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The Santa Fe Art Institute (SFAI) and the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) have recently partnered with the European Union Delegation on a new residency program, which is part of the EU鈥檚 Transatlantic Rising Stars Project.

The inaugural eight-week residency at SFAI, which began in April and ends on May 28, paired Spanish-born artist Jorge Ma帽es Rubio with IAIA-affiliated artist Hollis Chitto (Choctaw and Laguna Pueblo).

鈥淭ransatlantic Rising Stars is a program through the European Union鈥檚 delegation to the U.S. So, it鈥檚 meant to be a cultural diplomacy program through the arts,鈥� Toccarra Thomas, SFAI executive director, said.

鈥淭he artists don鈥檛 get a chance to pick their partners 鈥� so they鈥檙e really trusting the institutions to connect them with another artist who will have a shared perspective,鈥� Thomas said. 鈥淢aking artwork can be really intimate, and over a two-month period, they鈥檙e working really closely with someone.鈥�

Ma帽es Rubio and Chitto were paired together, in part because they both make art with glass beads. Chitto, whose father is a clay artist, has been making art his whole life and started learning to bead at the age of 10. He often works with tiny 鈥渕icro鈥� beads, using special antique beading needles, to create extremely intricate patterns. Ma帽es Rubio, meanwhile, said he鈥檚 always been intrigued by the colors and textures of glass beads but only started incorporating them into his work about five years ago.

Chitto said when he was first approached about collaborating on beading projects with a Spanish artist, he felt some misgivings.

鈥淲hat ran through my head, honestly, were (images of) those European hobbyists who cosplay powwows in Europe and do beadwork and stuff like that. 鈥� But I put my full trust in Toccarra, who assured me, 鈥楬e seems really cool. He鈥檚 not in it for that,鈥欌�� Chitto said.

鈥淭hen, when I met Jorge, one reason that we鈥檙e getting along so well is that he did his homework. He knew stuff 鈥� about the colonial history of Santa Fe that a lot of New Mexicans don鈥檛 know about, like the Siege of Acoma and the Pueblo Revolt. 鈥� So, it was really cool just to have that baseline with each other.鈥�

Ma帽es Rubio said the more deeply he delved into the history of Spanish colonization in the Southwest, the more he saw those histories reflected in the beads themselves.

鈥淲hile this whole (program) was taking shape, I was also coming to understand that glass beads carry histories of global trade and colonization, (and) they鈥檙e symbols of status and the transmission of intergenerational knowledge,鈥� Ma帽es Rubio said. 鈥淚t started to appear very clear to me that they鈥檙e more than just cute, little glass objects. They carry a lot of historical meaning.鈥�

Ma帽es Rubio did not want to repeat the same extractive, colonial patterns of past generations, so he approached the residency with humility and respect.

鈥淭here has been a very long history of cultural appropriation by mostly white male European artists 鈥� You can disguise it 鈥� you can talk about cross-pollination or use fancy words 鈥� but at the end of the day, it鈥檚 just extractive practices,鈥� Ma帽es Rubio said. 鈥溾�� I feel like now, exchanges like the one we鈥檙e having are a lot more symmetrical, a lot more balanced.鈥�

Both artists said it was easier to talk about culturally sensitive topics because they liked each other on a personal level.

鈥淚 was curious about how it would go,鈥� Chitto said. 鈥淭hen, Jorge and I hung out that first day, and we just clicked. I took him to some bead shops 鈥� and we went into some galleries, and we had a really similar aesthetic and sense of humor. So, it was really cool.鈥�

Chitto also pointed out that cultural exchanges between Spanish and Indigenous communities have been happening in New Mexico for a very long time, and they have not always been negative.

鈥淚 think Santa Fe is a good place to do this, because there is so much history of the Pueblos influencing Spanish art, and Spanish art influencing Pueblo art, where it becomes something new but also very distinctly Pueblo 鈥� or very distinctly Hispanic,鈥� Chitto said.

Thomas, who has been directing SFAI since January 2025, hopes to do more cross-cultural programming in the future to encourage dialog among diverse groups who don鈥檛 always talk to one another. She said Ma帽es Rubio and Chitto鈥檚 collaboration represents the best of what programs like Transatlantic Rising Stars can foster.

鈥淛orge and Hollis ... work together so seamlessly. I think they鈥檝e formed a real bond,鈥� Thomas said. 鈥溾�� The idea that we have a Spanish artist and an Indigenous artist, who are coming together and uplifting the best parts of each other through their work feels like such a great way to talk about what exists here (in New Mexico), and also what could exist here. So, we鈥檙e really excited, and it鈥檚 been lovely to watch them explore.鈥�

The two artists will exhibit the work they made over the course of the residency on Monday, May 18, and at a closing reception on Friday, May 22, at the Santa Fe Art Institute. The work will then travel to a group exhibition in Washington, D.C.

Logan Royce Beitmen is an arts writer for the sa国际传媒官网网页入口. He covers visual art, music, fashion, theater and more. Reach him at lbeitmen@abqjournal.com or on Instagram at .