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Take Another Look:
"The Neon Highway and Friends of the Orphan Signs"
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Join us for the third episode in a three-part series focused on the 100-year celebration of Route 66 in Albuquerque, and on art/public art, history, and culture.
In this episode, host joni palmer is joined by Ellen Babcock and Lindsey Fromm to discuss the work of Friends of the Orphan Signs - a collaborative public art organization of artist-educators that creatively revitalizes abandoned or unused road signs with artwork, with a particular focus along historic Route 66.
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Ellen Babcock is the founder and former Executive Director of Friends of the Orphan Signs. She has exhibited sculpture and installations in numerous New Mexico and California venues, including the New Mexico Museum of Art, in Santa Fe and Southern Exposure, and the Exploratorium and the Arts Commission Gallery In San Francisco. Ellen assisted many internationally renowned artists as a materials researcher with the Art Foundry in Santa Fe, New Mexico from 1985-1999.
She moved to San Francisco in 2000 to pursue an MFA at the California College of the Arts, and while in California, completed artist residencies at Recology and the Fine Arts Museums of San Fransisco. Ellen was awarded the Cadogan Fellowship, the Dennis Leon faculty award, and the Headlands Center for the Arts studio award. She became Assistant Professor of Sculpture at the University of New Mexico in 2009, and in the same year, founded Friends of the Orphan Signs.
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The Zeon Files: Art and Design of Historic Route 66 Signs
Ellen's interest in signs led her to discover a treasure trove of architectural sign drawings sitting in the sun in the Zeon Signs shop yard. She partnered with Mark Childs to write The Zeon Files, published May 2016 by The University of New Mexico Press.
Learn More about The Zeon Files
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Lindsey Fromm is the Executive Director of Friends of the Orphan Signs. She is an artist, arts educator, and organizer in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She teaches studio art at Central New Mexico Community College, and is Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Albuquerque Museum of Art and History. Fromm curated the 2023 FOS Retrospective Exhibition at FUSION. As a member of FOS she is an advisor to the City of Albuquerque Department of Arts & Culture on sign renovation projects including Revamp Route 66 and Route 66 Remixed. Fromm was also an Emerging Fellow for the Academic Advisory Council for Sign Research and Education, 2022-2024.
| | Learn More About the People, Places, and Projects Discussed in Episode 29 | | Since 2010, FOS has worked to preserve relics of past roadside culture, as many orphan signs - signs on empty lots or unused by the current occupants - are deemed unworthy of restoration. | | Friends of the Orphan Signs (FOS) is a collaborative public art organization of artist-educators that creatively revitalizes abandoned or unused road signs with artwork, with a particular focus along historic Route 66 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. FOS facilitates innovative collaborations and educational workshops with local communities with the aim of designing new imagery to install in the signs as public art pieces. FOS works to revitalize the visual landscape of disinvested neighborhoods while centering the voices of its residents. FOS' signs are public, accessible on foot and in car, and are on major thoroughfares through Albuquerque. | |
Revivir
Artists: Ellen Babcock, Bethany Delahunt, Lindsey Fromm and Aline Hunziker with Highland student Hilary Weir, Gabe Thompson and Desiree Marmon
Location: Neon Garden of Route 66 Visitor Center - 12300 Central SW, Albuquerque, NM 87121
Revivir was Friends of the Orphan Signs' first major project in 2012. It was created by students at Highland High School as the very first iteration of The Highland Project. Under the direction of lead artist Ellen Babcock, FOS members worked intensively with Highland High School students from January - June 2011, to develop designs for a sign at 4119 Central Avenue. Forming an after school art club, the FOS team introduced digital graphic design skills, critical thinking exercises and exploratory field trips to the teens as part of a collaborative design development focused on this particular orphan sign.
The project was awarded an Americans for the Arts, 2013 Public Art Year in Review Outstanding Public Project Award. The project was funded by the Albuquerque Public Art Program with support from original property owner Matthew Terry, and expert production by Sign Art Co.
Revivir is part of the Albuquerque Public Art Collection and has been relocated to the Neon Garden at the Route 66 Visitor Center. The artwork will be lit once construction on the Neon Garden is complete.
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New Iconic Signs
Artists: Aiko Jio, Alayne Ballantine, Blythe Mariano, Carlos Contreras, Celine Gordon, Dusty Deen, Gael Luna, Gus Tafoya, Isabel Tafoya, Joseph Stacey, Kori Wood, Maya Key-Towne, Roberta Begaye, Shawn Smith Newcomm, and Zahra Marwan
Location: Second floor of Route 66 Visitor Center - 12300 Central SW, Albuquerque, NM 87121
In 2024, with support from the Albuquerque Public Art Program, FOS partnered with the community risograph studio, Risolana, to organize the New Iconic Signs Design Charette project. A charrette is a collaborative planning process with diverse community representatives who brainstorm new possibilities for transformative community change.
This project included a series of three design charrettes which focused on generating innovative methods for engaging with Albuquerque's empty signs. Over three sessions, 5 artists - along with FOS and Risolana staff - discussed the characteristics and pitfalls of vintage and iconic signage, barriers to creating new signs, past and current function of signage, and future concepts and forms that signs might take.
The project resulted in 15 risograph prints by local artists that are part of the Albuquerque Public Art Collection. Many of these prints can be found on the second floor of the Route 66 Visitor Center.
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The City of Albuquerque's Route 66 Visitor Center opened to the public on April 9!
Operating Hours and Information
Thursday - Saturday, 10am - 4pm
12300 Central SW, Albuquerque, NM 87121
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Events, Exhibitions, and Art Installations at Route 66 Visitor Center
- Experience live music from the New Mexico Hall of Fame Alumni every Saturday, outside in the Amphitheater from April 11 - May 30, 2026. Each of the eight Saturdays will feature uniquely themed local artists.
- Visit the gallery on the first floor, to experience the Centennial Roots Exhibit. A photographic homage to the landscape, culture, community, and traditions that have grown alongside Route 66. Through the contemporary lenses of New Mexico photographers Gabriela E Campos, Jessica Roybal, and Nathaniel Tetsuro Paolinelli, the photographs trace the enduring relationship between movement and place, tradition and transformation. The exhibit is up through October 2026.
- Don't miss the Route 66 Remixed art activations including As the Crow Flies / Rez Truck Revisited, a mural on the east-facing wall of the Route 66 Visitor Center amphitheater by PAZ and Origin Route, an Augmented Reality (AR) Experience by Akilah Martinez (Glittering World Girl). Learn more here.
- Make a pit stop on the second floor to see the New Iconic Signs risograph prints and outside to see Revivir installed in the Neon Garden.
| | Take Another Look - Double Take | | Tune into Take Another Look - Double Take, to learn more about the Route 66 Remixed art activations! | | Nazario Sandoval (Wemfer) | | Left: The Mother Road - East Central Gateway (Jones Surplus Sign)
Right: Keep 66 Rolling Mural - International District (Hubcap Sign) | | Artist Nazario Sandoval (Wemfer), reimagined two vintage signs along Route 66, breathing new life into historic landmarks through contemporary art. These signs are part of the Route 66 Remixed art activations. | | More Information about Route 66 | | | | |
