Art Along the Rio Grande-2020

Albuquerque, NM — Friends of the Valle de Oro National Wildlife Refuge and the Hubbell House Alliance invite the public to join in an online event and auction June 20 – July 2, 2020, celebrating the art, nature, and community of the South Valley, in lieu of their usual annual fundraising art fair, Art Along the Rio Grande.

Art Along the Rio Grande was slated for its fourth year this April. The event has quickly become a South Valley spring tradition, bringing together residents of the Valley and from throughout the Albuquerque metro area to stroll the grounds of the historic Gutiérrez Hubbell House and browse and buy art from local vendors in support of two local organizations: Valle de Oro National Wildlife Refuge and Gutiérrez Hubbell House.

The global coronavirus pandemic led first to rescheduling and then cancellation of the April 2020 event, leaving organizers, artists, and community members disappointed. Dave Barber, Friends of Valle de Oro NWF President and planning committee member noted, “Our members and neighbors look forward to getting together, enjoying the beautiful South Valley spring, and supporting two of the places that help our community thrive. In times like this, we need those connections more than ever.” The Friends and Hubbell House Alliance sought a way to maintain community connections in a virtual space. Demetria Gutierrez, a member of the planning committee representing the Hubbell House Alliance said, “We wanted to celebrate the amazing community of artists that has grown out of three years of the Art Along the Rio Grande art fair. Because we can’t be together in person this year, we decided to set aside the week of June 20-27 to highlight the amazing artists who make this event so fabulous.” 

The group opted to host an online event, sharing the work of some of the artists who planned to participate in the event, in tandem with an online auction of selected artwork. Throughout the week of June 20th – 27th, look for artwork, stories, and how you can connect with these local artists. The event can be found at friendsofvalledeoro.org or gutierrezhubbellhouse.org or via The Friends of Valle de Oro NWR and Hubbell House Alliance social media pages.

The organizers are excited about this new way of sharing their love of art and providing a way for the community to support their work. Gutierrez said, “The Art Along the Rio Grande art fair is an important fundraiser for our organizations and helps support our programs and access to wildlife, art, history, recreation, and culture to the South Valley. We’re grateful to the artists who were able to contribute items to help us make up for some of the lost revenue of this annual event.” Barber added, “The pandemic brought many unexpected changes to our lives and work and will surely continue to do so. We are fortunate to work with the support of a community of artists, nature-lovers, storytellers, and all the other beautiful facets of our shared community. Let’s come together virtually to share and build our community from home, until we can be together in person.”