The year 2025 will mark the 10th anniversary of the Questa Art Tour. This event was initiated by the Questa Creative Council team in 2015, when two locals: co-owner of the gallery Art Questa, Roger Harrington, and newly retired art teacher, Peggy Trigg, saw the need. They wanted to help build avenues of income after the mine’s closure, and help rebrand our talented community of artists.

We’ve come a long way in ten years. Our art tour has shown hundreds of visitors what a hidden gem we are; a historic village to discover, surrounded by beautiful protected wilderness that has inspired artists for many, many years.

This coming summer’s tour will again be held on the second weekend in August, the 9th and 10th. And the work it takes to manage all that goes into continued success has already begun!

We have a new project director, Brigid Stearns. She is a dynamic neighbor who many of you may already know. She lives in Costilla and is already on the Questa Public Library Advisory Board and busy with other community groups. Brigid began her career in the military, then taught 9th grade for 30 years in Connecticut, loving her job and being present during some traumatic times, like the nearby school mass shooting in Newtown. She moved to our area in 2020, and loves the wide blue skies, mountains, and our unique northern New Mexico Rio Grande culture in all its diversity.

Attention, local business sponsors! The time is now to get your logo included in our print advertising throughout New Mexico (your logos will also appear on our project website, in local fliers, and our huge annual banner at the Questa visitor center during the event).

Area artists, think about your participation now… May 1 is the deadline to get your name featured on the map-brochure given to every visitor (and on our website). Applications will be available soon. We are keeping the registration fee the same, at $60, an amount that is substantially less than other regional art tours.

Sponsorships and artist fees help pay a small but necessary portion of the cost to host this event that brings over 800 guests to Questa each August. We will be advertising for you all again in New Mexico Magazine, in the Southwest Contemporary Field Guide (an arts-oriented event publication shared in hotel rooms and other venues around the state), in Santa Fe and Taos publications, plus area radio, and much social media!

Let’s make this the best art tour ever. And let’s all pray our tenth anniversary event is not our last. The federal grants we depend on are already announcing cancellations and changes. But working together to support all our positive redevelopment efforts, we can keep our community on the road to success, artfully, creatively, and respectfully, with the values we all share.

Find event info online at QuestaCreative.org, where the application will soon be available. You can leave a phone message for our new Project Manager Brigid at (575) 586-5658, or email her at bridigstearns@gmail.com.