Shifting towards a Sustainable, Cultural Economy

Grants is a community that has gone through its boom and bust cycles and now, like other Western communities, is thinking about how it will sustain its economy for current and future generations.  Creating a sustainable economy involves developing new models of thinking about economic, cultural, and political paradigms. Furthermore, sustainable communities are more driven by human capital and depend on the entrepreneurial spirit to survive. 

Grants is starting to build a foundation of entrepreneurs, especially cultural entrepreneurs, who will be great catalysts to preserve and promote our cultures.  Local cultural entrepreneurs like Ava Peets and Robert Gallegos, leaders with the Cibola County Arts Council and mentioned in my previous posts, are just a few examples of individuals building cultural organizations that contribute to the entrepreneurial economy while creating a vibrant cultural community.

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Ava Peets, artist and cultural entrepreneur from Grants, New Mexico

Ava Peets, a lifelong artist, became a professional artist in Grants, New Mexico.  Ava reflected on her joy of living in New Mexico: “It is such good fortune to live in this wonderful state–with all the beauty, cultures, and history, which serve as constant inspiration for innumerable subjects to paint.”

 

Ava was encouraged to become an artist at an early age by her parents.  She began drawing and cutting silhouettes at six years old.  Later, upon entering Southwest Missouri State University, she studied fine art and commercial art.  Her plans to become a commercial artist were changed when she married and had children, but she still continued to take various art lessons.  She stated, “The desire to pursue my artist interests has never left me.”

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