Harvesting Culture 

It’s the 25th anniversary of the official opening of the National Hispanic Cultural Center, and October feels like the perfect season to give thanks to a couple of historical figures with timeless – and timely – legacies, as well as two public figures who have been around since the NHCC’s very first party. Beginning this month, the country’s only venue of its kind will be celebrating worldwide “Latinidad” in all of its forms. But at the center of this year’s honors are two iconic figures whose names let locals and travelers know they’ve reached a world famous intersection: Avenida Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta. And in case you didn’t know, like a Día de Los Muertos marigold growing from decades-old seeds and still thriving in 2025, the NHCC building is planted right at that spot. Current NHCC Executive Director Zack Quintero says his connection to the NHCC goes back to its founding. He studied dance from ages 7 to 13 and performed during a particularly notable event at age 10. 

“I was part of a dance group out of the Mesilla Valley Company in between Las Cruces and the Mesilla area, and my sister got us into Ballet Folklórico. And as you know, the oldest kind of calls the shots in New Mexico families for the most part. So, she brought me in,” he says. “Our dance company got invited to be part of the grand opening of the National Hispanic Cultural Center, and I drove up with my grandmother and my mom, and that was my first introduction to this beautiful campus. A lot of these buildings didn’t exist back then. It’s transformed in so many ways over the last 25 years for the better, and being able to be part of that history now as the executive director, is just a dream come true, and it’s an immense honor.”

Events hosted by the NHCC have been going on all month – and selling out fast – but the official start of the Anniversary Celebration is Oct. 25. Not to worry, the celebration is huge, and there are tons of events to attend throughout the entire city, but there are some special, lesser-known events that you might want to check out. From Oct. 28 until November 1, the NHCC will host limited-run Visual Art Museum collection tours. This is a chance for folks to catch a behind-the-scenes peek at what the art museum staff does. Quintero says that means you’ll get access to the vaults to see some really rare things.

“We rotate our exhibits multiple times throughout the year, but sometimes folks don’t get to see everything, and this is a good chance to see something really exciting in the back area of our visual arts museum,” Quintero says. “We have different forms of art from the Americas to the Iberian Peninsula. But a key piece is this very rare Etch-a-Sketch of Guadalupe that is held still in time. And over time it will eventually change, but for the next 80 years – we’ve projected – it’s going to be holding this image. So, it’s almost like one of those miracle drawings. It’s home to that and a lot of other cool items – different ceremonial masks and different art forms. New collections that we have coming in that we’re considering bringing into our permanent collection.”

During Dia de Familia on November 1 you can catch the NHCC’s Dia de los Muertos-themed celebration – a signature event for the center. There will be community ofrendas displayed throughout the education building of the NHCC, as well as various projects hosted in collaboration with Working Classroom.

“It is almost like an altar, so to speak, in different settings,” Quintero says. “But it’s a special area where you’re able to bring in photos and different memorabilia connected to your loved one that is in the next stage of life, and afterlife, making sure that their memory is respected, honored and living on within yourself and within the shared community.”

Quintero is approaching year three as executive director of the NHCC and says it’s been “everything and more in the best possible way” representing the community and sharing New Mexico’s story with people from around the world.

“This is the only national Hispanic cultural center in the entire United States. And I feel, as New Mexicans, we have an immense feeling of pride in that,” Quintero says. “And at the same point, a strong sense of beauty and responsibility to preserve and advance our shared culture.”

To share aspects of New Mexican culture with an international audience, the NHCC is launching a film initiative called Gente Presente highlighting Latino independent filmmakers in New Mexico and across the United States. Through a partnership with the Cervantes Institute and the Spanish Resource Center, the NHCC will also host Cine Magnifico on Nov. 7 and 8 – a series of film screenings from overseas that you might not be able to view anywhere else stateside. Quintero says if you’re a movie lover, or if you have an interest in international films, this is something you can’t miss.

The NHCC has existed in its current location since 2000, and it’s possible you’ve attended an event at the 1701 Fourth St. building if you’re a fan of art, dance, cinema and especially music. But why did Albuquerque build the only venue of its kind in the United States? Jesus “Chuy” Armando Martínez has been a well-known community figure and a fixture in the city’s arts and culture scene for just over half a century. Not only is he active in planning music events at the NHCC in 2025, he’s been involved with the center since its construction. He also knows Dolores Huerta personally.

“We invite Dolores every year to honor her for the Dolores Huerta Day of Service,” Martinez says. “We’ve been doing that for 32 years now in different parts of the city, but now we have a permanent place at the National Hispanic Cultural Center.”

As one of the co-founders of the Recuerda de Cesar Chavez Committee, which started 35 years ago in Albuquerque, Martinez says he last saw Chavez three weeks before his death in 1993. He began commemorating Chavez’s life along with the Chicano Studies Department at UNM, the pipe fitters union, the electrical union and other community members who wanted to create permanent reminders of Chavez’s legacy.

“He was a union guy, you know?” Martinez says “We were also instrumental in naming Cesar Chavez Boulevard. Then I collaborated with Las Mujeres, a group instrumental in [naming] Avenida Dolores Huerta. I have so many awards you wouldn’t believe it.”

Martinez isn’t exaggerating when he says he’s earned a ton of awards for activism. And he might understandably forget a few if you ask him to name them all, but some of his notable accolades include the Human Rights Unsung Hero Award in 1998, a Bravo Artist of the Year Award in 1999, a Si Se Puede Cesar Chavez Award in 2009, a Community Service Award in 2011, a Lifetime Achievement Award from Hilos Culturales in 2014, an Ohtli Award from the Mexican Government in 2016 and a Corazon de Cultura Award from the Hispanic Heritage Committee in 2019. There are more if you’d like to do some digging.

Martinez shares a similar history with Mexican immigrants who traveled to New Mexico in Cesar Chávez’s day, and with young people who migrate to the states in 2025. He was born in Mexico, but grew up in the United States. Since he’s lived here, he’s put in serious work for the community and still found time to develop serious skills as a musician. Talk to him for a while and not only will you learn something new about Burque, you’ll meet a man who truly loves this city.

“I grew up mainly in the migrant camps, since I was young. I ended up with farm workers’ families, foster homes and things like that. And that’s how I started my activist life with the United Farm Workers Union [UFW] and then other affiliates: The Texas Farm Workers Union,  [organizations] in Ohio, in Wisconsin. I mean, you name it,” Martinez says. “I was mainly a musician that started learning music at the migrant camps, and then I joined a group who used to open up for the activists who would speak at rallies – migrant workers who follow the crops around the country. So at [age] 14, I attended some of the first rallies for the UFW, and at [age] 17, I was already doing fundraising and things like that. And traveling.”

Martinez not only plays music, he was involved in street theater called “teatro rasquache” – skits created to organize and recruit union members – and was an integral part of the Entertainment Committee for the Spanish Market in both Albuquerque and Las Cruces. He was also in charge of hiring the bands who performed in the Old Town area and the Albuquerque museum for decades. Martinez participated in a bilingual television show for 23 years, which featured interviews with activists, educators and artists. He says he didn’t change, necessarily, but eventually “evolved” into more contemporary endeavors such as mariachi music because, frankly, he needed to work. But he never lost sight of Albuquerque’s vision of a “home” for art and music that authentically represented working artists in New Mexico.

“I started working in bars and restaurants and doing private gigs,” he says. “And then, of course, I had to learn a lot of the romantic music from the ’50s – the boleros, the love songs and the drinking songs. So that’s been a trip.”

Martinez says he and community members in Albuquerque wanted to create a venue similar to San Antonio’s Guadalupe Center. A place to host exhibits, concerts and theater productions. They explored different places Downtown – abandoned buildings, old banks, the sawmill market, the rail yards. Martinez says, for years, what we know as the NHCC was called the Chicano Cultural Center. But when the NHCC finally opened its doors at its current home, the city threw an inaugural party with various musical performances and, naturally, tons of dancing. Quintero was one of the young dancers who performed during the opening ceremonies with a Ballet Folklorico group from Las Cruces.

“That’s how the center can evolve throughout the years. I’ve been doing so many things there: exhibits, workshops and just helping in them as much as I can. Now for the 25th anniversary, we have a big surprise, because we were able to connect with most of the Latin American countries who live here: Guatemala, Peru, Colombia, Chile, Bolivia and Brazil.”

Martinez says the NHCC’s Día de Los Muertos events hold a special place in his heart. And as a living reminder of the old days, he still has marigolds in his garden that grew from seeds sowed ages ago. Later this month, he will play music in the NHCC lobby before the presentation of the opera Dolores – about Dolores Huerta, of course – and celebrate Latinidad in all its forms and ages. Don’t tell anyone, but Huerta is 95 years young.

“Because it is a National Hispanic Cultural Center, it encompasses so many [cultures]: Hispanic, Latin American, Chicano, Hispano, Nuevo Mexicano. They’re all the same, but with different names, you know? And then you have subgroups here in New Mexico: the Genízaros – who are half-Spanish, half-Native people – the Comanches [or] Los Comanchitos. Then we have los coyotes, who are half-Anglo, half-Spanish. We have the 19 pueblos, the Afro-Native people, there’s so many. That’s what makes New Mexico such a special, special place. They’re all going to be represented at the 25th Anniversary.”

In many ways, Quintero is coming full circle as well. 

“Having a place where we can have love, trust and celebration of our culture is incredibly important, and being able to know we can count on that here in New Mexico is a point that we’ve taken strong pride in, but also being able to be that [place] for the rest of the United States too, he says. “When they walk through the campus and they see the fresco and they see the stories – whether it’s performing arts or a genealogy workshop – with their shared ancestors, we see the impact that this place has, and we’re not going to lose sight of that. As our state flag of allegiance says: ‘Unity Among United cultures.’ And being able to be a home for that is fantastic.”

For a full list of 25th anniversary events at the National Hispanic Cultural Center, go to nhccnm.org.

Harvesting Culture  is a story from The Paper.. Publishing from New Mexico’s largest city, The Paper is your source for local, independent news, covering politics, arts, culture, and events.