It’s hard to believe that we’ve been at this for over ten years. This would actually be our 11th anniversary of the Questa Art Tour, but for COVID. Although we had to cancel the in-person tour, 2020 was not lacking in art; we rallied and QCC founding member Peggy Trigg organized an online art auction that proved wildly successful for area artists that year.
And that is our nonprofit’s mission, after all; to strengthen community by celebrating our local arts, culture, and history. The Questa Art Tour achieves all that and more.
From our humble beginnings in 2016, with just 12 stops with 35 artists, to this year’s 21 stops with 52 artists, the tour has continued to gain momentum. Our original description of the tour: “where artistic traditions meet” still describes this unique arts tour. The upper Rio Grande Valley has a strong tradition of hands-on artistry, developed from need, and inspired by our surrounding beauty and the skills of those who came before us.
That year also marked the re-consecration of the then-newly-restored St. Anthony’s church on Questa’s historic plaza. In 2016, and each year following, this sacred site has been an exhibition stop on the arts tour. Though the many skilled craftspeople who helped restore will not be there, a local docent has always been present to tell this impressive story of a community coming together and to point out the artistry in the restoration that continues to be part of Questa’s present.
Our small team of volunteer board members probably had many heads shaking behind our backs, wondering at our ambition, but here we are, with more and more neighbors realizing this art tour is for keeps (assuming federal funding for the arts remains).
This year we have more artists who are new to the tour than ever before. More local residents have been noticing the crowds that are drawn here during the second weekend of August every year. Several artists from Costilla and the Colorado border area reached out after the Costilla area art tour was discontinued a few years ago. We’ve added five artists from that region, not diverting attention from our own village, but expanding the appeal for visitors to explore the dramatic scenery wrapping around the north of Ute Mountain with views into the Rio Grande del Norte National Monument.
This 10th anniversary year will showcase three furniture-makers, each very different from one another; three glass artists, both in the village and north in the El Rito neighborhood; four highly skilled potters, a leatherworker, a paper quillwork artist, a sculptor of gourds, another of metals, knitters, quilters, woodworkers, six jewelers with mediums ranging from detailed beadwork to metals and semi-precious stones, a traditional stunning photographer and a new photographer pushing the boundaries of fine-art manipulation; and four print and mixed-media artists are taking part. And, of course, the favorite for lovers of southwest art will find 25 painters in the tour. Visitors will find paintings in a variety of media, in both abstract and representational styles.
So mark your calendars, and don’t miss this chance to discover the talent living amongst us, or meet some unique talents in this historically skillful and newly burgeoning arts region. It’s a great time to explore the dramatic scenery and inspired art-makers of Questa and beyond.
