The PASEO 2027 Biennial Outdoor Art Festival, Taos, NM

The PASEO 2027 Biennial is a festival dedicated to bringing the art of installation, performance and projection to the streets of Taos, New Mexico. This two-day outdoor event, set in the high desert of Taos, New Mexico, is bringing its twelfth festival to the streets, Friday and Saturday evening, September 17th and 18th, 2027.

The PASEO 2027 Biennial is seeking work that is immersive, participatory, and/or will make a dynamic impact within the Taos Historic District of Taos, New Mexico, USA. The PASEO 2025 Festival brought thousands of people to the historic downtown of Taos, to experience this annual celebration. 

Additionally, Artists are encouraged to share their process of art-making with the Taos community. As part of the application process artists are invited to submit proposals for adult and youth workshops, lectures and forums.

Applicants are encouraged to respond to the 2027 theme: Convergence

The PASEO 2027 Biennial is a festival dedicated to bringing the art of installation, performance and projection to the streets of Taos, New Mexico. This two-day outdoor event, set in the high desert of Taos, New Mexico, is bringing its twelfth festival to the streets, Friday and Saturday evening, September 17th and 18th, 2027.

The PASEO 2027 Biennial is seeking work that is immersive, participatory, and/or will make a dynamic impact within the Taos Historic District of Taos, New Mexico USA. The PASEO 2025 Festival, brought thousands of people to the historic downtown of Taos, to experience this annual celebration. 

Additionally, Artists are encouraged to share their process of art-making with the Taos community. As part of the application process artists are invited to submit proposals for adult and youth workshops, lectures and forums.

The PASEO 2027 Biennial seeks works that are immersive, site-responsive, participatory, and/or will make a dynamic impact within the Taos Historic District. 

Applicants are encouraged to respond to our 2027 theme: Convergence

Convergence is movement toward connection. It exists in the dynamic space between individuality and collectivity, where difference, contradiction, and multiplicity coexist. Rivers converge without abandoning their sources. Cultures converge while carrying memory forward. Technologies converge with human behavior, reshaping perception, communication, and meaning itself. Through connection, exchange, and encounter, new relationships emerge while differences remain intact. 

Convergence is about relationships. It asks what becomes possible when we engage one another fully—across disciplines, cultures, communities, species, and ways of knowing. Convergence can manifest as both collision and communion, generating friction, harmony, uncertainty, and opportunity simultaneously. 

Eligibility:

The Festival features installations, projection, and performance art that can be installed, shown, projected, or performed outdoors for this two-day outdoor art festival. Installations must be designed for nighttime viewing. Artists must be on site sunset - 11pm daily, September 17th and 18th. Artwork must be able to withstand the outdoor environment of the high desert of Northern New Mexico. Overnight security is provided. Please check out paseoproject.org for examples of past events and work. 

Submissions must be of fully executed projects. No concept proposals. All work must be original and created by or under the direction of the artist(s). Collaborations are welcome. Artwork must match type & quality submitted for jurying.

The PASEO 2027 Biennial is seeking approximately 25 installations for 2027. We provide stipends ranging from $500 - $3,000 (with larger projects funded at $5,000-$15,000). Stipend is contingent on size, complexity, and anticipated festival impact. PASEO 2027 Biennial provides funds for the shipping of artwork, but artists are responsible for the installation of their work. Please see our website for what we do and do not pay for.

NOTE: The PASEO does not feature artist booths or art sales. The PASEO does not hire live bands or musical performances. The PASEO hosts Performance Art (not performing arts). SPECIFICALLY: "Performance Art may be either scripted or unscripted, random or carefully orchestrated; spontaneous or otherwise carefully planned .... The performance can be live or via media. It can be any situation that involves four basic elements: time, space, the performer's body, or presence in a medium, and a relationship between performer and audience."

About:

The PASEO Festival started in 2014 as an outdoor arts festival connecting the 40th annual Taos Fall Arts Festival in the Downtown Historic District of Taos, New Mexico. In its twelfth manifestation, The PASEO has become the anticipated art event of the year, bringing out thousands of locals and visitors alike to fill the streets. Taos is a centuries-old Art's Community and home to Taos Pueblo, UNESCO protected and the oldest continually inhabited community in North America. Home to artists for centuries, The PASEO Festival  holds to the tradition of bringing artists from around the world to both inspire and be inspired.  

PASEO Biennial Education Program

The PASEO Biennial engages the entire community through educational programs that happen before and during the annual event. The PASEO Biennial regularly partners with local arts organizations, local artists, museums, and galleries in hosting these events. Events include lectures and talks, workshops, demos, local collaborations, and trainings. Applicants are invited to submit proposals for pre-teen, teen, and adults activities. Stipends available. 

PASEO STEAM DAY: As part of the application process artists are invited to submit proposals for PASEO STEAM DAY: Artists who are engaged in the creative hybridization of cutting-edge technologies, art and science are encouraged to apply. If selected, artists are partnered with schools in Taos, encouraging art and science teachers to collaborate to enhance the STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math + Arts) component. Students work with their artist(s) up to one week prior (or in the months leading up to the event) with possibilities of sharing their work live at The PASEO Biennial Festival. This program engages middle and secondary educational institutions in the art-making process. Additional stipends are available for eligible artists.

Application Requirements:

1. Project Statement
2. Project Proposal uploaded document
   1. Includes title, statement, installation requirements, budget
   2. Optional education program
3. Artist Bio/CV upload
4. Minimum of three images
5. $25 Application fee (free for Taos County Residents - enter coupon code FREETAOS)

Eligibility:

The PASEO Biennial call for proposals is open to emerging, mid-career and professional artists, over the age of 21, and from anywhere in the world.