Artist-in-Residence
Annually, New Mexico Arts in partnership with NM Historic Sites offers two 6-week residential awards for emerging and established artists to further develop their creative practice, while connecting with local culture and engaging the public. This residency program is designed to offer artists the time and space to develop their creative practice, to further connect with rich cultures throughout New Mexico and to bring their artwork and experience to the public through engagement and participation.
Artists live on-site with access to archives and collections at a Department of Cultural Affairs Historic Site for the purpose of research and creative development. The residency supports artists in diverse disciplines such as painting, sculpture, performance, mixed media, film, and more. Artists who reside in the United States are encouraged to apply.
Artists-in-residence must live on site, complete a project resulting in the creation of one or more works, and complete a community engagement component at the end of their residency. While in residence, artists can access the historic site including exhibits and archives for research and study. If selected, artists must agree to participate in interviews, photo sessions, video recording, and exit interviews to document the artist-in-residence’s process and progress.
2025 Call for Artists Opening Soon!
How to Apply
Call for Artists will launch annually on CaFÉ sometime in the late summer/early fall, with the two 6-week residencies scheduled for Spring of the following year. CLICK HERE to start your FREE CaFÉ artist account and prepare to apply for our next call.
2024 New Mexico Arts’
Artist-in-Residence Program
Lincoln Historic Site
Marcus Xavier Chormicle
Emerging Las Cruces-based artist, Marcus Xavier Chormicle (Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians/Chicano), creates work that focuses primarily on family, memory, and the intersection of class, race, and history in the American Southwest. Through a site-specific photography practice, he aims to connect the history of place to current circumstances of his family as the subject of imagery.
Marcus received a Bachelor of Journalism with a Minor in Digital Marketing and Studio Art from Arizona State University (ASU) in Phoenix, Arizona. Upon completion of his academic studies, he returned home and founded the Cristian Anthony Vallejo Memorial (CAV) Gallery, an art space in downtown Las Cruces, NM. The gallery serves as an extension of his artistic mission to hold space for family, assert their inherent value through art and engage community.
While in residence, Chormicle will explore the legacy of the Oryx species in Southern New Mexico as it relates to colonizing histories of land and peoples in the region. He intends to deepen his understanding of the Oryx habitat as well as interrogate visual representations of the animal through materiality across the Lincoln Forest, Sacramento Mountain and surrounding communities.
To learn more about Marcus Xavier Chormicle, visit his website.
Marcus will be in residence from Friday, February 23, 2024 to Friday, April 5, 2024.
Dylan McLaughlin
Dylan McLaughlin (Diné) is a multimedia artist, educator and researcher who looks critically to share stories of ecological extraction and climate change, with special attention to their impact on Indigenous communities, through his creative practice.
Dylan received his Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) in New Media Art from the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) in Santa Fe, NM and later went on to receive a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Art & Ecology from the University of New Mexico (UNM) in Albuquerque, NM. He is a 2022 recipient of the Native Arts and Cultures Foundation LIFT Award and has participated in exhibitions at the Center for Contemporary Arts (CCA) in Santa Fe, NM; SITE in Santa Fe, NM; 516 Arts in Albuquerque, NM; and Denver Art Museum in Denver, CO among others.
While in residence, Dylan will explore algorithmic music composition by drawing upon local data on multi-species migration. He commonly weaves together themes of Diné mythology, ecological data, and environmental histories that culminate in experimental music composition and land-based performance.
To learn more about Dylan McLaughlin, visit his website.
Dylan will be in residence from Friday, April 26, 2024 to Friday, June 7, 2024.
2023 New Mexico Arts’
Artist-in-Residence Program
Bosque Redondo Memorial Historic Site
DezBaa’ and David Henderson
DezBaa’ (Diné) is an accomplished artist in the film industry, including as a SAG-AFTRA actor, a WGA screenwriter, and an indie producer. Currently, she is a Staff Writer on the AMC series Dark Winds. David Henderson (Diné), her father, is a septuagenarian Navy veteran, Los Alamos National Labs retiree, and Film Digital Arts student at Northern New Mexico College.
DezBaa’ and David Henderson premiered a documentary featuring David’s journey of self-discovery, as well as a series of interviews with Memorial staff, historians, medicine people, and more.
The documentary features Henderson while he documents his past, which is part of his Northern New Mexico College class projects. Neither of them grew up within the Diné culture or with the language – a reflection of both circumstance and survival. They are now both cultivating language revitalization and cultural teachings in their respective homes, as well as for Henderson’s grandchildren, who are Navajo Nation citizens. Together, DezBaa’ and Henderson will interview historians, scholars, and NMHS staff about Bosque Redondo Memorial and the Navajo Long Walk.
To learn more about DezBaa’, visit her website.
DezBaa’ and David Henderson were in residence until May 2023 .
Dakota Mace
Dakota Mace (Diné) is an interdisciplinary artist who focuses on translating the language of Diné history and beliefs.
In Dakota’s words, “My project is a continuation of an ongoing project titled “Dahodiyinii (Sacred Places),” looking at the importance of land and place. The stories shared will show the relationship we, as Diné people, still communicate with our ancestors and the memory or imprint they left within the land. The work is intended to be a multidisciplinary installation with photography, video, audio, and performance to show how our bodies are archives, a collaboration between time and materials while exploring the idea of impermanence. For many Indigenous people, memories are embedded within the land. Through this project, I explore how we, as Din??, see ourselves, how our bodies store these memories, and how those histories continue to affect Diné people.”
Dakota Mace’s project focused on the vastness of Din’tah (the Diné homeland), rich with the narratives that exist within the landscape. The Diné hold a close relationship to their home, and each area has sacred significance and places of stories. View the project here.
To learn more about Dakota Mace, visit her website.
Dakota Mace was in residence until June 2023.
Page header image, Lincoln Historic Site New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs.
