Led by ranger Giessell Aguilar and artist Anna Rotty, the Valle de Oro National Wildlife Refuge hosted its second botanical sun printing, or cyanotype, workshop on Saturday, Sept. 7.
Cyanotypes are photographic blueprints made with objects laid on top of light-sensitive paper. The objects create shapes that are then made permanent in a chemical bath and that are hung to dry.
The refuge’s primary purpose, according to Aguilar, is to serve its three main communities: the South Valley, Pueblo of Isleta and Mountain View. The refuge makes choices about its events in collaboration with the community.
“The community really wanted us to focus on art and the intersections between art and the environment,” Aguilar said.
Art can create a healing space for the community, Aguilar said, and it encourages community involvement. She said these events also showcase the refuge’s environmental restoration efforts.
The workshop began with Aguilar providing a history of the refuge, which she described as a symbol of environmental justice. Valle de Oro was once a dairy farm, and it now features 570 acres of protected land, according to its website.
“This is a refuge not only for animals and birds, but for people,” Aguilar said.
Aguilar then took participants out on the refuge’s pond trail to pick invasive plants for use in the sun printing. After gathering materials, Rotty, a recent graduate and adjunct instructor at the University of New Mexico, explained the process of cyanotype and helped participants as they worked to create their art.
Rotty said she enjoys doing cyanotype workshops because they are accessible. Chemicals used for cyanotype are much less harsh than traditional photography, according to Rotty.
The refuge aims to get its community to take ownership of the park, according to Aguilar. She said one of the ways the refuge does this is by having people get their hands in the dirt.
South Valley residents Jolene Gray and Melissa Caudillo said they try to come to events as often as they can to be part of the community. Coming to the refuge has inspired Caudillo to become an entomologist — someone who studies bugs — she said.
“It’s a place to feel safe and feel acknowledged — to come and just have fun and be able to bring my daughter,“ Gray said. “I wish more people would come out and see what we have here that’s in our own backyard.”
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Rotty hopes to hold the workshop again, she said, especially during different seasons. That way, participants could find various types of invasive plants.
Since Rotty began coming to the refuge, she has learned more about nature in the area, she said.
Aguilar discussed the importance of community engagement and the implementation of green spaces around urban areas.
“This whole refuge is a testament of what it means when a community comes together for environmental justice,” Aguilar said.
Marcela Johnson is a beat reporter for the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at culture@dailylobo.com or on X @dailylobo
Marcela Johnson is a freelance reporter for the Daily Lobo, and the editor-in-chief of Limina: UNM Nonfiction Review.
