Mid-afternoon at The Railyard visitors, Native New Mexicans and commuters await NM Railrunner on a sunny day after rain the previous night.
Italian native Cavallero Carlos Gislimberti paints en plein air by railyard. Gislimberti who has lived in New Mexico in Taos and Santa Fe for 25 years is one of the rare artists who, like me, paint in public. When I asked if the police bothered him when he paints on Santa Fe streets, he replied, "I keep moving from place to place."
Makes me sad that Santa Fe has become so fascist with so many unconstitutional laws enacted by the corporate controlled city government and city council that artists, street musicians, performers and Indian artisans are nearly absent from our streets.
Santa Fe claims to be the third largest art market in the U.S., but its city government chills creativity, makes true artists feel unwelcome and supports middle men who feed at the public trough and get much of the funding supposedly intended for artists.
Native New Mexican visitors come up on the train from Albuquerque and report they feel shunned and unwelcome at overpriced galleries where gallerists treat them like thieves if they are not Anglo and well-dressed.
It is a struggle to nurture creativity in a town which claims it supports the arts, but in reality, uses rules and regulations to stifle any unsanctioned art practice.
Dr. King said "disciplined nonconformists dedicated to peace, justice and brotherhood" were the hope for the future. Same could be said for the arts, which flourish when unconventional creative people are allowed the freedom to make art without boundaries.
Santa Fe has become a caricurature of a place that touts itself as an art center while enforcing arbitrary laws that stifle creativity.
My grandmothers taught me that a free person does not ask permission to be free. Freedom of expression, assembly and movemnt are inherent human rights endowed by the Creator. Governments should protect these rights instead of restricting them with growing bureaucracy and legislation.
Remember that Georgia O'Keeffe, who now has a fortress like museum dedicated to her art, complained often about Santa Fe whose Museum of Fine Arts refused to collect her paintings, and chose instead to live and paint up north in the village of Abuiqui. The more things change, the more they stay the same.
Still, artists will find places to express their creativity despite restrictions. It is just unfortunate that young people and children don't get to see art made in public when artists are forced inside behind closed doors.
__________________
Photos and Text by Charleen Touchette 2009
TouchArt Ltd
No comments:
Post a Comment