Unearthing Futures

Harwood Museum of Art presents Unearthing Futures / Desenterrando Futuros (June 27, 2026–February 28, 2027), an exhibition that explores adobe as a living practice linking art, architecture, and ancestral knowledge across the Americas. Bringing together some of the most significant artists working with earthen architecture and land-based practice today—Gabriel Chaile, rafa esparza, Santino Gonzales, Joanna Keane Lopez, Ronald Rael, and Christine Howard Sandoval—the exhibition examines how earth, water, and fiber, shaped by hand and sustained through communal care, embody both tradition and transformation. The exhibition also features an array of Taos-based artists whose work engages with local traditions of adobe, culture, faith, and community, including: Carole Crews, Deborah Lujan, Daniel Barela, Harry Chavez, Johnny A. Coca, H. Warren Kelly, John Andrew Martinez, Ruby Mondragón, James Valerio, Michael A. Valerio, and Pacomio Valerio. Extending beyond the museum through partnerships with Fort Garland Museum & Cultural Center and historic sites across New Mexico and southern Colorado, Unearthing Futures / Desenterrando Futuros unfolds as a region-wide constellation of projects that trace adobe’s pathways across landscapes and generations, revealing its role in shaping shared histories and possible futures. The exhibition also extends into the landscape through a road trip app developed in collaboration with the computer science department at the University of Colorado Boulder. The interactive map traces adobe sites across New Mexico and southern Colorado—from centuries-old mission churches and community buildings to artist projects and contemporary architecture—and includes images, routes, artist contributions, playlists, and links to programming. Visitors can navigate this map to choose from six curated road trips organized by location and theme, which they can follow while listening to a playlist compiled by the exhibition’s artists.