Artist Towns? (Las Cruces: debt, job, health)

[Devin Bent]

Originally Posted by Lovehound

I'm looking to move to a place without the cancerous growth of Los Angeles, hoping that Santa Fe will be reasonably sane for the next 25 years.

Santa Fe City and County are limiting growth. No one seems to quite say that is what we are doing, but anyone wants to build and the City or County says -- "Show us your water."

Contrast that to say Rio Rancho where the stated goal is to grow faster than anybody else.

[Pintada Kid]

The East Mountain little towns all over the East Mountains are scattered with artists and the mountains and ski areas are close by. Two small towns that have lots of Artist come to mind its Mountainair and Madrid. and both are not far from Albuqueque and Santa Fe. Lots of Friendly people and activities in the Summer and Fall and affordable housing. pintada kid at webtv.net

[dracul]

I refuse to do the rest home/warehouse-of-the-nearly-dead-gig. I'll die on my feet and not in some decrepit nursing home if the gods will allow it. Give me a broadsword...or an AK-47...and toss my nearly expired corpse to the hungry bears or wolves or sharks or whatever. Just allow me the dignity to die with some self respect...not drooling in my tepid soup while I mess my Depends. NOPE; taint gonna do that number!!!!

[ieldan]

Madrid had been pretty hippy, funky/freaky since the ghost town was reestablished but now is becoming a little more "civilized", it has a number of interesting shops and galleries many of which belong to the new wave of Madrid immigrants. It is between Albuquerque and Santa Fe and would be somewhat of a commute to either place, much more conducive to the artist lifestyle. NM is still a pretty sparsely populated state which makes it wonderful, we have a new light rail between Belen and Santa Fe which makes living anywhere in the vicinity possible. I have thought of moving elsewhere a few times but I can't imagine where, the summers are warm but not hot like in Arizona, winters are cold and snowy but not like...Winnipeg?? the sun shines nearly every day and the sky is deep blue, any place in the entire state is worthy of a day trip, we have mountains, deserts, farmland and dramatic skies, anywhere outside of Albuquerque you can see endless stars.
Since your husband is a truck driver you it seems like you can live pretty much anywhere in NM, I have an adobe house for sale in the Rio Grande valley south of Albuquerque, if you are interested in seeing it I will post the MLS #.

[dracul]

"Bad art is more tragically beautiful than good art because it chronicles human failure."

"Man is what his dreams are." Benjamin Mays

Art is everywhere and anywhere and ultimately resides in the heart and soul.

[MegButler]

Placitas is pretty artsy and seems to be becoming a mini Santa Fe, not far from the interstate either. We've got a lot of ceramic artists in the Tome/Los Lunas area, too.

[Jara]

I'd like to know if there are any needle felting artists and what areas they settle in? In some art fairs around Florida are not considering needle felting an art form. A good friend of mine was really disappointed and neither of us could believe it until we read the letter.We are both needle felting artists and I do gourd carving. Do any areas of New Mexico raise sheep for roving? My youngest son lives in Hobbs NM and in time would love to visit him. Are there any artists towns around Hobbs?

[nina723]

Taos is considered by many to be the birthplace of Southwest art, though Santa Fe has recently surpassed Taos in terms of art galleries and art sales.

Real estate prices in Taos have come down considerably since the mortgage crisis. A recent article in the Taos News about the Taos real estate market quoted Page Sullivan of Page Sullivan Real Estate Group, who said that according to her records, the Taos market has gone through 443 price drops so far this year. She said prices have dropped about 20 percent since 2007. Coming from a market that until 2005 has gone nowhere but up, Sullivan said, "It's a great time to buy."

I'm sure prices in Santa Fe have come down, too, though since both communities are resort towns, housing prices haven't come down as much as they have in a lot of other cities. I'm an amateur photographer living on a 6.5 acre property just north of Taos in a small community called San Cristobal. It's tough to beat the unique culture and beauty of the area if you're an artist!

[Dancingearth]

Originally Posted by nina723

Taos is considered by many to be the birthplace of Southwest art, though Santa Fe has recently surpassed Taos in terms of art galleries and art sales.

Real estate prices in Taos have come down considerably since the mortgage crisis. A recent article in the Taos News about the Taos real estate market quoted Page Sullivan of Page Sullivan Real Estate Group, who said that according to her records, the Taos market has gone through 443 price drops so far this year. She said prices have dropped about 20 percent since 2007. Coming from a market that until 2005 has gone nowhere but up, Sullivan said, "It's a great time to buy."

I'm sure prices in Santa Fe have come down, too, though since both communities are resort towns, housing prices haven't come down as much as they have in a lot of other cities. I'm an amateur photographer living on a 6.5 acre property just north of Taos in a small community called San Cristobal. It's tough to beat the unique culture and beauty of the area if you're an artist!

Hi Nina, I finally drove the high road to Taos last month, went to the pueblo corn dance and on to Hopewell Lake across 64. Wow. Beautiful country. If you're not an artist when you move to New Mexico it is difficult to believe you won't be inclined eventually to give creating a try.

[catman]

Originally Posted by dracul

I refuse to do the rest home/warehouse-of-the-nearly-dead-gig. I'll die on my feet and not in some decrepit nursing home if the gods will allow it. Give me a broadsword...or an AK-47...and toss my nearly expired corpse to the hungry bears or wolves or sharks or whatever. Just allow me the dignity to die with some self respect...not drooling in my tepid soup while I mess my Depends. NOPE; taint gonna do that number!!!!

I could hardly agree more. I am a professional musician who plays in senior centers a lot, along with the occasional rest home. Nuh-UH! I'll off myself before I let that happen to me.