The Mother RoadOpen Air-Open Road, Paint Out and ShowCELEBRATING the ICONIC ROUTE 66 INNEW MEXICO AND TEXAS |
AboutThis is a non juried plein air event open to artist members of Plein Air Painters of New Mexico (PAPNM) and the Amarillo Art Institute (AAI) Artists may paint plein air anywhere along the historic route 66 in either Texas or New Mexico during the Paint Out period of the event. Up to two paintings completed during the plein air event will be exhibited at the AAI Gallery from each of the sixty six artists signed up for the event. PAPNM is a 501(c)(6) non-profit organization of artists dedicated to preserving and promoting painting "en plein air" - painting in the open air or outdoors. AAI is a 501(c)(6) non-profit organization located at 3701 Plains Boulevard, Suite 72D, Amarillo, Texas 79102 (806) 354-8802 Show Schedule
ProspectusClick here: ProspectusPaint Outs
Organized Paint Out Schedule Registered Paint Out participants may paint at any time during the paint out period, the team will be organizing several paint outs. Stay tuned for more information. We have 3 scheduled already!
| Paint Out: May 14 to Aug 29Show Dates: Sept 5 - Oct 3AAI Art Institute 3701 Plains Boulevard, Suite 72D Amarillo, Texas 79102 (806) 354-8802 Entry Requirements and Fees
EligibilityEntry Fee $25.66 due at time of sign-up (non-refundable) Open to PAPNM and AAI artist and student members working in two-dimensional media, excluding photography and digital media. Your membership must be current during the entire time of the event To join PAPNM click Join Us. Volunteer
Contact Stephanie West or LaDonna Daniel to help out with the Paint Outs (see TEAMS below for contact information).
Where to paint along the Mother Road Lots of Opportunities to paint and emerge yourself in the lore and history of iconic Route 66 the Paint Out leaders have put together paint out guides for you |
Mother Road Paint Out Happenings No pictures to show Interesting information on Route 66 from the New Mexico True Site
https://www.newmexico.org/route66/route-66-history/
The history of Route 66 in New Mexico is a twisted one — literally.The United States embarked on a plan to connect rapidly urbanizing cities with rural communities across more than half the country. It was 1926, and the post-World War I economy began to rely on motor vehicles to transport crops, goods, and people from the furthest corners of every state into the cities for travel and trade. The project to use roads to link these areas was ambitious — the government endeavored to use as much existing road as possible. Thus, Route 66 was born of a connected system of dirt and gravel roads made passable for car traffic: An adventurous traveler could now start in Chicago and drive all the way to Santa Monica. Inception & the 1920sThe topography of the state of New Mexico challenged the road-building efforts: Unlike the prairie land that brings the road from its inception in Chicago through the Texas panhandle, New Mexico’s variable elevations and preponderance of hard-rock landforms made creating a road work-intensive, as most pre-Great Depression road construction was completed by human and animal muscle. The first version of Route 66 in New Mexico crossed the eastern border at Texas, cut through Tucumcari and Santa Rosa, and then swooped northward to specifically connect Santa Fe to the national highway. The road then dropped the 2,000 feet of elevation from Santa Fe to Albuquerque through a series of ominous switchbacks, where the road traveled through the Duke City and southward to Las Lunas before it U-turned back north to connect back with the clean east-west connection at Laguna Pueblo. Route 66 crossed New Mexico’s western border into Arizona just past Gallup. 1930s & the Depression EraThis S-shaped version of the route was born in 1926, but the U.S. government implemented an intensive national-infrastructure-spending plan in the early 1930s to put Americans to work during the Great Depression. This included ambitious road-paving projects, of which New Mexico was a recipient: By the time New Mexico was made a state in 1912, there were only 28 miles of paved road. To increase efficiencies, the Santa Fe-to-Las Lunas loop was straightened to the linear east-west corridor, cutting off 107 extra miles from New Mexico’s stretch. The original road lasted until 1937 — by 1938, the U.S. government boasted that the Route 66 was universally paved. (This unique circumstance gives Albuquerque an interesting distinction: an intersection where Route 66 — the original route and the new, straightened version — crosses over itself.) 1940s & Post World War IIBy World War II, New Mexico officially played home for a 465-mile stretch of what — in his seminal 1939 book, ‘The Grapes of Wrath’ — John Steinbeck named “The Mother Road.” The name stuck, and Americans had for the first time a well-maintained, reliable road by which the populace could travel and relocate. Portions of the north-south cutoff up to Santa Fe and back are still drivable, though some of the sections through La Bajada north of Albuquerque are no longer passable. As for the original straight-line thoroughfare? Federal highway-building efforts in the 1950s eventually led to U.S. Interstate 40, which makes use of much of Route 66’s original path. Currently, there are 265 miles of the old route still travelable, which gives the motorist a look at some of the original boomtowns made by the traffic from Route 66: Tucumcari, Santa Rosa, Albuquerque, Grants, and Gallup, among others. The traveler can count on the essential hallmarks of Route 66: motels, diners, souvenir stands, and an abundance of neon. Event TeamSelect team member's name to send a message. Visit the Directories' page to see all board members or additional important contacts. Chair of the Event |
New Mexico Lead | Texas Paint Out Lead | Exhibit Lead |
Event Director | Treasurer | Sponsor Director | Communications Director |