Artist-in-Residence
2025 New Mexico Arts Artist Residency
Los Luceros Historic Site
Chris E. Vargas
Chris E. Vargas begins the second residency on April 25 until June 6, 2025. Vargas’ artwork uses humor and performance to explore the complex ways queer and trans people negotiate spaces for themselves within historical and institutional memory. His work at Los Luceros will center on Mary Cabot Wheelwright and her collaboration with two-spirit Diné weaver Hastíín Klah. Their work together highlights an intersection of cultural and gendered autonomy, as well as resistance to erasure, which will inform a speculative film and video project bridging past and present.
Vargas earned his Master of Fine Arts from the Art Practice department at the University of California, Berkeley. He is the Executive Director of MOTHA, the Museum of Transgender Hirstory & Art. He received a Creative Capital award in the Emerging Field category in 2016, a John C. Guggenheim fellowship in 2020, and a Latinx Art Fellowship in 2024-25. He lives and works in Los Angeles, CA
Learn more about Chris E. Vargas here
Enjoy the video of Chris E. Vargas' Residency:
Jason Garcia
Jason Garcia ended the first residency on April 18, 2025. Using traditional Pueblo pottery techniques coupled with printmaking, Garcia juxtaposes customary and contemporary methods with his Ancestral Tewa cultural knowledge. He plans to use his time at Los Luceros conducting field visits of Tewa ancestral villages located near the site. He will create concepts and sketches as the basis for clay tiles illustrated with comic book-style narratives as a continuation of a body of work called, “Tewa Tales of Suspense.”
Garcia earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of New Mexico and his Master of Fine Arts in Printmaking at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI. His work has been exhibited at museums throughout the country, including the National Museum of the American Indian, Arizona State University, and the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, among others. He resides and works in Santa Clara Pueblo, NM.
Learn more about Jason Garcia here
Enjoy the video of Jason Garcia’s Residency:
Project Intent
Each residency will take place over a six-week period in which the artist resides and works in Alcalde, New Mexico. Artists will have access to and are encouraged to interact with the land, culture, and the extensive local historic archival materials at the sites, visitor center and surrounding area.
The culmination of the residency centers the artist’s research and development of new work that showcases ideas and work created during their six-week stay at Los Luceros.
Public engagement opportunities include, but are not limited to: an artist talk or exhibition, workshop, temporary site-specific installations, performances, etc. Artwork and community engagement should be safe and appropriate for both children and adults, ADA compliant, and should not permanently alter the environment when removed.
Residency Time Frames
March 7, 2025 – April 18, 2025 (Residency I Period) Artwork and Community Engagement Activity
April 25, 2025 – June 6, 2025 (Residency II Period) Artwork and Community Engagement Activity
Proposed timeline is subject to change. Selection criteria used by the Review Committee shall include, but is not limited to: Quality of concept, strength of proposal, quality of previous artwork, and proposed project’s attention to the culture and history of the historic site.
About Los Luceros
Los Luceros is located on the traditional lands of Pueblo and Apache peoples. Surrounding are landscapes of Pueblo and Apache communities, whose people continue to maintain vital connections to the greater area including Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo and Santa Clara Pueblo and the other Eight Northern Pueblos.
Over 1,000 years of the area’s diverse cultural history is on display to explore and discover at Los Luceros Historic Site. Indigenous, Hispanic, and Anglo-American cultures have come together here to shape not only the history, but the landscape as well. Situated along the Old Spanish Trail, mule trains, loaded with trade goods, passed by the Spanish outpost that once stood near the river, as they travelled between Santa Fe and Los Angeles.
Today visitors are welcome to discover the site’s unique history within the walls of the 18th century Hacienda, the centerpiece of the ranch. Hear the stories of the influential and inspiring people who have visited or called this location home for more than 600 years. Enjoy beautiful stands of cottonwoods along the floodplain and connect to the area’s rich agricultural history on display in the farmyard, orchards, Bosque and Acequia system preserved on the grounds.
Useful Links and Information
https://nmhistoricsites.org/los-luceros
https://nmhistoricsites.org/los-luceros/directions
https://www.elpalacio.org/2017/09/the-secret-sanctuary/
https://www.elpalacio.org/2017/09/the-accidental-angel/
Site Information
The centerpiece of Los Luceros Historic Site is a 5,700 square-foot, 18th century Territorial-style adobe home which was renovated by the Cabot Foundation in 2004 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In addition to the hacienda and the visitor center complex, the property contains three residences, a 19th century chapel, numerous farm buildings, apple orchards, irrigated pasture, and bosque on the Rio Grande.
New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs purchased the Los Luceros property from the family of Frank and Ann Cabot in 2008 and is working to ensure the site’s preservation and integrity in perpetuity. The department’s intent is to bring together historic preservation, education, and agricultural and environmental interests. Los Luceros is currently – and will continue to be – used as a cultural destination with interpretative exhibits and public access and a place for crop-growing and environmental studies programs. Bask in the site’s picturesque 148-acre ranch and the surrounding riverbanks, ancient cottonwoods, historic buildings, apple orchards, farm animals, and rolling agricultural fields.
Residency Information
Lodging for the artists will be provided by the Los Luceros Historic Site at the River House, a studio bedroom open floor concept on the second floor of a two-story building whose construction dates to 1992. The apartment comes fully furnished and has a modern kitchen equipped with a gas stove, dishwasher, bathroom with tub and shower, and a full wrap around porch. Lodging is accessible through a separate exterior entrance from the 1st floor. Please note that due to the existing construction of the space; the apartment is accessible by a staircase only and does not have an elevator.
The selected artists will be responsible for arranging their own transportation expenses to and from Los Luceros, in addition to their own food expenses. The nearest grocery store is the Dixon Co-operative Market and Deli in Dixon, 14 miles headed north, or a major shopping supercenter in Española, 18 minutes away. The nearest major airports are in Santa Fe, NM and Albuquerque, NM. Internet access is not provided in the residence but can be connected to in the main buildings. There is not reliable cell service, though calls and texts can be made with the Wi-Fi calling feature enabled.
Artists will be granted access to the Los Luceros Historic Site and archival materials during regular operating hours. Regular operating hours are:
Open: Wednesday through Sunday, 10 am to 4 pm
Closed: Monday and Tuesday
Shipping and deliveries will be accepted in the main building.
River House Accommodation Images
Residency Stipend
An all-inclusive stipend of $14,000
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.
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 Diné, 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, Los Luceros Historic Site New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs.
