At Wild Hearts Gallery, Marchโs featured exhibition invites visitors to slow down and take in the view. Have a Seat by Colleen Z. Gregoire will be on display March 3 through March 29. The collection of oil paintings explores New Mexico landscapes through an unexpected but familiar focal point: chairs. Gregoire explains that the idea grew […]
+Arts & Culture
Rio Rancho’s weekend lineup: Races, art, laughs and live music
The City of Vision is going green this weekend as the 21st annual NM Shamrock Shuffle takes center stage, highlighting a packed schedule of community races, cultural exhibits, and family-friendly activities. From athletic pursuits at Loma Colorado Park to local author talks at the public library, here is a preview of whatโs happening in Rio […]
Sandoval County’s first-ever Pride celebration coming to Rio Rancho this June
A question posed in these pages last May โ “Where’s the Pride in Sandoval County?” โ is about to have an answer. Rio Rancho will host its first-ever Pride celebration on June 6, the result of a grassroots effort that came together after our sister paper, the Sandoval Signpost, reported that New Mexico’s third-largest county […]
Beyond the boys’ club: Female and LGBTQ welders rewrite the rules of metal art
By Michael Hodock Karen Yank grew up in Wisconsin in โa conservative kind of community.โ Her father was a sculptor, and she says he just really didn’t see gender when it came to art. It was evident to Yank that her father would just work with the best people, so gender didn’t matter. โI just […]
St. Patrickโs Day in the Duke City
Back in the old county, March 17 was an officially recognized โfeast dayโ in the Catholic calendar โ meaning Lenten restrictions on fasting and alcohol consumption were lifted for the day. Other than some parades and the occasional church service, eating and drinking was and is pretty much the entire point of the holiday. So, […]
Road-tripping Photographer Offers Snapshops of Route 66
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 roadโs 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 […]
Photographer Nathaniel Paolinelli Captures the Humans Behind the Hydraulics in Seventh & Central: Lowriders
On Sundays in Albuquerque, engines idle low along Central Avenue. Families gather along the sidewalks as candy-painted Chevys glide past murals and storefronts. At Seventh Street and Central, a photographer found not only striking images, but a community that would reshape how he sees his hometown. For Nathaniel Tetsuro Paolinelli, the project that became Seventh […]
The boss’ daughter becomes the boss at High Noon in Old Town
For Carla Villa, running High Noon Restaurant & Saloon is more than managing a well-known Old Town restaurant. It means carrying forward a family legacy while leading one of Albuquerqueโs long-standing local businesses as a woman in the industry. About this series March marks Women’s History Month, a time dedicated to recognizing the achievements and […]
Boba Catch: Rio Ranchoโs quirky new entertainment hub
By Noah Gollin, The Paper. — Boba Catch, the new entertainment center in Rio Rancho, feels almost too surreal to exist. It is a claw arcade and boba tea shop fitted with a Korean ramen bar, ice cream, and full-body VR simulators. A large, Transformers-esque animatronic robot greets you at the door. It is not […]
Poetry Out Loud Allows Students to Speak Their Truth
High school students from across New Mexico take the stage this weekend to compete in the state finals of the Poetry Out Loud competition, marking the programโs first time being held in Albuquerque. The event takes place Sunday, March 8 at the National Hispanic Cultural Center, where 11 finalists will recite poems they have memorized […]


