Mayor Keller and the Department of Arts and Culture Present ListenABQ

June 3, 2021

ListenABQ and the City of Albuquerque's Department of Arts & Culture open a series of creative installations this Friday, June 4 during the Downtown First Friday Artwalk. ListenABQ invites the community to visit and interact with their creative installations that include a temporary photography installation on light poles, audio-scapes accessed through QR codes, and original zines. Events run through July 2.

ListenABQ is a cohort of young Albuquerque-based artists responding to an invitation by Mayor Tim Keller to develop a creative response to the events and challenges of 2020 – with a particular focus on June 2020 in Albuquerque. The young artists began with questions to the community and listened to community responses as the primary inspiration which led them to focus on how our community has celebrated, grieved, and sought a higher sense of awareness.

ListenABQ artists will be present at their zine library outside at the Rosenwald building on the southeast corner 4th & Central on the following days:

● June 4 - First Friday Downtown ArtWalk (5 to 8 p.m.)
● June 12 - Second Saturday (9 a.m. to noon)
● June 12 - Downtown Growers Market (9 a.m. to noon)
● June-19 - Downtown Growers Market (9 a.m. to noon)
● June 26 - Downtown Growers Market (9 a.m. to noon)
● July 2 - First Friday Downtown ArtWalk (5 to 8 p.m.)

"We wanted to provide a collaborative outlet for young people to express the challenges that they and others experienced last year,” said Mayor Tim Keller. “We hope the community will come together to pause, listen and reflect as they take in these unique installations.”

Project leaders include Diana Delgado, Arts & Culture community outreach coordinator, Dante Betsch (2020 graduate of University of Michigan) and Huitzil Bennett Perez (junior at the University of New Mexico). Listen ABQ youth artists are Paloma Lee-Mock (2021 graduate Amy Biehl High School), Trey Porter (student at CNM), Anne Lechuga-Kanapilly (junior at Amy Biehl High School), Jaden Adeyemi (2021 graduate of Highland High), and Kai Warrior (2020 graduate of Rio Rancho High School). The artist team was supported through stipends from the City of Albuquerque, Department of Arts & Culture, and various internal and external partners, including Explora, ABQ BioPark Botanic Gardens, Block by Block, and ABQ Public Art.

“ListenABQ is a great way to reflect on this past year, and a way to actively have a conversation with the community. This project portrays how we all felt throughout 2020 and how we were able to get out of it together," Lechuga-Kanapilly said.

“ListenABQ has allowed me to use my platform as an artist to elevate the voices of the most marginalized people in my community. It’s relevant to the youth because many of us often don't have safe spaces to express ourselves and speak our truth,” Adeyemi explained.