Artist Towns? (Albuquerque, Las Cruces, Silver City: co-ops, houses, organic)

[moko]

Stormweary, Yes, there are Hot Springs and they are GREAT for aches. Priced anywhere from $3(Old Hot Spring) - $25(on the Rio Grande). Most places offer massage also. A few of the Hot Springs places have rooms available and one in particular has Hot Springs in the rooms and is a B&B right downtown.

Events to consider on your travels during late March-May:

Gallery Hop, 2nd Saturday of each month. 6-9. Galleries and other downtown businesses stay open late. A team of donkeys and a wagon take you around the downtown loop for a small donation. Most galleries try to have something new each month, so you might get lucky for an opening.

Fiesta, May 4-6 town's annual celebration with parade, rodeo, and other festival events.

I'm sure there's more - check out http://www.sierracountyart.org/ and it's links.

We have had a bit more than the normal amount of rain, but in April and May it should be dry and also a little windy.

Other things to know - Some of the businesses downtown choose to be closed on Tuesday or Wednesday, to be open on the weekend and some of the other businesses choose the weekend off.

...

[stormweary]

thanks Moko,
In general, what is the cost of living in t or c? Are apartment/houses available to rent ? Studios? Can one find an old commercial building and live and work in the same place?
Just checked out the web page you posted. Very nice and I am impressed! There looks like a "healthy" list of artists in the county. Encouraging.....

[iriegirl]

Hello all , and thank you for your great comments and ideas! (especially ontheroad and stormweary) I do appreciate reading the posts. My husband and I are going to take a trip to NM to check out the towns you all talked about ,probably in January.
Being from the NEast, I can really understand what you are saying,Ontheroad. I am kind-of afraid that I will miss the 'pace' here and the abundance of art stores and shopping....and the beach and the ocean.
but I think I am ready to try a new place. NJ is just getting too expensive and overcrowded for us Newjerseyans to live in anymore. The sprawl has gotten out of hand, and so are the housing prices, real estate taxes, and car insurance premiums! and the weather......
We went to visit some relatives in San Diego last week and it was sunny! What a change from NJ,....here it rains for 2 days, clears up for 1,and then rains for 3 more.....The weather has just worn me down. The winter sky is mostly grey, and not much sun ever comes out, and then it gets dark at 5:00PM, so you don't have much time outside to do anything. But I know moving to Ca would just be trading one expensive place for another, but it would be sunny at least.
That's a drag, Ontheroad ,that you haven't felt much of the art community there, thats just what I am looking for.
So maybe I will miss the culture of the NE,or the colors of the leaves,or the multitude of art stores, but I can always order on-line, right? The thing I will miss most are my kids, but they are grown, and maybe they will visit me,....yeah,right.

thanks again, iriegirl. :-)

ps)what about moving to Southern Colorado....anyone know about that?or maybe Nevada? Lake Tahoe is beautiful and at least one of my kids loves to snowboard there!

[ontheroad]

Iriegirl - mostly sunny here, come afternoon. I generally haven't had to turn the light switch on until around 6pm (these days) and you sure can order supplies on line As a matter of fact, I just did (Finearts in Rochester, Dakota Brushes in WA) and one of the two has arrived quickly.

Good luck in making a decision and ask as many questions as come to you. It is real different visiting a place and living in that place, that's for sure.

[Crackerjack]

Originally Posted by iriegirl

ps)what about moving to Southern Colorado....anyone know about that?or maybe Nevada? Lake Tahoe is beautiful and at least one of my kids loves to snowboard there!

Iriegirl, I know what you mean about NE weather. I lived in Pittsburgh and I realized the burgh should really be "ice"berg! It is plain cold for a good part of the year and humid in the NE. The southwest is so much better weather wise. About Southern Colorado - I am moving to Durango, Colorado, a nice growing city that is often ranked up in the top ten places to live such as National Geographic and BizJournal, etc. There are other places in Southern Colorado too such as Cortez, more desert and mild in the winter. Pagosa Springs has hot springs, pine trees and up in the hills. Bayfield is a small town with top rated schools. Durango will be more liberal, Cortez more conservative and Pagosa and Bayfield, a mix. You can see more pictures by going over to the Colorado forum and click on Ptitmousseduweb's website and look under Durango and Silverton. It is in French but pictures don't need any interpretation! Silverton is too cold in the winter with lots of snow, so I can't recommend that one unless you like that. Durango, Pagosa, Bayfield and Cortez are milder and have a lot less snow that melts quick on the roads but stays up in the mountains. Durango has a ski resort that is really nice. You can Google Durango or Pagosa for lots of websites, or Bayfield and Cortez too. Hope this helps.

[stormweary]

iriegirl,
you sound like you are describing Florida with the crouds and cost of living.I just read an article in the paper here that says Arizonia, Florida and Nevada are going to be the places thatgrow over the next 50 or so years.
Don't know if you saw the PBS program on art in the 21st C but they interviewed Susan Rothenburg.She is a long time NYC artist who moved to New Mexico. She talks about the difference in her interview. She said that alot of artists from back east go to NM and can't handle the vastness of the landscape and the different pace of life. she said alot of them wind up back east. What you said about an artist community is what i am hoping to find as well. i focused on Santa Fe and New Mexico in part because after L.A. and n.Y.C it is ranked as a major art scene. While Santa Fe is probably too expensive I hope to find somewhere near enough to it or a place that has a strong arts community. That way if I need some "culture" I could go to Santa Fe for a weekend visit or something .
My thoughts are to get out there, live awhile in a place and ,if it doesn't suit me try another one until i find my spot. (which means I'll rent rather than buy initially) there are many options, I think. Crackerjack has me convinced to go to Silver City or Durango and if those don't work out there are other places. I'll probably look at Albq and Las Cruces first since I am used to a more urban setting .
If you go in Jan., PLEASE, write back about your impressions!!

Ontheroad; is it possible for you to move to somewhere else in N.M rather than move back east? ( if that is what you are thinking of doing)

on weather in general; i like the idea of it being cold but sunny. i lived for 2 years upstate N.Y. and I remember cold grey days from Nov. to March.
Weather is another appealing thing about N.M. right now we're having a "heat wave" here in fl. records broken for the highs. Its been in the low 90's. We hope to get relief tomorrow. Not soon enough!!!

[ontheroad]

Stormweary, in June I did do a quick look-see driving down as far as Las Cruces, then over to Ruidoso and into Roswell. I took the road back into Albuquerque as I had friends in Placitas rather than straight up to Santa Fe.

Unfortunately, except for Las Cruces, I found New Mexico unappealing. I also have an art acquaintance who lives in Ruidoso, and he manages really well (a retiree) and gets his art fix by going for a half week or more to Santa Fe during a major event. Ruidoso, like Taos, abounds with tourist shops, but is not in my estimation a town to "live in."

In July, I did a ten day joy ride over to the Zuni and later to the Hopi. Naturally, they were exciting as we landed in time for some magical ceremonies, but the towns surrounding both of these are bleak, commercial, strip malls.

Too accustomed to the populated Northeast, I'm afraid, where each town has a personality, even if the personality doesn't always appeal, and at each stop, and generally below a 50mile ride, I can get coffee, a cafe, a breeze, and a conversation.

While the Atlantic coast towns can get trendy, and filled with tourists, many are just 'umble hamlets that contain a grocery, a pharmacy, an ice cream parlour, etc. Much of the United States is bereft of these charms, and many that contained them are losing out to chains with "Mart" in their name.

For about 20 years I summered and also did weekend winters in the New Milford area of Ct--the town I lived in by the grace of my godparents, was a tiny hamlet in the lower mountain range around the lake. But, we had a market, great restaurant, wine shop, well stocked hardware store, and several novelty type operations. Within a 20 mile radius, into or around New Milford, nothing was impossible to do or buy. But the last time I was in New Milford, about 10 years go, shopkeepers and residents alike were suffering from the abundance of the super-mall, super Mart, and a radical change in the landscape and fabric of the community had emerged.

In a town like Taos, with less than 5,000 residents, not including the county number, we have no grocery, but several large markets, and nearly everyone is reliant on a large Mart for their services. Week after week the smaller shop owners hang out "big sale" signs and then a few months later, they are gone and so is another small piece of the once vibrant, but small town of Taos.

This has become America!

I haven't found that village, or hamlet, or city for that matter, that speaks to me in New Mexico. Sometimes you go to the place, and it sings to you, in high or low octaves. You may not recognize the song, but you hear it repeatedly and persistently. Here I hear silence except when I drive towards the mountain--it is only the mountain that captures my soul.

And what I need to thrive is soul! I am still optimistic I will find it and myself!

[stormweary]

i hear you, ontheroad, loud and clear. if i had the money, I'd move to Paris and before any of you start french bashing, just remember I am an artist and i have French blood flowing in my veins..... ( my mom's side of the family is french have a cousin that did a genealogy search and found some distant relatives outside of Paris!!) its a bit out of my financial range, unfortunately, so I have cast my eye westward. My daughter lives outside of Hartford and I have enjoyed visiting her but again, those cold grey winters ...... wish I had a patron ....
Have you considered the northwest? It is supposed to be generally supportive of the arts esp. Portland and Seattle. I've looked into Portland as my sister lives there but again, cost of living and the weather has me looking elsewhere ( my sister and her family have been there for a long time and actually live just south of Portland. They LOVE it!)
If you were to move back east, where would you go? Find me a cheap place to live near New York and i may have to reconsider i know, what is cheap? I used to know but nowadays its hard to define....
you mentioned the Zuni and Hopi. that is another reason why I am attracted by N.M. Another cultural influence however indirect that may be would be a nice change, i think for my art.
Finally, ontheroad, do you have a web site of your artwork? i have a friend here that keeps telling me that is a way to go marketing wise. I did have one once but when I moved and changed ISPs, i lost the space. i guess that is another thing to add to my list of things to do.....
maybe we should start an artists colony somewhere ......

[stormweary]

ontheroad, so I KNOW what you are referring to!!

[ontheroad]

Here's the rub, for me, places I've loved are either cold, and not too friendly to my health (New England) or have been scaled too high in price. It is likely I will narrow down my choices in the next six months.

I am heading first to Pittsburgh to see my daughter, grand-daughter, and then will drive down to Asheville, NC, through West Virginia, checking out WVa, and seeing a good friend with whom I've arted before she turns tail and heads back to her home territory (the Pacific Northwest). If she finds a house within the next few months, I'll certainly drive up to the area she is searching (near Olympia, I believe).

My daughter is expecting another child, so I am holding off making any international choices, but after the baby is born, I'll head up to the Cape, spend some time with my brother, and check out all the old haunts we loved separately and together.

So, I have several, and perhaps too many places on the radar: back to New England, in or near Pittsburgh to be with family, overseas, or the PNW.

As I am retired, and accountable only to myself, it probably isn't a bad idea, and perhaps a good one, to check out all these places. I have lived in Europe, including Paris , New England, the Apple, here and have traveled rather extensively.

What I've learned is visiting and living is radically different. I visited Holland in the 60s, but living in Amsterdam in the 70s was a totally different experience. However, and this is important for me to understand, in one year's time, I was totally acclimated and in love with the Dutch way of life. It was only my then husband's career that brought me back to the States. But 30-odd years later, as much as I loved Amsterdam, it would be impossible to return. I find that of many places: memories glisten and burn brightly, but reality is more somber

I don't think as much as it has a ring of pleasure that convivium is for me: the community life is not easy; I've done it!

I am here as if on sabbatical, no tools, no scanner, printer, etc., so my website languishes

Take care