NEWS RELEASE: Cuentistas� artwork from New Mexico Youth Arts Ambassadors on display in Mabry Hall
For Immediate Release
Contact: Janelle Taylor Garcia, Ph.D.
Deputy Director of Communications
New Mexico Public Education Department
505-709-5543
janelle.garcia@ped.nm.gov
June 18, 2024
Cuentistas’ artwork from New Mexico Youth Arts Ambassadors on display in Mabry Hall
SANTA FE – Student artwork from cuentistas, or storytellers, with the New Mexico Youth Arts Ambassadors (NMYaA) program is now on display in Mabry Hall in the Jerry Apodaca Education Building in Santa Fe. Each cuentista’s piece consists of an originally taken photograph paired with an ekphrastic narrative. The artwork depicts the artists’ dreams, their visions for the world and their views from the window of adolescence.
“I truly believe New Mexico has the most creative and inspired students in the nation,” said Public Education Secretary Arsenio Romero. “This artwork will provide PED staff with something rich and beautiful to reflect upon and draw inspiration from daily. I thank the cuentistas and their mentors for this gift.”
The New Mexico Youth Arts Ambassadors program is an Albuquerque-based program offered by the New Mexico Academy of Rock and Blues (NMARB) for community youth ages 7 through 19.
Photos of the Mabry Hall installation are available on the New Mexico Academy of Rock and Blues Instagram page (@nmarb). Additional photos of the cuentistas’ artwork are available on the NMARB website.
“Art has the power to create confidence, resiliency and community, and is a conduit for language and cultural literacies,” said NMARB/NMYaA co-founder Ana Romero Sanchez. “This installation allowed our youth cuentistas to share their stories and their voices through creativity and ekphrastic imagery. It is wonderful that their words and images are in a space where decisions for their educational future are made. We hope that their visions will become inspiration for our leaders.”
Students completed their art projects during weekly after school workshops at the acclaimed FUSION Theater in Albuquerque from January through April. Workshop topics included photography, storytelling, creative writing, poetry and spoken word. Workshops were conducted primarily by NMYaA directors Ana and Keith Sanchez. Ambassadors also had the opportunity to learn from special guest mentors, including renowned photographer Daniel Montaño and Albuquerque Poet Laureate Emeritus Jessica Helen Lopez.
The NMYaA program is entering its eleventh year. It is free to community members with support from OneAlbuquerque and RFK Charter High School. NMYaA started primarily as a music education program for youth in the community. More recently, the program began a series of storytelling sessions. These sessions have utilized the forms of short film , photography and ekphrastic narrative. The program is currently working with student storytellers to create narrative artwork using the corrido, a traditional Mexican song style narrative.
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The New Mexico Public Education Department partners with educators, communities and families to ensure that all students are healthy, secure in their identity and holistically prepared for college, career and life. Currently, NMPED serves about 320,000 students in 189 districts and charter schools. Find an abundance of resources for administrators, educators, families and students at New Mexico Public Education Department (state.nm.us) or follow the NMPED on Facebook and Instagram .
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