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Take Another Look:
"The Punched Tin/Poet Laureate Project"
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Take Another Look: "The Punched Tin/Poet Laureate Project"
Join us for a conversation with Albuquerque spoken word artist and 2016-2018 Albuquerque Poet Laureate Manuel González, and artist Esteban Ismael Durán (a.k.a. Steven Ismael Harris) as they talk about their public art journeys and their collaboration on the Punched Tin/Poet Laureate project.
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Manuel González, City of Albuquerque Poet Laureate (2016-2018), began his career in poetry slam and has represented Albuquerque four times as a member of the Albuquerque poetry slam team. After working in Albuquerque’s poetry community for 6 years, Manuel began to use slam poetry to help local youth find positive and constructive ways to deal with life’s pressures. Manuel began teaching workshops on self-expression through poetry in high schools, youth detention centers and also started facilitating art therapy programs to help at-risk and incarcerated youth.
In 2014, Manuel started Low Writing at El Chante, a free bi-monthly writer’s group open to all members of the community. In 2016, Manuel was selected as Albuquerque’s third Poet Laureate and has continued his passion for helping others heal and express themselves through poetry. Manuel has three collections of his poetry published entitled “But my friends call me Burque…,” “Om Boy,” and “Duende de Burque: Albuquerque Musings.”
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Esteban Ismael Durán (a.k.a. Steven Ismael Harris), a self-taught artist, was raised in Albuquerque’s historic Old Town. Since his mother’s family was one of the first 12 families to settle there in 1706, his roots in that traditional community have always been important to him and helped shape his work. He studied with Frank McCulloch, one of New Mexico’s most prolific artists, and studied traditional New Mexican Tinwork with the late Ted Arellanes, a celebrated Tinsmith.
It was in the mid-1990s, that Esteban began to work with some recycled materials as he ventured into combining traditional Tinwork with more contemporary media. His new works build on his unique ability to blend contemporary and traditional media/design and depend on the use of reused, repurposed and recycled materials, always venturing into unknown strategies and processes.
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Learn More About the People, Places, and Projects Discussed in Episode 15 | |
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Esteban studied with Frank McCulloch, one of New Mexico’s most prolific and successful artists. In 1993, he began incorporating traditional New Mexican Tinwork into his paintings. He studied this discipline with the late Ted Arellanes, a celebrated Tinsmith who learned the craft from his family in southern Colorado. While these studies taught him the traditional techniques of New Mexico Tinsmithing, he also discovered a way to combine Tinwork as an element in creating both functional and artistic contemporary works.
Esteban continued his work in Albuquerque during the mid-1990s and expanded the scope of his work to include Public Art for both the City of Albuquerque and Bernalillo County.
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El Poblador (The Settler), Esteban Ismael Durán, 1998, wood and tin media, Visitor and Cultural Center at 6080 Isleta Blvd SW
Large-scale tin work mural that depicts 16th century Spanish settlers in New Mexico, livestock, and crops. The mural is located on the exterior of the County Visitor and Cultural Center.
Learn more about the Bernalillo County Public Art Program.
| Photo courtesy of the Bernalillo County Public Art Program | |
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Mi Jacalito y Mi Comunidad and Ahora y Cuando are ceramic tile mosaic murals along 4th Street in Barelas that are based on the neighborhood's history and vibrant culture.
For this project, Esteban and PAZ mentored local youth to help design and create smaller mosaic murals along the streetscape.
Find more of Esteban's and PAZ's artwork in the City of Albuquerque Public Art Collection.
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Left: Mi Jacalito y Mi Comunidad, Esteban Ismael Durán, 1997, 4th Street and Barelas Streetscape Improvements
Center: Long view of the 4th Street and Barelas Mosaic Murals
Right: Ahora y Cuando, PAZ (Patricio Zamora), 1997, 4th Street and Barelas Streetscape Improvements
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Image of Esteban Ismael Durán's artwork in Gallery One for the Punched Tin and Poet Laureate exhibition.
Shadow Dancer Totem, painted wood; Punched Tin Frame, punched tinwork; and A Prayer For Rain, punched tinwork mounted on fabric and masonite, on a reconditioned wood frame.
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A Prayer For Rain, punched tinwork mounted on fabric and masonite, on a reconditioned wood frame | |
Connect with Esteban on Instagram and check out his work at Exhibit/208 and South Broadway Cultural Center. | |
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Check out NMPBS ¡COLORES! with Manuel González | |
Manuel states: I am a writer, performer, activist, and teacher. First and foremost I use poetry and literacy as a guise to help me get into places to provide a safe place to cry. Through performance poetry I allow myself to demonstrate emotional vulnerability. This in turn allows the audience to open themselves up to authentically express themselves. For some people, this can be a very cathartic experience. I have found that most of us carry trauma with us. Some of that trauma started before we were even born. This ancestral trauma needs to be exposed to the light and healed. This is the purpose of my work. | |
Check out Manuel's website and connect with him on X. Visit El Chante: Casa de Cultura to check out Manuel's bi-montly writer's group. | |
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Albuquerque Poet Laureate Program | |
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The Albuquerque Poet Laureate Program (APLP) celebrates poetry by recognizing a resident poet who makes meaningful connections, honors and serves our diverse community, elevates the importance of the art form, and shares poetry with Albuquerque residents.
APLP is coordinated by a five-person Organizing Committee (poets and artists themselves). The Poet Laureate is chosen biannually by a separate seven-person Selection Committee that represents the diversity of the Albuquerque community and the breadth of the poetry community. The APLP Organizing Committee supports the Selection Committee through a careful review of the competitive applications received and a consensus-based decision process to select an Albuquerque Poet Laureate.
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Albuquerque Poets Laureate:
- Hakim Bellamy (2012 - 2014)
- Jessica Helen Lopez (2014 - 2016)
- Manuel González (2016 - 2018)
- Michelle Otero (2018 - 2020)
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- Mary Oishi (2020 - 2022)
- Anna C. Martinez (2022 - 2024)
- Damien Flores (2024 - 2026)
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Punched Tin and Poet Laureate Collaboration | |
Image of the Punched Tin and Poet Laureate exhibition at Gallery One (on view August 15 - September 20) | |
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In 2023, the City of Albuquerque Public Art Program announced an open call for punched tin artists to commission tin frames showcasing the poetry of Albuquerque's Poets Laureate.
Each of the selected tin artists worked collaboratively with a Poet Laureate to integrate the themes of their poems into their unique style of craft work.
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Collaboration between Esteban and Manuel | |
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Punched Tin Artist, Esteban Durán collaborated with 2016-2018 Albuquerque Poet Laureate, Manuel González.
Esteban's frame includes layered imagery and iconography that represents Manuel, his family, his work as a spoken word artist, and the references in his poem "Burque."
Watch Manuel perform part of his poem "Burque."
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All of the punched tin frames are part of the Public Art Collection and will be permanently on display in the Albuquerque Convention Center later this year. Punched Tin Artists include: Justin Gallegos Mayrant, Josh Bond, Esteban Durán, Roberto Gallegos, Richard Gabrield Jr., and Michael Worthen.
The 2025 collaboration will highlight the works of current Poet Laureate Damien Flores and Punched Tin Artist Jerry Monotya.
Learn more about the Punched Tin Frames and Poet Laureate Public Art Project.
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Episode 16 Sneak Peek: Public Art Project Recap | |
Don't miss the next episode where we explore public, light installations and interventions that will be activating Downtown Albuquerque! | | | | |
