November 28, 2025

Dear Artists and Friends of TAAC,

As we enter this season of giving and reflection, we are grateful to our vibrant TAAC community for your encouragement, boundless creativity and commitment to telling the evolving story of abstract art in New Mexico. This year has presented significant challenges for many, and yet as artists, we keep making. We make work in response to personal and shared crises, in response to heartache, and likewise, we make in response to moments of joy and wonder. These moments co-occur and bring us together. It is vital that we support each other in telling these stories, and in preserving the vitality of art making and art in our community.

We are writing to you with our goal of raising $5,000 during our #ArtistsSupportingArtists Annual Campaign this year which will run through December 31st 2025. These vital funds support free programming, help us to produce archival publications and manage the general operations of our small (but mighty) organization.  

As funding for non-profits like ours continues to land on the chopping block, we look to our community to help us build a solid foundation for growth. Whether you are able to give $5 or $500, every amount is significant.

Inclusivity is at the Heart of our Mission

TAAC continues to expand a new dialogue where all abstract artists are included, represented and welcomed. We have set a goal of $5,000 to reach by December 31st, 2025 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. If you are able to make a matching gift or a sustaining donation, please contact us directly.

Expanding our Vision

This past summer, TAAC took our show on the road and went west, to the TRYST Art Fair in Los Angeles, hosted by the Torrance Art Museum. TAAC team members bianca goyette, Lauren Dana Smith, Brian Barreto and Sid Barrett took the works of 14 of our artists to the TRYST Alternative Art Fair, produced by the Torrance Art Museum. Now in its 3rd year, TRYST is an international art fair for artist-run-spaces and collectives as well as an international gathering to address the needs and future of global exchange for artist-run spaces, collectives and organizations. In fact, there are only 5 art fairs like this globally in Denmark, Sweden, Athens and Mexico City. Beautifully curated by TAAC’s Vice Chair, bianca goyette, TAAC shared works by Robyn A. Frank, Morgan Barnard, Lana Scholtz, Aleya Hoerlein, Lauren Dana Smith, Brian Barreto, Henri Preiss, Jess Merritt, Chris Willcox, Beedallo, Josh Tafoya, Lynette O’Kane, Agnieszka Gasparska and Marianne Hall with the LA art community. The fair was a huge success. Not only did we introduce abstract art in Northern NM to thousands of fair visitors throughout the weekend, but we made many new friendships and meaningful connections with kindred arts organizations, collectives and galleries that we hope will take root into fruitful future collaborations. 

TAAC Scholars Program
The TAAC Scholar Award is given to an artist whose work has pushed the bounds of abstraction within the Northern New Mexico artistic community. The TAAC Scholars receive a microgrant and special recognition throughout the exhibition. In Spring of 2025 we recognized Beedalo, Daisy Trudell-Mills and Neexch Yanagut Yeil Rinehart. In the Fall of 2025 we named Roxanne Márquez.

TAAC High School Scholars Program
TAAC has partnered with New Mexico School of the Arts to recognize three (3) high school juniors in the fall and three seniors in the spring who show a dedication to abstract artistic expression. Each student receives recognition during the exhibition and one student is awarded a microgrant each season to further their artistic practice or pursue their educational goals.

TAAC TALK RADIO - the music behind the making!
This year we also launched the next iteration of our TAAC TALKS series, TAAC TALK RADIO, with Sid Barrett on KNCE 93.5, True Taos Radio. Designed to reach folks worldwide, TAAC TALK RADIO airs live on the last Monday of each month and features a conversation between two artists in our community who dive deep into their creative practices, inspiration and the music behind their making. The episodes are streamed live and archived. All episodes are available for free on our website.

Collaborative Spirit

We are stronger together. In 2025 TAAC further developed our relationships in the community. We are looking ahead to future partnerships and exhibition opportunities that are in the planning stages with PASEO Project/HotelWilla, Taos Center for the Arts, the Southwest Black Arts Collective (SBAC), PechaKucha Taos, The Millicent Rogers Museum and the Couse-Sharp Historic Site.

At the beginning of 2025, we had the opportunity to join forces with See You Next Thursday to produce an online auction in support of artists displaced by the California Wildfires. We were thrilled to be able to donate $5,000 to the L.A. Arts Community Fire Relief Fund, sponsored by the Getty Foundation - and with proceeds going directly to support artists and arts workers.

This fall, we were honored to co-produce a special panel discussion on November 2nd with SBAC. Moderated by art historian, Bradley Petty and featuring SBAC’s Elizabeth Burden and TAAC’s Lauren Dana Smith, the panel explored how artistic collaborations function as intentional kinships—formed not by bloodline, but by shared practice, ideology, and geography. If you missed that event, you can watch the recording on our YouTube channel.

Strengthening our Community 

Our Fall and Spring Exhibition series continues to be the cornerstone of our mission to create meaningful, accessible and inclusive opportunities for all artists. These shows reflect our purpose to build and bridge communities while actively shaping and telling our own story of abstract art history! In 2025 we exhibited 148 abstract artists from across Northern New Mexico. In the Taos Tempo’s article, TAAC: Creativity unbound by limitation at the Stables Gallery, Lindsey Haven writes, “each piece invites visitors to discover and reflect, making the exhibition a dynamic celebration of creativity and community.” the ABQ Journal called our FEX25 show, “worth seeing” and noted that the show, “empowers us, as viewers, to wander around as we choose and engage with the art directly.” We were thrilled this past fall to be named as the #1 thing to do in New Mexico over Halloween weekend. Wow. We will keep this momentum going as we look ahead to the second installment of our 4th exhibition series in Spring of 2026.

Next April we will join the Taos Center for the Arts as an official partner of the Taos Film Festival. We are curating a program of video-based art pieces and experimental short films. The festival will run April 23-26th, 2026. Looking ahead, we are investing deeper into our community with the assembly of a Community Advisory Council and a series of Art Critique Clubs throughout the state. Stay tuned for more information and for how to get involved. 

Thank you - Give a Gift Today!

Our organization has blossomed quickly in a short period of time - and that is a deep reflection of our mutual need for connection and collaboration. We could not do this work without all of you. We are all volunteers, dedicating our time and passion to a mission that centers artists and real lived experiences. It is our artist stories that are shaping a history that we are actively writing.

Thank you for supporting and building TAAC together. 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
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.