ARTERIALIST Residency Program & STREAM Art Lab

INTRODUCTION

Hello, this is Scott Sutton - some of you know me as Pigment Hunter.

I wanted to share my vision for the ARTERIALIST - residency program I'm creating here in Northern New Mexico that will focus on developing spaces for a diversity of arts, natural building, regenerative design, and sustainable farming. The Arterialist program will ultimately will celebrate the intimate relationship between nature and culture through a diversity of life ways to cultivate and create a sense of place.

I am also developing a design for the STREAM mobile art lab that will assist in bringing educational programming rooted in science, technology, recreation, engineering, art, and math on the road to other watersheds. The STREAM art lab will enable community engaged art projects using locally sourced natural resources as well as the tools and equipment in the mobile lab to create place based art and educational programming.

I wanted to provide an introduction to my background and vision for developing an educational space focused on creating a healthy environment to live with a material culture that is rooted in place through the use of local resources. I am an artist and educator whose focus is on environmental and ecological design. My educational background with a Bachelor of Fine Art from Oregon State University and a Master of Landscape Architecture from the University of New Mexico. This education along with my life experiences has helped to provide me with a unique perspective and skill set that weaves together the use of natural materials and ecosystems to inspire the development of a sustainable cultural landscape.

As an artist and educator, I have been teaching pigment hunting for local sources of color and paint-making using natural materials for the past 20 years. I have worked closely with artists and cultural groups to reintegrate the use of traditional materials sourced from local watersheds to create art that embodies a sense of place.

As an ecological designer, I have collaborated with both human and non-human communities in creating habitats for a diversity of species. These projects have included community orchards and gardens known as food forests along with planting native pollinator and wildlife habitats in urban landscapes from golf courses to superfund sites.

As an environmental designer, I have designed a built a hempcrete tiny house on wheels, a hemp wool casita for a place of refuge, an educational apiary pavilion for the honey bees, a high tunnel greenhouse and plant nursery in a historic shipways, and retrofitted a 40 foot shipping container into a library, office, and studio space to work within. My interests are in using design as an opportunity to explore various materials and solve problems based on specific project needs while creating innovative solutions to lessen our impact as a society on the Earth and its resources.

Pigment Hunter : Buck the Cubicle

The following video created by Buck The Cubicle highlights my passion for looking for sources of color in the geological and ecological landscapes of watersheds throughout the Northwest and Southwest for the past 20 years.

LEARN MORE ON THE PIGMENT HUNTER WEBSITE & INSTAGRAM

I'll be launching a new website with more detailed information about the organization and programming of Arterialist soon! Meanwhile, there is information about the artist-in-residence program on the website for Pigment Hunter. I'll also be posting more content on Instagram along with adding more information on the websites and with updates on Go Fund Me. Links to the following sites are below where you can learn more about the artist in the residency program as well as opportunities for future workshops.

Pigment Hunter

Instagram at Pigment Hunter

COMMUNITY ENGAGED FUNDRAISING

I am asking for your help in raising funds to manifest this vision and would greatly appreciate any donation you provide! Any support would be welcomed to bring this vision to reality so that I can create a unique experience for you in person on the land located north of Taos or at a place you call home! I will also be working on some educational opportunities that will be available through a virtual experience for those of you whom I am not able to connect with in person.

Your donation will be used to create the foundation of the Arterialist & Pigment Hunter Artist in Residence programs. I'll be also offering a variety of workshops this summer that will help to develop the space with necessary infrastructure such as setting up a solar power system, drilling a well, installing a greenhouse, and building the foundations for a shop space as well as places for future residents to stay.

Other ways you can help support this project are to sign up for future workshops, purchase artwork, or collaborate on creating a custom mural for your home. If you are interested in creating a workshop focused on pigment hunting, natural building, planting a dye garden, or creating a mural with natural paints, send me an email so we can start a conversation about how to manifest it into reality.

I also can provide a variety of professional design services and mapping that can assist your own personal landscape and architectural projects. My focus has been on mapping watersheds and site-specific landscapes to implement plans for a dye garden, food forest, stormwater management, ecological restoration, and environmental design for a home constructed with natural and local materials.

ARTERIALIST VISION & PROGRAMMING

Arterialist will develop a variety of educational programming focused on hands-on learning experiences that create a sense of place while using local materials for creating art and developing sustainable cultural landscapes. The residency program will also have demonstration projects for visitors to other places and the local community here in Northern New Mexico.

The vision of Arterialist is to provide an educational platform not just for artists but also for a diversity of knowledge holders who can contribute through their wisdom and perspective on how to live in harmony with the land and regenerate an intimate relationship with the places we call home. The program will ultimately be rooted in STREAM (Science, Technology, Recreation, Engineering, Art, Math) based learning that is applied to a diversity of programming focused on the arts as well as environmental and ecological design. The vision is to create a place that will function as an educational center for developing a sustainable cultural landscape focused on natural building, regenerative farming, and restoration of the natural environment.

I'm organizing this fundraising campaign to help support the initial infrastructure development for the land that will become the home of the educational organization Arterialist & Pigment Hunter Artist in Residence program. The vision is also to create an outdoor sculpture park and natural amphitheater that provides space for ecological or environmental art along with farm-to-table dinners and live music events.

The residency programs will focus on creating art and an educational space using local and natural materials for sustainable building and environmentally responsible art that embodies a sense of place! The future facilities will contain equipment that supports all the visual arts, such as drawing, painting, printmaking, ceramics, glass, metal, wood, and stone. Other spaces will be developed to support writers, poets, filmmakers, musicians, and performers to focus on their work while creating a platform for sharing it with others.

YOUR SUPPORT WILL HELP CREATE THE RESIDENCY PROGRAMS

The funding raised through your contributions will be used to develop a variety of necessary infrastructures that will be the foundation for this project. I will ultimately need to invest in power, water, and sewer, which will exit in an off-grid format.

Solar power infrastructure from solar panels, inverters, and batteries will enable this off-grid project to grow to provide essential lighting and power supplies for various equipment.

A well will need to be drilled along with cisterns for storing water to provide a source of drinking water and for other uses in the buildings or to irrigate the gardens.

Alternatives to a traditional septic system such as an anaerobic digestor and composting toilets will be developed to handle waste generated by residents and visitors of events while producing gas to heat water as well as cook with.

Building materials will need to be purchased such as timber from a local sawmill or adobe and hempcrete blocks need to be produced to construct a diversity of structures. There will be plenty of equipment for the art production facilities and studios that will also require a source of funding.

A GIFT THAT GIVES BACK TO THE LAND & COMMUNITY

Your donation will be used to create a space you can also participate in the future by attending a future workshop or as a guest in the residency program! Community events such as live music, theatrical performances, and farm-to-table dinners will also bring people together to celebrate the culture of a place and the incredible landscape upon which it exists.

FUTURE WORKSHOPS

Below is a list of future workshops and educational opportunities that will be available as this project moves along throughout the summer and fall during the building season.

MAPPING THE LOCAL WATERSHED

This map identifies the location of the Molybdenum Mine and its relation to the land within the red circle. The blue outline is the Red River Watershed impacted by mining activities in the Sange De Christon Mountains, along the Red River, and west of Questa, where the tailing ponds exist.

RITO PRIMERO SUBWATERSHED

The map above is of the Rito Primero : Red River-Rio Grande Gorge Subwatershed that originates in the Sangre De Christo Mountains, providing water for the local acequias and wells used to irrigate farms in Cerro. The 40-acre parcel can be seen near the Rio Grand Gorge where the hydrology contributes to the Upper Rio Grande Watershed.

TOPOGRAPHICAL MAP OF THE 40 ACRES & RIO GRANDE GORGE

This topographical map shows the location of the 40-acre parcel in the form of the red square and its proximity to the Rio Grande Gorge. It's about a mile walk from the property to the Rio Grande Gorge where there is access down to the river.

GEOLOGICAL MAP OF THE 40 ACRES & RIO GRANDE GORGE

The following image is the same area as the topographical map but includes the soil formations resulting from the surrounding geological layers. These geological layers help to identify the soil types which also influence where to develop various land uses and infrastructure on the property. I'll be using the disturbed soil from the land to make adobes because of its ideal content of clay and silt.

MAP OF THE 40-ACRE PARCEL

As part of the planning process for the 40 acres of land, I have been working on detailed contour maps to determine the location of various land use on the property. The easement is in the SE corner which is also the highest part of the property. I have been spending time on the land for the past few months to determine where to place buildings for the residency program, the natural amphitheater and sculpture park, as well as agricultural development with the greenhouses.

HYDROLOGICAL MAP OF THE 40 ACRE PROPERTY

This topographic map contains 1 foot contours, but I have also developed more detailed maps with 1 inch contours to see the high and low spots on the property revealing the existing flow of the water. The blue lines and circles represent the hydrological flow on the surface to low areas. The black circle represents the area where I'll be developing the natural amphitheater.

WATER DIVINATION FOR A WELL

Searching for water below the surface can be assisted with the use of topographical maps to study the flow of water on the surface, but also learning how to understand the dynamics of subterranean streams can be experienced with water dousing using copper rods or a forked willow stick. I have been identifying places where the water is more active beneath the soil to determine where to drill for the well, but also where to plant trees and develop the agricultural areas.

CULTURAL LANDSCAPE

Site analysis has begun to identify the historical cultural elements on the property as well as the surrounding landscape. An old irrigation ditch called Cerro Ditch #1 is in the SW corner of the property before it enters into the Rio Grande Del Norte National Monument. There are even petroglyphs carved into the patina on some exposed basalt by the Spanish sheepherders who used to migrate with their flock through Sunshine Valley and the surrounding Taos Volcanic Plateau.

ECOLOGICAL LANDSCAPE

There are a diversity of ecological systems and regions that border the land from the Sangre De Chirsto Mountains down into the Rio Grande Gorge. These photos are of the spring wild flowers that are currently in bloom in the valley that I see on my walks to the rim of the Rio Grande Gorge. I'll be adding more images of the diversity of plants as well as species of birds, animals, insects, and reptiles.

SITE PREPARATION OF THE LAND

The majority of the 40-acre property will be allowed to exist in its natural conditions that are currently a mix of sagebrush and other grasses. Over time I will be clearing sagebrush to add more biodiversity and to restore more of the traditional grasslands along with planting trees. Some work has been done already to create some areas to store materials and begin building infrastructure that is focused in the SE corner of the land.

SHIPPING CONTAINER AT GROUND CERRO

The shipping container has been placed on the cleared land, which is currently the home base for an office, library, kitchen and place of refuge at ground Cerro for the Arterialist & Pigment Hunter AIR. There is much more work to do, but this space will be developed with shade structures and other outdoor workspaces in the upcoming months.

VISTAS FROM THE 40-ACRE PARCEL

These images showcase fantastic views from the 40-acre property or during a short walk to the surrounding landscape, such as the Rio Grande Gorge. The actual property boundaries border the Rio Grande Del Norte National Monument to the west providing endless spaces to explore less than a mile walk to the basalt cliffs formed by the rift of the Rio Grande. There are other incredible hiking trails in the surrounding forests and designated wilderness areas!

The 40-acre parcel has amazing views in each direction of numerous extinct volcanoes of the Taos Plateau Volcanic Field along with the Sangre De Christo Mountains. Views to the north are Ute Mountain and Mt Blanca off in the distance. The views to the west are San Antonio Mountain, Cerro De La Olla, Cerro Chiflo, and the San Juan Mountains in the distance. To the south are the Guadalupe Mountains. To the east is the Sangre De Christo Mountain range.

RIO GRANDE GORGE DEL NORTE NATIONAL MONUMENT

The Rio Grande Gorge is a fifteen minute walk from the parcel. The Rio Grande Del Norte National Monument has trails that run south and north from the Red River to Ute Mountain along the rim and down by the river.

SANGRE DE CHRISTO MOUNTAINS

The Sangre De Christo Mountains are fifteen minute drive to the east where an amazing wilderness exists with miles of trails to explore with peaks that are almost 13,000 feet in elevation.

NATURAL PIGMENTS & PAINTS

DYE GARDEN

FOOD FOREST

POLLINATOR HABITAT

NATURAL BUILDING

MOBILE ART LAB

The mobile art lab has been developed in a 3d model designed to exist within a box truck or a step van but may be built in a shipping container on a trailer that can be taken to different locations. The vision of this concept is to reach a wider audience by creating a mobile lab that can travel to various places offering educational programming to communities within their watershed that connect people to the natural environment through art. The mobile art lab will contain various equipment for processing and making paints, inks, and dyes with minerals and plants collected from local ecosystems. Other equipment will enable art creation through drawing, painting, and printmaking. A CNC router, laser cutter, and 3d printer will also enable participants to explore the possibilities of creating art with modern technology that may otherwise be inaccessible to the community.

THANK YOU!

I greatly appreciate your time and support in learning about my vision for this land and for helping to manifest it into reality. Please come back to this page as I add more content and update the development of the project! If you have any questions feel free to email or call me! I can be reached either through my website or social media.

Sincerely, Scott Sutton