Road Trips

Tired of Airhead Politics? Head to Dixon’s Down Home Gallery Tour

By Alan Kleinfeld, 11-01-06

	Photos by Alan Kleinfeld

When friends invited us on a day-trip to Dixon my first thought was, “Alright, apples!” As a child in Albuquerque, Dixon Apples was a seasonal joy, little signs sticking out of the bushels declaring, with a sense of pride, that they were grown right here in the New Mexico sunshine. But to my surprise, Dixon, New Mexico has nothing to do with Dixon Apples (though they do have apples trees in Dixon, New Mexico).

Dixon the town lies at 6,000 feet about sea level and roughly two hours away from Albuquerque by auto, between Espanola and Taos, where the Embudo River runs into the Rio Grande. It’s a small place, with about 1222 residents, according to the US Census of 2000. So you can imagine how surprised I was by the “this is a Crime Watch neighborhood” sign on a corner street light. You can find a community center-slash-library, a U.S. post office, a volunteer fire department, a recently formed grocery co-op and even KLDK 96.5 radio, broadcasting to the Embudo Valley. Home types range from tin-roofed barn style to fancy adobe to modular, some yards replete with the requisite rusted out New Mexico truck. All of this surrounded by the clean, sweet scent of northern New Mexico air, the dry breeze and the flow of life-giving river water.

My three companions and I arrived around 2 p.m. on a Saturday, during the peak of the annual Dixon Studio Tour (this Saturday and Sunday) artist showcase. Tourists flooded the streets, going from one artist studio to the next. For Dixon, this is THE day. After the showcase ends, tourism drops to practically zero the rest of the year and the residents seem to prefer it that way. But during the studio tour it’s as busy as Times Square and as welcoming as a Century 21 open house on Sunday.

Celebrating its 25th year (some locals claim it to be the oldest art festival in the region), artists open their studios and display their work, many of them hoping the event makes their art sales for the year. The art itself ranges from photographs to pottery to metal work to paintings to hand woven rugs to ceramics to woodwork and so on, even including wine and herbal bath and beauty products.

Although we walked away without a purchase, we had as much fun checking out the art as we did the artists’ homes and studios. One gentleman, who retired here from Pennsylvania, created amazing wood carving reliefs in his kitchen cabinets and support beams and that didn’t include the pieces he was selling.

At each stop along the 50 plus stops we sampled cookies, coffee, tea, warm cider, wine and other treats. There was a homey feeling to it all, like old friends greeting one another.

We left after nightfall, following the Rio Grande out of town. In the car on the way home, we chatted about the artwork, the studios and how for the day we felt like part of the Dixon community.

Oh, incidentally, Dixon Apples, named after the Dixon Family that owned the farm, is located in Peña Blanca, NM, not far from Cochiti Lake. Just in case you were wondering. But that’s a story for another day trip.

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