Suazo’s “Taos County History Carved in Stone” and Egri’s “Flight of the Wind”

The Preservation of the “Forgotten People”

When history is made and/or acknowledged, it’s a rare thing. Most of the participants in the event are not conscious of the story, a story that begins long ago in geologic and Paleolithic time. Through bumps and burps, a people emerges, the indigenous ones who hunt, gather, and grow crops alongside the mountains or on the streams that flow down from the mountains and feed the modest fishery of the Rio Grande. Others arrive as acequia builders or farmers as well as the ones who record history and interpret it whether as painted images on canvas, or in photographs, and, occasionally carved in stone.

Then in a climactic moment the real history, the history of the human race or the people of the valley in this case, recognized and represented becomes part of reality. The history of La Gente here in greater Taos is less about battles and dates but more about social movements and the small things, the challenges of deriving a living from the commonplace, the things you can reach, the resources available in the forest, alongside the acequias, the gardens, the livestock in the vega, the hands-on work it takes to survive. For the hometown merchant it’s a scanty life dependent on the aforementioned or the occasional traveler or visitor passing by. Isolated, with few cash resources, the artist arrives, gambles on the portrayal of the human spirit or the litterateur, fascinated but impractical, captures some of the sense and sensibility of the times for the record and hopes somebody else is interested.

As I understand it, 2014 marks the 80th anniversary of the Town of Taos as a political entity. It was established in 1934 by civic-minded citizens in response to a fire that burned down the courthouse and much of the Plaza businesses. The founders recognized that they needed a fire department. Among other alphabet programs, the Franklin Roosevelt/New Deal administrators created the Public Works of Art Project (PWAP) aimed at employing artists and preserving the social history of communities across the country. The Historic County Courthouse, including the historic frescoes, was produced, thanks to the federal government’s Works Progress (Projects) Administration and PWAP. (There’s a show hanging in the hallways of New Deal Art at the Historic County Courthouse now, thanks to TCA’s Paul Figueroa.)

During the last year or so, Taos County has begun displaying Tri-Cultural WPA images from photographers et al, thanks to the Farm Security Administration (FSA) and a variety of famed photo shooters at the county commission chambers (Lee, Rusinow, Collier, Rothstein). Then during Fall Arts at the Mural Room next to the Frescoes in the Historic WPA Courthouse, the County, thanks to a grant from the Healy Foundation, displayed more historic photos capturing everyday life in Taos during the late thirties and early forties. Subsequently the photographs have been permanently installed at the new County Complex. More will be printed and displayed both at the Complex and community/senior centers throughout the County. The County has submitted a grant application to a second foundation in an attempt to fund the  purchase of more photos.

The County wants to preserve the documentation of the landscape, architecture, artifacts, school children, acequia, farming, cooking, and other activities at the villages, neighborhoods, Taos, Taos Plaza, Taos Pueblo, and Picuris Pueblo. During the New Deal era, the Hispanic culture constituted about 90% of the population yet Dr. George Sanchez has characterized the majority of local residents as The Forgotten People, in his 1940 book. Further, Dr. Sylvia Rodriguez In Art, Tourism, and Race Relations in Taos, notes that for Taos Artists “Hispanos were never [a] popular subject.” Dr. Suzanne Forrest in The Preservation of the Village writes that the New Deal “helped to preserve the physical existence of many Hispanic villages in northern New Mexico.” While celebrating all three cultures, the County aims to correct the gap in public images and aims to honor the “Forgotten People” or transform them into the Remembered People, who still constitute 55% of county residents today.

Yesterday, November 18, 2014, the County Commissioners made history.

They stepped up to the plate not once but twice in their pursuit of public art that acknowledges the history of the tri-cultural community. Commissioners voted unanimously to commission a $55,000 three-dimensional sculpture, called (tentatively) “Taos County history carved in stone” by Taos Pueblo sculptor, John Suazo. Suazo, the winner of the request for proposals,  will install his sculpture  in the central courtyard area of the Complex. The unique contribution by a Native artist somehow ties the communities together and embodies the spirit of history and reconciliation further exemplified by the historic narrative Suazo will present.

Furthermore, thanks to a donation from the Ted Egri estate, commissioners recommended accepting at a future meeting, Egri’s “Flight of the Wind.” This magnificent metallic abstract sculpture soars. It’s some 30 plus feet long, 20 plus feet wide and more than 8 feet high. The piece will be set in one of the parking lot ovals, adjacent to the entrance of the Complex. Ted himself was an unselfish multicultural member of the community in spirit and action, who contributed much to the education of school children and adults.

“Flight” may be the best piece of sculpture Ted did. Whereas Suazo’s stone sculpture freezes history in a moment of carved stone, Egri’s abstract piece will frame Taos Mountain and allude to the energy and spirit of the land swirling and riding the updrafts in this semi-arid high desert valley.

The County Commissioners, several years ago, set aside part of the construction costs of the new Complex, for art. This money for the Suazo piece and expenses associated with moving the Egri piece will come out of their own budget, not the state Art in Public Places fund. After Commissioner/Mayor Barrone quipped about not wanting to be seen as “burros,” Commissioner Joe Mike “Mr. Sand & Gravel” Duran laughed and made the motion to accept the Art and Artifacts Committee’s recommendation of the John Suazo sculpture. Commissioners Tom Blankenhorn and Larry Sanchez joined in and also voted to accept the piece. (Commissioner Gabe Romero was absent.) Certainly, Commissioner Barrone has been a longtime pusher of the arts at the County.

He volunteered yesterday to help move the Egri piece.

Historic sociologist George Sanchez, who wrote about the county politics of roads and hiring relatives during the early part of the 20th Century, would be shocked at the engagement with history and modernity by local pols today. Ted Egri would be pleased as punch and John Suazo said he is very happy. We should all congratulate the commissioners for contributing to the preservation of the people’s record.