Apply to True NM

This project is an annual anti-racism, youth-centered, arts-based project developed as a collaboration between the New Mexico Asian Family Center (NMAFC) and the New Mexico Black Leadership Council (NMBLC). Each spring, a cohort of young Black/African American and/or Asian American, Pacific Islander, and Native Hawaiian (AAPINH) artists come together to build cross-racial solidarity, invest in communal healing, and work to dismantle the state’s tricultural myth. The youth work over the course of three months to create self-portraits and presentations guided by the prompt, “What’s your True New Mexican story?” Each young artist receives a stipend for supplies and their time to complete the project. They also gather on a regular basis to build community, support each other’s projects and progress, and participate in guest artist workshops over the course of three months. What is the tricultural myth? The tricultural myth is a widely accepted misconception about the racial makeup of New Mexico that implies that Indigenous, Latina/o/x, and white people live here in a harmonious, interracial community. Not only does it ignore the current and historic racism and disenfranchisement that Indigenous and Latina/o/x communities experience systemically, but it also inherently removes Black/African American and/or AAPINH peoples from the narrative entirely. Here in New Mexico, this myth runs deep. Through this project, we hope to create and build conversations dismantling this myth.