Local Artists Reimagine Albuquerque’s Iconic Signs

A new exhibition at Gallery One in City Hall reimagines Albuquerque’s empty signs through designs that reflect community care, culture, and history. New Iconic Signs opens with an artist reception on Thursday, December 19 from 5 to 7 p.m. and will feature vibrant risograph prints by 15 local artists.

With support from the City of Albuquerque’s Public Art Program, Friends of the Orphan Signs (FOS) partnered with the community risograph studio, Risolana, to organize the New Iconic Signs Design Charrette project. A charrette is a collaborative planning process with diverse community representatives who brainstorm new possibilities for transformative community change.

“Friends of the Orphan Signs and Risolana believe Albuquerque has the capacity to experience a new ‘sign renaissance’ with the creation of iconic signs of the 21st century,” said FOS Project Director Lindsey Fromm. “In partnership with the Public Art Program, we held a series of design charrette workshops to generate innovative methods for engaging with Albuquerque’s empty signs, bringing artists and the community together to brainstorm a set of guiding principles for creating New Iconic Signs: road sign designs that can define our time.”

“Albuquerque creatives bring a special perspective to problem-solving and storytelling,” said Mayor Tim Keller. “This exhibition tells our city’s story in a new way, through reimagined signs that reflect our history and culture.”

The exhibition is organized into four sections that encapsulate prominent ideas and values discussed in the charrettes and reflected in the artworks. The prints in New Iconic Signs imagine signs that better reflect our culture, roots, and history; tell new stories; resist generic consumer messaging; and elevate messages of community care, self-care, and resistance. Motivated by ideas from the creative and collective brainstorming experience in the charrette sessions, the risographs on display present each artist’s unique vision of what new iconic signs can be.

Artists include: Aiko Jio; Alayne Ballantine; Blythe Mariano; Carlos Contreras; Celine Gordon; Dusty Deen; Gael Luna; Gus Tafoya; Isabel Tafoya; Joseph Stacey; Kori Wood; Maya Key-Towne; Roberta Begaye; Shawn Smith Newcomm; and Zahra Marwan.

New Iconic Signs will be on view through February 14. The opening reception and exhibition are free and open to the public. Gallery One hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. Gallery One is located on the first floor of City Hall at 1 Civic Plaza NW.