Our team consists of 3 artists of varying backgrounds and media focus. With nearly a century of combined experience in art, design, education and project work, our team brings passion, knowledge and experience.

 

Jim Keo and Michael Gorman are the primary design artists, using Huberto Maestas as a technical consultant and advisor.

 

Jim Keo has a background in design and architecture. His approach to design relies heavily on his artistic nature as well. While working within the constraints of the project, he aims to incorporate elements that embody a holistic vision of the project, going beyond the functionality of design and into the aesthetic and state-of-the-art.

 

Michael Gorman is bringing this team together. Gorman is a multimedia artist with a background in fine arts and engineering. He is an award winning artist known for storytelling through his sculptures. He successfully balances an approach that is both creative and deliberate when it comes to project constraints.

 

Huberto Maestas is an award winning sculptor with multiple large installation pieces around the world including, New Mexico, Colorado and Vatican City. His primary role is to bring his technical expertise to the project while still having a creative voice.

 

The team has already begun researching ideas for this project. Our goal is to create a single stand alone proposal for either the site and a concept for a dual site project which will engage travellers as they pass through in both directions.

 

We would like for this art piece to be approachable and enjoyable to everyone and as such we would like to include tactile elements for the visually impaired as well as stunning visual lines that compliment the surrounding landscape and architecture.

 

All the team members have a deep connection to New Mexico. Gorman was born in Gallup, NM and spent his youth riding Amtrack’s ‘Southwest Chief’ learning the history of the ‘Mother Road’. His first job was at the Ranch Kitchen, a longtime stop for motorists on route 66. As a Diné (Navajo) tribal member, Route 66, for Gorman, isn’t only a road, it’s a landmark, it’s an artery of commerce and stories: from the American tourists from the east and west to the international visitors coming to live the song or follow a Tony Hillerman novel. It’s a road of mom and pop diners and stores, of Native American artisans and craftspeople, of family memories and a marker of history. But it not only lives in history, it is a road to the future: a connector of not only places, but people.

 

J. Keo is a multi disciplinary artist and practicing architect living in Taos, NM. He is a US Army veteran. He has long been drawn to New Mexico and the southwest and inspired by its beauty and vastness. He has had many architectural projects in Colorado. When asked to join the team, Keo was immediately drawn to the idea and began pulling up the project locations and design requests.

 

Together, the team wants the opportunity to be a part of the legacy of route 66 and to aid in telling its story. Similar to the oral traditions of the Navajo and other tribes of the United States, the stories and histories can be conveyed in a number of ways. In Americana, folk arts and blues, many stories have been carried down through unique media. We, the artist team, can be a part of this on-going story. 

 

Our approach to this project will consist of research of the history of route 66 - mainly finding the story of the “mother road”, how it ties to New Mexico, it’s impact on New Mexico over the past 100 years and its connection to the landscape - As a team, we will formulate concepts that tell this story through a visual art installation with tactile elements and touch friendly materials.

 

The style of the work will aim to be of an aesthetic that fits the architecture and landscape of the location(s). Each artist on the team has a distinct style of their own, and has a background that allows for the incorporation and execution of multiple techniques, creating a style that is appropriate within the constraints