New Mexico MainStreet, New Mexico Historic Preservation Division and New Mexico Arts invite community builders throughout the state to join a unique, new educational and networking event.
The New Mexico Building Creative Communities Conference fosters collaborative local and state efforts that integrate commercial district revitalization, arts, tourism and preservation. Only through interdisciplinary strategies can our communities dynamically sustain effective initiatives and be resilient in the face of economic challenges.
The inaugural conference is constructed around three interconnected themes.
Build Upon Our History. Can broad-based, public interpretation of local history help citizens articulate the identity of their place, build inclusive community engagement, and ensure that the preservation of buildings and historic landscapes result in stable and harmonious communities? Andrew Hurley believes so. He is the author of Beyond Preservation: Using Public History to Revitalize Inner-Cities. Join him as he launches the conference with a keynote presentation that interprets nation-wide findings for the New Mexican setting.
Build Alliances With Each Other. Arts organizations throughout the nation are broadening their mission from the traditional promoting and selling of art to patrons to an evolved engagement with serving the needs of communities. Keynote speaker Doug Borwick, author of Building Communities, Not Audiences: The Future of the Arts in the U.S., will challenge us to apply the lessons of American arts organizations to multiple community-building fields. How can we better connect our practice with the diverse members of the community? How can our organizations form stronger alliances with formal organizations and grassroots movements?
Build Our Economy and Sustain Our Culture. Can New Mexicans preserve our diverse cultural heritage while also building our economy? If we do not expand economic opportunities, are we in danger of losing our culture? Keynote speakers Levi Romero and Virginia Salazar-Halfmoon will help participants to explore sustainable methods for building both our economy and culture ̶ ways that honor diverse traditions and stay true to community values.
For decades, New Mexico’s MainStreet, arts, preservation and tourism movements have demonstrated that revitalizing places, celebrating culture and arts, and sharing our heritage with the world build local economies and strengthen the state’s economy. How do we most strategically capitalize on our successes? Join our four keynote speakers as they reconvene at the closing plenary. They will lead a synthesizing discussion for all conference participants to tie together themes and set a clear agenda for our collaborative work in the coming years.