Las Cruces Stories - Coming This Year!
Thanks to a grant from the New Mexico Council on the Arts, KTAL Radio is delighted to be producing a brand new series called Las Cruces Stories! Each episode will feature an interesting local person or place, historical figure, cultural object, or colorful event.
In March 2020 the City of Las Cruces approved the Public Arts Master Plan which included developing the concept of Las Cruces Stories, as a “special opportunity … to explore people or groups that are underrepresented in Las Cruces’ public art and history….explore aspects of the natural environment … and reflect Las Cruces’ place as a crossroads … that spans its history to the present day.”
KTAL Radio immediately saw this as an ideal vehicle for creative radio storytelling.
In March 2020 the City of Las Cruces approved the Public Arts Master Plan which included developing the concept of Las Cruces Stories, as a “special opportunity … to explore people or groups that are underrepresented in Las Cruces’ public art and history….explore aspects of the natural environment … and reflect Las Cruces’ place as a crossroads … that spans its history to the present day.”
KTAL Radio immediately saw this as an ideal vehicle for creative radio storytelling.
- Between September 2020 and May 2021, we will produce four Las Cruces stories.
- Each Story will be four to eight minutes long, and reflect a topic, event, or profile based on Las Cruces history and culture.
- We anticipate it will take roughly two months to produce each story, including topic selection, research, gathering materials, conducting interviews, final editing and mixing the program, and scheduling it for air.
- Each will be aired on KTAL Radio individually and as a series, and will be distributed as a Podcast when completed.
Our first production in Las Cruces Stories is premiering in February. It's a profile of Mr. Clarence Fielder (left), a beloved educator, historian and preservationist who led the community in restoring historic Phillips Chapel (below).
The concept and production for Las Cruces Stories is entirely homegrown, as suggested in the 2020 Las Cruces Public Arts Master Plan. When we invited people to contribute ideas about “interesting local people and places, historical figures, cultural objects, or colorful events” for Las Cruces Stories the concept was met with immediate excitement. Much to our surprise and delight, we received more than two dozen creative and unique story suggestions.
And thank you for all these wonderful suggestions! Thanks to this direct input, we have a great diversity of topics to work with based on strong local interest. You can see the entire list here! We believe Las Cruces Stories will be an excellent vehicle to tell many inspiring stories that will illuminate the richness of our local culture and history. The suggestions we received were remarkable both in their relevance and in reflecting local diversity, including recalling experiences of our Black community; honoring the spiritual traditions of our local native tribe; and presenting a broad view of local Hispanic history that continues to shape the identity of Las Cruces today. People seeing themselves in media is always an important and positive experience. We hope that telling their stories on the radio will provide moments of recognition and pleasure to all our listeners.
The concept and production for Las Cruces Stories is entirely homegrown, as suggested in the 2020 Las Cruces Public Arts Master Plan. When we invited people to contribute ideas about “interesting local people and places, historical figures, cultural objects, or colorful events” for Las Cruces Stories the concept was met with immediate excitement. Much to our surprise and delight, we received more than two dozen creative and unique story suggestions.
And thank you for all these wonderful suggestions! Thanks to this direct input, we have a great diversity of topics to work with based on strong local interest. You can see the entire list here! We believe Las Cruces Stories will be an excellent vehicle to tell many inspiring stories that will illuminate the richness of our local culture and history. The suggestions we received were remarkable both in their relevance and in reflecting local diversity, including recalling experiences of our Black community; honoring the spiritual traditions of our local native tribe; and presenting a broad view of local Hispanic history that continues to shape the identity of Las Cruces today. People seeing themselves in media is always an important and positive experience. We hope that telling their stories on the radio will provide moments of recognition and pleasure to all our listeners.
In addition, The broad variety of proposed Stories subjects lend themselves to a creative mix of voices and audio treatments, that can reflect many facets of Las Cruces as a city with a colorful past, a vibrant present and an optimistic future.
We welcome your comments, critiques, and more story ideas. Thanks you for your support! Email us at [email protected].
This project is supported in part by New Mexico Arts, a division of the Department of Cultural Affairs, and by the National Endowment for the Arts
We welcome your comments, critiques, and more story ideas. Thanks you for your support! Email us at [email protected].
This project is supported in part by New Mexico Arts, a division of the Department of Cultural Affairs, and by the National Endowment for the Arts
Las Cruces Stories Theme Song
photo by Robert Yee
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Topics Suggested to Date
| Shalam Colony | Short-lived utopian spiritual community just outside Las Cruces in Dona Ana county |
| Water Tanks | More than ½ dozen water tanks displaying large murals hand-painted by local father and son |
| Mesquite Historic District Tile Mural | A park wall filled with a series of hand-painted mosaic tiles illustrating the lost history of the Mesquite Historic District created as a community collaboration with adults and children |
| Rio Grande Theater | The last two-story Adobe theatre in the country recently renovated as a community performance venue |
| Entrada Walking Tour | A walking tour of the original Camino Real trail through the heart of historic Las Cruces |
| Wine Country | Why there is a thriving wine culture in Southern New Mexico |
| Paul W. Klipsch | Genius NMSU graduate and supporter who designed revolutionary high-quality loud speaker systems |
| Tortugas Pueblo | Piro/Manso/Tiwa Tribe and their Annual Fiesta Of Our Lady Of Guadalupe |
| Clarence Fielder | Inspirational African-American teacher and mentor responsible for restoring the Phillips Chapel |
| Orville J. Wanzer, Jr | Professor and Subject of Julia Louisa Smith's documentary on The Birth of the Acid Western |
| Family lore of local folks | Family lore from Dona Ana County in an earlier time. Denise Chavez, Irene Oliver-Lewis, and Patsy Madrid families |
| Unsolved local murder mysteries | Albert Fountain, Cricket Coogler, The Bowling Alley Massacre |
| Clyde Tombaugh | Much acclaimed NMSU astronomer |
| Austin Trout | Champion boxer |
| Dr. Roy Nakayama | WW II vet, POW, award-winning NMSU researcher who developed chiles and pecans |
| Helen Hiatt | Retired wardrobe mistress for Jimmy Buffet and Prince. |
| Judge E. Forrest Sanders | Iconoclastic local attorney and judge, first mentor to Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor |
| J. Paul Taylor | Lifelong advocate for New Mexico arts and culture |
| Barbara Hubbard | Legendary local music impresario |
| Elizabeth Garrett | Pat Garrett's blind daughter had prestigious musical career and wrote O Fair New Mexico |
| History of Theatre In The Mesilla Valley | NMSU, Herschel Zorn, Community Theater, Mexican Vaudeville, Mark Medoff |
| The California Column | Descendants of men from the California Column who stayed after the Civil War and married local Mexican women, such as the Fountains, Olivers, Bombachs, other families |
| Murals | Murals and other public art in the city |
| Prominent arts educators | Educators who influenced generations of local students, such as Ray Veitch, art; John and Diane Schulz LCPS, music; Bonnie Hosie, Very Special Arts; Tony Montano, Roman Chip, others |
| The Jewish merchants of Main Street | From the 1800s to now |
| Zuhl Museum | Internationally recognized collection of fossils and petrified wood |
| Las Cruces songwriters | Las Cruces's collection of national and international award-winning songwriters, including Tom Foster Morris, Eddy Harrison, Mark Courtney |
| El Ermitaño by Giovanni Maria Agostini | The legendary hermit and healer who lived in the Organ Mountains above Las Cruces in La Cueva in the 1800s |
| NMSU and emerging avant-garde mathematics | How NMSU was the center of the new mathematics being studied and researched with students and scientists from all over the world |