Artist Towns? (Las Cruces, Santa Fe, Los Alamos: homes, find a job, buyers)

[Wisteria]

http://www.cooltownstudios.com/

Okay, sorry about that -- I couldn't get back into that link, either. Here is where I got onto that link to begin with -- the Cool Town Studios page. They update this everyday, and I noticed the section about artist towns is the second article there now.

The link from CoolTownStudios.com for the artist towns is:

http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/...226_149427.htm

Hope these get you there. However, if you're into artist communities, anyway, then you won't be surprised by most of them.

[tito]

Thank you, I did check Mesilla during my visit to Las Cruces and it's an interesting place to go on weekends for a nice New Mexican lunch and to look at the galleries, the winery and the suvenirs shops. I intend to participate in art fairs, for the fun of it and because I don't want to get involved in a full blown painting business. I usually do commission portraits and I made the mistake of accepteing too many of them, particularly because I have a full time job and only a limited time to paint. I'm still quite busy trying to finish them before I move.

[designer]

I live in NM and I find the artsy thing sometimes overstated. There are many
artsy people here but not as many really good artists as I expected. I think
Santa Fe, Taos and Ruidoso are pretty much it for the real artsy places but
I'm sure others that live here would disagree. I always seem to be going to
Denver, Tucson and Scottsdale to take painting workshops. I have taken
some in the Taos and Santa Fe areas but have not been impressed. Also
whoever mentioned that NM does not have many good art stores is correct
and I find it strange that for such a art mecca that this state is lacking in
that department. Also Madrid is more expensive than T or C. T or C is considered a artsy town by many but not a good place to sell art. Also I find
only a handful of good artists in T or C as well as many other towns in NM.
Good art schools are also not in NM. The art students league in Denver is
good but not much in good art training here in NM. Also Albuquerque does not
stike me as a artsy town but it is a high crime town. Possibly I missed something there.

[tito]

Originally Posted by designer

I live in NM and I find the artsy thing sometimes overstated. There are many
artsy people here but not as many really good artists as I expected. I think
Santa Fe, Taos and Ruidoso are pretty much it for the real artsy places but
I'm sure others that live here would disagree. I always seem to be going to
Denver, Tucson and Scottsdale to take painting workshops. I have taken
some in the Taos and Santa Fe areas but have not been impressed. Also
whoever mentioned that NM does not have many good art stores is correct
and I find it strange that for such a art mecca that this state is lacking in
that department. Also Madrid is more expensive than T or C. T or C is considered a artsy town by many but not a good place to sell art. Also I find
only a handful of good artists in T or C as well as many other towns in NM.
Good art schools are also not in NM. The art students league in Denver is
good but not much in good art training here in NM. Also Albuquerque does not
stike me as a artsy town but it is a high crime town. Possibly I missed something there.

I agree that NM has been over rated as an "artist mecca", there are many artists, yes but not all are top rated. I personally know two that are above average, Tony Ryder of Santa Fe and David Leffel, formerly of Las Cruces.
Like many other places that used to be famous for something, they aren't any longer as famous as they used to be. Remember when Milwaukee used to be famous for beer? , when Chicago used to be famous for steak? and Seville, Spain for oranges? I agree that in the old past NM used to attract some of the best painters in the US and from abroad (Fechin). At this time some of the best U.S. art, can be found in New York City, Philadelphia, Scottdale, San Francisco and Seattle, just to mention five cities. Santa Fe's galleries show mostly art of out of state artists and even from foreign countries like Spain, France, Italy and Russia. I guess that in the old days before artificial day light was invented, NM could market its light in the same way China marketed Silk and porcelain before other countries caught up.

[4wainwrights]

silver city was ranked by a book on art communities as in the top 100 for the country. i love it. howver, it is small and out of the way. i don't know about your hubbies job prospects. a VERY artsy town now. transpformed by huge influx of artists.
madrid is VERYT small (one restaurant, one coffee shop, a strip of galleries), but close to Santa fe and ABQ. it's quaint, but i wouldn't live there. and boy are houses expensive!!!!
i am a antive new mexican that beleives myself to be intimately familiar with new mexico as a whole. i say with complete confidence that madrid, santa fe, taos, and silver city are the ONLY artsy small towns that you might be looking for.
good luck
amy

[designer]

I agree with Tito that if your art is good you can sell anywhere as long as there are either tourists or a local population with a moderate to high disposable income. That can be a big problem in many parts of NM. This is a
very poor state but some towns have a large number of tourists in the summer. That would be mostly Santa Fe and Taos with Ruidoso following.
I don't think Las Cruces will ever become a Santa Fe or Taos. It reminds me
more of a real small Phoenix with all the popular chain stores. It really doesn't
have much of a downtown but it is growing and some people there have money so you would think that art sales would be high. I know two gallery owners there and I don't think they are experiencing the level of sales they
had hoped for. I was recently told that one gallery owner had returned to
California because his sales was in the gutter. Socorro is interesting but not
much of a art town. It seems depressing to me with the exception of the local engineering college. There are some really bright people there which
is very lacking in many towns in NM. Socorro also has a great coffee shop
which now displays local art so things could start to happen there. I don't
think that houses are as reasonable as in T or C. T or C is the cheapest place to buy a house of most of NM. T or C also gets hot in the summer but
not quite as bad as LC. If you are looking for small and cheap T or C might
be it but for many it is a little boring and with gas going back up this could
be a issue.

[tito]

Nowdays, artist have a great competition from prints, photography, movies, TV. etc., therefore they have a hard time making a living out of painting alone. Even the ones with great names have to teach to earn additional income. In the old days painters were the photographers of the day and they were called every time there was a special occasion, that people wanted to record for posterity, so they had a pretty good business. Things began to go down after photography was invented in the middle of the 19th Century.

[moko]

T or C is definately a cheaper place to live. The cost of housing has gone up a little in a couple of years. Unfortunately, T or C isn't a great place to sell art, but it is a great place to live and make art (at least for me it is). T or C is not for everyone. You either love or you hate it. It does get a hot in the summer, but there is a lake to help with that. And if you go during the week, no one is there. One more good thing about T or C is the hot springs. It's really cheap to soak (as low as $5). The winter and fall seem to be the "busy" season, but with the snow fall this winter, people seem to travel less. As for boredom, we FINALLY GOT A MOVIE THEATER. It's an old historic one, but shows current movies for only $5.

[le7m2d6]

T or C has dozens of art galleries and several very famous artist and writers living in town. Although it is a crime ridden town it does have an awfully lot of nice art to see and one internationally famous artist lives here as well as a well known screenwriter and artist. And the scenery in Sierra County is the best New Mexico has to offer if you like to paint lakes, mountains, deserts, forests, waterfalls, old buildings or nature as the county has it all.

[iriegirl]

Wow, there are a lot of replies that i have just read, thanks everyone!
I was away for a month travelling in Florida, and looking at artsy towns there too. I like Fl because it is easy for me to get to, and its nice weather in the winter when it's freezing here in NJ.
let's see....

1) designer,
I don't know about Tor C ,but I think it might be too small for me, I'm used to having alot of resources here including museums and colleges. I mean, I know I complain about the congestion etc..in nj, but we have over 20 movie theaters to choose from, tons of restaurants, bookstores, foodstores, et al.(I'm 1hr from nyc)
I'm not sure how I'd fare in a small town, I don't really cook much either, since my kids are grown.
2) I do not agree with Tito that if your art is good you can sell anywhere as long as there are either tourists or a local population with a moderate to high disposable income. You can be a great artist but if you don't have a viable place to get your work out there, no one will ever know.
3) I think it's a real shame that NM is such a poor state, why doesn't the government promote it more? THere is not much business there, and I don't see NM recruiting business like other states do. That's one reason the economy is bad. Even if I do want to live there, I think there is no work for my husband. It just seems like it is not keeping up with other states like Fl or Ca or Az to attract tourists and new families to move there. (except maybe Las Cruces or Ruidoso.) And without that you are totally dependent on tourists.
4) 4wainwrights, thanks for the good info...except for silver city, I don't think I can afford the other towns, but it's good to know from a native what is what.
5) ontheroad, hope you are well and prospering in the NE!
6) tcburns, thanks for the info on the homebased businesses. They really frown on it in NJ, and I think it would be good for artists to be able to do this.

so.thanks all. I wish I could say I'm still interested in moving to NM, but I think I might have to have a reality check, and still keep looking for an artsy and affordable town where I can sell my work. I did LOVE the light. No where else have I ever seen light like that. Imho, there are many artists living there,I guess they are able to afford towns like Taos and Santa Fe.