As I continue to venture around New Mexico taking in the sights, food and culture, I head southwest of Grants down the Ancient Way Arts Trail towards the El Morro Valley.  Along the way I pass the El Malpais National Monument and the Ice Caves, go up and over the continental divide, and arrive in El Morro.  Once here, I find the brightly painted Old School Gallery and a feed store on one side of the road and the Inscription Rock Trading and Coffee Co., the Ancient Way Café and a campground on the other side.   And practically in their backyard is the El Morro National Monument.

This is an area with truly extraordinary geographic and cultural significance.  El Malpais National Monument displays a landscape of lava flows, mountain ranges, and mesas, while providing much evidence of American Indian history.  Today, Indian groups including the Puebloan peoples of Acoma, Laguna, and Zuni, and Ramah Navajo, make their homes here and continue their traditional uses.  And, its neighboring National Monument, El Morro, is home to many ancient carvings and writings alongside sandstone cliffs.

My visit was filled with meeting practically the entire community and lots of food!  I had the opportunity to talk to Paula Tripodi, the executive director of the Old School Gallery, Maqui, the chef and general manager at the Ancient Way Café, Jonathan and Pam Pickens, owners of the Inscription Rock Trading and Coffee Co, and many more who were interested in learning about what I was doing.

This is a community that is using cultural entrepreneurship to come up with ways to attract more people to the area in hopes of building their community.  They truly depend on one another and wear many hats in order to survive.  In the coming weeks, you’ll learn more about the individuals I met and how they are using cultural entrepreneurship as the foundation to build their community and economy on.