516 ARTS

Don’t miss the opening reception for the exhibit “Nuclear Past Present and Future: Art in Action”! Free to the public, the reception will be held at the National Hispanic Cultural Center on April 10th from 5:00 to 7:30 pm. Featuring 30+ artists including the recent Fulcrum Fund award recipient Shayla Blatchford (Diné), the show examines the individual and societal impact of nuclear radiation. It will run from April 2026 through the end of January 2027. ⁠Click the link in our bio for more information.
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Shayla Blatchford received the Fulcrum Fund for her Anti-Uranium Mapping Project, which further explores themes of environmental contamination and community storytelling. As an interdisciplinary art initiative, it uses counter-mapping to challenge how land, contamination, and environmental risk are visually represented. ⁠
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516 ARTS is thrilled to announce the 2026 Fulcrum Fund grantees comprising of eight recipients based in New Mexico! A total of $60,000 has been awarded for projects including a collaborative community mural series throughout the state, ecologically sustainable approaches to architecture, and bodies of work that tackle underrepresented histories, identities, and cultures within the region.⁠
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Congratulations to:⁠

⁠Isadora Jackson / Woven Landscapes / Las Cruces⁠ /⁠a.jackson⁠

Margarita Paz-Pedro / Building for Mañana / Albuquerque⁠ /⁠clay⁠
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Robyn A. Frank, Allison Kenny, Sallie Scheufler / HEAVY LIFTING / Albuquerque⁠ / @⁠salliescheufler⁠
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Caroline Liu / Feeding the Ghosts of Chinatown: A City Beneath the City / Albuquerque ⁠/ ⁠
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Shayla Blatchford / The Anti-Uranium Mapping Project / Santa Fe⁠ / ⁠
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Amanda Erickson / She Cried That Day Documentary / Albuquerque⁠ /⁠
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Kayla Powers / Chromatic Ecology / Santa Fe⁠ / ⁠
@⁠kayla.powers⁠
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Felix “Gato” Peralta / Comanche Highway / Albuquerque⁠
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🔗 Link in bio for more info⁠
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It’s rare for a novel to tread so fearlessly into the political and yet to emerge so deeply funny and humane. Gilvarry is a young talent on the rise. Watch him gallop through the mess we’ve made of our civilization with style and panache.”⁠
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Join us at 516 Book Club on Tuesday, February 17 at 5:30pm! We’re excited to feature "From the Memoirs of a Non-Enemy Combatant: A Novel" by Alex Gilvarry.⁠ Sign up in our bio🔗⁠. Even if you haven't finished the book, we'd love to have you join us and chat about it's themes!
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Each month, we dive into thought-provoking titles that foster meaningful dialogue in an intimate, welcoming setting. Presented in partnership with Bookworks, Albuquerque’s beloved independent bookstore, 516 Book Club is facilitated by Bookworks representative Alex Avila

516 ARTS will be closed on Friday, January 30, 2026 in solidarity with those in Albuquerque and across the nation participating in a national shutdown, and we encourage you to remain engaged locally and beyond. We will reopen on Saturday, January 31 during regular hours.⁠
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We stand with our communities, striving to build and defend spaces where safety, dignity, and creative expression are paramount, and diverse voices can flourish without fear.⁠
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Originally slated to close January 31, 2026, , "The Armor We Wear", has been extended through April 25th, 2026, giving our audiences more time to engage with work that speaks powerfully to this moment. ⁠
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Artwork: Ruben Ulisses Rodriguez Montoya, I’m the inside “I’m the alpha, the omega, everything in between” by Nicki Minaj on Plain Jane (Remix) A million leaves folded by the wind all at once Mitochondria lacrimosa lacrimosa lacrimosa, 2024. Yellow and pink broom, white t-shirts, dragon skin silicone, pink twine, cow hide, goat legs, straw hat sombreros, silicone horn, 80” x 52” x 17”. Courtesy Murmurs Gallery.

This Sunday, January 18, 2026 at 516 ARTS! 🎨🖌️⁠
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Join Tucson-based artist Alejandro Macías for a hands-on workshop exploring self-portraiture, identity, and place. Working through drawing, pattern, and personal symbolism, participants will generate work that reflects lived experience, memory, and geography. ⁠
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Registration fee: $15 for non-members | $10 for members⁠.⁠
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The workshop follows an artist talk on Saturday afternoon, where Macías will be in conversation with Olivia Amaya Ortiz, Curator at 516 ARTS, discussing the ideas and processes behind his work currently on view in "The Armor We Wear"⁠.⁠
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🗓 Talk: Fri, Jan 17 | Workshop: Sat, Jan 18⁠
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🔗 RSVP + registration via the link in our bio

Join us January 9 at 5pm–7pm, for an unveiling of 516 BRIDGES' Student Exhibition at Little Bear Coffee in Uptown (2632 Pennsylvania St NE, Albuquerque, NM 87110). ⁠
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In the Spring 2025 school semester, 516 ARTS teamed up with public schools, including Amy Biehl High School; Lew Wallace Elementary School; Valley High School; and Alvarado Elementary School, to engage students in photographic and clay molding practices. Teaching artist Margarita Paz-Pedro instructed students on her technique – applying photographs to the pottery process – resulting in experimental photographic clay objects.⁠
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Inspired by 516 ARTS Spring 2025 exhibition "New Tableau: Experiments in Photography", 56 pieces were created collaboratively by all age groups. The student-centered exhibition will be on view at Little Bear until March 5, 2026.

🖌️🎨Workshop with Alejandro Macías! Sunday, January 18 at 11am. This is your opportunity to engage more deeply with the ideas that shape his work on view in The Armor We Wear!⁠
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Sign up by clicking the link in our bio. VERY limited spots available, secure your seat today!⁠
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Students in this workshop will explore mixed-media painting and drawing techniques through the format of portraiture. Working with acrylic and graphite on paper, they will develop their traditional drawing and observational skills while simultaneously exploring abstraction. The result will be a series of “split portraits” presenting a range of materials and artistic executions. All levels.⁠
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516 ARTS is pleased to host an artist talk with Alejandro Macías on Saturday January 17 at 3pm.⁠ Online + InPerson
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Alejandro Macias' multidisciplinary practice moves across painting, drawing, and video to examine questions of identity, migration, and belonging. ⁠
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This conversation offers an opportunity to engage more deeply with the ideas and lived experiences that shape his work on view in "The Armor We Wear", and to hear directly from the artist about the processes—both material and conceptual—behind his practice. The talk will be facilitated by 516 ARTS Curator Olivia Amaya Ortiz, who has worked closely with the artist throughout the development of the exhibition. ⁠
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RSVP at by clicking the link in our bio.⁠
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⁠ DowntownABQ VisualArt TheArmorWeWear SpiritHouse IndigenousArt NewMexicoArtists ABQEvents ArtInNM identity resistance fashionasart southwestart indigenousart latinxart newmexicoartists

Join us at Little Bear Coffee Uptown for the opening 516 BRIDGES Spring 2025 Exhibition, celebrating collaborative student work created across Albuquerque classrooms!⁠
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Featuring collaborative student work exploring experimental photography on clay frames, collaboratively created by elementary and high school students from Amy Biehl High School, Lew Wallace Elementary School, Valley High School and Alvarado Elementary School. The exhibition also features work from the teaching artist Margarita Paz-Pedro.⁠
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Light snacks will be provided courtesy of Little Bear Uptown. Click the link in our bio for a look at the process behind the workshops.