MAE News:

• Moving Arts Partnership With TSAY Corporation of Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo Benefits Española Valley Children

Moving Arts Española (MAE) and TSAY Corporation announce a joint effort through a five year lease, to reinvent/remodel the former Ohkay Owingeh ‘dome’ casino structure into a 6,000-square-foot Moving Arts Performance Center.

The circus tent-like facility at 368 Eagle Dr., closed in 1999 adjacent to the Moving Arts Española classrooms.  

The project is made possible through a generous grant from the McCune Foundation, and will include a new music classroom and art gallery, in addition to the performance stage. Innovative design of the stage and portable theater seating will allow the performance center to operate as a gymnastics and circus arts classroom when not in use for performances. 

With more than 400 hours of skilled community volunteerism, including the LANL Employees Community Gifting Partnership, the remodel has progressed at a fast pace since January, when the lease was finalized. 

Moving Arts Española has out-grown its 7,000-square-foot space, with more than 250 children and youth each week. The children come from the Española Public Schools, Taos and surrounding rural villages to attend after-school classes in classical ballet, contemporary dance, gymnastics and tumbling, guitar, drama, visual arts, Spanish Flamenco, Mexican folk dance, vocal training, hip-hop, and circus arts.  

MAE also provides integrated fine arts classes during the school day for students from the La Tierra Montessori School of the Arts and Sciences, and partners with the Ohkay Owingeh Boys and Girls Club. Classes include nutrition and traditional farming (acequia culture, heirloom seed science, traditional foods and culinary arts).

The 250 seat Moving Arts Performance Center will have a Grand Opening May 2. The facility will provide affordable access to local nonprofit organizations to present community events, plays and concerts. A crowdfunding campaign on Razoo.com is running through May 2, to provide additional funds for the ambitious project.