The 40th annual Creative Bravos Awards honor sa国际传媒官网网页入口's arts community
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The city of sa国际传媒官网网页入口鈥檚 40th annual Creative Bravos Awards are happening Saturday, March 22, from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. at the sa国际传媒官网网页入口 Museum.
Former longtime sa国际传媒官网网页入口 photographer Adolphe Pierre-Louis is being honored with an award, along with eight other recipients. The awards, which are presented by the Department of Arts and Culture, recognize 鈥渨ork that makes a significant impact on the lives of residents, neighborhoods, and/or communities.鈥
Sherri Brueggemann
Sherri Brueggemann has been instrumental in shaping sa国际传媒官网网页入口鈥檚 artistic landscape with over 30 years of public art management and advocacy work, from coordinating sa国际传媒官网网页入口鈥檚 first Route 66 Street Festival in 1994 to overseeing the recently completed Public Art Census.
鈥淚鈥檓 completely honored and very excited, because I actually coordinated the Creative Bravos awards almost 30 years ago,鈥 Brueggeman said.
She said she is especially honored to be receiving this award now, since she is planning to retire this year 鈥 a fitting capstone to a lifetime of service to public art in sa国际传媒官网网页入口.
Julia Munroe Mandeville
Julia Munroe Mandeville is the cofounder and artistic director of the music and arts festival SOMOS ABQ and the restorative arts and healing platform Mirror Bridge. In addition, she is the chief programs officer at Harwood Art Center.
She said she was honored to be selected as a Creative Bravos winner in the company of so many other incredible people.
鈥淭his creative community is a constellation, and it feels like everyone is connected by a couple degrees of proximity and mutual admiration,鈥 Mandeville said.
Mandeville founded the SOMOS ABQ festival in 2016 as what she called 鈥渁 love letter to sa国际传媒官网网页入口, to shine light on the beauty and brilliance of our creative community.鈥
This year鈥檚 headliners include Shannon and the Clams and Chromeo, along with many local bands. She is also commissioning 9 large-scale art installations for the festival.
Mandeville has been with the Harwood Art Center for the past 12 years, where she鈥檚 played an instrumental role in shaping their programs for creative expression, lifelong learning and civic engagement.
鈥淢y team of collaborators and organizers is so extraordinary, and I love working with them so deeply,鈥 she said. 鈥淎nd with the artists we serve and support, it鈥檚 like an actual dream.鈥
Casey Mraz
Casey Mraz is a musician, playwright and teaching artist who serves as the music director for Circo ABQ and has been the musical director for The Show, sa国际传媒官网网页入口鈥檚 improv comedy troupe, since 2010.
鈥淚 love working in the community,鈥 Mraz said. 鈥淚 think that鈥檚 the biggest thing they鈥檙e giving me this award for, just having my hands in lots of different community projects.鈥
A passionate aficionado of the piano accordion, which he grew up hearing his Italian uncles play, Mraz often collaborates with other local accordion players, most of whom play Spanish-style button accordions.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a vibrant accordion scene here, and it鈥檚 cross-cultural, so it鈥檚 pretty awesome to be part of it,鈥 Mraz said.
In addition to the accordion, Mraz is a master of many obscure musical instruments, and he practices circus arts, including basketball juggling 鈥 all of which endear him to his students at Circo ABQ.
Although he is honored to receive the Creative Bravo award, Mraz said his proudest moment came earlier in the week, when the parent of a former music student told him his son recently performed at Carnegie Hall.
Naomi Natale
Naomi Natale is an artist and activist known for large-scale social engagement projects. Her 鈥淥ne Million Bones鈥 project brought together 150,000 participants across 50 states and 30 countries to create over a million handmade bones as a statement against genocide, culminating in a 2013 installation on the National Mall.
鈥淲hen I look at that picture of the bones on the Mall, I see relationships,鈥 Natale said. 鈥淭hat was five years of people coming together with their hands creating something. We鈥檙e giving reverence to life.鈥
Natale is currently developing a project, titled 鈥淥f Grief and Dreams,鈥 a site of communal healing centered around a wooden boat and pair of wings that she will construct in the desert from donated materials. Natale began this project as a way of processing her own grief as the mother of a son diagnosed with a rare form of cancer, and she hopes to use her family鈥檚 personal grief as a way of connecting with 鈥済rievers and dreamers鈥 everywhere. To learn more, or to contribute to this project, visit .
鈥淕rief is born of love,鈥 Natale said, 鈥渂ut I think it鈥檚 important to take the time to honor grief. It can disfigure our lives but it can also transform our lives if we focus on our love and gratitude for what we鈥檙e mourning.鈥
Adolphe Pierre-Louis
Pierre-Louis has been documenting life in New Mexico as a journalist and photographer for over three decades. He joined the sa国际传媒官网网页入口 in 1990, capturing everything from crime scenes to cultural festivals.
鈥淚 feel that by covering those positive things that are happening, then when they have a triple homicide, when I show up there, people are aren鈥檛 screaming at me,鈥 he said. 鈥淏ecause they know that I belong to the community. I鈥檝e reported their moments of joy. So, when it鈥檚 time for me to photograph them in their worst moments, I鈥檓 always welcome.鈥
Although photojournalism can take an emotional toll, he said it鈥檚 important for journalists to remain empathetic.
鈥淚 always try to capture humanity through every single image that I photograph,鈥 he said
He points to one photograph he took, in particular, in the aftermath of Haiti鈥檚 2010 earthquake, of a woman leading a blind person through the rubble.
鈥淚 went down there twice, three weeks after the earthquake, and then six months after, and to me that image shows the common humanity that we all have, despite all the destruction that is surrounding her.鈥
More recently, Pierre-Louis has been following Haitian emigres across multiple countries, including Brazil and Mexico as they make their way to Boston and other parts of the United States 鈥 a project he hopes to turn into a book.
Pierre-Louis said he will dedicate his award to the memory of Gasner Raymond, a Haitian journalist who lived a block away from him when he was growing up and who was killed in 1976 for writing a story exposing corruption under the regime of Jean-Claude 鈥淏aby Doc鈥 Duvalier.
鈥淚 was barely 14 years old, and that had an impact on my life,鈥 he said. 鈥淭hat was the spark that I needed to choose this amazing and rewarding profession.鈥
Keith S谩nchez
Like many of this year鈥檚 nominees, Keith S谩nchez is an educator and community leader as well as a musician. As the lead singer and songwriter of Stoic Frame, he achieved national recognition with a #1 Rock en Espa帽ol single, but he remains deeply committed to local community engagement.
鈥淭he Bravos mean so much to me, because they come from the community of my ancestors, the community of my querencia and my heart,鈥 S谩nchez said.
A native of Belen, S谩nchez spent time in El Salvador, where he developed his singular style of musical storytelling. Today, as a doctoral student of Chicana/Chicano Studies at the University of New Mexico, he explores the deep-rooted connections between New Mexico鈥檚 music, history, and identity.
鈥淭his award also belongs to my wife and partner in life and community service, Ana Romero,鈥 S谩nchez said. 鈥淪he鈥檚 the chief creator of NMARB (New Mexico Academy of Rock and Blues) and NMYAA (New Mexico Youth Arts Ambassadors). These are the art forums I participate in that pass the torch of creativity and critical thinking to the next generation. Nothing is more important than that.鈥
Madison Van Der Lingen
Madison Van Der Lingen combines fashion design with community organizing, creating innovative fashion events that support eco-friendly sustainable practices in an industry notorious for its wastefulness.
鈥淚 just use recycled textiles for all my clothing. I don鈥檛 buy anything new,鈥 she said. 鈥淎nd another aspect of the sustainability is that I make everything by hand, unless I hire someone, and we make it ethically here in sa国际传媒官网网页入口.鈥
Sustainable fashion events she has spearheaded include Meow Wolf鈥檚 鈥淎bsolute Rubbish鈥 Trash Fashion Show and 鈥淯nknown Garden鈥 at the Ballut Abyad Temple.
鈥淲e haven鈥檛 had a huge fashion scene in sa国际传媒官网网页入口, so I鈥檝e been working to establish one,鈥 Van Der Lingen said. 鈥淕rowing community has been very fun for me.鈥
She hosts workshops and events at Sew Whateva! makerspace, and sherecently launched a collaborative sustainable fashion boutique called PuffBugg鈥檚 Closet.
New Mexico Art League (Legacy Bravos Award)
The Creative Bravos鈥 special Legacy Award this year goes to the New Mexico Art League.
The Art League, founded in 1929, is one of the oldest art organizations in the country.
Its current director, Buffy Nelson, said, 鈥淚t has been a haven to so many New Mexico artists over the years, providing a gathering place, gallery and studio for artists like Raymond Jonson, Ernest L. Blumenschein, Bert Phillips, Peter Hurd, Henriette Wyeth and Wilson Hurley, who all believed in and worked toward creating a place where artists could pursue their passion to create, discuss, exhibit and teach art.鈥
鈥淲e continue to honor that legacy today,鈥 Nelson continued. 鈥淎s a nonprofit organization, the Art League offers an ambitious schedule of events that includes workshops and classes taught by accomplished artists from New Mexico and around the country.鈥
鈥淥ur exhibitions feature artists living and working in New Mexico and regularly draw favorable attention from local collectors and art critics,鈥 she said.
The league offers opportunities for emerging artists through its scholarship programs for young artists who wish to pursue an advanced degree or career in the arts.
Eamon Quigley (Emerging Bravos Award)
Eamon Quigley, a local muralist and ceramic artist, is the recipient of the Emerging Bravos Award for his vibrant, surrealist-inspired murals, which have enlivened sa国际传媒官网网页入口鈥檚 built environment.
Inspired to get into murals after learning about the street artist Keith Haring in middle school, Quigley went from painting secret artworks in tunnels to scoring high-profile commissions.
One of his most impressive pieces depicts a full-size train traveling through a 130-foot barn.
Green plants are a recurring motif in many of Quigley鈥檚 murals. 鈥淪ome green can boost anyone鈥檚 mood,鈥 he said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 what I鈥檝e come to learn in a psychological sense. Any psychologist can tell you it鈥檚 better than being surrounded by gray walls or even tan walls.鈥
The 40th annual Creative Bravos Awards honor sa国际传媒官网网页入口's arts community
