The ALMA Summer Institute, formerly the Mayor’s Art Institute, was created in 1999 to provide paid training and mentorship for artistically talented youth and adults. Apprentices work with the Lead Artists to create handmade tile mosaics, helping with every aspect of creating a public artwork. They assist with design, carve tiles from wet clay, glaze tiles, fire a kiln, cement tiles to the wall, and grout the finished artwork. The designs are conceptualized, researched, and drawn collaboratively to create rich, multi-layered representations of our place, our culture, and our history.
Over 300 young people and adults from Albuquerque have participated in the Institute. Apprentices have gone on to universities, colleges, and art schools around the country, and some have become professional artists. Lead Artists have included Vanessa Alvarado, Rey Gaitan, Daisy Kates, PAZ, Margarita Paz-Pedro, Cassandra Reid, Lia Rosen, and Mark Woody. The Institute has created mosaics at the Albuquerque Convention Center, the Albuquerque Museum, and Juan Tabo Public Library.
Current funding partners include: New Mexico Youth Conservation Corps, the City of Albuquerque Public Art Program, the Heart Gallery of New Mexico Foundation, the McCune Foundation, Albuquerque Community Foundation, US Fish & Wildlife Service, New Mexico Arts, and Friends of Valle de Oro National Wildlife Refuge. The institute was administered by the City of Albuquerque from 1999-2005, enjoying the support of three different mayoral administrations, later partnered with the Harwood Art Center from 2006-2015, and is now administered by ALMA, founded as an independent nonprofit organization in 2015.
ALMA supports and nurtures artists of all ages in creating artworks of exceptional quality while building entrepreneurial skills. Our paid mosaic arts apprenticeship model develops leaders through a diverse and inclusive program.
1224 Mountain Rd. NW