Agricultural Soul of the Valley

Quote: “When people ask me “what is your religion?” I tell them: “chiles, tomatoes, lettuce and spinach, and the sun and the earth.” That’s my true religion. When you’re planting seeds, youre praying.” The Artist, The Farmer, The Dancer Every single culture, every single religion, every single model of art; it comes from agriculture. I mean,…

Living ‘Rurally’

Name: Nazca Armentha Warren & Phil Rothwell Location: La Fragua, New Mexico Topics: Rural, Valley, Organic, Farming, Community Quote: “It was hard at first to understand how to live ‘rurally.’ Both of us coming from cities, we have had to do a lot of shedding of our layers and understanding what that looks like.” Urban Origins…

Planting Seeds in the Valley

Name: Eileen Mulvihill Location: Villanueva, New Mexico Topics: Farming, Organic, Science, Women, Community Quote: “I’m worried about the valley. I’ve been a farmer now for 9 years and in those years I can see climate change.” Early Life My name is Eileen Mulvihill. I started off in Wisconsin. I was born in a very small town in…

Randy Jiron

Location: Pueblo of Isleta, New Mexico Topics: Native American, Farmer, Culture, Indigenous, Agriculture Quote: “Growing with the land you just don’t go into the land and just step on her, you respect the land, mother earth. We are happy to see the sun come up and we are thankful for him to come up, to warm, to…

Ralph A.Vigil II / Pecos

Name: Ralph A. Vigil II Location: Pecos, New Mexico Topics: Agriculture, Water Rights, Family, History, Northern New Mexico My name is Ralph Vigil, Jr. I’m from here, from Pecos. I’ve lived here all my life, 38 years. I was born in Las Cruces but been in here in Pecos, raised up on the east side…

Seeds: A Collective Voice – Mural Reception / Albuquerque

Priscilla Garcia | Chilili, NM – Listen My name is Priscilla Garcia. I come from Albuquerque, New Mexico. I come from a historic neighborhood, Martinez Town. I now live in the mountains close to Chilili. I’ve known Jade for many years and she brought me into the project about a year ago. Being part of the…

Jade Leyva / Placitas

So my name is Jade Leyva and I am a visual artist. I have been living in the United States for about sixteen years. I am originally from Mexico City. I was born and raised there, and lived throughout different areas in Mexico growing up. And yeah I create a lot of artwork, locally, and…

Jeanette Iskat / Coruco

Yeah there’s something about New Mexico that really resonates with me. We came out here, my husband lasted about – definitely a much bigger culture shock for him, he had been in East LA his whole life- and it just didn’t work for him so we got divorced. And we’re still friends. He moved back…

Jimmy Gutierrez / Questa

So my name is Jimmy Gutierrez, I grew up in a very small town, in Questa (New Mexico). The crazy/interesting thing about Questa is its hugely Hispanic, and not only Hispanic, like there is only a few family’s that really run the town and as it runs the village of Questa is incorporated, which means…

Abel Aguilar / Villanueva

My dad’s mother, the hardest working person that I have ever known in my whole life, she raised six, my grandfather was often gone working somewhere. He was a political person, he worked politics a lot in Vegas and he did other things, but my grandmother, which was his wife, she was an amazing hard…

Wilfred Luis Gallegos / Villanueva/Cañones

Yo soy de Villanueva. De haya soy. Nos conocimos en la construcción. En el trabajo. Éramos carpinteros los dos. A ella la pusieron en un trabajito conmigo. Y yo no traía lápiz. Por eso se enamoro por el lápiz. Y lo tengo por hay, el lápiz, fíjese. Y le escribí una carta. Y luego con…

Rafael de la Rosa / South Valley, Albuquerque

Mi nombre es Rafael de la Rosa y trabajo en la construcción. Tengo aproximadamente 12 años aquí. Doce años en Nuevo México. Nomas en Albuquerque. He trabajado en diferentes trabajos, en diferentes proyectos. El trabajo no a sido el mismo. Restaurantes, construcción, remodelaciones de casas, diferentes tipos de trabajos que uno desarrolla. En realidad yo…