The borderlines are set now, but their repercussions still stand. Huberto Maestas was raised on a ranch in the San Luis Valley, so he saw the changes firsthand.
“I grew up in a time where they were trying to make the states an English-speaking state only, and they were trying to take away our Spanish-speaking language,” Maestas said. “I just refused to abide by those rules. I got suspended from school once for speaking Spanish.”
The History Colorado Center‘s exhibition “De la Tierra: Reflections of Place in the Upper Rio Grande,” which is on display through April 6, 2025, tells the story of the San Luis Valley’s history through artwork and artifacts. The exhibition focuses on the formation of Colorado’s borders following the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which ended the Mexican-American War and resulted in Mexico conceding over half of its territory.
Maestas has been drawn to art since he was a child in San Luis, where he sought to express complex emotions about his surroundings and situation. All of his sculptures are inspired by fieldworkers, time on the ranch and memorable moments from his life in the valley.
“Artists could take a visual thing and create art out of it,” Maestas said. “Me, on the other hand, I actually go by experience. I’ve experienced everything that I do in some way or another. From my background, from my culture and childhood, and who I am as a person, as an artist, and where the foundation of my art started, it started on the farm.”
The land Maestas was raised on has been a part of his family’s life for decades. He grew up being expected to become a farmer but instead chose to pursue art. Unlike other artists who create works based on imagined situations, Maestas’ work is grounded in reality.
“I grew up on a ranch, so I started a series of pieces that would reflect my childhood and growing up,” Maestas said. “The only problem is, during the process, I fell ill and I couldn’t sculpt so I had to back up and select some pieces that would fit the show.”
“De la Tierra” displays the museum’s collection of work from southern Colorado with a focus on cultural identity and connections to the land.
“The primary inspiration was highlighting a lot of the work that History Colorado has been doing down in southern Colorado, specifically, numerous types of preservation and memory projects,” said Lucha Martínez de Luna, the curator for “De la Tierra.” “It was a really good opportunity to kind of broaden the story of the cultural kind of complexity in the area, but at the same time to showcase the arbitrary line drawn across a cultural group.”
“De la Tierra” features contemporary works that have strong connections to Indigenous iconography and influence. “A lot of artists still use traditional plants in their work, and you see that continuation,” Martínez de Luna said. “We also reflect about that this was an area of extreme conflict and, of course, colonization.”
The exhibition aims to blend contemporary and established collections at the history center. According to Martínez de Luna, the river and valley are commonly associated with rural areas. She worked on curating pieces that emphasized the area’s uniqueness.
“A lot of times with the contemporary art exhibits I curate tend to be pretty vibrant, just because I see that everywhere, in the landscape, murals [and] public art,” Martínez de Luna said. “I really feel like sometimes in these areas, they can be stereotyped as a rural area. At the same time, there’s so much vibrancy and dynamics in these areas that I try very hard to interlink these narratives.”
Similarly, inspiration was also derived from domestic life. “We have a small bolio, a rolling pin, that Rebecca Duran received kind of as her rite of passage, of rolling a circular tortilla,” Martínez de Luna said.
Maestas conveys a similar sentiment in his depictions of fieldwork by “trying to tell a historic picture of the past, using artwork as a vehicle to tell that story.” He draws on personal experiences in his work while also attempting to hold the viewer accountable.
“I want the viewer to resonate with the art, and not with a sculptor or an artist,” Maestas said. “Art is the language that goes beyond our creative efforts.”
Through the vibrant artistry and artifacts curated by Martínez de Luna, visitors are invited to view the experiences of southern Colorado’s heritage. By amplifying voices like Maestas and showcasing pieces tied to lived experiences and domestic traditions, “De la Tierra” stands as a testament to the past, present, and future of a region shaped by its people and their enduring ties to place.
“I had parents that told me to be proud of my identity and not let anybody tell me I was anything otherwise,” Maestas said. “They taught me to value myself as who I am, and that’s why I sculpt. It’s the roots of my culture.”
