Art in the Heart brings life to Farmington’s historic downtown corridor with its rotating sculpture program. Learn where you can see the artworks. By Sadie Smith. This story is sponsored by Boon’s Family Thai BBQ and The Big Idea Makerspace at San Juan College.
Learn More
Art in the Heart Sculptures – http://farmingtonnm.gov/sculptures
City of Farmington – https://www.fmtn.org/
Boon’s Family Thai BBQ – https://www.restaurantji.com/nm/farmington/boons-family-thai-bbq-/
The Big Idea Makerspace at San Juan College – https://www.sanjuancollege.edu/thebigidea/
Transcript
Art in the Heart has turned Farmington’s historic Downtown Corridor into a sculpture garden. You’re watching the Local News Network, brought to you by Boon’s Family Thai Barbecue and The Big Idea Makerspace at San Juan College. I’m Sadie Smith. Art in the Heart turns downtown Farmington into an outdoor art gallery with locally created sculptures that are rotated every few months to provide an exhibition venue for Four Corners artists.
We added this project in 2023 to enhance the Downtown Corridor and bring more people downtown.
Each year, Art in the Heart calls for Four Corners area artists to submit proposals for the juried exhibition.
So we put out the call to the four states of the Four Corners Region, which is New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, and Arizona. You know, we limited it to those four states because we feel like there’s such a strong artistic community in those areas, and we wanted to, you know, be able to bring regional art into our local downtown and let people experience it.
Sculptures such as “The Little Cowboy” and the “Free Range Longhorn” reflect historic downtown Farmington’s Southwestern charm.
Well, I think it helps to soften the built environment. It gives people something of interest. It encourages the pedestrian, the walkability of downtown, and I think it adds interest to, you know, hopefully people take a little longer, maybe walk another block or two to see what’s down there, and you know, notice a couple of businesses along the way.
All displays are for sale. Last year, the City of Farmington purchased four of the 11 sculptures for continued display downtown.
You know, we’re hoping this program grows over the years, and that over time we start to see more and more art that’s been purchased locally and can be enjoyed by the community.
Art In the Heart will install the next rotation of sculptures in April. Details on the artists and sculpture prices can be found on the Art in the Heart website. For more information about this and other stories, visit Farmington Local News. Thank you for watching this edition of the Local News Network. I’m Sadie Smith.
