Recuerdo and The Midnight Fire: film shorts featuring Santero Nicholas Herrera

A 15th generation New Mexican, santero Nicholas Herrera lives on his family’s 6th generation homestead in a small rural community in northern New Mexico. Christopher Beaver’s Recuerdo: Land, Water and Art (2016,16 minutes running time) captures Herrera’s ongoing remembrance of the artistic traditions of New Mexico as he works his family land and acequia ditches (both in town and in the Potrero valley) in-between his painting and carving sessions in his studio.

The Midnight Fire by Beth Wald (2022, 3.07 minutes running time), shows the results of a significant wildfire that occurred in the Potrero Valley on June 9, 2022, which had a devastating effect on Herrera’s land grant property in that valley. When the area was considered too dangerous for firefighters to enter, Herrera and Wald both entered the property to protect the family’s land.

Q and A with the film makers and the artist after the screenings.