2021 Acequia Art & Photo Contest Winners!

We share our big appreciation with everyone who entered the 2021 Acequia Art & Photo Contest!

Please join us in sharing and celebrating the winning submissions:

Youth Art

First Prize: Jeremy Rodriguez and Jeremiah Martinez of Peñasco

Second Prize: Katelynn Sanchez of Peñasco

Third Prize tie: Feliciana Mitchell of Vadito

Third Prize tie: Simona Santistevan, Canon de Taos, Acequia Madre Sur de Rio Don Fernando in Taos, “Flores y Arbol”

Youth Photo

First Prize – Simona Santistevan, Acequia Madre del Sur, Taos

Second Prize -Isabela Gonzales of Peñasco

Youth Essay

We celebrate Alyson Archuleta of Taos, who shared a beautiful essay!

“Grandpa Adonais is 90 years old and Grandma Alice is 80 years old. They still plant their vegetable garden just to pass their culture and traditions to their grandchildren. Southside Acequia runs on the side of their property. 

They taught me how many seeds to drop into the hole and to step on the ground over the seeds. We planted purple havas, sweet peas, carrots, lettuce, garlic, onion, corn, strawberry popcorn and different pumpkins. Later on the week the Acequia is open and water gets into the garden through rat holes and the ground gets wet. The rows that we planted were out about two weeks later. Many other plants were out and I thought they were weeds.

My grandpa says that grandma thinks she is a curandera, a person who collects herbs and uses them as medicine….When we get home after school grandma or moomsy as we call her blesses us with a bunch of sage tied together and smoke flows over us. It smells funny but good.”

Click here to read her full essay!

Adult Art

First Prize – Ariana Montez of La Puebla

“The artwork is supposed to be of the acequia on my grandfather’s home in La Puebla. I painted it shortly after he passed away in April and thought of the happy times I spent there playing in the Acequia with my grandparents and cousins. It represents the reflections made on his life when he passed. My grandfather Arsenio was an exceptionally kind man and taught us the importance of caring for the environment and animals.”

Second Prize – Emilio Arellano of La Acequia Madre and the Acequia de Abajo in San Cristobal, “A Glimmer of Hope”

“Emilio is a 23 year old on the spectrum.  He is a very quiet  person but loves the water landscapes all over NM. Emilio is from San Cristobal, NM and spends time outdoors taking photos of the waters near his home.  The acequia that runs through here is La Acequia Madre and the Acequia de Abajo.  We live in Taos County.   We look forward to the spring time to paint new scenes of the beautiful colors and planting our small garden.”

Third Prize – Lee Lee and Thatcher Gray of Los Lovatos Acequia in Taos

“The painting was done by myself, Lee Lee in collaboration with my son, Thatcher Gray…it is a portrait of my father and son cleaning the Los Lovatos ditch in Taos. I painted the figures using watercolor over textures we made together from materials pulled from our garden that flourished from acequia waters (stains from red beets, cabbage, tea and soil).”

Adult Photo

First Prize – Helen Perraglio of the Ojo Caliente Ditch in Ojo Caliente “Corn Flowers”

Second Prize – Miguel Santistevan of Acequia Madre del Sur in Taos, “Regando Ajo”

Third Prize – Yasmeen Najmi of Lane Lateral in Albuquerque, “Agua y Tierra Together Forever” (digitally altered image)