The Vanderbilt University Department of Art welcomes to Space 204 an exhibition of compelling photographs by Jeremiah Ariaz. On display from Thursday, Feb. 21, through Thursday, March 14, Tucumcari documents a once thriving and now uncertain New Mexico community. An opening reception will be held Thursday, Feb. 21, from 4 to 6 pm.
The Tucumcari project, four years in the making, seeks to explore a community and way of life influx. Ariaz first visited the vibrant New Mexico small town of Tucumcari by happenstance in 2006, its centennial. He and his camera were at once drawn to the historic buildings and “the way their brilliant colors shone in the western sun light.” Some time later, another trip down that same stretch of highway brought him back to Tucumcari and he was startled by the changes he saw – changes due to both the national economic downturn and local struggles. Ariaz has worked to tell the tale of “an American place caught between a vanishing past and an uncertain future.” Click image for more information about the exhibition.