake City to German immigrants in the mining industry, one of her father’s mining companies was in New Mexico. She spent some of her childhood in New Mexico, where she thrived. In 1895 she married and her husband ran the Wurlitzer music business. Helene studied and pursued artistic endeavors, with much of her energy spent on the University of Cincinnati – College Conservatory of Music. Here she became the first woman to sit on the Board of Regents. Cincinnati is where Helene began her philanthropic work, establishing the Helene Wurlitzer Foundation, which was later dissolved and reopened in Taos when she returned. Founded in 1954, the HWF manages one of the oldest artist residency programs in the USA. Its mission is to “support the artist and the creative process” and serves as a haven for visual artists, literary artists and music composers. They provide charitable assistance to thousands of artists from all over the world, including placing emphasis on supporting LGBTQ artists and offering several full scholarships to Taos high-school graduates who want to major in art.

DeAnna Autumn Leaf Suazo

DeAnna Autumn Leaf Suazo was a Taos Pueblo and Diné contemporary 2D artist. DeAnna graduated from the Institute of American Indian Arts in Spring 2021 with a BFA in Studio Arts and was admitted into IAIA’s inaugural MFA program in Summer 2021. DeAnna loved to celebrate her Diné and Taos Pueblo heritage and to create art that reflected Pueblo cultural significance and aesthetics. Inspired by heroic figures of Japanese manga novels, she imbued her work with memory, resilience, and good intentions. Her most recent work emphasized figural paintings of strong Indigenous women who, in her words, “grind every day for a better community.” DeAnna showed her work at the Southwest Association for Indian Arts Market for over a decade, she was a SITE Santa Fe Scholar, and awarded the 2021 Taos Fine Arts Visionary Artist. Her artwork has exhibited across the country, including the IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts. In 2021, DeAnna was tragically murdered. She is remembered as a dedicated student, a devoted friend, a kind person, and a passionate artist whose creativity knew no bounds.

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the artist - jenny ustick

Jenny Roesel Ustick. Jenny is an Associate Professor and the Foundations Coordinator at the University of Cincinnati. She is one of the most prominent muralists across the globe. She has painted many walls for ArtWorks in Cincinnati, including the infamous James Brown mural. She painted Rose Lavelle for the US Soccer Federation, walls depicting historical women at the 21C Museum Hotel, the Hard Rock Cafe, and in multiple cities across the United States. She is a returning artist at the Walls for Women Mural Festival, and she has murals in Argentina and Sicily. And this is only a fraction of her large-scale community work. She is also a national museum exhibiting artist and participant in prestigious international art fairs, including the Governors Island Art Fair in New York, the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and ArtPrize.

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THE UNIVERSITY OF New Mexico-TAOS

UNM-Taos is one of the newest and smallest of the UNM branches, yet in 2011 was ranked as one of the top 25 community colleges in the nation for growth. We boast a sophisticated curriculum and highly qualified faculty. The campus is situated in a high mountain valley between the Rio Grande and the 1,000 year-old Taos Pueblo. Klauer Campus reflects Taos' laid-back style known throughout the Southwest. And it honors the area's connection to the land and conservation efforts; the campus is fully powered by one of the largest solar arrays in New Mexico.

THE DEPARTMENT OF FINE ARTS, FILM & DIGITAL MEDIA

UNM-Taos Department of Fine Arts, Film and Digital Media inspires students to tap into their creative potential by learning practical techniques, exploring alternative methods in art and media making, and honing their critical eye. The Fine Arts, Film and Digital Media Art programs are made up of a diverse group of students with a range of interests and approaches to art and film. We embrace this diversity and support all students with their degree choice, future goals, and artistic intentions. Students taking courses in Fine Arts, Film and Digital Media discover how art positively impacts their personal and professional lives.

UNM-Taos Department of Fine Arts, Film and Digital Media is committed to engaging students in a rich dialogue on contemporary art and art history. Students learn traditional foundations, contemporary approaches, interdisciplinary practices, and conceptual problem solving. A core belief of the Department of Fine Arts, Film and Digital Media is to help students understand the ever-changing nature of art, its affects on contemporary culture, and the discovery of their place in the global art community.

MORE INFORMATION:

FINE ARTS, FILM AND DIGITAL MEDIA DEPARTMENT - www.unmtaosart.com

HOWL: THE VOICE OF UNM-TAOS - 2024

A project by the UNM-Taos Department of Fine Arts, Film and Digital Media

With support from the Office of Academic Affairs and BCAM

EDITOR & DESIGNER - Sarah Stolar

CO-EDITOR - Amber Gordon

PHOTOGRAPHY ASSISTANTS - Dashel Fullerton and Enrico Trujillo

For artist contact information, email taosarts@unm.edu

Rear cover artwork by Matias Vigil

Rabbit, 3D printed Rabbit, 7.5x4.3x8.7'', January 31, 2024