Lauren Tresp, Southwest Contemporary publisher and editor, looks back at 2022, a year of growth, engagement, and relationship-building.
Another year has gone by, and it is always hard to believe! But, unlike some years when time feels like a quick blip, this year felt long. Long in a good way—full of progress, growth, relationship-building, and the fullness of experience.
→ This year, we published 332 stories by 55 writers.
→ We reached more than 280,000 readers online and in print.
→ We helped the growth of 86 arts organizations and businesses across the region through our marketing and advertising services.
Those are just some of the quantifiable numbers we can apply to our work. But we also had so many memories and moments of engagement that cannot be captured in stats; let me give you a roundup of some of our highlights:
FEBRUARY
The Southwest Contemporary team went to Salt Lake City! We presented Critical Commons in partnership with the Utah Museum of Contemporary Art and celebrated the release of Southwest Contemporary Vol. 5: Collectivity + Collaboration. We also traveled around the area seeing museum and gallery spaces and meeting members of the Utah art community.
APRIL
Behind the scenes, Southwest Contemporary was accepted to the New Mexico Local News Fund 2022 Accelerator program.
MAY
We published the third annual New Mexico Field Guide and celebrated the fourth annual 12 New Mexico Artists to Know Now with an exhibition and launch party at Pie Projects in Santa Fe.
JULY
We manned a fair booth featuring work by some of the 2022 12 New Mexico Artists to Know Now at Art Santa Fe!
AUGUST
We released Southwest Contemporary Vol. 6: Rooted: Poetics of Place, and SWC was a recipient of the Google News Initiative and LION Publishers Sustainability Audit and Funding program.
SEPTEMBER
Southwest Contemporary was accepted into a Google News Initiative and LION Publishers Startups Lab coaching and funding program.
OCTOBER
In October, we tried out a new event format: a virtual release featuring artists and writers from Vol. 6. It was an inspiring, salon-style evening, and we’ll definitely be doing it again!
NOVEMBER
The third iteration of Art Steady, our professional development workshop series for artists, was complemented by a new, fun, and fast-paced arts speed networking event in Santa Fe. And our six workshops were led by industry experts on topics including Instagram marketing, copyright law for artists, career documentation, how to forge relationships with galleries, and more.
DECEMBER
We ended the year with a splash (followed by a well-deserved holiday break!). For our second iteration of Critical Commons, the SWC team traveled to Denver to present a panel discussion on art criticism in partnership with RedLine Contemporary Art Center, then spent the weekend doing studio visits with Denver-based artists and meeting with colleagues at local galleries and museums.
2023
And now, we look forward to engaging new ideas and new perspectives throughout the year ahead. There are so many important stories about the arts and culture being made throughout the region to tell, and we are honored to do this work.
Wishing you the very best new year!
Lauren + the Southwest Contemporary team
