As Route 66 approaches its 100th anniversary, documentary photographer Craig Kilgore is bringing a new body of work to New Mexico that reflects on the road’s past and present. His traveling exhibition, Before 100: Route 66 Now, will stop in Albuquerque and Tucumcari this March as part of a five-city tour highlighting communities along the historic highway.
The exhibition draws from photographs Kilgore captured during a 28 day journey along Route 66 in March 2024. Traveling from Chicago to Los Angeles and back, Kilgore documented towns, streetscapes, signage and roadside details that reveal how communities along the route have changed over time.
“The work towards sharing all this really became more of a priority because of the importance that I think Route 66 has in the American mythology of it, the mythos and the example of how Route 66 is an example of American resilience,” says Kilgore.
That idea of resilience became a central theme throughout his travels. Many towns along Route 66 were bypassed when interstate highways were built, forcing communities to adapt and reimagine their local economies.
“For me, personally, the idea of how a community survives after rerouting was what I was really interested in witnessing,” says Kilgore. “The people themselves and what they make of their own communities, despite no longer potentially having a direct connection to Route 66 part of their community, was one of the points that I was really interested in seeing.”
The exhibition also highlights the diversity of landscapes and communities along the route. Kilgore explains that the New Mexico stretch of Route 66 offered a particularly striking contrast.
“It’s a diverse part of our country,” says Kilgore. “You have towns like Albuquerque that have very diverse economies that still have a tie to that heritage of the road, and then you have the Native American communities that are in New Mexico and the vast distances that are between communities.”
Kilgore explains that those wide open landscapes often leave a strong impression on visitors traveling the historic highway. “You are left with these areas of desert that for a lot of Americans seems almost like another world,” says Kilgore. “The diversity of the landscape of New Mexico makes it exciting.”
Visitors to the exhibition will see framed photographs as well as photo zines, small self published books that present a sequence of images from the trip. For Kilgore, the format offers a different way to experience the work and understand the journey.
“For zines you are allowed to show a series, so you’re kind of forced to experience a progression of photographs as the artist intended,” says Kilgore.
Ultimately, Kilgore hopes viewers leave the exhibition with a broader understanding of Route 66 and the deeper history connected to it.
“I hope they get a different appreciation for the Route 66 heritage,” says Kilgore. “There’s many other aspects of Route 66 that, history-wise, are very important to our national identity that should be part of the dialog.”
Before 100: Route 66 Now will appear in Albuquerque on March 14 from 1 to 7 p.m. at Marble Brewery. The exhibition will also be installed March 27 and 28 from 4 to 6 p.m. at the Apache Motel Lobby Gallery in Tucumcari. Both exhibitions are free and open to the public.
Before 100: Route 66 Now
Saturday, March 14
1 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Marble Brewery
111 Marble Ave NW
Free.
Friday, March 27 & Saturday, March 28
4 p.m. to 6 p.m.
The Lobby Gallery at the Apache Motel
1106 E. Route 66 Blvd, Tucumcari
Free.