Artist Towns? (Las Cruces, Santa Fe, Rio Rancho: construction, tax, to live in)

[ontheroad]

Nice to see ya again, tito.

Yes, unfortunately, the small business is going under everywhere whether it is art supplies or hardware.

I too am now more reliant on shopping on the interest and if I can wait (and patience is not my strong suit) I can order from CheapJoes or DickBlick and keep shipping costs down.

Happy Holidays to you and yours.

Originally Posted by tito

I have seen many art supplies stores closing down in many cities, because they cannot compete in prices with the Internet stores. I have used local stores in some places, to buy emergency stuff, but 99% of my painting supplies come from Internet stores.

[designer]

I guess it depends how you define artist towns. I moved here because I
thought it was pretty artsy but I found out it really depends what you call
artsy. If it is a bunch of people who are amatuer artists I would say it
is great. I have pretty much found that Santa Fe and Taos are pretty much
it for the serious artist with a few in Silver City and Ruidoso and I'm sure
some in Albuquerque but most of the ones I have met have rarely ever sold
any art and most never claim it on their income taxes. Also many of the top
artists in the country have left santa fe because of rising real estate costs.
Check out Denver. Lots of top artists there as well as Scottsdale, AZ. Just
look at all the better art magazines and it doesn't take to long to figure out
where the real artists seem to be living. The american art collector really does
a great job on this issue. If you are just looking for a good place to live where there are plenty of artsy people then NM might be it.

[ontheroad]

Designer, thanks for your post. I think early on when iriegirl posted this question, it was beaten to death, but it is always interesting to see this thread revived and revived again--and read so many different takes on the same subject.

[designer]

Wow, I think you are right "ontheroad". I didn't even bother to see how
many pages of posts there were on this subject. I guess I've learned the
difference between "artsy towns" and towns with very good artists. It's also
somewhat surprising to me how many artists have never taken a formal art
class but it really doesn't matter. One artist friend told me if you really want
to check out a artsy town, you need to research how many artists in the town you are interested in that you would be willing to pay for professional
art instruction. I wish that I would have thought of it that way before
picking my town. Of course the larger the city or town the chances go up.
Oh well that's why there are rental moving trucks. Now I have to go back
and read all the posts but I'm pretty sure I've heard em all before.

[ontheroad]

designer, If you take the time to start from the beginning of thread, please drop back and share your thoughts.

I left New Mexico in March, and took quite a long soul searching trip back East. I ended up not where my heart sings, but where destiny led me.

[iriegirl]

Hi Ontheroad!
Good to hear from you, hope you are faring well in this cold winter. Are you still pleased with your choice of places? How is your artwork coming?
Dancingearth, Still in WA? hope your weather is getting better, but I heard you're getting more storms soon. :-(
We just got back from a trip to Indiana, and Boy, is it out there! Not much along the way from NJ, just a lot of farmlands. But I am starting to think it might be good to be in an isolated place (for me) to start being creative again. There are just too many distractions here for me to get some serious work done.
We are gonna go West soon, maybe February & March, and look at places again. We'll go to Colorado, Arizona, NM, and maybe CA. It will be good to see some sun, and we still wanna get out of here.
It isn't that NJ is bad or anything, it's just become way too expensive to live here,unless you make mega-bucks. (My oldest lives in Jersey City,works in NYC, makes tons of $$$,and is STILL in debt all the time.)

good luck everybody, and Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah, and Happy New Year !!!

[ontheroad]

Hello iriegirl, what a delight to see you and be able to wish you a happy holiday, and hear what you're up too.

And our own Dancingearth might be going back to NM.

The cold winter is a little harder than I thought because of how remote I am from any town or even a village, but I stocked up on food before our latest storm. And I am adjusting slowly. Just managed to unpack all my art supplies, and take a pencil in hand.

Be well, and stay in touch. Let us know how your adventures go in the West come '98,

[Dancingearth]

Yep, still in WA waiting for an answer on a job interview in Santa Fe. Researching places to live in NM and making pots and sculptures while I wait, oh and work a temp job that has grown very very old. Also set up another student job (a fun one--in the theater costume shop) and classes just in case I don't get the job in NM. This quarter no stats--all art and small business.

OTR, I'm ready for your isolation--stay home and work on ceramics or get my xc skis out and see if I remember anything. Was up until 1 am last night and almost got up at 2 am and smush what I had made but woke up this morning with a new idea for the piece. I saw a house share ad that says they'd like someone with a spiritual practice (Santa Fe of course.) Wonder if working clay counts. Certainly a lesson in not getting attached. You can spend many hours creating it and it blows up in the kiln or the glaze is ugly.

Iriegirl - what fun - a road trip - tell us about it.

It is raining again. One road to work during that heavy rain was underwater, fortunately I didn't go that way. I think I'd prefer getting snowed in.

Happy Holidays!

[iriegirl]

Hey all! Happy New Year from the Jersey Shore.

Ontheroad, It IS COLD up here,isn't it? Glad you are adjusting...and get those pencils and paints out. Do you think being 'away from it all' helps you get motivated to do artwork? Sometimes I think that if I were in a more remote place, I might actually get something done.

Dancingearth, Wow, you sound like you are really being productive with your pottery, that's great.
And , good luck with the Santa Fe job thing. I liked it there when we visited, but it was Feb.and it was also COLD. But ,it was sunny too.
The Indiana trip was good. Driving thru the different states, you really notice the changes in them. PA was L-O-N-G to drive thru, and the PA turnpike sucks big time.
Ohio was dreary and pretty run down, at least on Rt70. I did like Indiana better, more green and nicer farms to look at. We will be going back soon , to pick up our RV,and then West I hope. I keep getting the FL bug ,when it gets grey in NJ. So, I'm not sure ,but we might go there to get some heat and sunlight.

Take care you guys, and stay in touch.
Hope we all have a artfully productive 2008!

[MMAllen]

Yet, for all its beauty, New Mexico is so lay-back, I feel as if I am frequently in a third world country (and I've been to many). While we are all proud to say we are a mixed ethnic population (Anglo, Hispanic and Native) -- for the most part the three don't socialize.

??? I always have found a lot of socializing going on between the three groups in New Mexico - in Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Jemez Springs which are the areas I have spent my time in. That has always been one of the beauties of the place, for me.