FLOW!
Artists work on “Rio Chiquito FLOW” temporary mural, June 2023, O’ga P’ogeh, NM
Prior to the 1920s, in O’ga P’ogeh Owingeh, there was a small stream, the Rio Chiquito, that flowed from the “arch bishop’s pond.” This pond flowed down what is now water street and met up with the Rio Santa Fe near the Guadalupe chapel. The springs were held as special in the precolonial world, O’ga P’ogeh is named after their presence. These springs dried up in the american era- after acequia irrigation was deemed antiquated and a dam was built so that O’ga P’ogeh could be run as a common US municipality. To acknowledge this ghost spring and conservation of our waterways, artist Jo Redline and others collaborated to organize the Rio Chiquito Flow! community procession on June 10, 2023.
Photos of the spring then and now https://www.santafewatershed.org/historic-photos/
To help bring awareness to the past, Jo asked if I could be helpful in creating an 18 foot temporary mural that would go on the city street on the route of the procession. To get the creativity going, they sent me samples of art that was done by elementary schoolers after they learned about the story of the Rio Chiquito.
This was a new challenge, I wanted to create something that acknowledged the culture and history of the area, and it needed to be simple enough to replicate quickly, but complex enough to honor the water that once flowed in that very place.
Gridded maquette and practice painting for Flow Mural (6 foot diameter)
The day of the procession, I met up with my helpers at 7am, with the grace of the city, we worked through around 11am. It was a whirlwind of time, but thanks to my helpers and a few volunteers, we completed the entire design. It was really a boost of confidence in my ability to create a design. Though it is not exactly matching the mock up, it was very successful in being do-able in it’s full size (18ft), and also that the design was able to finish in a short amount of time. What a great experiment!
Ugh the bright, graphic look is exactly what I wanted!
Special thanks to Saturn, Yucca, Jo, the Wise Fool helpers, the City of Santa Fe Employees, and Everyone who came out to celebrate our waters <3
More muraling to come as the summer goes on!
Also check out this article about the Mural I apprenticed artist Pola Lopez on, and other projects of myself and Three Sisters Collective in this article by the Santa Fe Reporter: MURAL TOUR!!!111 More on the Shards mural soon <3
besitos,
autumn