When a socially distanced network of Taos-based abstract artists finally met in real life, they were ready to reform their art community.
TAOS, NM—On a sun-drenched afternoon in June 2022, a group of abstract artists gathered in a backyard in Taos. This was no ordinary meeting; it was the first in-person assembly of the Taos Abstract Artist Collective. As ideas and dreams flowed freely among the artists, the air crackled with excitement and anticipation, heralding a new Taos art movement.
Borne out of the isolation of the COVID-19 pandemic, TAAC has swiftly emerged as a formidable force in Northern New Mexico’s art community. Founded by artists Lauren Dana Smith, Aleya Hoerlein, and Kari Bell, the project began as a digital haven and has since blossomed into a thriving nonprofit organization.
In the early days of the pandemic, TAAC’s founders saw a void in Northern New Mexico’s abstract art community. “We were all wondering where, if any, was an organized group for abstract artists,” Smith recalls. Artists, isolated and cut off from galleries, were yearning for connection. In September 2021, they launched TAAC on Instagram, creating a socially distanced space to showcase artists.
The response was electric. Artists from across the region joined, and as the pandemic waned, TAAC rapidly expanded from virtual talks to exhibitions and workshops. By 2023, it had become a nonprofit organization with a mission to build an inclusive platform where abstract artists could flourish.
From TAAC’s conception, a central element of fostering inclusivity has been about breaking the previous century’s paradigms of what a group of abstract artists in Taos looks and acts like. Abstract artists led the Taos-based Transcendental Painting Group of the 1930s and ’40s, and the Taos Moderns of the ’40s through the ’60s. Both groups resembled the European avant-garde, in their intellectual insularity and overwhelming whiteness.
For me, as a Black artist in Northern New Mexico, there seemed to be a lack of representation. […] There seems to be a lot of talking for us instead of asking us the damn question.
This precedent of Taos’s established art community was clear to TAAC board member and vice chair bianca goyette. She writes, “For me, as a Black artist in Northern New Mexico, there seemed to be a lack of representation. A divide between minorities and a thought that we don’t want to be involved in certain organizations or activities.”
Goyette continues, “There seems to be a lot of talking for us instead of asking us the damn question. A fear that you’ll say the wrong thing, maybe. I joined the board of TAAC to try to help bridge that gap. […] There’s a lot of talk of artist groups from the middle or beginning of the last century. And I’m interested in them, sure, but I’m also interested in the people and things that were here before, making art, and designing a lineage that transcends time and place.”
TAAC’s founders, and its founding nonprofit board, are determined to honor deeper legacies of abstract art in the area. Smith writes, “The thriving Taos Pueblo represents a through line of community and creativity that spans more than one thousand years. There is an obvious history of abstraction and symbolism within Indigenous art forms.”
As a group of experimental artists, looking forward has been another top priority for TAAC—in an aesthetic and conceptual sense, and also with the goal of enacting social and political change. Smith expresses the group’s awareness and concern about the “gate-kept” framework of the contemporary art world. She writes, “We want to actively shift that narrative for artists in Taos, throughout Northern New Mexico, and beyond. In that way, TAAC was conceptualized as an inclusive platform, so that we as artists can identify ourselves and so that we have the flexibility as an organization to engage meaningfully across diverse contexts.”
Underlying TAAC’s transformative mission is an elaborate organizational infrastructure. As a 501(c)(3) organization, it relies on grants, donations, and exhibition fees. Board members Smith, goyette, and Lynette O’Kane (who also serves as the group’s secretary) each dedicate over twenty hours a week, on top of their own artistic work, to manage its activities.
Every dollar TAAC raises is reinvested into programming, ensuring high-quality exhibitions and events. The group’s inaugural exhibition in September 2022 at the Stables Gallery, featuring 62 artists, generated considerable momentum for subsequent shows. Notable exhibitions include Viewpoint: Abstract Minimalism in Taos, New Mexico, Channeling Luchita: A Community Response to the Life and Career of Luchita Hurtado, and the current show On Which It Rests.
On view from July 5 to August 30, 2024, at the Dean Porter Gallery, On Which It Rests was curated by Davison Packard Koenig and Alexandra Terry. The exhibition emphasizes the importance of place in the artistic process, featuring twenty-one abstract works selected from 247 submissions across New Mexico.
These exhibitions have solidified TAAC’s reputation as a rising influence in the art community. Partnerships with the Harwood Museum, the Couse-Sharp Historic Site, and the Millicent Rogers Museum have amplified their impact. Annual group exhibitions have become highly anticipated events, drawing art enthusiasts and collectors from far outside Taos.
Our broader audience extends far beyond the boundaries of Taos and New Mexico. We’ve had folks as far as Alaska and Europe tuning in.
TAAC’s commitment to inclusivity is central to its mission. The collective charges no membership fees, welcoming any self-identifying abstract artist and encouraging volunteer participation. Smith writes, “Today we have exhibited over 200 artists and anticipate by the end of 2024 that number will grow to [almost] 300. Due to our thriving social media presence, our broader audience extends far beyond the boundaries of Taos and New Mexico. We’ve had folks as far as Alaska and Europe tuning into our virtual TAAC Talks series.” TAAC Talks features pre-filmed studio visits and live Q&A sessions with the group’s members.
Despite their success, TAAC faces the typical challenges of a small, volunteer-run organization, including a heavy workload and a need for board members with expansive skill sets. As they expand, the demands on their leadership grow, but the board remains optimistic and dedicated to their vision for an open and thriving art community in Taos.
TAAC plans to broaden its programming, deepen partnerships, and continue fostering meaningful dialogues. “As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, our goal is to expand our operating budget over time through grant awards so that we might be able to develop programming further,” Smith writes. They are actively recruiting new board members, aiming to ensure sustainability and inspire abstract artists and art lovers for years to come.
As TAAC’s founders reflect on their journey from a backyard gathering to a nonprofit powerhouse, they are reminded of the enduring spirit of camaraderie and support that has always defined Taos’s artistic community. The greatest joy, they agree, is in their collective brainstorming sessions, envisioning a future where everyone has a seat at the table. In this shared space of creativity and collaboration, the possibilities are limitless, and the journey has only just begun.
goyette writes, “I’m interested in newer New Mexico artists carving out a space for future generations. […] I’m interested in dialogue within practices, between people, between nature, I’m interested in what we all have to say.”
I Want to Dream With You Forever, 2019, acrylic, pink plexiglass, 32 x 24 x 2 in. Exhibited in TAAC’s Fall Group Exhibition, October 2023, Stables Gallery, Taos Center for the Arts. Courtesy TAAC.
Correction 8/5/24: In an earlier version of this article, bianca goyette was briefly quoted in apparent reference to abstract artists in Taos, as follows, “There seemed to be a lot of talking for us instead of asking us. […] I joined the board to help bridge that gap.” After publication, the Taos Abstract Artist Collective’s leadership reached out with concerns that her quote, which was excerpted from a reflection on her own experience as a Black artist in the Taos art community, had been used out of context. TAAC’s leadership requested additions to the piece to accurately represent goyette’s viewpoint and TAAC’s broader intentions regarding diversity, equity, and inclusion. The article has been updated with a longer version of goyette’s quote, additional quotes from goyette and TAAC cofounder Lauren Dana Smith, and a discussion of abstract art legacies in Taos.
