Students Create Theatrical Performance from History Museum’s Archive of Lowrider Culture
Northern New Mexico College Students Perform “12 Switches,” Based on the Lives and Rides of Lowriders, March 11-12
Saturday, March 11, 5 pm • Nick Salazar Theater, Española
Sunday, March 12, 2 pm • New Mexico History Museum Auditorium, Santa Fe
The New Mexico History Museum’s vast archival collection that produced the popular exhibition, Lowriders, Hoppers and Hot Rods: Car Culture of Northern New Mexico, has inspired a student theatrical performance based on the lives and rides of lowriders in our community. Utilizing the museum’s resources, theater students from Northern New Mexico College created “12 Switches,” a theatrical performance speaking to family heritage, car culture and more. Performances are open to the public and will take place at the Nick Salazar Theater in Espanola on Saturday, March 11 from 5:00-6:00pm, with an encore performance at the New Mexico History Museum on Sunday, March 12 from 2:00-3:00pm.
The performances are a collaborative project joining Northern New Mexico College, Santa Fe Performing Arts’ “Play it Forward” program and the New Mexico History Museum. The multi-organizational partnership resulted in a course for teens and college students focusing on material housed at the New Mexico History Museum. Since September 2016, students have been preparing the 45-minute stage performance featuring 12 separate scenes. Bringing local history to the next generation of performers, historians, and museum-goers, the program aimed to inspire students to take pride in their history, demonstrate potential career paths and build their theatrical skills.
“The Lowrider exhibition was highly collaborative and we wanted to extend that approach to our public programs,” said Meredith Davidson, curator of the 19th and 20th Century Southwest Collection at the New Mexico History Museum. “This performance is an exciting way to fold the community into the work we do to promote a better understanding of our regional history.”
Both performances are free and open to the public. For questions, please contact Megan Burns of Santa Fe Performing Arts at 505-982-7992 or by email at sfperformingarts@gmail.com. Reservations will not be available for the performances.
