Cultures and Creators: Interwoven

The Northern Rio Grande National Heritage Area invites artists from Rio Arriba, Taos, and Santa Fe counties to submit work for the 2026 iteration of Cultures and Creators: Interwoven, an annual exhibition celebrating the history and heritage of the living artistic traditions in Northern New Mexico. 

Interwoven explores fiber as both a material and a metaphor, giving insight to the cultural histories that continue to shape Northern New Mexico. For generations, Native and Hispano communities have contributed distinct yet overlapping traditions of making and storytelling.

The Northern Rio Grande National Heritage Area invites artists from Rio Arriba, Taos, and Santa Fe counties to submit work for the 2026 iteration of Cultures and Creators: Interwoven, an annual exhibition celebrating the history and heritage of the living artistic traditions in Northern New Mexico. 

Interwoven explores fiber as both a material and a metaphor, giving insight to the cultural histories that continue to shape Northern New Mexico. For generations, Native and Hispano communities have contributed distinct yet overlapping traditions of making and storytelling.

Los Luceros Historic Site offers a unique setting where these histories exist side by side. The land, structures, and agricultural practices of the site demonstrate centuries of cultural exchange and evolution. Fiber becomes a way in which artists interpret inherited knowledge, lived experience, and the ways traditions have been carried forward and evolved over generations.

Presented as part of the Cultures and Creators series, Interwoven will bring together artists from Rio Arriba, Taos, and Santa Fe counties whose work reflects the enduring relationships between people, places, and materials. The exhibition aims to honor the individuality of each artist as well as the threads that bind Northern New Mexico’s communities across time and space.

2026 Theme: Interwoven

This year’s exhibition will highlight fiber as both material and metaphor.

Artists are encouraged to interpret “fiber” broadly. Submissions may explore traditional or contemporary fiber arts, including but not limited to:

• Weaving, embroidery, sewing, quilting, knitting, and crochet
• Textile-based sculpture or installation
• Felt, natural fibers, plant-based materials, or re-used textiles
• Mixed-media works where fiber plays a central conceptual or material role
• Other mediums where fiber is highlighted more broadly

Works should reflect cultural heritage or approach fiber purely through form, process, and experimentation.

Eligibility

• Open to artists residing in Rio Arriba, Taos, or Santa Fe counties
• Open to  artists of all levels and disciplines
• Individual artists and collaborative works are welcome
• Preference will be given to individuals who belong to one of the 8 Northern Pueblos

Exhibition Details

Selected works will be exhibited at Los Luceros Historic Site in Alcalde, NM. Installation details will be provided to selected artists. Art must be dropped off at the site between April 7-8th. Art will be displayed April 11th - 20th. Pieces must be picked up on Monday, April 21st. 

Artists must submit the following information:

• Images of proposed or completed work
• Title of the work and the date of completion
• A brief artist statement and description of the work
• A description of how the artist has interpreted the theme “Interwoven” as it relates to the piece being submitted
• Size details of the work
• How the work is to be displayed (i.e. hung on a wall or mannequin, displayed on a jewelry rack, displayed on a pedestal)
• A short bio and county of residence and pueblo (if applicable)

• Open to artists residing in Rio Arriba, Taos, or Santa Fe counties
• Open to  artists of all levels and disciplines
• Individual artists and collaborative works are welcome
• Preference will be given to individuals who belong to one of the 8 Northern Pueblos and the Jicarilla Apache Nation
• Work must relate to the exhibition theme (Interwoven)