Tag: True NM
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True NM 2024 Exhibition Artist Showcase
Did you miss the True NM Sawubona exhibit in May, or wish you’d had more time to explore it? Now’s your chance! The 2024 cohort of Black and AAPINH youth artists is gathering again to show their art at Explora, with a showcase from 4:00 to 5:00 pm and works on display from October 12 through 20.
Attendees coming to view the exhibit on the 19th need not pay admission – just need to tell the front desk you are there for the True NM exhibit.
A collaboration between NMAFC and NMBLC, working to combat New Mexico’s tricultural myth. More information HERE.
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2024 True NM Exhibition
The 2024 True New Mexico youth artist cohort – all Black and AAPINH – will exhibit their work at this free exhibition and discuss with attendees, exploring their own True New Mexican identities and narratives through their art.
A collaboration between NMAFC and NMBLC, working to combat New Mexico’s tricultural myth. More information HERE.
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Big Book of Hatch Chile demo and signing
Have you got a freezer full of green chile? Bookworks is here to help! Join in at a cooking demo and book signing for the new cookbook The Big Book of Hatch Chile by Kelley Cleary Coffeen.
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True NM Art Exhibition: Self-Portraits
Celebrate the work of NM’s Asian and Black/African youth artists! This exhibit showcases self-portraits of these artists as they work to explore identity, strengthen community, and address racism through their art.
True New Mexico is an annual anti-racism, youth-centered, arts-based project developed as a collaboration between the New Mexico Asian Family Center (NMAFC) and the New Mexico Black Leadership Council (NMBLC). Each spring, a cohort of Black/African American and/or AAPINH young artists create original self-portraits guided by the prompt “What’s your True New Mexican story?”
FREE family fun, art activities and food! RSVP HERE!
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True New Mexico 2022 Art Exhibit Photo Gallery
Black and AAPINH Youth Explore Transgenerational Trauma at the 2022 True NM Art Exhibit.
The New Mexico Black Leadership Council and the New Mexico Asian Family Center hosted the True NM art show on May 28th, 2022. True NM is an anti-racism art initiative collaboration launched by NMBLC and NMAFC in 2021. The art is the work of youth who self-identify as Black and/or AAPINH heritage. This year’s exhibit, titled “Outside the Shell” is based on a quote by Zora Neale Hurston:
“The present was an egg laid by the past that had the future inside its shell.”
— Zora Neale Hurston
Family, friends, community members, and city press attended the vibrant event at the NMBLC headquarters on a Saturday afternoon. The artists, ranging in age from 13 to 23, were on deck to talk about their art pieces with guests. LeeCooks Church, a Black-owned business out of Taos, made the trip down to cater the event with a delicious and vegan-friendly spread.
The art on installation in “Outside the Shell” displayed a wide variety of mediums. Everything from acrylic, mixed media, sculpture, collage, animation, and video were represented. The inspiration for the art began with the desire to break apart the tri-cultural myth: that New Mexico is an ideal, harmonious blend of Anglo, Hispanic, and Indigenous people. Missing from this picture is the presence of Black/African American and Asian American, Pacific Islander, and Native Hawaiian (AAPINH) communities. The True NM anti-racism initiative asks young artists to explore the question “What’s your True New Mexican story?” Their answers included themes of identity, family, colorism, societal pressure, racist violence, and transgenerational trauma.
Transgenerational trauma (also called intergenerational trauma) is defined as the ways that adversity experienced by our ancestors gets passed down through generations on a physical, behavioral, emotional, psychological, and cellular level. Jurnee Smollett, co-star of HBO’s Lovecraft Country, referred to this as “blood memory.”
True NM artist Prajeeta Dahal, in describing her painting, said that transgenerational trauma affects a person whether they are aware of it or not. Ané Careaga-Coleman, in their video essay, illustrates how the anime series Fruits Basket helped them understand and deal with this phenomenon in their own life. It’s through this deepening awareness that one can begin to examine and interrupt the detrimental effects of the pain from our parents, and their parents, that impact us to this day. Exploration through artistic expression is one of the ways we can begin to transform our lives and create a thriving legacy for future generations.
Check out the photo gallery from the True NM “Outside the Shell” art exhibit event below. Click on a photo to view it full size in a new window.
True NM Artist Floretta Stewart 
True NM Artist Duc Pham 
True NM Artist Prajeeta Dahal 
True NM 2022 Hasti Pannah 
True NM Artist Isa Figueroa 
True NM Artist Kai Warrior 
True NM Artist Asmi Bhandari 
True NM Artist Lumina Tami (Not in Person) 
True NM Artist Lujayn Ghweir (Not in Person) 
True NM Artist Anna Shibuya 
True NM Artist Ané Careaga-Coleman Artists with Their Work at the True New Mexico Event at NMBLC May 28, 2022. Photos credit: Shannon Moreau. Watch coverage of the True NM “Outside the Shell” art exhibit event from KOAT.
The project was made possible by funds received by the AAPI Civic Engagement Fund through an Anti-Racism Response Network Grant and the New Mexico Humanities Council.
Shannon Moreau is the Editor for the NMBLC EQ Blog
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True New Mexico Art Exhibit Showcases Talent of Black and AAPINH Youth
Black and AAPINH youth dismantle the tri-cultural myth with “Outside the Shell” art exhibit.
The New Mexico Black Leadership Council and New Mexico Asian Family Center join forces once again for True New Mexico 2022. The True NM anti-racism youth art project launched in 2021 with an online photo exhibit and a show at the May ArtWalk. This year a new group of Black and AAPINH youth are creating “Outside the Shell.” The title is inspired by writer and cultural anthropologist Zora Neale Hurston.
“The present was an egg laid by the past that had the future inside its shell.”
— Zora Neale HurstonThe vision behind True NM is to deconstruct the tri-cultural myth: that New Mexico is a place where Hispanics, Indigenous, and Anglo people live together in harmony. The problems with this myth is that it ignores ongoing racism and erases the experiences of Asian American Pacific Islander Native Hawaiian (AAPINH) and Black people in New Mexico. The True NM project consists of youth artists from the Black and AAPINH communities. Their artwork answers the prompt, “What’s your True New Mexican story?”
Join us Saturday, May 28th, 2022 for the “Outside the Shell” art exhibit. The show runs from 1:00 to 3:00PM and takes place at the NMBLC office in the heart of the International District of Albuquerque: 1258 Ortiz Dr. SE, Albuquerque, NM 87108.
Ane Careaga-Coleman 
“Fruits Basket” by Ane Careaga-Coleman 
Anna Shibuya 
Barbed wire, clay, beads by Anna Shibuya 
Asmi Bhandari 
Sculpture by Asmi Bhandari 
Duc Pham 
3D Animation by Duc Pham 
Floretta Stewart 
Oil Painting by Floretta Stewart 
Hasti Pannah 
Art by Hasti Pannah 
Isa Figueroa 
Acrylic paint, Posca Marker, Prismacolor by Isa Figueroa 
Kai Warrior 
Art by Kai Warrior 
Lujayn Ghweir 
Art by Lujayn Ghweir 
Lumina Tami 
Art by Lumina Tami 
Prajeeta Dahal 
Art by Prajeeta Dahal The project was made possible by funds received by the AAPI Civic Engagement Fund through an Anti-Racism Response Network Grant and the New Mexico Humanities Council.
“Love isn’t about what we did yesterday; it’s about what we do today and tomorrow and the day after.”
— Grace Lee Boggs -
True New Mexico Artwalk Photo Gallery
Black and AAPI Youth dismantle the tricultural myth at the ABQ Artwalk.
The New Mexico Black Leadership Council and New Mexico Asian Family Center were in force at the First Friday ABQ Artwalk on May 7th. We installed the True New Mexico Photovoice popup in the parking lot of the B Ruppe Drugstore gallery, along with several other artists and artisans sharing this collective space. A bright, sunny day in the wake of the state’s gradual reopening proved the perfect backdrop for bringing the message of these young artists to the greater community.
“In the form of cubism and collage, I create pieces that reflect my Tibetan-American experience and the abundant issues and joys the Asian American Pacific Islander community faces.”
— True NM Artist Sowang Kundeling, She/Her/Hers, AAPI (Tibetan)The collection of self-portraits from young Black & AAPI New Mexicans dismantle the tricultural myth and answer the question “What’s YOUR TRUE NEW MEXICAN story?”
“I photograph my form as if to say,
“I am.”
“I am.”
“I am.”
—True NM Artist Donald Roberts, They/Them/Theirs, JamaicanCheck out our photo gallery from the True NM ABQ Artwalk Popup below.
True New Mexico Popup at ABQArtwalk, May 7, 2021. Photos taken by Shannon Moreau and Shanny Schmidt. Watch the powerful video for the original song “Why Not Me” by True New Mexico Artist Kai Warrior:
To learn more about the artists and view their projects, click here.
