The University of New Mexico-Taos is pleased to present Howl: The Voice of UNM-Taos 2021 Art & Literary Journal! This year, we created an unprecedented digital catalogue featuring 54 artists, filmmakers, and writers as well as faculty profiles, two large-scale collaborative projects, and campus community highlights that spread over 166 pages. 

​

With the endorsement and support from the UNM-Taos Department of Academic Affairs, the decision to create a digital book rather than a hardcopy was made in an effort to have greater outreach to the people. Unrestricted by a print budget, this web-based platform opened up the curatorial process to be highly inclusive of our diverse community in Taos and beyond, including showcasing media not suitable for print, such as video, and provide a space for all creatives to share their work regardless of age or level of training. Unique to this edition of Howl are a number of works by students who attend UNM’s many campuses across New Mexico. Mandatory quarantine and an influx in online courses allowed students to take classes at UNM-Taos, thus weaving them into the Taos community, even from across the state.

​

During the extraordinary times of living in a global pandemic and in an age of social distancing, the driving mission of this publication was to use the power of the creative arts to bring us together. In Howl 2021 you will find engaging stories and poems, sophisticated artworks, accomplished class projects, highly polished films, and thoughtful interviews by students, alumni, staff, faculty, and professional artists. The UNM-Taos campus also participated across curricula, including work from the Culinary Arts, Math, Science, and a series of ‘power’ drawings from our Kids Campus. The media is as vast as the voices of Taos with work in writing, photography, painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, digital media, animation, and film. The artists, filmmakers, and writers included in this publication explore a variety of themes in their work including the foundations of art, character development, fictional narrative, community engagement, personal identity, decolonizing history, the great landscape of New Mexico, and the impact of COVID-19.

​

In Taos, art doesn’t stop. The community here is resilient and tenacious, even in the face of adversity. As you explore Howl 2021, be amazed. This tremendous collection of work emphasizes the depth of creative energy that is imbued in the magic of Taos.

       - Sarah Stolar, Chair of the Department of Fine Arts & Digital Media