Courtesy of United Way
Throughout an ever-changing rotation of social workers, families and judges, one thing remained constant: her Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) advocate. CASA First Judicial District is an organization that recruits, trains and supports volunteers to advocate for children in the welfare system throughout Santa Fe, Rio Arriba County, and Los Alamos County.
“I knew that no matter what home I was in or what school I went to, she would always check in on me. She was a person who wouldn’t change,” Veronica said. After graduating from college, Veronica joined CASA First in 2018, this time as an advocate.“There’s a reason I ended up at CASA First,” she said. “I knew firsthand how much it meant to have someone who truly cared.”
Throughout an ever-changing rotation of social workers, families and judges, one thing remained constant: her Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) advocate. CASA First Judicial District is an organization that recruits, trains and supports volunteers to advocate for children in the welfare system throughout Santa Fe, Rio Arriba County, and Los Alamos County.
“I knew that no matter what home I was in or what school I went to, she would always check in on me. She was a person who wouldn’t change,” Veronica said. After graduating from college, Veronica joined CASA First in 2018, this time as an advocate.“There’s a reason I ended up at CASA First,” she said. “I knew firsthand how much it meant to have someone who truly cared.”
The CASA First team gathers together in their office’s garden.
As a foster youth advocate, she provided the same consistency she once received, creating spaces where young people could speak openly about their experiences. “I didn’t pretend to have all the answers,” she said, “but I could meet kids where they were, be honest with them and help them find resources.” Annie Rasquin, Executive Director of CASA First, emphasizes the importance of listening to those with lived experience. “My staff always tells me, ‘Listen to Veronica,’” Annie said. “She helps shape who we are, identifies the needs in the community and shows us ways to grow.”
Veronica’s leadership in child welfare expanded as she transitioned into legislative work, serving as a leadership analyst for the New Mexico House of Representatives majority leader. Even as her career in policy continues to advance, she remains connected to CASA First, serving as vice president of the Board of Directors.
CASA First is one of 24 nonprofits supported by United Way Northern New Mexico (UWNNM), ensuring children in the foster care system have dedicated, consistent advocates.
“United Way is the organization that connects the dots,” Veronica said. “They help shift organizations away from a scarcity mindset and create a community built on abundance.”
Liddie Martinez, Los Alamos Market President at Enterprise Bank & Trust, was drawn toUnited Way’s support of multiple organizations that serve the area’s most vulnerable. A donor for 30 years, Liddie recently completed her tenure as chair of the board at UWNNM.
“United Way has been such a huge part of my life,” Liddie said. “The organization has an incredible reach and depth of impact.”
Enterprise committed to a three-year $300,000 matching grant to support UWNNM’s staffing and programs, with funds distributed in annual $100,000 installments.
“No single person or organization can do it alone,” says Cindy Padilla, Executive Director ofUWNNM. “Working together amplifies our impact.” Liddie helped guide UWNNM through transitions, ensuring stability for the organization during leadership changes and strengthening policies to keep the nonprofit moving forward. “As native New Mexicans who both grew up in Hispanic households, Liddie and I understand the value of community,” Cindy said. “We both feel a responsibility to give back.”
For Veronica, responsibility drives her work every day. Just as someone once showed up for her, she remains committed to showing up for others.
“Whether it’s between youth in the welfare system and their advocates, or between partnered organizations like United Way and CASA First,” said Veronica, “true progress comes from genuine relationships built on mutual trust.”
This giving season, donate to nonprofits such as CASA First or United Way Northern New Mexico where one donation impacts many nonprofits, builds a stronger community.
Original content source: www.enterprisebank.com/impact-united-way-of-northern-new-mexico
]]>
Veronica’s leadership in child welfare expanded as she transitioned into legislative work, serving as a leadership analyst for the New Mexico House of Representatives majority leader. Even as her career in policy continues to advance, she remains connected to CASA First, serving as vice president of the Board of Directors.
CASA First is one of 24 nonprofits supported by United Way Northern New Mexico (UWNNM), ensuring children in the foster care system have dedicated, consistent advocates.
“United Way is the organization that connects the dots,” Veronica said. “They help shift organizations away from a scarcity mindset and create a community built on abundance.”
Liddie Martinez, Los Alamos Market President at Enterprise Bank & Trust, was drawn toUnited Way’s support of multiple organizations that serve the area’s most vulnerable. A donor for 30 years, Liddie recently completed her tenure as chair of the board at UWNNM.
“United Way has been such a huge part of my life,” Liddie said. “The organization has an incredible reach and depth of impact.”
Enterprise committed to a three-year $300,000 matching grant to support UWNNM’s staffing and programs, with funds distributed in annual $100,000 installments.
“No single person or organization can do it alone,” says Cindy Padilla, Executive Director ofUWNNM. “Working together amplifies our impact.” Liddie helped guide UWNNM through transitions, ensuring stability for the organization during leadership changes and strengthening policies to keep the nonprofit moving forward. “As native New Mexicans who both grew up in Hispanic households, Liddie and I understand the value of community,” Cindy said. “We both feel a responsibility to give back.”
For Veronica, responsibility drives her work every day. Just as someone once showed up for her, she remains committed to showing up for others.
“Whether it’s between youth in the welfare system and their advocates, or between partnered organizations like United Way and CASA First,” said Veronica, “true progress comes from genuine relationships built on mutual trust.”
This giving season, donate to nonprofits such as CASA First or United Way Northern New Mexico where one donation impacts many nonprofits, builds a stronger community.
Original content source: www.enterprisebank.com/impact-united-way-of-northern-new-mexico
By Zach Hively
Two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning. Game Seven of the World Series. The opponent’s ace throws me a heater. I murder it! The crowd goes bonkers as I win the championship for the Kansas City Royals. After celebrating, I fetch the Wiffle ball from the other side of the house, and I set up to win it all over again.
If each of these imagined championships of my boyhood had earned a real flag, the house would have looked like the United Nations.
I let go of that dream a long time ago. I was not skilled enough to be a world-class baseball player. Or, more honestly, I was unwilling to put in the time to find out whether or not I was good enough. I built fresh dreams atop my fantasy of baseball stardom. Write a world-renowned column. Write great novels. Write anything else I damn well pleased, but write it evocatively and maybe even change the world with it.
Those who really and truly push themselves know how much effort goes into spinning hay into gold. The Royals’ erstwhile left fielder, Alex Gordon, was the type of athlete who spun that gold into platinum. He dedicated himself to baseball at a level I wish I would offer to my writing, or to anything, really. Others have penned stories in actual respectable sports sections about the one time he broke his dietary regimen to eat a hamburger. His dedication transformed him from a top-prospect bust to one of the silent stars of a short era in the 2010s.
Back in 2014, he lived my old dream. His Royals were down 3-2 in Game Seven of the World Series. Two out, bottom of the ninth inning. Gordon faced the Giants’ best pitcher—a pitcher on the threshold of legend—a pitcher whose name we dare not speak.
That the Royals would play in the playoffs at all, let alone on this stage, boggled the oddsmakers. The Royals were mediocre at best in July of that year. They had no standout star. Not even Gordon, whose biggest, most reliable successes were on defense, which fans and analysts both tend to overlook. Then, to lean on a cliché, something clicked. So much of the team stood out in overlooked ways that people started looking.
The Royals turned scrappy and resourceful. They figured out what they do best, and they played that way, even when it went against current baseball conventions.
A bunch of guys having fun suddenly plaused the implausible. They earned the team’s first playoff berth in twenty-nine years. They won the Wild Card game after their win probability was literally three percent in the eighth inning. They won seven more straight to reach the World Series.
Forget pigs flying and hell shivering. Anything was possible. I felt it. I mean, just look at me: I was writing a weekly column and had already secured multiple publications—hey, two is a multiple—pleased to run it. Solid accomplishments. More pieces of ether made tangible.
Then, with Alex Gordon at the plate, the whole magical season reached its final out. No one on base, down by one run. The first pitch was a strike.
The most finessed storyteller could not craft a more perfect way to play out this postseason. All the seeming restrictions of life frayed and fell away, turning reality beautiful and glorious and completely ridiculous.
The second pitch, Gordon swatted into center field.
The ball touched the grass. A two-out single. The slimmest deli slice of hope.
The center fielder missed the ball. It skittered to the wall. Gordon sped up for second base.
The left fielder bumbled the ball against the wall, buying a couple seconds more valuable than a lifetime of fandom. Gordon ran for third base.
The left fielder corralled the ball and threw it to the shortstop. The Royals’ third base coach read the tea leaves in an instant—Gordon’s speed, the shortstop’s arm strength, the distance of the looming throw—and he hoisted his hands up into the air. He wanted Gordon to stop.
What do you do? You work hard for years for one goal: maybe a World Series ring, maybe a book. If you’re very fortunate, the universe sets up the grand opportunity, or a whole Rube Goldberg of opportunities, just for you. Then, the universe does what it does best. It pulls back its hand, takes a step into the shadows, and lets your own actions determine the finale.
Comedies and tragedies are the exact same stories until this final beat. Everyone ends up in love, or everyone ends up dead. You live forever, or you disappear. In these big moments, you get one or the other. There is no compromise.
Alex Gordon listened. He stopped at third base.
The next batter popped out in foul territory. Game over.
The third base coach made a rational call, and Gordon very defensibly trusted him. He put hope on a respirator for one more batter. He put his faith in his teammate to hit another baseball even though, win or lose, his dash would have been pantheonized.
Probably nine times out of ten, he’s out.
But one time out of ten, he lives forever.
Listening to the base coach is the smart choice, every time. I survive by listening to the conventional wisdom of my own inner base coaches. Play it safe. Don’t throw away your chances. Never make the final out on the basepaths.
Game Sevens are not conventional. Big moments are never safe.
When an entire lifetime of striving is on the line, hope has no value. The universe will not hand you victory. You go for it, or you sit on your heels.
For all my emotional investment, for all I didn’t sleep that night, I was zero percent pissed that Gordon did not run home. Time and patience softened this blow when those improbable Royals won it all a year later. But even before 2015 retconned the tragedy of 2014, I played out a fabricated memory of his running home, over and over and over. I still do. Even when he’s out by a mile, I am proud of him, this person I will never even know.
That year’s Royals team showed me the value of fun, and amazement, and wonder, and dedication, and a fair bit of bravado. The season is long over, the band is broken up, and yet they continue to inspire me.
Here I am, rounding second once again. I’m always and perpetually rounding second. But when I get to third this time, I’m blasting past the base coach. I may get thrown out by twenty-five feet and silence the stadium. Analysts may pick apart my boneheaded decision. But I don’t care. I’m through living for hope. The dash for home is the play I want on my highlight reel.
Safe or out, there’s always next year.
]]>Those who really and truly push themselves know how much effort goes into spinning hay into gold. The Royals’ erstwhile left fielder, Alex Gordon, was the type of athlete who spun that gold into platinum. He dedicated himself to baseball at a level I wish I would offer to my writing, or to anything, really. Others have penned stories in actual respectable sports sections about the one time he broke his dietary regimen to eat a hamburger. His dedication transformed him from a top-prospect bust to one of the silent stars of a short era in the 2010s.
Back in 2014, he lived my old dream. His Royals were down 3-2 in Game Seven of the World Series. Two out, bottom of the ninth inning. Gordon faced the Giants’ best pitcher—a pitcher on the threshold of legend—a pitcher whose name we dare not speak.
That the Royals would play in the playoffs at all, let alone on this stage, boggled the oddsmakers. The Royals were mediocre at best in July of that year. They had no standout star. Not even Gordon, whose biggest, most reliable successes were on defense, which fans and analysts both tend to overlook. Then, to lean on a cliché, something clicked. So much of the team stood out in overlooked ways that people started looking.
The Royals turned scrappy and resourceful. They figured out what they do best, and they played that way, even when it went against current baseball conventions.
A bunch of guys having fun suddenly plaused the implausible. They earned the team’s first playoff berth in twenty-nine years. They won the Wild Card game after their win probability was literally three percent in the eighth inning. They won seven more straight to reach the World Series.
Forget pigs flying and hell shivering. Anything was possible. I felt it. I mean, just look at me: I was writing a weekly column and had already secured multiple publications—hey, two is a multiple—pleased to run it. Solid accomplishments. More pieces of ether made tangible.
Then, with Alex Gordon at the plate, the whole magical season reached its final out. No one on base, down by one run. The first pitch was a strike.
The most finessed storyteller could not craft a more perfect way to play out this postseason. All the seeming restrictions of life frayed and fell away, turning reality beautiful and glorious and completely ridiculous.
The second pitch, Gordon swatted into center field.
The ball touched the grass. A two-out single. The slimmest deli slice of hope.
The center fielder missed the ball. It skittered to the wall. Gordon sped up for second base.
The left fielder bumbled the ball against the wall, buying a couple seconds more valuable than a lifetime of fandom. Gordon ran for third base.
The left fielder corralled the ball and threw it to the shortstop. The Royals’ third base coach read the tea leaves in an instant—Gordon’s speed, the shortstop’s arm strength, the distance of the looming throw—and he hoisted his hands up into the air. He wanted Gordon to stop.
What do you do? You work hard for years for one goal: maybe a World Series ring, maybe a book. If you’re very fortunate, the universe sets up the grand opportunity, or a whole Rube Goldberg of opportunities, just for you. Then, the universe does what it does best. It pulls back its hand, takes a step into the shadows, and lets your own actions determine the finale.
Comedies and tragedies are the exact same stories until this final beat. Everyone ends up in love, or everyone ends up dead. You live forever, or you disappear. In these big moments, you get one or the other. There is no compromise.
Alex Gordon listened. He stopped at third base.
The next batter popped out in foul territory. Game over.
The third base coach made a rational call, and Gordon very defensibly trusted him. He put hope on a respirator for one more batter. He put his faith in his teammate to hit another baseball even though, win or lose, his dash would have been pantheonized.
Probably nine times out of ten, he’s out.
But one time out of ten, he lives forever.
Listening to the base coach is the smart choice, every time. I survive by listening to the conventional wisdom of my own inner base coaches. Play it safe. Don’t throw away your chances. Never make the final out on the basepaths.
Game Sevens are not conventional. Big moments are never safe.
When an entire lifetime of striving is on the line, hope has no value. The universe will not hand you victory. You go for it, or you sit on your heels.
For all my emotional investment, for all I didn’t sleep that night, I was zero percent pissed that Gordon did not run home. Time and patience softened this blow when those improbable Royals won it all a year later. But even before 2015 retconned the tragedy of 2014, I played out a fabricated memory of his running home, over and over and over. I still do. Even when he’s out by a mile, I am proud of him, this person I will never even know.
That year’s Royals team showed me the value of fun, and amazement, and wonder, and dedication, and a fair bit of bravado. The season is long over, the band is broken up, and yet they continue to inspire me.
Here I am, rounding second once again. I’m always and perpetually rounding second. But when I get to third this time, I’m blasting past the base coach. I may get thrown out by twenty-five feet and silence the stadium. Analysts may pick apart my boneheaded decision. But I don’t care. I’m through living for hope. The dash for home is the play I want on my highlight reel.
Safe or out, there’s always next year.
NEW YORK, NY / ESPAÑOLA, NM — The good news continues for Moving Arts Española. Co-Founder and Creative Director Roger Montoya, a CNN Hero, has been selected as a recipient of the 2025 Dance Teacher Award, one of the nation’s most prestigious honors recognizing outstanding contributions to dance education.
Montoya and fellow Co-Founder Salvador Ruiz-Esquivel attended the awards ceremony held in New York City on Tuesday, October 7, where Roger was celebrated alongside other distinguished educators from across the country.
The Dance Teacher Awards honor exceptional educators whose dedication and artistry have made a profound and lasting impact on the field of dance. Montoya’s recognition reflects decades of commitment to teaching, mentorship, and community leadership through the arts.
At Moving Arts, Montoya teaches Ballet and Dance Performance, in addition to serving as a Gymnastics Coach and the organization’s Creative Director. His holistic approach to education emphasizes both artistic excellence and the development of critical life skills, inspiring countless young people in the Española Valley to pursue their potential through movement and creativity.
Montoya’s own journey as a dancer began early. At age 20, he earned a merit scholarship to the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center in New York City, where he trained under renowned mentors Louis Falco (Limon Dance Company) and Pearl Lang (Martha Graham School). He later apprenticed with the Paul Taylor Dance Company and toured internationally with the Parsons
Dance Company through 1990.
Reflecting on the honor, Montoya shared:
“I am deeply honored to be recognized for my mentorship in the arts at this national level. The true gift is in watching a student apply the critical values and life skills they learn through the performing arts.
”This national recognition underscores Montoya’s lifelong dedication to the transformative power of the arts and his unwavering commitment to creating opportunities for youth through dance education.
About Moving Arts Española
Founded in 2008 by Roger Montoya and Salvador Ruiz-Esquivel, Moving Arts Española provides affordable, high-quality arts education, academic support, and wellness programs to the youth and families of Northern New Mexico. Through a wide range of creative disciplines, Moving Arts fosters self-expression, confidence, and community engagement.
For more information, please contact:
Email: carmelitaa@movingartsespanola.org
Phone: 844-623-2787
Website: movingartsespanola.org
###
Montoya and fellow Co-Founder Salvador Ruiz-Esquivel attended the awards ceremony held in New York City on Tuesday, October 7, where Roger was celebrated alongside other distinguished educators from across the country.
The Dance Teacher Awards honor exceptional educators whose dedication and artistry have made a profound and lasting impact on the field of dance. Montoya’s recognition reflects decades of commitment to teaching, mentorship, and community leadership through the arts.
At Moving Arts, Montoya teaches Ballet and Dance Performance, in addition to serving as a Gymnastics Coach and the organization’s Creative Director. His holistic approach to education emphasizes both artistic excellence and the development of critical life skills, inspiring countless young people in the Española Valley to pursue their potential through movement and creativity.
Montoya’s own journey as a dancer began early. At age 20, he earned a merit scholarship to the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center in New York City, where he trained under renowned mentors Louis Falco (Limon Dance Company) and Pearl Lang (Martha Graham School). He later apprenticed with the Paul Taylor Dance Company and toured internationally with the Parsons
Dance Company through 1990.
Reflecting on the honor, Montoya shared:
“I am deeply honored to be recognized for my mentorship in the arts at this national level. The true gift is in watching a student apply the critical values and life skills they learn through the performing arts.
”This national recognition underscores Montoya’s lifelong dedication to the transformative power of the arts and his unwavering commitment to creating opportunities for youth through dance education.
About Moving Arts Española
Founded in 2008 by Roger Montoya and Salvador Ruiz-Esquivel, Moving Arts Española provides affordable, high-quality arts education, academic support, and wellness programs to the youth and families of Northern New Mexico. Through a wide range of creative disciplines, Moving Arts fosters self-expression, confidence, and community engagement.
For more information, please contact:
Email: carmelitaa@movingartsespanola.org
Phone: 844-623-2787
Website: movingartsespanola.org
###
Roger Montoya, Tuesday, October 7, visited New York to receive his award as a 2025 Dance Teacher Honoree, one of the nation’s most prestigious honors recognizing outstanding contributions to dance education.
By Peter Nagle
Gold: what kind of investment is it?
Gold is a difficult asset for an Advisor to recommend because it has nothing to measure it by. No earnings, no revenue, no debt to equity ratio, no P/E ratio, etc. nothing to measure it by, EXCEPT price. Which is to say, what it sells for and whether it goes up or down. You don’t have to buy actual gold to invest in it, you can buy either a Gold ETF, or, interestingly, a Gold Miners ETF.
Today gold hit $3,983 per ounce. It’s up over 60% in the last year alone, which is a lot for anything BTW. Gold miners are up over 150% though! Miners are far more volatile than the metal itself. Before this past year Gold traded in a range for years. That’s what it has done historically: trades up and down for years, then shoots up, then trades up and down again for a long time. Whether that will happen now is anybody’s guess except for one thing: the reason it’s now going up. So let’s talk about that.
Experts will give you various reasons why Gold has gone up so much recently. Usually they say it’s because it’s the only true store of value in the money world, as compared to Fiat Currencies (i.e. the dollar, Yen, Pound, etc), which can fluctuate in value and have nothing behind them but the “good faith and credit” of the country issuing them. And that’s a valid point. But why so much now? This is way more than the usual run up.
I think there’s another reason happening here: the Dollar. First, a little background. The world operates on “Dollars”. The Dollar is the world’s reserve currency. This was decided after WW II by a bunch of old white men. Which means it’s what most countries use to pay for things worldwide. They convert their currencies to dollars and pay then. So what’s going on with the Dollar?
Well, it’s declining in value vs other currencies. The Dollar buys less than it did even 3 months ago. If that keeps happening, it will buy less and less. That’s inflation as well as a dollar decline. Maybe that’s temporary. Maybe it’s not. What is making it decline?
The reasons stated vary from the Trump-Effect (the negative side of it - some people think there’s only a negative side), to Climate Change. I think there’s another cause: Reserve Currency, as in: what would happen if we were no longer the Reserve Currency? Pres Trump thinks it would be a catastrophe, like losing a World War he has said.
Anyway, if that happened gold would, in my humble opinion, explode in price. Yeah, go way up. Next time we’ll talk about the Dollar’s situation and the possibilities of outcomes.
I provide financial advice to individuals in our Abiquiu community at no charge as a way of giving back. I also wear a completely different hat as a Spiritual Director. If you have questions in those areas feel free to contact me. I’ll do the best I can to help you sort through the issues.
Peter J Nagle
Thoughtful Income Advisory and
Soulwork Spiritual Direction
Abiquiu, NM
505-423-5378 (mobile)
Thoughtfulincome@gmail.com
]]>
Gold: what kind of investment is it?
Gold is a difficult asset for an Advisor to recommend because it has nothing to measure it by. No earnings, no revenue, no debt to equity ratio, no P/E ratio, etc. nothing to measure it by, EXCEPT price. Which is to say, what it sells for and whether it goes up or down. You don’t have to buy actual gold to invest in it, you can buy either a Gold ETF, or, interestingly, a Gold Miners ETF.
Today gold hit $3,983 per ounce. It’s up over 60% in the last year alone, which is a lot for anything BTW. Gold miners are up over 150% though! Miners are far more volatile than the metal itself. Before this past year Gold traded in a range for years. That’s what it has done historically: trades up and down for years, then shoots up, then trades up and down again for a long time. Whether that will happen now is anybody’s guess except for one thing: the reason it’s now going up. So let’s talk about that.
Experts will give you various reasons why Gold has gone up so much recently. Usually they say it’s because it’s the only true store of value in the money world, as compared to Fiat Currencies (i.e. the dollar, Yen, Pound, etc), which can fluctuate in value and have nothing behind them but the “good faith and credit” of the country issuing them. And that’s a valid point. But why so much now? This is way more than the usual run up.
I think there’s another reason happening here: the Dollar. First, a little background. The world operates on “Dollars”. The Dollar is the world’s reserve currency. This was decided after WW II by a bunch of old white men. Which means it’s what most countries use to pay for things worldwide. They convert their currencies to dollars and pay then. So what’s going on with the Dollar?
Well, it’s declining in value vs other currencies. The Dollar buys less than it did even 3 months ago. If that keeps happening, it will buy less and less. That’s inflation as well as a dollar decline. Maybe that’s temporary. Maybe it’s not. What is making it decline?
The reasons stated vary from the Trump-Effect (the negative side of it - some people think there’s only a negative side), to Climate Change. I think there’s another cause: Reserve Currency, as in: what would happen if we were no longer the Reserve Currency? Pres Trump thinks it would be a catastrophe, like losing a World War he has said.
Anyway, if that happened gold would, in my humble opinion, explode in price. Yeah, go way up. Next time we’ll talk about the Dollar’s situation and the possibilities of outcomes.
I provide financial advice to individuals in our Abiquiu community at no charge as a way of giving back. I also wear a completely different hat as a Spiritual Director. If you have questions in those areas feel free to contact me. I’ll do the best I can to help you sort through the issues.
Peter J Nagle
Thoughtful Income Advisory and
Soulwork Spiritual Direction
Abiquiu, NM
505-423-5378 (mobile)
Thoughtfulincome@gmail.com
Courtesy of David Michael Kennedy
Edition ONE Gallery will host local renowned photographer David Michael Kennedy for a special exhibition on Friday, October 17th at 5:00 PM. The show coincides with the release of Bruce Springsteen's highly anticipated Nebraska '82: Expanded Edition, a five-disc box set featuring the legendary Electric Nebraska sessions [WE WILL HAVE AN ADVANCE COPY and a short film about the making of Nebraska!] and the theatrical release of his biopic, Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere.
Edition ONE Gallery will host local renowned photographer David Michael Kennedy for a special exhibition on Friday, October 17th at 5:00 PM. The show coincides with the release of Bruce Springsteen's highly anticipated Nebraska '82: Expanded Edition, a five-disc box set featuring the legendary Electric Nebraska sessions [WE WILL HAVE AN ADVANCE COPY and a short film about the making of Nebraska!] and the theatrical release of his biopic, Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere.
David’s photograph for Springsteen's Nebraska album cover is among the most recognizable images in rock history. The image was originally captured in winter 1975, depicting a desolate road seen through a car windshield during a snowstorm.
"The cover shot was taken from the window of an old pickup truck in the dead of winter," Kennedy recalls. The photo encapsulates the stark, reflective mood of Springsteen's acoustic album, becoming a lasting symbol of American loneliness and resilience.
"The cover shot was taken from the window of an old pickup truck in the dead of winter," Kennedy recalls. The photo encapsulates the stark, reflective mood of Springsteen's acoustic album, becoming a lasting symbol of American loneliness and resilience.
The exhibition will feature prints from Kennedy's photoshoot with Bruce, which also appear on the album covers in the box set. Visitors will have a rare chance to see and acquire the images that define the visual identity of one of America's most influential albums.
Kennedy is also renowned for his mastery of platinum/palladium printing, creating work that extends beyond music photography to evocative Southwest landscapes and portraiture, including striking images of Native American ceremonial dance. His early work documents a wide range of iconic musicians, among them Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, Muddy Waters, Yo-Yo Ma, and Debbie Harry
Click Here to view the Official Trailer for Bruce Springsteen's "Nebraska '82: Expanded Edition"
Click Here to view the Official Trailer for Bruce Springsteen's "Nebraska '82: Expanded Edition"
Courtesy of Source NM
Azure Bouré, traditional food and medicine program coordinator for the Suquamish Tribe in Washington state, is pictured with her son Ryan Bouré at a nutrition workshop. State health officials said they are planning to apply to get Medicaid reimbursement for traditional healing practices offered at tribal health facilities. Four other states received approval last year, with Arizona’s going into effect last week. (Photo by Samantha Robson, courtesy of Azure Bouré)
CHANDLER, Ariz. — Art Martinez has seen the power of ceremony.
Martinez, a clinical psychologist and member of the Chumash Tribe, helped run an American Indian youth ceremonial camp. Held at a sacred tribal site in Northern California, it was designed to help kids’ mental health. He remembers a 14-year-old girl who had been struggling with substance use and was on the brink of hospitalization.
On the first day of the four-day camp, Martinez recalled, she was barely able to speak. In daily ceremonies, she wept. The other kids gathered around her. “You’re not alone. We’re here for you,” they’d say.
Traditional tribal healing practices are diverse and vary widely, unique from tribe to tribe. Many include talking circles, sweat lodge ceremonies with special rituals, plant medicine and herb smudging, along with sacred ceremonies known only to the tribe.
Martinez and the girl’s counselor saw her mental health improve under a treatment plan combining tribal traditional healing and Western medicine.
“By the end of the gathering, she had broken through the isolation,” Martinez said. “Before, she would barely shake hands with kids, and she was now hugging them, they were exchanging phone numbers. Her demeanor was better, she was able to articulate.”
Martinez, a clinical psychologist and member of the Chumash Tribe, helped run an American Indian youth ceremonial camp. Held at a sacred tribal site in Northern California, it was designed to help kids’ mental health. He remembers a 14-year-old girl who had been struggling with substance use and was on the brink of hospitalization.
On the first day of the four-day camp, Martinez recalled, she was barely able to speak. In daily ceremonies, she wept. The other kids gathered around her. “You’re not alone. We’re here for you,” they’d say.
Traditional tribal healing practices are diverse and vary widely, unique from tribe to tribe. Many include talking circles, sweat lodge ceremonies with special rituals, plant medicine and herb smudging, along with sacred ceremonies known only to the tribe.
Martinez and the girl’s counselor saw her mental health improve under a treatment plan combining tribal traditional healing and Western medicine.
“By the end of the gathering, she had broken through the isolation,” Martinez said. “Before, she would barely shake hands with kids, and she was now hugging them, they were exchanging phone numbers. Her demeanor was better, she was able to articulate.”
Art Martinez, consulting psychologist and Chumash Tribe member. (Photo courtesy of Art Martinez)
Indigenous health advocates have long known the health benefits of integrating their traditional healing practices, and studies have also shown better health outcomes.
Now, for the first time, tribal traditional healing practices are eligible for Medicaid coverage in California and three other states under a new initiative. Last October, the federal government approved Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program coverage of traditional healing practices at tribal health facilities and urban Indian organizations in Arizona, California, New Mexico and Oregon.
These were approved under a federal program that allows states to test new pilot health programs and ways to pay for them.
Arizona’s waiver went into effect Wednesday. While California’s waiver currently only covers patients with substance use disorder, like the girl in Martinez’s camp, any Medicaid enrollee who is American Indian or Alaska Native is eligible in the other three states. Officials have said California’s program will expand to have such coverage in the future.
Under the waivers, each tribe and facility decides which traditional healing services to offer for reimbursement. Services can also take place at sacred sites and not necessarily inside a clinic, explained Virginia Hedrick, executive director of the California Consortium for Urban Indian Health.
“If a healing intervention requires being near a water source — the ocean, creek, river — we can do that,” said Hedrick, who is of the Yurok Tribe and of Karuk descent. “It may involve gathering medicine in a specific place on the land itself.”
Tribes long had to practice out of sight. The U.S. government’s assimilation policies had targeted tribal languages, cultural and religious practices — including healing. It wasn’t until 1978, when the American Indian Religious Freedom Act was enacted under President Jimmy Carter, that they regained their rights.
“It was illegal to practice our ways until 1978 … the year I was born,” said Dr. Allison Kelliher, a family and integrative medicine physician, who is Koyukon Athabascan, Dena. “Traditional healing means intergenerational knowledge that have origins in how our ancestors and people lived generationally to promote health, so it’s a holistic way of looking at well-being.”
Last month, Kelliher and hundreds of others gathered at the National Indian Health Board’s health conference on Gila River Indian Community land in Chandler, Arizona. During a panel discussion about the waivers, tribal members discussed how health centers will bill for services, ways to protect the sacredness of certain ceremonies, and how to measure and collect data around the effectiveness of the treatments, a federal requirement under the waivers.
But teasing out those new protocols didn’t dull the enthusiasm.
“This is where we really start intersecting the Western medicine as well as traditional healing, and it’s exciting,” said panelist Dr. Naomi Young, CEO of the Fort Defiance Indian Hospital Board in Arizona.
The Trump administration announced earlier this year that it doesn’t plan to renew certain other Medicaid waiver programs approved under the Biden administration. But it hasn’t announced any changes around the traditional healing waivers.
Studies have found that incorporating sweat lodge ceremonies and other cultural practices in treatments led to substance use recovery and emotional health, and better quality diets when incorporating traditional foods, according to analyses of research by the National Council of Urban Indian Health.
“When there is an opportunity to braid traditional healing with Western forms of medicine, it’s very possible, and the research is indicating, we may get better health outcomes,” Hedrick said.
Now, for the first time, tribal traditional healing practices are eligible for Medicaid coverage in California and three other states under a new initiative. Last October, the federal government approved Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program coverage of traditional healing practices at tribal health facilities and urban Indian organizations in Arizona, California, New Mexico and Oregon.
These were approved under a federal program that allows states to test new pilot health programs and ways to pay for them.
Arizona’s waiver went into effect Wednesday. While California’s waiver currently only covers patients with substance use disorder, like the girl in Martinez’s camp, any Medicaid enrollee who is American Indian or Alaska Native is eligible in the other three states. Officials have said California’s program will expand to have such coverage in the future.
Under the waivers, each tribe and facility decides which traditional healing services to offer for reimbursement. Services can also take place at sacred sites and not necessarily inside a clinic, explained Virginia Hedrick, executive director of the California Consortium for Urban Indian Health.
“If a healing intervention requires being near a water source — the ocean, creek, river — we can do that,” said Hedrick, who is of the Yurok Tribe and of Karuk descent. “It may involve gathering medicine in a specific place on the land itself.”
Tribes long had to practice out of sight. The U.S. government’s assimilation policies had targeted tribal languages, cultural and religious practices — including healing. It wasn’t until 1978, when the American Indian Religious Freedom Act was enacted under President Jimmy Carter, that they regained their rights.
“It was illegal to practice our ways until 1978 … the year I was born,” said Dr. Allison Kelliher, a family and integrative medicine physician, who is Koyukon Athabascan, Dena. “Traditional healing means intergenerational knowledge that have origins in how our ancestors and people lived generationally to promote health, so it’s a holistic way of looking at well-being.”
Last month, Kelliher and hundreds of others gathered at the National Indian Health Board’s health conference on Gila River Indian Community land in Chandler, Arizona. During a panel discussion about the waivers, tribal members discussed how health centers will bill for services, ways to protect the sacredness of certain ceremonies, and how to measure and collect data around the effectiveness of the treatments, a federal requirement under the waivers.
But teasing out those new protocols didn’t dull the enthusiasm.
“This is where we really start intersecting the Western medicine as well as traditional healing, and it’s exciting,” said panelist Dr. Naomi Young, CEO of the Fort Defiance Indian Hospital Board in Arizona.
The Trump administration announced earlier this year that it doesn’t plan to renew certain other Medicaid waiver programs approved under the Biden administration. But it hasn’t announced any changes around the traditional healing waivers.
Studies have found that incorporating sweat lodge ceremonies and other cultural practices in treatments led to substance use recovery and emotional health, and better quality diets when incorporating traditional foods, according to analyses of research by the National Council of Urban Indian Health.
“When there is an opportunity to braid traditional healing with Western forms of medicine, it’s very possible, and the research is indicating, we may get better health outcomes,” Hedrick said.
Family medicine physician Dr. Allison Kelliher, right, and the late Rita Pitka Blumenstein, a traditional healer well-known in Native communities, pose for a photo together. (Photo courtesy of Allison Kelliher)
Traditional practices
Decades of historical trauma, such as displacement and forced assimilation in boarding schools — where American Indian and Alaska Native people were forbidden from speaking their languages — are behind their disproportionate rates of chronic illness and early deaths today, tribal health experts say.
Tribes have long offered traditional healing — both outside brick-and-mortar health care settings as well as within many clinics. But health centers have been paying out of pocket or budgeting for the services, said retired OB-GYN Dr. John Molina, director of the Arizona Advisory Council on Indian Health Care and member of the Pascua Yaqui and Yavapai Apache Tribes.
Molina said the new Arizona waiver may help clinics afford to serve more patients or staff more traditional healers, and build infrastructure, including sacred spaces and sweat lodges. For other clinics, “They’ve been wanting to start, but perhaps don’t have the revenue to start it,” he said.
“I’m hoping that when people engage in traditional healing services, a lot of it is to bring balance back into the lifestyle, to give them some hope,” Molina said.
That’s the effect traditional healing practices have had on Harrison Jim, who is Diné. Now a counselor and traditional practitioner at Sage Memorial Hospital in Arizona, Jim, 70, said he remembers his own first all-night sweat lodge ceremony when he returned from a military tour.
“I [felt] relieved of everything that I was carrying, because it’s kind of like a personal journey that I went through,” he said. “Through that ceremony, I had that experience of freedom.”
Kim Russell, the hospital’s policy adviser, who also spoke on the panel about the traditional healing waivers, told Stateline her team hopes to bring on another practitioner along with Jim.
Tribal health leaders have expressed concern about people without traditional knowledge posing to offer healing services. But Navajo organizations, including Diné Hataałii Association Inc., aim to protect from such co-opting as it provides licensures for Native healers, Jim said.
Push in Washington
Facilities covered under the new waivers include Indian Health Service facilities, tribal facilities, or urban Indian organization facilities. In Arizona, urban Indian organizations can get the benefit only if they contract with an Indian Health Service or other tribal health facility.
In Oregon, Yellowhawk Tribal Health Center spokesperson Shanna Hamilton said that while the center can’t speak on behalf of other tribes or clinics, many are still in the early stages of developing programs and protocols. She called the waivers a “meaningful step forward in honoring Indigenous knowledge and healing practices.”
Meanwhile, in neighboring Washington state, the legislature this session allocated $165,000 for the state to apply for a waiver by the end of this year.
The Washington State Health Care Authority in a statement to Stateline emphasized that each tribe would determine its own traditional health services available for reimbursement.
Azure Bouré, traditional food and medicine program coordinator for the Suquamish Tribe, a community along the shores of Washington’s Puget Sound, called the waivers “groundbreaking.”
“We’re proving day in and day out that Indigenous knowledge is important. It’s real, it’s worthy, and it’s real science,” Bouré said.
On a brisk summer day in 2009, Bouré recalled, she had attended a family camp hosted by Northwest Indian College. It was then she tasted the salal berry for the first time. A sweet, dark blue berry, it’s long been used by Pacific Northwest tribes medicinally, in jams, and for dyeing clothing.
“It was just that one berry, that one day, that reignited that wonderment,” Bouré said. For her, it unlocked the world of Indigenous plant medicine and food sovereignty, a people’s right to the food and food systems of their land.
She got her bachelor’s in Native American environmental science and now runs an apothecary, teaches traditional cooking classes, recommends herbs to members with ailments and processes foraged foods.
One day she could be chopping pumpkins or other gourds and the next, cleaning and peeling away the salty-sweet meat from dozens of sea cucumbers harvested by shellfishbiologist divers employed by the tribe.
Bouré’s grandmother died when her mom was 12 years old. “That’s a whole generation of knowledge that she lost,” she said. One way she unearths that lost knowledge is by learning tribal medicine and teaching it, and holding on to memories like watching her great-grandmother Cecelia, who wove traditional sweetgrass dolls even when she was blind.
“I think that I come from a long line of healers,” she said.
Gary Ferguson, who is Unangax̂ (Aleut), is the director of integrative medicine at the Tulalip Health Clinic about 40 miles north of Seattle. He’s certified in naturopathic medicine in Washington and Alaska.
His health center already has a variety of integrative medicine offerings, he said, including traditional ones grounded in Coast Salish traditions of the Pacific Northwest. He said he hopes the waivers and continued support for Indigenous ways of healing will help tribes address health disparities.
“These ceremonies and ways are part of that deeper healing,” he said.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to correct the spelling of Dr. John Molina’s tribe and to include the Washington legislature’s funding to apply for a waiver. Stateline reporter Nada Hassanein can be reached at nhassanein@stateline.org.
This story was originally produced by Stateline, which is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network which includes Source New Mexico, and is supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity.
]]>Decades of historical trauma, such as displacement and forced assimilation in boarding schools — where American Indian and Alaska Native people were forbidden from speaking their languages — are behind their disproportionate rates of chronic illness and early deaths today, tribal health experts say.
Tribes have long offered traditional healing — both outside brick-and-mortar health care settings as well as within many clinics. But health centers have been paying out of pocket or budgeting for the services, said retired OB-GYN Dr. John Molina, director of the Arizona Advisory Council on Indian Health Care and member of the Pascua Yaqui and Yavapai Apache Tribes.
Molina said the new Arizona waiver may help clinics afford to serve more patients or staff more traditional healers, and build infrastructure, including sacred spaces and sweat lodges. For other clinics, “They’ve been wanting to start, but perhaps don’t have the revenue to start it,” he said.
“I’m hoping that when people engage in traditional healing services, a lot of it is to bring balance back into the lifestyle, to give them some hope,” Molina said.
That’s the effect traditional healing practices have had on Harrison Jim, who is Diné. Now a counselor and traditional practitioner at Sage Memorial Hospital in Arizona, Jim, 70, said he remembers his own first all-night sweat lodge ceremony when he returned from a military tour.
“I [felt] relieved of everything that I was carrying, because it’s kind of like a personal journey that I went through,” he said. “Through that ceremony, I had that experience of freedom.”
Kim Russell, the hospital’s policy adviser, who also spoke on the panel about the traditional healing waivers, told Stateline her team hopes to bring on another practitioner along with Jim.
Tribal health leaders have expressed concern about people without traditional knowledge posing to offer healing services. But Navajo organizations, including Diné Hataałii Association Inc., aim to protect from such co-opting as it provides licensures for Native healers, Jim said.
Push in Washington
Facilities covered under the new waivers include Indian Health Service facilities, tribal facilities, or urban Indian organization facilities. In Arizona, urban Indian organizations can get the benefit only if they contract with an Indian Health Service or other tribal health facility.
In Oregon, Yellowhawk Tribal Health Center spokesperson Shanna Hamilton said that while the center can’t speak on behalf of other tribes or clinics, many are still in the early stages of developing programs and protocols. She called the waivers a “meaningful step forward in honoring Indigenous knowledge and healing practices.”
Meanwhile, in neighboring Washington state, the legislature this session allocated $165,000 for the state to apply for a waiver by the end of this year.
The Washington State Health Care Authority in a statement to Stateline emphasized that each tribe would determine its own traditional health services available for reimbursement.
Azure Bouré, traditional food and medicine program coordinator for the Suquamish Tribe, a community along the shores of Washington’s Puget Sound, called the waivers “groundbreaking.”
“We’re proving day in and day out that Indigenous knowledge is important. It’s real, it’s worthy, and it’s real science,” Bouré said.
On a brisk summer day in 2009, Bouré recalled, she had attended a family camp hosted by Northwest Indian College. It was then she tasted the salal berry for the first time. A sweet, dark blue berry, it’s long been used by Pacific Northwest tribes medicinally, in jams, and for dyeing clothing.
“It was just that one berry, that one day, that reignited that wonderment,” Bouré said. For her, it unlocked the world of Indigenous plant medicine and food sovereignty, a people’s right to the food and food systems of their land.
She got her bachelor’s in Native American environmental science and now runs an apothecary, teaches traditional cooking classes, recommends herbs to members with ailments and processes foraged foods.
One day she could be chopping pumpkins or other gourds and the next, cleaning and peeling away the salty-sweet meat from dozens of sea cucumbers harvested by shellfishbiologist divers employed by the tribe.
Bouré’s grandmother died when her mom was 12 years old. “That’s a whole generation of knowledge that she lost,” she said. One way she unearths that lost knowledge is by learning tribal medicine and teaching it, and holding on to memories like watching her great-grandmother Cecelia, who wove traditional sweetgrass dolls even when she was blind.
“I think that I come from a long line of healers,” she said.
Gary Ferguson, who is Unangax̂ (Aleut), is the director of integrative medicine at the Tulalip Health Clinic about 40 miles north of Seattle. He’s certified in naturopathic medicine in Washington and Alaska.
His health center already has a variety of integrative medicine offerings, he said, including traditional ones grounded in Coast Salish traditions of the Pacific Northwest. He said he hopes the waivers and continued support for Indigenous ways of healing will help tribes address health disparities.
“These ceremonies and ways are part of that deeper healing,” he said.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to correct the spelling of Dr. John Molina’s tribe and to include the Washington legislature’s funding to apply for a waiver. Stateline reporter Nada Hassanein can be reached at nhassanein@stateline.org.
This story was originally produced by Stateline, which is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network which includes Source New Mexico, and is supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity.
U.S. Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández, who represents the state’s 3rd Congressional District and much of Northern New Mexico, appeared at an Oct. 7, 2025 news conference, celebrating state lawmakers’ push to establish permanent funds for acequias and land grant mercedes in the upcoming legislative session. (Danielle Prokop / Source NM)
BY: DANIELLE PROKOP
Courtesy of Source NM
As climate-fueled disasters cause mounting damages to New Mexico’s acequias amid rising costs, leadership from traditional ditch communities and land grant-mercedes say they need state help.
Those leaders discussed the issue on Tuesday in front of the state Roundhouse, as Democratic lawmakers previewed legislation for next year’s session that would establish two muli-million dollar funds to help pay infrastructure costs for dam repairs and debris removal, as well as for affordable housing developments on community-owned land.
“It’s more than a bill, it’s a promise,” said Sen. Leo Jaramillo (D-Española). “It creates a permanent fund so our New Mexico’s historic land grant and acequia communities can invest in our future, clean water and strong local infrastructure; more so in rural New Mexico where we need it the most.”
Similar legislation brought in 2025 — House Bill 330 — advanced through House committees and a floor vote, but stalled in the Senate Finance Committee. The bill, which would have dedicated $5 million in two funds for both acequias and land grant-mercedes, simply “ran out of time,” Jaramillo said.
“I’m very optimistic for it to pass this year,” he said.
But while acequias and land-grant mercedes count as government entities in law and predate New Mexico’s statehood by hundreds of years, their ability to obtain state or federal funding remains a challenge.
Since 2022, fires and flooding — including millions in damages to dozens of canals in September — have devastated more than 200 acequias across the state, said Paula Garcia, the executive director of the New Mexico Acequia Association.
“With about 700 in the state that means one in four acequias is in crisis from some kind of climate disaster,” she said.
Garcia said uncertainty about receiving U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency funds and challenges navigating the state’s disaster funding creates a continued level of precarity as calamities pile up.
“It seems like every time there’s a disaster, we’re starting from scratch,” Garcia told Source NM. “Now having a funding source would be a game changer because we wouldn’t be scrambling every time there’s a disaster on how we’re going to piece together that recovery money.”
U.S. Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández, who represents the state’s 3rd Congressional District and much of Northern New Mexico, said she’s had to repeatedly “educate” federal agencies to get funding for acequias, and said this pool of funding may offer chances to seek federal grants in the future.
“When the State of New Mexico passes legislation like this that not just builds upon the recognition, but says, ‘we are going to provide the funding at these levels, then they can go and seek matching funding from the federal government,’’ said Leger Fernández, who was in the state rather than Washington, D.C., due to the ongoing federal shutdown. “That’s why what the legislators have done today is so essential — because we want to multiply, as much as possible, the funding that comes into rural communities.”
]]>Courtesy of Source NM
As climate-fueled disasters cause mounting damages to New Mexico’s acequias amid rising costs, leadership from traditional ditch communities and land grant-mercedes say they need state help.
Those leaders discussed the issue on Tuesday in front of the state Roundhouse, as Democratic lawmakers previewed legislation for next year’s session that would establish two muli-million dollar funds to help pay infrastructure costs for dam repairs and debris removal, as well as for affordable housing developments on community-owned land.
“It’s more than a bill, it’s a promise,” said Sen. Leo Jaramillo (D-Española). “It creates a permanent fund so our New Mexico’s historic land grant and acequia communities can invest in our future, clean water and strong local infrastructure; more so in rural New Mexico where we need it the most.”
Similar legislation brought in 2025 — House Bill 330 — advanced through House committees and a floor vote, but stalled in the Senate Finance Committee. The bill, which would have dedicated $5 million in two funds for both acequias and land grant-mercedes, simply “ran out of time,” Jaramillo said.
“I’m very optimistic for it to pass this year,” he said.
But while acequias and land-grant mercedes count as government entities in law and predate New Mexico’s statehood by hundreds of years, their ability to obtain state or federal funding remains a challenge.
Since 2022, fires and flooding — including millions in damages to dozens of canals in September — have devastated more than 200 acequias across the state, said Paula Garcia, the executive director of the New Mexico Acequia Association.
“With about 700 in the state that means one in four acequias is in crisis from some kind of climate disaster,” she said.
Garcia said uncertainty about receiving U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency funds and challenges navigating the state’s disaster funding creates a continued level of precarity as calamities pile up.
“It seems like every time there’s a disaster, we’re starting from scratch,” Garcia told Source NM. “Now having a funding source would be a game changer because we wouldn’t be scrambling every time there’s a disaster on how we’re going to piece together that recovery money.”
U.S. Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández, who represents the state’s 3rd Congressional District and much of Northern New Mexico, said she’s had to repeatedly “educate” federal agencies to get funding for acequias, and said this pool of funding may offer chances to seek federal grants in the future.
“When the State of New Mexico passes legislation like this that not just builds upon the recognition, but says, ‘we are going to provide the funding at these levels, then they can go and seek matching funding from the federal government,’’ said Leger Fernández, who was in the state rather than Washington, D.C., due to the ongoing federal shutdown. “That’s why what the legislators have done today is so essential — because we want to multiply, as much as possible, the funding that comes into rural communities.”
Contact: Becca Fisher, Abiquiú Arts Council | artscouncilabiquiu@gmail.com
Date: October 10, 2025
Abiquiú, NM — The much-anticipated Abiquiú Studio Tour returns this weekend, October 11, 12 & 13* from 10 AM to 5 PM, inviting art lovers, collectors, and curious travelers alike to experience the creative pulse of northern New Mexico.
This self-guided driving adventure opens the doors of over 60 working artists’ spaces & galleries, where visitors can witness the intimate origin of creation. From painting and pottery to textiles, jewelry, and sculpture, the diversity of work reflects the beauty, culture, and inspiration of the land itself.
As you wind through the breathtaking landscapes and golden yellow cottonwood trees that inspired generations of artists, you’ll find that each stop offers not just art to collect, but stories to carry home.
Plan Your Tour:
Maps, studio listings, and artist bios are available at abiquiustudiotour.org, and printed map brochures will be available at every stop. You can also download the Toureka app for an interactive, digital guide to plan your route, save your favorite stops, get directions, and explore with ease. Visit your app store to download today! Follow along on Instagram @abiquiuartscouncil for updates, artist highlights, and stunning glimpses of the tour in motion.
Come explore the art, the land, and the spirit of Abiquiú this weekend—where creativity and community meet under the New Mexico sky.
*Limited stops are open on Monday, 10/13. Please check artist listings and plan accordingly.
Ways to Support:
Support Local & Share: Bring friends, share & tag your favorite discoveries on social media, and let others know about this unique weekend.
Email Newsletter: Sign up via our website or here to stay in the loop on future exhibitions, juried events (like our Abiquiú Gathering of Artisans in spring), workshops, and special calls to the community.
Visit our Studio Tour Artist Showcase: On display through December 29 at Abiquiu Inn’s Café Abiquiu.
Make a Donation: Visit abiquiustudiotour.org/supporters/
About the Abiquiú Arts Council
The Abiquiú Studio Tour is presented by the Abiquiú Arts Council, a 100% volunteer-run nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting and celebrating local artists year-round. In addition to the Studio Tour, the Council also produces the Abiquiú Gathering of Artisans, a juried mercado in late spring, and other community arts programs and initiatives are in the works to connect people and communities through creativity. Learn more at abiquiustudiotour.org
Date: October 10, 2025
Abiquiú, NM — The much-anticipated Abiquiú Studio Tour returns this weekend, October 11, 12 & 13* from 10 AM to 5 PM, inviting art lovers, collectors, and curious travelers alike to experience the creative pulse of northern New Mexico.
This self-guided driving adventure opens the doors of over 60 working artists’ spaces & galleries, where visitors can witness the intimate origin of creation. From painting and pottery to textiles, jewelry, and sculpture, the diversity of work reflects the beauty, culture, and inspiration of the land itself.
As you wind through the breathtaking landscapes and golden yellow cottonwood trees that inspired generations of artists, you’ll find that each stop offers not just art to collect, but stories to carry home.
Plan Your Tour:
Maps, studio listings, and artist bios are available at abiquiustudiotour.org, and printed map brochures will be available at every stop. You can also download the Toureka app for an interactive, digital guide to plan your route, save your favorite stops, get directions, and explore with ease. Visit your app store to download today! Follow along on Instagram @abiquiuartscouncil for updates, artist highlights, and stunning glimpses of the tour in motion.
Come explore the art, the land, and the spirit of Abiquiú this weekend—where creativity and community meet under the New Mexico sky.
*Limited stops are open on Monday, 10/13. Please check artist listings and plan accordingly.
Ways to Support:
Support Local & Share: Bring friends, share & tag your favorite discoveries on social media, and let others know about this unique weekend.
Email Newsletter: Sign up via our website or here to stay in the loop on future exhibitions, juried events (like our Abiquiú Gathering of Artisans in spring), workshops, and special calls to the community.
Visit our Studio Tour Artist Showcase: On display through December 29 at Abiquiu Inn’s Café Abiquiu.
Make a Donation: Visit abiquiustudiotour.org/supporters/
About the Abiquiú Arts Council
The Abiquiú Studio Tour is presented by the Abiquiú Arts Council, a 100% volunteer-run nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting and celebrating local artists year-round. In addition to the Studio Tour, the Council also produces the Abiquiú Gathering of Artisans, a juried mercado in late spring, and other community arts programs and initiatives are in the works to connect people and communities through creativity. Learn more at abiquiustudiotour.org
By NM Political Report
New Mexico lawmakers have allocated $5.9 million to support in-state public television and radio stations statewide after Congress eliminated federal funding for public broadcasting.
The state funding includes $1.7 million specifically for New Mexico PBS, which faced an 18% budget cut totaling $1.7 million for fiscal year 2026 due to the congressional rescission vote, according to Franz Joachim, general manager and CEO of New Mexico PBS.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and the New Mexico Legislature approved the emergency allocation to cover the funding gap that took effect Oct. 1, Joachim said in a statement. The total allocation will support public radio and educational television across the state, including tribal stations identified as most at-risk.
“This landmark allocation means children still have PBS Kids and educational resources they can count on, trusted news, arts, and culture are still reaching families in every corner of our state, and our emergency alert system is still active and vigilant when it matters most,” Joachim said.
The federal cuts also affected the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which typically provides forward funding to stations two years in advance to enable long-term planning. The corporation has begun winding down operations following the congressional action, according to the New Mexico PBS announcement.
While the state funds cover fiscal year 2026, New Mexico PBS still faces a $1.7 million shortfall for fiscal year 2027 that was also eliminated by the federal rescission.
Higher Education Department Secretary Stephanie Rodriguez supported the funding allocation, Joachim said.
New Mexico PBS, which operates under the call letters KNME and KNMD-TV, serves New Mexico and the Navajo Nation through five digital broadcast channels and streaming services. The station is co-licensed to the University of New Mexico and Albuquerque Public Schools and has operated for more than 65 years.
]]>New Mexico lawmakers have allocated $5.9 million to support in-state public television and radio stations statewide after Congress eliminated federal funding for public broadcasting.
The state funding includes $1.7 million specifically for New Mexico PBS, which faced an 18% budget cut totaling $1.7 million for fiscal year 2026 due to the congressional rescission vote, according to Franz Joachim, general manager and CEO of New Mexico PBS.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and the New Mexico Legislature approved the emergency allocation to cover the funding gap that took effect Oct. 1, Joachim said in a statement. The total allocation will support public radio and educational television across the state, including tribal stations identified as most at-risk.
“This landmark allocation means children still have PBS Kids and educational resources they can count on, trusted news, arts, and culture are still reaching families in every corner of our state, and our emergency alert system is still active and vigilant when it matters most,” Joachim said.
The federal cuts also affected the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which typically provides forward funding to stations two years in advance to enable long-term planning. The corporation has begun winding down operations following the congressional action, according to the New Mexico PBS announcement.
While the state funds cover fiscal year 2026, New Mexico PBS still faces a $1.7 million shortfall for fiscal year 2027 that was also eliminated by the federal rescission.
Higher Education Department Secretary Stephanie Rodriguez supported the funding allocation, Joachim said.
New Mexico PBS, which operates under the call letters KNME and KNMD-TV, serves New Mexico and the Navajo Nation through five digital broadcast channels and streaming services. The station is co-licensed to the University of New Mexico and Albuquerque Public Schools and has operated for more than 65 years.
Cipriano F. Vigil, age 83, of El Rito, NM, passed away peacefully at home, surrounded by his loving family, on September 25, 2025, after a lengthy illness.
Cipriano was preceded in death by his parents, Catalina Dominguez and Ruben Vigil; his son Fred Lopez; stepson Luis Tafoya; sister Betty Vigil; brothers-in-law Tony Vigil and Robert Gurule; and sister-in-law Josie Vasquez.
He is survived by his devoted wife of 47 years, Susan Vigil; his children, Cipriano Vigil Jr. (Kimberly) and Felicita Piñon (Alex); and his beloved grandchildren, Marisol Archuleta-Vigil, Alonzo Vigil, Mitzael Piñon, Nehemiah Lopez, and Fabian Lopez and his great-granddaughter, Camila Archuleta.
Cipriano leaves behind his siblings: Katherine Pacheco (Gilbert), Judy Vigil, Reyna Gurule, Ruben Vigil (Teresa), Enemias Vasquez (Enselma), and Juan Vasquez, as well as many other cherished family members and friends.
Born in Chamisal, NM, Cipriano spent most of his youth there before moving to Los Angeles, where he worked for McDonnell Douglas Aircraft. He eventually returned home to New Mexico, where he devoted his life to music and education. A renowned musician and scholar, Cipriano earned a Ph.D. in ethnomusicology and served for many years as Fine Arts Director and music instructor at Northern New Mexico College until his retirement.
Even in retirement, Cipriano continued his passion for music by crafting cigar box guitars and sharing his love of traditional Northern New Mexican folk music. He enjoyed spending time outdoors, especially fishing, and was rarely without his guitar—ready to play wherever he went.
The family extends heartfelt thanks to Presbyterian Hospice for their compassionate care and to DeVargas Funeral Home for their support during this difficult time.
(Services Pending)
]]>
Cipriano was preceded in death by his parents, Catalina Dominguez and Ruben Vigil; his son Fred Lopez; stepson Luis Tafoya; sister Betty Vigil; brothers-in-law Tony Vigil and Robert Gurule; and sister-in-law Josie Vasquez.
He is survived by his devoted wife of 47 years, Susan Vigil; his children, Cipriano Vigil Jr. (Kimberly) and Felicita Piñon (Alex); and his beloved grandchildren, Marisol Archuleta-Vigil, Alonzo Vigil, Mitzael Piñon, Nehemiah Lopez, and Fabian Lopez and his great-granddaughter, Camila Archuleta.
Cipriano leaves behind his siblings: Katherine Pacheco (Gilbert), Judy Vigil, Reyna Gurule, Ruben Vigil (Teresa), Enemias Vasquez (Enselma), and Juan Vasquez, as well as many other cherished family members and friends.
Born in Chamisal, NM, Cipriano spent most of his youth there before moving to Los Angeles, where he worked for McDonnell Douglas Aircraft. He eventually returned home to New Mexico, where he devoted his life to music and education. A renowned musician and scholar, Cipriano earned a Ph.D. in ethnomusicology and served for many years as Fine Arts Director and music instructor at Northern New Mexico College until his retirement.
Even in retirement, Cipriano continued his passion for music by crafting cigar box guitars and sharing his love of traditional Northern New Mexican folk music. He enjoyed spending time outdoors, especially fishing, and was rarely without his guitar—ready to play wherever he went.
The family extends heartfelt thanks to Presbyterian Hospice for their compassionate care and to DeVargas Funeral Home for their support during this difficult time.
(Services Pending)