516 ARTS is thrilled to announce the 2025 Fulcrum Fund grantees comprising of seven recipients based in New Mexico! A total of $60,000 has been awarded in varying amounts determined by this year’s jury, supporting the development and presentation of independent, artist-led projects and programs.⁠

Heidi K. Brandow, The Living Chart: Diné Knowledge for a Post-Extractive Future | Santa Fe, NM

The Living Chart: Diné Knowledge for a Post-Extractive Future harnesses the brilliance of Diné (Navajo) traditional knowledge to address the environmental devastation caused by extractive industries. Inspired by the Navajo Dye Chart, this body of work combines ethnobotany and art to create a Phytoremediation Chart—documenting plants that can heal toxic soil while exploring their dye properties.

Herstory Printmaking | Albuquerque, NM

Empowering Women’s Voices: A Printmaking Mapping Project Celebrating Herstories features three public printmaking sessions in Albuquerque, New Mexico and will result in a digital and printed map of displayed prints. Herstory Printmaking uplifts the lives of women through handprinted, street-style portraits and have exhibited and conducted workshops throughout New Mexico.

Erica Lord, The Codes We Carry: Beads as DNA Data | Santa Fe, NM

The Codes We Carry: Beads as DNA Data is a series of large-scale beaded sculptures that incorporate computer-produced genetic data patterns, or DNA/RNA microarrays, from diseases that disproportionately affect Indigenous communities, transforming them into loom-woven beaded burden straps as an act of data sovereignty. Interdisciplinary artist Erica Lord combines culturally relevant Indigenous art forms and beading techniques with genetic analysis raises awareness of the institutionalized health disparities that exist for Native people.

Gael Luna, Lucha Libre Trans Queer Art Espectacular: Uplifting the Lives of Transgender and Queer Athletes | Albuquerque, NM

Lucha Libre Trans Queer Art Espectacular: Uplifting the Lives of Transgender and Queer Athletes is a community-based art project and exhibition that highlights the stories of trans and queer athletes through custom-designed luchador masks and capes. The first set of masks and capes has been created for six athletes from diverse backgrounds and sports based in New Mexico. This project aims to challenge and transform harmful narratives about trans and queer individuals in sports through art, culture, and conversation.

Rica Maestas, Laughing doesn’t need your help | Albuquerque, NM

Laughing doesn’t need your help is a contemporary dance project envisioning an inevitable pull towards joy through looping, floor-based choreography situated in and around the Rio Grande. Inspired by Kaveh Akbar’s acclaimed novel “Martyr!”, where profundity emerges out of seemingly aimless and random intersections of characters, this piece slowly draws performers immersed in individual, repeating movements into a surprising, muddy communion.

Isabella Romero, Mural Jardín de Barelas | Albuquerque, NM

Mural Jardín de Barelas and the Adobe Roots project is rooted in the belief that knowledge—especially cultural knowledge—should be freely accessible to everyone. It seeks to create a community-driven space in Barelas where residents can rediscover and celebrate the rich traditions of adobe-making, arid-land farming, and community medicine. By blending art, education, and sustainability, the Adobe Roots project will honor Barelas’ heritage while fostering a renewed sense of connection and resilience. The project will include a community mural, garden, and adobe-making workshops.

Alexa Wheeler, ToastLab | Albuquerque, NM

Women’s creative labor has historically been dismissed as “domestic crafts,” yet objects like quilts and clothing hold powerful stories of labor, love, and resilience. ToastLab reinterprets these artifacts through artworks and community workshops, exploring women as nurturing and transformative. The project will feature a mobile makerspace, using modern tools to blend traditional and contemporary techniques. Additionally, workshops will invite women to honor their ancestral lineage through art, fostering connection, dialogue, and empowerment.