Читать книгу Walking Albuquerque. 30 Tours of the Duke City's Historic Neighborhoods, Ditch Trails, Urban Nature, and Public Art онлайн

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 Now take a quick detour north to the Downtown Contemporary Gallery in the historic Yrisarri Block. This building was completed in 1909 and has housed the gallery and numerous artist studios since 1996.Other buildings you’ll sneak behind on the 400 block include the Old Post Office and the Albuquerque Federal Building, both fronting Gold Ave. The post office was built in the Spanish Colonial Revival style in 1908. Since 2000, it has housed Amy Biehl High School, a charter school named for a high-spirited social activist from Santa Fe who, in 1993 at the age of 26, was murdered near Cape Town, South Africa. The six-story, 63,000-square-foot building by its side displays a marvelous assortment of Southwestern motifs throughout the exterior detailing. Take a detour to its front entry to check out the assortment of randomly placed terra-cotta petroglyphs inlaid around the archway, keeping in mind that swastikas were a distinctly Navajo motif when the building was completed in 1930.The eight-story, block-long former federal office on the south side of the alley ahead was probably built in the 1970s and has spent most of the current century echoing the sentiments of that era. In 1978 Susan Dewitt wrote in Historic Albuquerque Today, “Off Central, pedestrians are often faced by blank-walled buildings, menacing and uninviting.” No doubt she had this structure in mind. Apparently immune to arson, the Modern monstrosity sold in an online federal auction in 2007 for $1.51 million and as of 2014 remains vacant.On your right the wall art really starts to pop. Whether it’s vandalism or public art often depends on who funded it. For example, stencils indicate which works are sponsored by 516 Arts. This unassuming art gallery fronting Central is a powerhouse for generating citywide events. It also hosts exhibitions by renowned international contemporary artists and occasionally displays masterpieces by the author of this book. Continue straight through the 600 block ahead, enjoying yet another hidden showcase of wall art.