Albuquerque rolls out large public art 'road trip' for Route 66 Centennial

Virtual flamenco dancers overlaying the cityscape, murals both tall and small and narrated place-based poetry are all a part of the city’s “art-fueled” road trip through Albuquerque’s stretch of Route 66 in celebration of the Mother Road’s 100th anniversary.

Next year will mark the road’s centennial, which will be celebrated across the country, from Chicago to Los Angeles.

City officials announced their plan Thursday for the upcoming celebration, though artists have been painting, designing and proofing for months.

The project is called “Route 66 Remixed” and will include 18 public art installations, including murals, signs, augmented reality experiences and a new exterior design for some Albuquerque Rapid Transit buses. By visiting the project’s website, viewers can listen to poetic narration unique to each art piece by former Albuquerque Poet Laureate Hakim Bellamy.

Local artist Dante Betsch, who designed the custom bus wraps and a hand-drawn map, said that the project represents why “everyone who stays here loves it here.”

History and legacy

In 1926, Route 66 reached Albuquerque, bringing interstate travelers and a new age of tourism with it.

But the time of neon signs, glittering lights and motels full of tourists has come and gone, leaving behind boarded-up buildings and visible poverty along some strips of the iconic roadway.

“Even if the route has challenges, it’s a reflection of who we are, because we know we have challenges,” said Mayor Tim Keller at a Thursday news conference. “In fact, we’ve had challenges for a long time. Our literal life story as a city is the life story of resilience.”

Across Albuquerque’s 18-mile-stretch of Route 66, the longest urban portion in the nation, are both upscale hotels, lofts and restaurants, as well as homelessness and open-air drug use.

Though there have been numerous law enforcement operations to reduce crime along East Central, some local business owners have raised questions about whether they’re working and if attention will shift away once the anniversary passes.

Despite the city’s ongoing challenges, the artworks are supposed to represent the city, for better and worse, Keller said.

“It’s the story of Albuquerque in all its rawness, in all its grit and all its beauty and, of course, the most amazing way to tell that is through art,” Keller said.

One mural, Buffalo Return to Route 66, on the side of the Historic El Rey Theater takes the viewer back to a time when buffalo roamed the West prior to American colonization. Artists Thomas Christopher Haag and Jesse Littlebird said that buffalo are a sign of strength and resilience.

‘Once in a lifetime opportunity’

State officials hope the project and coinciding anniversary will bring more tourists, and their wallets, back to the iconic road.

“The allure of Route 66, the allure of the great American road trip, is a driver we see for international travel,” said Acting Tourism Secretary Lancing Adams. “And we really see that the Route 66 centennial…does afford us a once in a lifetime opportunity to engage not just with domestic but with international travelers.”

Though the project hopes to attract and engage tourists, it’s also meant to be familiar and authentic for local residents.

To reflect this, the city’s Arts and Culture Department partnered with 19 local artists from all mediums and walks of life.

“I love these artists,” said Arts and Culture Director Shelle Sanchez. “It’s a great representation of Albuquerque.”

The city also worked with Meow Wolf, Refract Studios, the New Mexico Tourism Department, University of New Mexico, Presbyterian Hospital, Blake’s Lotaburger and other local businesses along Central to bring the project to life.

The self-guided art tour is expected to be mostly finished by Dec. 1 and fully complete by the beginning of January, Sanchez said.

More than a dozen of the installations are already finished and a list of all 18, and their accompanying narrations, can be found at route66remixed.com/tour.