November 20. 2024

Dear Artists and Friends of TAAC,

If 2024 has taught us anything, it is that we have so much to be grateful for within our incredible community. Artists are truth-tellers and space-makers. In a world that can feel outside of our control, we find strength and sanctuary in solidarity. We share an interest in lifting each other up, supporting each other in our creativity and paving the way for new ideas. This past year we have deepened our commitment to telling a new story of abstract art in Northern New Mexico, and it includes all of you.

Inclusivity is at the heart of our mission.

TAAC is determined to expand a dialogue where all abstract artists are included, represented and welcomed. We have set a goal of $5,000 to reach by December 31st, 2024 to sustain TAAC and help our group. We hope that you will make a tax-deductible year-end gift in the spirit of artists supporting artists.

We are asking you to consider supporting at one of the following levels.

$10 - Friend
$25 - Contributor
$50 - Supporter
$100 - Ally
$500 - Advocate*
$1000 - Visionary*

*Gifts above the $500 level will receive an original work of art from the TAAC Board of Directors as a thank you gift.

 
Looking Back

By the end of 2024, TAAC will have exhibited more than 300 artists! That’s huge for a small organization in its early stages of growth. In 2024 alone, we collaborated with three institutions to expand accessible programming and spark new exchanges.

As a community partner with The Harwood Museum of Art we broke new ground with our response exhibition to their extraordinary exhibition, Luchita Hurtado: Earth & Sky Interjected, through Channeling Luchita: A Community Response to the Life and Work of Luchita Hurtado now on view at the Millicent Rogers Museum through February 2nd, 2025. New Mexico Magazine described the show as, “a unique exhibition for a couple of reasons…it’s not often we see two museum shows at the same time with the same subject, much less one that’s inspired by another. Second, the collaborative effort involves three artistic bodies: the Taos Abstract Artist Collective, the Millicent Rogers Museum, and the Harwood Museum of Art.’”

Claire Motsinger, Millicent Rogers Museum Curator of Community and Collections added, “TAAC is in a unique position to be very mobile and responsive, and have their connections and relationships interlinked in the arts community.”

Summer of 2024 showcased the culmination of a year-long partnership with the Couse-Sharp Historic Site to produce, On Which It Rests, a gorgeous exhibition in the Dean Porter Gallery, Lunder Research Center that featured 21 New Mexico artists responding to an ongoing dialogue about the importance of place in creative practice. 

Our community programming included artist panel discussions and free community events for all ages. Our community continued to grow as we celebrated diverse abstract artists working across media in both our Spring 2024 and Fall 2024 TAAC community exhibitions where we archived your works both online and in our published art catalogs.

We received our very first grant award from NM Arts, a division of the Department of Cultural Affairs, and by the National Endowment for the Arts. Looking ahead, we are applying for additional funding from other grantors for our upcoming fiscal year. With that said, Arts Funding is in constant jeopardy, and we rely on generous donations from our community to ensure that we can continue to provide vibrant programming even when funding is unavailable to us.

Board of Directors

TAAC is made possible with the support of a small group of volunteer board members. As a working board, these members donate their time and expertise to ensure that events and programming function effectively and efficiently. We are so excited to have added three new board members in the past quarter. Brian Barreto joins us as Treasurer-Elect, and Dani Kamas and Sid Barrett join us as Board Members at large. Each brings a unique perspective and a set of skills that add immensely to the creation of this community.

What’s ahead in 2025

The short answer is - so much! Our Channeling Luchita exhibition will run through February 2nd, 2025 and we will host two accompanying panel discussions with our artists, the curators and community to further explore the impact of Hurtado’s incredible legacy. We will continue to produce our ‘25 Spring and Fall TAAC Community Exhibitions showcasing your talent and expanding our community of artists. We will be launching a TAAC Critique Club, across Northern New Mexico, to give all of you a chance to deepen your relationships with each other and learn more about your respective lives and work. We will deepen our community work through a regional collaboration with the Southwest Black Arts Collective (SBAC) and are in the early stages of conceptualizing a TAAC-hosted residency program. We will continue to create art publications at the highest possible level, to amplify your voices and creativity and tell our story.

In early 2025 we will award the next recipient of our Art Fund with a small grant to support their artist practice. Learn more about the TAAC Art Fund here and please stay tuned for that exciting announcement.

According to Southwest Contemporary’s August 2024 article, “from TAAC’s conception, a central element of fostering inclusivity has been about breaking the previous century’s paradigms of what a group of abstract artists in Taos looks and acts like.” In the words of our Vice Chair, bianca goyette, “I’m interested in newer New Mexico artists carving out a space for future generations. […] I’m interested in dialogue within practices, between people, between nature, I’m interested in what we all have to say.”

We have come a long way from our first backyard gathering in 2022 and we could not do this without all of you. We have so much gratitude for our passionate team of volunteers who help with everything from installing exhibitions, to designing print materials, online gallery guides, creating video media, gallery sitting - even sweeping, patching and painting.

Give a Gift Today!
Please join us in telling a new story of abstract art in Northern New Mexico. Every contribution is vital – regardless of the amount. A $10 donation is as welcome as a $100 donation. We hope you will consider including TAAC amongst your year-end contributions and we hope to raise $5,000 this year in unrestricted contributions.

When artists support other artists there is no ceiling to what we can create together. 

Yours in Abstraction,

Lauren Smith, Co-Founder & Board President
bianca goyette, Vice Chair
Lynette O’Kane, Secretary
Brian Barreto, Treasurer-Elect
Dani Kamas, Board Member
Sid Barrett, Board Member

The Taos Abstract Artist Collective is a 501(c)(3) organization and contributions are tax-deductible to the extent permissible by law.