A collaborative public art non-profit organization in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Project Highlight: New Iconic Signs
In 2024, ten artists participated in two design charrettes titled New Iconic Signs, in support of our ongoing project Signal and Turn. When the opportunity presented itself for a third charrette, five additional artists created designs for potential future signs. Through this collaboration, we have transformed 5 signs across Albuquerque into iconic, neighborhood landmarks.
Since 2010 FOS has worked to preserve relics of past roadside culture, as many orphan signs—signs on empty lots or unused by the current occupants—are deemed unworthy of restoration.
Friends of the Orphan Signs (FOS) brings together artist-educators and community members to creatively and collaboratively revitalize abandoned or unused road signs with artwork and poetry.
TRANSFORMATION
The empty, often forgotten signs of the past serve as our framework (literal and figurative) for the creation of new art. The artists with whom we collaborate transform these empty frames into powerful works of public art.
PRESERVATION
We are proud of the rich culture of our historic Route 66, and the sign projects we pursue aim to preserve that classic, roadside culture.
INCLUSION
We are committed to creating free, inclusive, and participatory art experiences for ALL, regardless of age, background, or circumstance.
EXPERIMENTATION
We uplift community voices through creativity and experimentation. We want to provide artists the chance to create freely and make work that fits their vision.
FOUNDATION
We are building a foundation to sustain our future growth. We want to establish Friends of the Orphan Signs as an enduring, impactful presence in Albuquerque.
Sundowner Sign / New Life Homes Residents, with Ellen Babcock, Jeremy Carlson, Lance Ryan McGoldrick, and Christine Posner, 2015-19. To Reach the Seventh Mountain, Call 747-298-8777 / Erin Fussell, 2023.
Trans is Sacred / Pico del Hierro-Villa, with student assistant Maya Howard. Revision 2023 project. Funded by the National Endowment for the Arts.
Slant/Desvío: Better, Better, Better / Sara Rivera, 2023. Funded by the National Endowment for the Arts with support from ARRIVE by Palisociety.
Intimacy, Chime, Sublime / Ameerah Bad'r with student assistant Sebastian Miranda, Revision 2023 project. Funded by the National Endowment for the Arts.
