January Mud Blast

Un Poco Nuevo un Poco Viejo!

Happy New Year, Cornerstones Community! We've got a lot to catch up on, and we are thrilled to share with you some of our winter highlights!

Gachado Line Camp, Organ Pipe National Monument, AZ 

In December, Cornerstones’ crew members returned to Organ Pipe National Monument in southern Arizona to lead a Plastering & Conditions Assessments Workshop at the Gachado Line Camp, a 1921 adobe casita. This casita, along with many other historic line camps within the park, is associated with the Dos Lomitas Ranch, run by the Gray Family. A line camp is a place on the outskirts of a larger ranch for workers to stay and keep watch over livestock.  

The historic adobe structure has endured many years of weathering and has undergone several phases of restoration and repair. During the workshop, participants discussed the pros and cons of different preservation methods used to maintain this structure such as the use of cement amended adobe veneers and amended plasters. 

Prior to the workshop, Cornerstones staff members (Issac Logsdon, Kateri Lopez, Isaiah Romo) and NPS Lead Mason Tyler Walters (Pecos National Historic Park) prepared the adobe building for the plastering workshop by removing failing amended plasters, and by building out and repairing badly eroded areas. 

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Organ Pipe National Monument Biology Team joined Cornerstones for workshop prep by applying base/scratch coats at the structures base.  

Once failing plasters were removed and repairs made, the building was ready for the plastering workshop! Four volunteers,  3+ NPS staff members, and Forest Service Archeologist, Chris Schrager, joined Cornerstones in the application of earthen base coats, leveling coats, and a final troweled earthen finish.  

Thank you to our participants Tyler Walters, Onammi Garcia, Dayanne Martinez, Janaki Ranpura, and Julianna Cullen! 

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Luna Community College Model Home 

In early December, students enrolled in the Preserving Heritage: Adobe Construction course at Luna Community College gathered to celebrate a successful end to the first Module. Throughout the semester, 15 students learned about the adobe construction process, from adobe making, foundation laying, adobe wall construction, and more. Students were hard at work and racing the weather before the group dispersed for a winter break! The walls are up, and the students will resume in the spring! 

The course concluded with a celebratory luncheon during which each student was awarded a congratulatory certificate.  

Reyes-Ortega House, Chimayo, New Mexico 

In collaboration with the Chimayó Cultural Preservation Association, Cornerstones implemented an emergency stabilization plan on the Reyes-Ortega House in Chimayó, New Mexico. The decision was made to stabilize the casita’s roof after a complete condition assessment was completed by Cornerstones in 2024.  

The recommendations made by Cornerstones following the condition assessment are based on the Reyes Ortega House being used for a new museum for the Chimayo Cultural Preservation Association with the old museum being repurposed. The new museum will be code compliant by exercising the NM Historic Earthen Building Historic Code. 

Before stabilization of the failing roof system. Note: the viga had dropped approximately 7”  

The viga had been raised by using both floor jacks and a hydraulic jack so that shoring could be installed.  

Upcoming Events

Cornerstones’ For the Love of Adobe Mixer

On Thursday, February 6th at 5pm, please join us for our ‘For the love of Adobe’ Mixer celebrating the New Year and the opening of our Photo Contest Entries in the Cornerstones Gallery (please see address above). Please RSVP to contact@cstones.org by Jan. 29th. We look forward to seeing you there! 

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Cornerstones is Hiring!

Cornerstones is looking for an Intern to join us from mid-February to the end of April! 

This person will travel to various adobe and stone masonry jobs throughout New Mexico, Texas, and Arizona with skilled Preservationists to learn and support projects. Our Intern will learn earthen plastering, adobe making, soil selection, stone masonry, and the basics of preservation philosophy. No experience needed. 

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Viva Vegas ‘25 NM State Historical Preservation Conference:
CALL FOR PAPERS 

Cornerstones Community Partnerships and the State Office of Historic Preservation are organizing the 2025 Statewide Historic Preservation Conference to be held at Highlands University in Las Vegas, NM in October 2025! Anticipation is high since it has been over 10 years since a statewide preservation conference has been held, and this event is evolving into an experience you won’t want to miss! 

Our planning committee is outlining themes, topics, tours, field experiences and bringing in inspirational speakers to set the tone. We are following the responses of over 180 New Mexicans who answered the survey sent in early 2024. Our goal at the conference is to get out of our seats and get to places in the city and the surrounding area to experience the heritage of this unique part of our shared culture. 

We are currently seeking presenters for the conference: 

September/October Mud Blast

October Mud Blast

Cornerstones’ staff at TICRAT 2024. From left to right, Jake Barrow, Isaiah Romo, Kateri Lopez, Issac Logsdon. Photo by Mayté Mendoza.

Dearest friends and supporters, as the temperatures begin to cool and we relish the changing of the seasons, we want to share exciting news and project updates with you. Please read on to learn about what Cornerstones has been up to lately! 

2nd Annual Photo Contest Fundraiser! 

We are proud to announce that our Second Annual Photo Contest Fundraiser is kicking off next Friday, November 1st! So many wonderful photos were submitted during last year’s contest, and we can’t wait to see more of your photos! This year’s theme is Community Empowerment. We want to know; what traditions empower your community? From November 1-15th, you can enter your photos for a chance to win!  

EARTH USA 

Cornerstones has been involved with Adobe in Action’s EARTH USA International Conference on Architecture & Construction with Earthen Material for a number of years. As a proud sponsor, we happily participated in this year’s conference held at the Scottish Rite Center’s Alhambra Theater in Santa Fe, New Mexico. During this conference, valuable discussions were had, and presentations were made investigating earthen materials and methods such as adobe, rammed earth, compressed earth block (CEB) and monolithic adobe (cob).  

Cornerstones’ Executive Director, Jake Barrow, gave a presentation outlining the restoration and rehabilitation of the Casita Desiderio y Pablita Ortega in the Plaza del Cerro, Chimayó, New Mexico. Attendees marveled at the undertaking, and commented on the stark difference of the historic streetscape from start to finish.  

Photo by Jeremy Zilar, courtesy of Adobe in Action. 

You can watch Jake’s 2024 EARTH USA presentation here: https://www.earthusa.org/ 

TICRAT 2024  

Following EARTH USA, Cornerstones partnered with Bernalillo County’s Open Space division to host the TICRAT International Workshop 2024 at the Gutierrez-Hubbell House in Albuquerque’s South Valley. TICRAT, known by its Spanish acronym (Taller Internacional de Conservación y Restauración de Arquitectura de Tierra), is a binational initiative started over 25 years ago. The purpose of these workshops is to promote earthen architectural knowledge and preservation and highlight the shared heritage between the United States and Mexico.  

TICRAT 2024 Workshop modules focused on adobe construction, building assessments, and preservation treatments.  

 Several organizations such as the National Park Service (NPS), Mexico’s Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (INAH), University of New Mexico and Cornerstones Community Partnerships have been partnering and collaborating to ensure this important workshop can continue to disseminate and keep alive sustainable and traditional techniques for the conservation of earthen architecture, particularly those found in the American Southwest and Northern Mexico. There are many commonalities between the Southwest and Northern regions of Mexico culturally, historically, and environmentally. For this reason, similar traditions and methods of building are often shared. Thank you to all who attended! 

Read more about the TICRAT 2024 here: 

Bernalillo County Hosts Binational Adobe Workshop 

Gutierrez-Hubbell House Community Day  

As a way of sharing what was learned and discussed during the TICRAT workshops, Cornerstones partnered with the Gutiérrez-Hubbell House and Bernalillo County Open Space Division to host a free, all-ages, family friendly Community Adobe Making Day event at the Gutiérrez-Hubbell House, a rehabilitated adobe structure dating to the 1850’s, a project of which Cornerstones was an integral part. Participants were encouraged to explore the grounds and walk through the house, which is now a museum and open space.  

During the event, attendees asked wonderful questions about restoring adobe homes, working with terrones, finding materials, soil samples, and moisture testing. Children made adobecitos (mini adobes) and constructed their own mini-adobe structures. Thank you for participating! 

Capilla de San Pedro, Chamita, New Mexico 

Throughout September and October, Cornerstones partnered with Nuevo Mexico Profundo, the Mayordomos of La Capilla de San Pedro, and community volunteers to replaster the chapel. This included the removal of failing plasters, adobe repair in select locations, and reapplication of mud plaster. A special thank you to community members who cooked wonderful meals throughout the project, and to all who volunteered! 

Model Adobe Home Update – 1st Brick & 1st Inspection! 

Progress is being made and attitudes are high as things move forward in the Preserving Heritage: Adobe Construction course at Luna Community College. Every Friday and Saturday, students are taught skills in adobe construction. Cornerstones’ instructors Ernesto Aragon and program director, Jake Barrow, students have thus far made 1500+ adobes, made and used batter boards (to establish the structure’s corners & elevations), poured the foundation! 

The class celebrated the passing of their first inspection by continuing with the laying of the first adobe brick. A small gathering took place to celebrate the occasion and was attended by the students, sponsors, and Luna Community College Interim President Carol Linder. Linder kicked off the event by laying the first adobe.  

Luna Community College Interim President, Carol Linder, laying the first adobe brick with course instructor, Ernesto Aragon.  

Santa Fe Community Foundation’s Director of Grants & Community Impacts, Diane Hamamoto, joined us for the milestone event and placed the Model Home’s second adobe! 

Photo Recap! 

In just over a month, the class has established the Model Adobe Home’s corners and elevations by making and referring to batter boards, installed a French drain, infilled with stone, and poured the concrete foundation. The class is now constructing the adobe walls! 

Please follow along for more updates about the project! Videos will be published periodically on the Cornerstones’ YouTube channel, found here:  

Read about this project in an article published by the Las Vegas Optic here!  

New Course Provides Hands-On Experience in Adobe Construction 

Volunteer of month: Anika Marcus 

How did you find out about Cornerstones? 

I first discovered cornerstones while enrolled in the sustainable building program at Santa Fe Community College in 2022. Over the course of the program, I had the opportunity to work with cornerstones on a few different restoration efforts in northern New Mexico.  

What was your first volunteer project? 

My first volunteer experience with Cornerstones was at the Capilla de San Pedro in Chamita, New Mexico in the summer of 2023. My family is based in the area, and it was a lovely opportunity to learn more of the regional culture and traditions while working to preserve them.  

What do you enjoy most about volunteering with Cornerstones? Do you have a favorite memory or project? 

What I have enjoyed most about volunteering is the opportunity to connect with the local community and other like-minded individuals. I appreciate the dedication this organization has to preserving local techniques and materials, as well as the effort that goes into community building and organization. Thus far, my favorite project I've worked on with Cornerstones was in Albuquerque while making replacement bricks for a nearby church. There was a good turnout, and it was amazing to see so many people working together on all the different stages of brick making.  

Why should others consider volunteering? 

Not only are the staff all incredibly kind, but the work they do to maintain and spread their expertise surrounding the material and application is, in my opinion, a critical need moving forward. I truly believe we would be better off if the long history of this art form and its use in all parts of the world were more commonly known. It is important for us as both a community and individuals to uphold each other and support local revitalization. I truly think that adobe building and natural building in general are a wonderful way to regain autonomy and deepen connections in a highly individualistic and currency focused society.  

San Miguel Parapets 

Each year around the first of October, Cornerstones Project Manager Don Sena leads a small group of volunteers in the replastering of the San Miguel Chapel parapets in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Parapets are low, protective walls along the edge of a roof and bear most of the weathering throughout the year. On an earthen structure, these often need to be replastered annually.  

This year, Don was joined by volunteers Janaki Ranpura, Reecee White, and Alheli Harvey, who participated in the mixing and plastering. Dave Wilson volunteered with scaffolding set up and take down.  

THANK YOU! 

As always, none of our projects would be possible without your support. If you would like to support our mission of empowering local communities by preserving their cultural heritages, or feel inspired by a particular Cornerstones initiative, please consider donating today.  

ANNOUNCEMENTS

2023 Annual Report  

Our 2023 Annual Report has been published and mailed – please check your mailboxes for a glimpse into the past year with Cornerstones, today! As always, feel free to stop by the office during office hours for additional copies.  

Annual Report cover image by Michael Pacheco. 

Save the Date! 

Planning is continuing for the 2025 Preserve NM Conference: Viva Vegas ’25 to be held in Las Vegas, New Mexico. You can find updates and more information, including an upcoming call for Abstracts on the conference website:  

Preserve NM Viva Vegas '25 Statewide Conference 

August Mud Blast

We are back! 

It has been some time since we last gave an update on our ongoing projects, and we certainly have many exciting things to share! Of course, none of these projects would be possible without your support, please consider donating today! 

Plaza del Cerro Ribbon Cutting Ceremony 

We are beyond thrilled to announce the completion of our “Save America’s Treasures” project, the restoration and rehabilitation of Casita Desiderio y Pablita Ortega, located within the Plaza del Cerro in Chimayó, New Mexico. 

In 2019, the National Park Service designated this tiny, 500 sq. ft., 2-room adobe ‘ruin’ as an American Treasure. This structure, recognized as the Desiderio y Pablita Ortega Casita, is an 18th century residence within the historic district of Plaza del Cerro in Chimayó, New Mexico. Plaza del Cerro is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Prior to the building’s restoration, the Desiderio y Pablita Ortega Casita had sustained nearly 60 years of weathering and deterioration, making it unsafe, unstable, and unlivable. In the Fall of 2019, Cornerstones Community Partnerships was awarded the Save America’s Treasures Grant to restore and adapt the ruin, which is a catalyzing step towards bringing the Plaza back to life.  

Luna Adobe Making 

Despite the unpredictable weather, many came out to participate in our Community Adobe Making Event at the Luna Community College in early June. Approximately 20+ people attended to learn and help us make adobes for the upcoming Adobe Model Home continuing education course at the college. This course will focus on the construction of an 800sq ft fire-resistant, solar, model adobe home. More information about this course is forthcoming, classes to begin in September 2024.

Remy’s Good Day Fund Annual Solar Congress 

Cornerstones Program Director, Jake Barrow, recently participated in the Remy's Good Day Fund Annual Solar Congress. Thirty participants convened to learn and share innovative ways solar is being employed to improve the lives of New Mexico's Indigenous and rural communities. Thank you, Remy’s Good Day Fund! 

Truchas Morada 

Cornerstones, in collaboration with the Hermanos and Nuevo Mexico Profundo, has begun the restoration and replastering of the Truchas Morada of Los Hermanos de la Fraternidad Piadosa de Nuestro Padre Jesus Nazareno in Truchas, New Mexico.  

The Morada is located on the High Road just outside of the village. We began earlier this month by removing the damaged cement stucco to further assess the conditions of the underlaying adobe. Exposed adobe sections are then covered with three layers of earthen plaster: a textured base coat, a second filler coat, and then a third finish coat. We will be returning in several weeks to finish the first phase of this project.  

As always, we would like to give a special thanks to all those who volunteered at the Morada. Projects such as these would not be possible without the help of volunteers and donations from our supporters. Please consider donating to this project today!  

Photos by: Paloma Sanchez, Nuevo Mexico Profundo, and Kateri Lopez. 

Fort Davis, Texas 

Over the summer, our crew has been spending time at Fort Davis National Historic Site working with NPS (National Park Service) employees to repair and preserve structures at the historic fort. We have focused on training for a Maintenance Action Team crew, which is a travelling historic preservation and trail crew in the NPS. Training has included adobe making, soil selection, wall construction and repair, structural assessments, and more.  
 
We’re returning at the end of August for one last training workshop at Fort Davis for the summer. Our focus for this project has been preserving fully exposed adobe ruins—buildings that have lost their roofs, doors, windows, and are now only remnants of adobe walls and stone foundations. Our approach is to maintain these low walls by stabilizing them where needed with unamended adobes, applying earthen plasters, and cyclical maintenance.  

Welcome to Cornerstones, Paloma! 

Cornerstones is happy to welcome to the team, Paloma Sanchez! Paloma joined us in July as our newest Administrative Assistant. Paloma is from unceded Tiwa land, also known as Albuquerque, NM and has worked with various community-based initiatives on Tewa land (Santa Fe) for the past eight years.  

She is passionate about plants, music, movement, and relationships amongst humans and the natural world.  

Welcome, Paloma!  

ANNOUNCEMENTS 

• Nuevo Noche Feliz – CANCELED – we hope to see you next year! 

• As of July 1st, 2024, Trinette Robichaux-Cichock has left her position as the Executive Director for Cornerstones Community Partnerships. Jake Barrow will take her place as Interim Executive Director.  

A small, celebratory ribbon cutting ceremony took place in June to commend the occasion. You can read more about the ceremony by clicking on the article below. 

 On behalf of Cornerstones Community Partnerships, the Chimayó Cultural Preservation Association, Avanyu General Contracting, and the Berryhill Family, we would like to thank everyone who supported us throughout this project – Thank You!  

Volunteer Spotlight! Forest Kramer 

This month’s volunteer spotlight takes us to Capitan, New Mexico! Forest Kramer has been volunteering with Cornerstones off and on for the past year or more. His first volunteer project was with Issac Logsdon and Larry Limon in historic Lake Valley, working with earthen and lime plasters.  

Forest found out about Cornerstones through our Adobe Conservation Handbook, which he purchased while looking for books on restoring/repairing adobe buildings. He is currently restoring his adobe home in Capitan, New Mexico.  

When asked what he liked about volunteering with Cornerstones, he said, “I like volunteering for Cornerstones because I feel like I can contribute to keeping historic buildings alive for the future, fingerprints in the mud.” 

Forest expressed that it was difficult to pick a favorite project because each experience has been unique, and he has learned about different aspects of our human culture through each of them.  

UPCOMING EVENTS 

EARTH USA 2024 (Santa Fe, NM) 

More information can be found here: https://www.earthusa.org/ 

TICRAT 2024 (Albuquerque, NM) 

Unfortunately, all spots for TICRAT 2024 have been filled. But please visit https://www.bernco.gov/community-services/open-space/ticrat-international-workshop-2024/ for more information about future events.  

June Mud Blast

Adobe making Season!

Adobe making season is well underway with the completion of two successful Adobe Downtown events in May for Historic Preservation Month. Our Adobe Downtown workshop series are free opportunities for people of all ages to learn how to make adobes. 

This year, the events took place in both Santa Fe and Albuquerque, New Mexico. This was the first time that the event has ever taken place outside of Santa Fe, and it was well attended! Approximately 500 adobes were made of the 1,000 needed for the restoration of the San Felipe de Neri historic Carriage House in Albuquerque’s Old Town. Please stay tuned in for further updates about this project!

Adobe Downtown in Santa Fe!

Adobe Downtown at the Inn at Loretto in Santa Fe, NM

Adobe Downtown in Albuquerque!

Adobe Downtown participants in Albuquerque, NM.

In The News!
Cornerstones staff member and Adobe Downtown coordinator, Kateri Lopez, was interviewed by KOB 4 News during the event. Read the article or watch here: https://www.kob.com/new-mexico/keeping-new-mexico-traditions-alive-adobe-brick-making-event-held-in-old-town/

We would also like to give a special thanks to our Adobe Downtown Sponsors: Heritage Hotels, the New Mexico Multi-Cultural Foundation, Frank’s Supply, JPR Sand & Gravel, and The Village Mercantile Home and Farm Store. Thank you for your donations and sponsorships!

Coming up!
Adobe Making in Las Vegas, NM

Please join us for our upcoming Adobe Making event at the Luna Community College Campus in Las Vegas, NM! The workshop will take place Saturday, June 15th and Saturday, June 22nd 9am-1pm. Please refer to the flyer below for additional details.

Adobes made during these workshops will be used in the fire resistant, 800 sq ft. adobe model home that will be built by the continuing education class at Luna Community College in partnership with Cornerstones Community Partnerships starting in late August of 2024. Information about the class will be forthcoming.

Preservation Awards Ceremonies

2024 New Mexico Heritage Preservation Award

In 2019, the National Park Service designated a tiny, 2-room adobe ‘ruin’ as an American Treasure. Nearly 5 years later, this tiny casita on the historic Plaza del Cerro in Chimayó, NM has been restored and transformed into a livable property. This weekend, Cornerstones, along with all project partners, including Avanyu General Contracting, the Berryhill Family, and the Chimayó Cultural Preservation Association, was awarded the 2024 Heritage Preservation Award for our preservation efforts.

We want to applaud the community of Chimayó for their efforts, Avanyu General Contracting for their hard work, the Berryhill Family, and the Chimayó Cultural Preservation Association. Thank you also to all those who donated, volunteered, or cheered us on. ¡Qué viva Chimayó!

2024 Santa Fe Heritage Preservation Awards

Cornerstones was honored to accept this year’s Santa Fe Heritage Preservation Award. Cornerstones was recognized by the City of Santa Fe for our solar installation and preservation accomplishments at the historic San Miguel Chapel. 

TICRAT 2024: Workshop Series to take place at the historic Gutierrez-Hubbell House in Albuquerque, NM

The International Workshop on the Conservation and Restoration of Earthen Architecture (known by its Spanish acronym, TICRAT) is a bi-national partnership between the U.S. Government, Cornerstones, University of New Mexico, and Mexican counterparts, particularly, the Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (INAH).

This year, TICRAT will take place at the historic Gutiérrez-Hubbell House in Albuquerque’s South Valley. It is a two-and-a-half-day earthen building workshop intensive that focuses on earthen plastering, adobe making, building assessments, and wall stabilization. To register, please visit https://www.bernco.gov/community-services/open-space/ticrat-international-workshop-2024/ , or scan the QR code below. Register soon, spots are limited!

To learn more about what might be covered in the TICRAT workshop series, please watch our 2022 TICRAT video summary here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqnbJU1PvWE

Volunteer Spotlight!

As always, we want to thank all our volunteers who continue to support us by donating their time and energy in our many preservation projects throughout New Mexico.

Stephanie Camfield!

This month, we would like to highlight one of our dedicated volunteers, Stephanie Camfield! Stephanie came across Cornerstones while looking for opportunities to learn about earth building in New Mexico and found Cornerstones in an Internet search!

 Since then, Stephanie has volunteered on projects such as adobe making on the plaza in Albuquerque, her favorite part of which was seeing little ones who were literally getting into playing in the mud, head to toe!

When asked what her favorite part about volunteering with Cornerstones is, she said, “Playing in the mud, working together, and seeing everyone’s beautiful, smiling faces!”  Thank you, Stephanie, for all your hard work!

Upcoming Events 

June 15th & June 22nd – Las Vegas Adobe Making Days at Luna Community College Campus. No registration required!

September 17-19th – TICRAT 2024 at the Gutiérrez-Hubbell House, Albuquerque, NM. Please register at https://www.bernco.gov/community-services/open-space/ticrat-international-workshop-2024/

May Mud Blast

Cornerstones Wins Awards for Historic Preservation Month!

As we begin Historic Preservation Month this May, we are honored to announce that Cornerstones Community Partnerships is the recipient of two Heritage Preservation Awards. Please join us in celebrating our community and accomplishments by attending either of the award ceremonies listed below, or by joining us for one of our upcoming Adobe Downtown events! 

Cornerstones Receives Recognition for Preservation Projects

2024 Santa Fe Heritage Preservation Award

Cornerstones Community Partnerships will receive an award from the City of Santa Fe for our solar installation and preservation accomplishments at the historic San Miguel Chapel.

Please join us for the awards ceremony taking place this Thursday, May 9th at 5:30 at the San Miguel Chapel. A post-awards reception will follow.  

2024 New Mexico Heritage Preservation Award

In 2019, the National Park Service designated a tiny, 2-room adobe ‘ruin’ as an American Treasure. This structure, recognized as the Desiderio y Pablita Ortega Casita, is an 18th century historic residence on the National Register of Historic Places in Plaza del Cerro, Chimayó, New Mexico. The casita has sustained nearly 60 years of weathering and deterioration, making it unsafe, unstable, and unlivable. In the Fall of 2019, Cornerstones Community Partnerships was awarded the Save America’s Treasures Grant to restore and adapt the ruin, which is a tremendous step towards bringing the Plaza back to life.

The completion of this project has transformed the Casita, which was in a “ruin” state (collapsed roof, structurally unstable walls, tree invasion, etc.), into a livable property, and will be used by the community as a demonstration of how to restore and preserve surrounding historic structures.

Cornerstones is honored to be awarded the 2024 New Mexico Heritage Preservation award for our completion of the Desiderio y Pablita Ortega Casita. All project partners will jointly accept this award. Jake Barrow will accept on behalf of Cornerstones, Mateo Peixinho on behalf of Avanyu General Contracting, Catharine Martinez Berryhill on behalf of the Berryhill Family, and Don Usner on behalf of the Chimayo Cultural Preservation Association.

An award ceremony will take place Friday, May 17th at 1pm in the Historic Meem Hall, Laboratory of Anthropology. A reception will follow at the Museum of International Folk Art.

Volunteer Spotlight!

In celebration of National Volunteer Month in April, we made a call to our volunteers to share their favorite experiences volunteering with Cornerstones. We are so grateful to our volunteers for their willingness to donate their time and service. Your support not only helps Cornerstones, but our entire community. Thank you!

“I’m a visual artist who makes work about layered histories within architecture. I came to New Mexico for an artist residency and was incredibly fortunate to connect with Cornerstones within the first week of my arrival.

Through hands on labor, I learned the history of adobe, sifted soil and sand, mixed mud plaster that was then hoisted via pulley(!) to the roof of San Miguel Chapel, and finally applied to the caps of the adobe walls. I was SO tired that week, my body sore but invigorated.

 I was most struck by the commitment and dedication of the staff who return annually to ‘replenish’ multiple sites across NM. The cyclical labor of adobe restoration brought to the forefront our interconnectedness with the land and the importance of our stewardship. This not only shaped the lens through which I understood the built environment, but the hearts of the people who live there.

Working with Cornerstones left a lasting impression on me that has shifted my perspective and seeped into my art practice. Special thank you to Don and Kateri for their patience in teaching and creating an all-around good natured welcoming environment.”

– Carlie Trosclair, San Miguel Chapel

Photos By Carlie Trosclair

“I have been volunteering with Cornerstones since September 2021 with my first experience at the Providence Mine in the Mojave Preserve working with Alan Ash as the lead mason. This experience allowed me to meet and work with the Mojave National Preserve VIP Coordinators and Rangers.

My next Cornerstones project was south of Santa Fe, NM, working on the Rael Ranch Acequias where we cleaned and rebuilt the irrigation ditch. And finally in January 2024 I worked on an adobe wall restoration project in Death Valley, CA. 

My experience with Cornerstone is priceless while making new friends along the way. Thank you to Cornerstone staff and friends--Jake, Issac, Kateri, Alan, Pete, Ernesto, just to name a few.”

-Joe Burton, Rael Ranch Acequia, Mojave Preserve, Death Valley, CA

Photos by Joe Burton

“Working with Cornerstones was such a rewarding learning experience. Log Cabin Preservation was completely new to me, but the workshop with Kateri, Al, and Randy was just so fascinating. Being a small part in helping preserve a place with that much history felt big to me and I hope to do it again!” – Chloe Harrison, Montezuma Well Smokehouse

Photos by Chloe Harrison

Wellesley Village Church Youth Group

We would also like to take this opportunity to thank the Wellesley Village Church Youth Group for volunteering with Cornerstones each spring. Each year during the students’ spring break, the Youth Group travels from Massachusetts to join Cornerstones in various preservation efforts. Throughout the years, Wellesley has volunteered on projects such restoration of the Santo Domingo Trading Post, making adobe bricks for multiple projects, acequia cleaning in Chimayo, and preservation projects for the Desiderio y Pablita Ortega Casita in Plaza del Cerro. During this year’s adobe making in Plaza del Cerro, a number of students expressed how rewarding it was to have contributed to the restoration of a historic building and to see its progress each Spring.

Thank you, Wellesley Village Church Volunteers!

Photos by Kateri Lopez

Zuni Earth Day

In April, Cornerstones’ Program Director, Jake Barrow, joined members of Zuni Pueblo for their 2024 Earth Day Celebration. This year’s celebration focused on engaging members in a dialogue on climate resilience while honoring Zuni’s rich ecological heritage. This was an opportunity for meaningful conversations to take place surrounding community efforts to become more resilient to climate change.  

Jake Barrow represented Cornerstones and shared with attendees information about the San Miguel Solar Project and the preservation of historic landscapes.  

IAIA Adobe Making

Cornerstones recently led a series of workshops at the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA). These workshops engaged students in the IAIA Ceramics Program on adobe making, material studies, and the construction of a banco.

Photos by Daisy Quezada

 Luna Model Home Corners

Photo by Jake Barrow

Corners have been established for the Model Adobe Home on the Luna Community College Campus in Las Vegas, New Mexico. The construction of this model home is a community’s alternative, low-cost, and culturally appropriate housing solution for the Southwest on the heels of gentrification and devastating forest fires in Mora and San Miguel Counties, New Mexico (Calf Canyon/Hermits Peak), a federally designated National Disaster Area.

The proposed project is a partnership between Cornerstones Community Partnerships, Luna Community College, the Las Vegas Citizens Committee for Historic Preservation, and the Luna Community College Foundation.

The goal of this project is to demonstrate and construct a ca. 800 square-foot, code compliant, fire-resistant adobe home, which will include both passive and active solar. These efforts will involve the public, students, and professionals in making adobes and learning about traditional adobe building techniques. This proposed model home has great potential be a “hands-on” learning demonstration site for the new Heritage Trade Program being developed at Luna Community College in Las Vegas, New Mexico.

Upcoming Events

PRESERVATION AWARD CEREMONIES

Santa Fe Heritage Preservation Awards

When: Thursday, May 9th at 5:30pm

Where: San Miguel Chapel, 401 Old Santa Fe Trail

Post-Awards Reception: Historic Santa Fe Foundation, El Zaguan, 545 Canyon Road

2024 New Mexico Heritage Preservation Awards

When: Friday, May 17th at 1pm

Where: Historic Meem Hall, Laboratory of Anthropology, 708 Camino Lejo, Santa Fe, NM 

Reception: Museum of International Folk Art Atrium

ADOBE DOWNTOWN

Our annual Adobe Downtown events are coming up this month! Adobe Downtown will be a free event where the public will learn to make bricks and about New Mexico’s cherished building practices.

May 9 & 10 (9am-2pm) Inn at Loretto, Santa Fe, NM

May 24 & 25 (9am-2pm) Hotel Albuquerque, Albuquerque, NM

June 15 & 22 – Luna Community College, details TBA

Gearing up for Spring!

Happy March, friends of Cornerstones! We are so excited to share our latest MudBlast Newsletter. This issue is packed with project updates and information about upcoming opportunities to participate. We hope to see you out there!

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Death Valley

February 2024 marked a milestone towards the completion of a 9-year agreement with the National Park Service at Death Valley National Park. In 2015, Cornerstones entered a partnership with NPS to lead various workshops that focused on adobe repair and restoration within the Historic Cow Creek Compound. Workshops included adobe making, historic foundation repair, earthen plastering, and adobe wall construction. During February’s workshop, the last brick went on the wall. Thank you to everyone who participated! Planning is underway for an additional workshop in the Fall of 2024.

Cornerstones masons Ernest Aragon and Pete Maas along with Cornerstones intern Mayté Mendoza laying adobes that will be tied into the existing adobe wall

Mayté Mendoza leveling adobe bricks onto an earthen mortar

Cornerstones Crew laying lime amended cap bricks onto the newly constructed adobe wall.

Annual ‘Limpia’ of the Rael Ranch Acequia

It is ‘La Limpia’ season here in New Mexico and cleaning has begun on the Rael Ranch Acequia. The Rael Ranch Acequia was established in 1718 and 2024 will mark the acequia’s 306th year in use. Cornerstones staff, interns, and community members are hard at work cleaning the 2-mile long acequia removing leaves, rocks, and sediment buildup along the ditch. Additional work will include the rebuilding of damaged sections with reinforced stonework. These workshops will be led by master stone mason Alan Ash. Additionally, Gordon Tooley of Tooley’s Trees will be leading interns and volunteers in a tree pruning demonstration at the Rael Ranch Orchard. Spring is on its way!

Mayé Mendoza and Alhelí Harvey cleaning the Rael Ranch Acequia. Photo credit: Isaiah Romo

Montezuma Well Smokehouse

In addition to historic adobe and acequia preservation, Cornerstones is also collaborating with partners to preserve the Back Ranch Smokehouse located within the Montezuma Well Unit of Montezuma Castle National Monument. The Back Ranch Smokehouse was built in the 1890s and is the oldest known log structure in central/northern Arizona. The logs of this structure have sustained damage caused by nearly 134 years of weathering, deterioration, and extensive termite infestation. Cornerstones has partnered with the National Park Service to develop an extensive preservation plan that will ensure the cabin retains its current ‘as-is’ condition and does not suffer additional damage.

A workshop will take place in the coming weeks during which Cornerstones staff and interns will work alongside NPS staff to address log movement and drainage issues. This workshop will be led by log structure preservation specialist Al Williams.

Historical Architect Randy Skeirik and Preservation Specialist, Al Williams, accessing the condition of the structure's sill logs. Photos by Kateri Lopez.

Organ Pipe

This winter we completed 3 two-week workshops at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument with volunteers, interns, and NPS employees. Two of these workshops focused on the Levy's Store at Victoria Mine. Levy's Store is now a ruin of a single-room stone building in a designated wilderness. Our project has been to reconstruct recently collapsed wall sections with the stones from the structure and earthen mortar dug on site. We also reinforced the openings with new hidden steel lintels, so the structure is safe for visitors to enter.

Our third workshop continued our work at the historic adobe Dos Lomitas Ranch House. Cornerstones has been repairing major structural issues with the building that have been covered in cementitious stucco for decades. Volunteers were trained in building wall shoring, basal repair, and traditional mud plastering. We'll be back in the fall to remove the remaining cement stucco and replace it with a lime render. 

Cornerstones Intern Isaiah Romo and volunteer, Tom Slocum, assisting with collapsed stone wall reconstruction and steel lintel installation, making the stone structure safe for visitors to enter.

Zuni Viga Training Workshop

The small team of Zuni Tribal members trained by Jake Barrow have completed the viga end restoration at Wall Kiva in the center village. This coming Earth Day, on April 22, Jake will participate in the conclusion of this project at Zuni and present our San Miguel Solar Exhibit and check out the work that the Zuni team has completed. 

Zuni Tribal Members, Hubert Gahachu and son, working on viga end restoration.

Hosting Earthen Architecture Professionals from Saudi Arabia 

On Feb. 19 Jake hosted a contingent of 13 Saudi Arabian Professionals focused on earthen architecture preservation. The group convened at the Chimayo History Museum where Dan Jaramillo (Chimayo Cultural Preservation Association) provided them a history of the community, the Plaza del Cerro and a personalized tour of the museum.

Jake gave a presentation about the Save Americas Treasures Grant project- Restoration of the Casita Desiderio y Pablita Ortega at the construction site. The focus was integration of community with preservation projects such as these. They purchased 4 of our Handbooks and said they would be in touch with us about conducting training in their country.  

“For the Love of Adobe” Mixer

We are so grateful to all who attended our “For the Love of Adobe” mixer! This was a terrific opportunity to meet new people and connect with the greater Cornerstones Community. For those who were unable to attend, you were missed, and we hope to see you in the future.

Cornerstones in the Press

The National Trust for Historic Preservation recently published a wonderful article written by Jake Barrow about the San Miguel Solar Project. You can read the article by clicking the link below:

https://savingplaces.org/stories/turning-to-solar-at-santa-fe-san-miguel-chapel?utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=grants

Coming Up…

MAY 2024

May 10 & 11 - Adobe Downtown Santa Fe, NM 9am -2pm @ Inn at Loretto

May 18 – Heritage Day Festival at Casa San Ysidro in Corrales, NM

May 24 & 25 – Adobe in Old Town Albuquerque, NM 9am-2pm @ Hotel Albuquerque

TBA- Adobe making at Luna Community College

SAVE THE DATE: Noche Feliz returns!

 Have you heard of the adobe-making Wild West Nun who challenged Billy the Kid? Mark your calendars for October 10th, 2024, and come find out as our annual gala Noche Feliz makes its anxiously awaited return!

Happy New Year!

Cover photo: Coyote footprints in freshly made adobes in Death Valley National Park this past December

MUDBLAST – HAPPY NEW YEAR! 

            As the new year begins, we would like to take this opportunity to wish you a Happy New Year and thank you all for your generous support. Thanks to you, we had a very successful and productive 2023. To celebrate, we would like to share with you an update on some of our exciting winter projects!

The “Mixer” – a gathering of representatives from different tribes to discuss the importance of earthen architecture in their respective cultures.

On November 13th and 14th, 2023, 27 Native American participants from the 2022 Terra Conference reconvened at Santa Clara Pueblo to engage together, strengthen networking, and reinforce the importance of earthen architecture in their respective cultures. Starting out in Puye Cliffs, the ancestral home of Santa Clara Pueblo, the group began the two-day session sharing knowledge in discussions and presentations. The program ended with an assessment of a deteriorating adobe within the Pueblo intended for preservation and community use followed by a visit to a recently preserved home.  Cornerstones is proud to have supported this gathering with grant funding from the Getty Foundation and the Chamiza Foundation through the Getty Conservation Institute.

Photo by Garron Yepa

Plaza del Cerro Update!

Things are progressing quickly at the Desiderio y Pablita Ortega Casita in Chimayo, NM. Below is a recent photo taken of the casita, in which you will see roofing going on, and a temporary shelter for the holidays. The Desiderio y Pablita Ortega Casita is an 18th century historic residence contributing to the National Register of Historic Districts, Plaza del Cerro. This project is funded through the Save America’s Treasures Grant. Cornerstones is in partnership with the Chimayo Cultural Preservation Association and has retained Avanyu General Contracting to accomplish the work. Avanyu is responsible for the center village restoration going on at Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo. Many techniques learned there are being applied in Chimayo.  

 Photo by Mateo Peixinho

Photo by Jake Barrow of Desiderio y Pablita Ortega Casita taken in 2020, before restoration work began.

Death Valley National Park, CA

            Cornerstones staff returned to Death Valley National Park, CA to continue restoration work within the Historic Cow Creek Compound, an area within the park designed and constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps in (est.) 1935 using natural (unstabalized) adobe bricks. The scope of work for this workshop focused on historic foundation repair. Under the direction of master mason, Pete Mass, and NPS historical architect, Randy Skeirik, participants excavated the failing foundation, built forms for foundation reinforcement, and poured a new foundation that will support the compound’s adobe wall. In addition to foundation repair, workshop participants also made 700+ lime amended cap brick adobes that will be placed on top of the unamended adobes during the adobe wall construction workshop that will take place at the park in January.

Cornerstones Interns, Isaiah Romo and Matthew Mulligan making lime amended cap bricks with NPS staff. Photos by Kateri Lopez.

Cornerstones’ First Annual Photo Contest!

  Wow! We are beyond thrilled with the level of engagement for our first annual photo contest fundraiser. We received a total of 35 entries from across the U.S. Many showcased community gatherings, matanzas, adobe making days, earthen architecture, and ancestral adobe homes. Thank you to all those who shared your photos with us and thank you to all who voted! We are already looking forward to next year’s photo contest.

First Place Winner: Keeping the Faith by DeAngelo Nieves

Ladies from Doña Ana standing in front of Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria at the beginning of the church’s restoration (circa 1992).

Second Place Winner: Gateway of Promise by Robert Bowley

New Mexico has opened her doors to people of many ethnic backgrounds, religions, cultures, and political beliefs. Now we need to find a way to live together harmoniously.

Third Place Winner: Adobe Summer by DeAngelo Nieves

Doña Ana youth making adobes for the restoration of Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria (circa 1994).

Don’t forget, the winning 3 photographs will be on display at the National Hispanic Cultural Center Library in Albuquerque, NM throughout the month of January!

Adobe on the Move!

Adobes being made in Las Vegas, NM at the Luna Community College. Photo by Barb Odell.

The month of August has been hot, busy, and productive! Many exciting things lay on the horizon as we wrap up summer projects and continue to foster positive relations with project partners. In the month of August, Cornerstones hosted 2 workshops in southern Colorado, participated in the 15th Annual Luna Community College Heritage Week in Las Vegas, NM, and broke ground on a highly anticipated project at the Plaza del Cerro Desiderio y Pablita Ortega Casita in Chimayó. We are also proud to announce the completion of a 5 year project and partnership with Positive Energy Solar to bring clean solar energy to the San Miguel Chapel in Santa Fe, NM. 

San Miguel Solar Project

Santa Fe’s San Miguel Chapel, the country’s oldest Catholic church, takes a step into the future as it goes solar! This highly anticipated project has been in the works for 5 years, though Cornerstones began working with Saint Michaels High School and 500+ volunteers to restore the church’s walls since the early 2000s. In partnership with Positive Energy Solar, 20 solar panels were installed on the church’s roof.

Years of research were necessary in assuring the building’s ability to support additional weight. In interviews with the Albuquerque Journal, Santa Fe New Mexican, and KRQE News 13, Cornerstones’ Program Director Jake Barrow said the school’s board of trustees required a feasibility study before making decisions on the solar panels. “It continues to be a live building,” he said. “Sustainability and renewable energy is a positive thing, so making the chapel sustainable and continuing it in its original use is very important.”

Maintaining the historic integrity of the Church was also a main priority for us and our project partners. Jake Barrows emphasizes this in asking, “Could the panels be concealed, necessary because the chapel is right in the historic district.”  With this in mind, a plan was implemented, ensuring that the construction and installation of the solar panels would not threaten the historic structure.

This $80,000 project was funded entirely by grants and donations, and we would like to give a big “thank you!” to all of our project partners, volunteers, and donors who worked together and supported us in this step towards finding sustainable solutions in our historic places.

Links to San Miguel Chapel Solar Project news articles can be found here:

Albuquerque Journal: Oldest Church, Newest Technology

Santa Fe New Mexican : Santa Fe's 'Oldest Church' Goes Solar

KRQE NEWS: Oldest Church in the United States is Now Solar Powered

Luna Community College Adobe Making Workshop Adobe Recipient

Earlier this summer, we partnered with Luna Community College, the Luna Foundation, and the Las Vegas Citizens’ Committee for Historic Preservation to hold four adobe-making sessions at the Luna campus in Las Vegas. The purpose of these workshops was to bring the community together to make adobes for those affected by the fire and floods in Mora and San Miguel counties last summer. The workshop was attended by more than 100 people from across New Mexico, and together made over 1,6000 adobes.

By late July, these adobes were dry and ready to be used! Mary Louise Gallegos from La Tewa in San Miguel County was the first recipient of these adobes made by Cornerstones and community members to benefit properties affected by last summer’s devastating fires and floods. For more information on how to get adobes, contact Luna’s Outreach and Community Support team.

Photos courtesy of Jessie Gallegos

More information can be found at Luna Community College News

Colorado Workshops!

Saguache, CO

In August, we returned to Sagauche, Colorado for the June 2023 workshop’s second component, adobe wall construction. During this two-day workshop, the Cornerstones team worked alongside volunteers, community members, and a local youth group from Denver, to build a garden wall at the entrance of the children’s park. All of the adobes used in building this wall were made by community members during the first workshop that took place in June, in which 20 participants from Saguache and the surrounding San Luis Valley participated. Even seasonal rains couldn’t deter us!

Photos courtesy of Michael Pacheco

These workshops were funded by a CLG (Certified Local Government) subgrant awarded by History Colorado to the Town of Saguache and the Saguache Historic Preservation Commision.

To read more about the two workshops, visit the link below!

Alamosa News: Saguache Adobe Workshop offers hands-on learning

Montoya Ranch, Colorado

            From Saguache, members of the Cornerstones team drove east to Huerfano County. Here, we partnered with Colorado Preservation, Inc. (CPI) for the 2023 Endangered Places Weekend Workshop, which took place at the Montoya Ranch. Montoya Ranch was added to Colorado’s Most Endangered Places list in 2014, and is the only known adobe building in the United States with a full basement. Constructed in the 1860s, the building began as a farmhouse. Between 1910 and 1930, an addition was added to accommodate a general store in the building. A jacal addition was added in the 1930s when the building was used as the local post office. Throughout the years, Montoya Ranch was also used for sheep ranching, a rare industry for this part of Colorado.

            Though there were approximately 12 registered participants in attendance, many neighbors stopped by to see what was going on and to share their own stories the Montoya Ranch building, as well as stories from their childhood and their connection surrounding area.

During this workshop, we went over adobe making, earthen plastering, and alíz plaster application. All materials were gathered locally.

Volunteer Hightlight!

This month we would like to highlight one our long-time and outstanding volunteers, Robert Kelly! Robert is from Ojo Feliz in Mora, New Mexico and has been working with Cornerstones off and on for 13 years! Robbie has worked with Cornerstones as both an intern and volunteer, stating that he wanted to learn how to help his community in some way and working with Cornerstones had presented him this opportunity. In a recent interview at the Luna Community College Adobe-Making Day, he stated, “I love working with adobe and mud, especially because it’s affordable, so I’m able to help a lot of people who can’t afford other types of housing.

Robbie attended the adobe making days in Las Vegas to support Luna Community College, the college he attended. He also believes that it is important to help community members rebuild after the fires.

He is currently enrolled in seminary school and is studying philosophy. Robert plans to return to New Mexico to serve as a priest within the Archdiocese of Santa Fe.

Spring

Ditch cleaning and wild weather means it’s spring in New Mexico! Because so much of our work is sustained by seasonal cycles, springtime marks an important point of return. Seeds are being sown as we plan and schedule for a fruitful year ahead.

 PRUNING AND DITCH CLEANING AT RAEL ACEQUIA

 The spring ritual, ‘La Limpia,’ is nearing completion at the Rael Acequia in La Cienega. Our next effort will be to rebuild another damaged section of bank with reinforced stonework. To maintain historic character, all materials including stones, gravel, dirt and sand, will be sourced on-site. Additionally, we are excited to have orchardist Gordon Tooley of Tooley’s Trees out of Truchas, New Mexico, join in the field next week. Gordon and his interns will lead a tree pruning demonstration at the Rael Ranch Orchard.

Limpia in progress at Rael Acequia.

TEST WALLS AT SAN MIGUEL MISSION

 After 13 years of exposure, the test wall at San Miguel has begun to fail. In 2010, the San Miguel preservation project got underway with the construction of an adobe test wall to evaluate different soils for mud plaster. Our goal was to find the most durable material possible. After a diligent search, we found a source for very high-quality soil that was ca. 95% clay. The deposit was on private land below the Sangre de Christo Mountains, above Tesuque Pueblo. While hard to process, this clay proved itself on our test wall. Earthen walls covered with this “gold” in 2011 have yet to be re-plastered and are holding up well - 12 years of durability! Yet our test wall is sadly at the end of its useful life. Only a remnant remains. While the mud plaster has endured, basal erosion has deteriorated the adobes beneath, as the photo demonstrates.

Our Program Director, Jake Barrow, with test wall.

Exterior wall of San Miguel Chapel. After 12 years of exposure to the elements, the earthen render is holding up remarkably well. 

LAKE VALLEY SCHOOLHOUSE WINDOW RESTORATION | KIEL HOUSE GABLE END

 Last month Cornerstones spent two weeks working on two buildings at the Lake Valley Historic Townsite; The Kiel House and the historic Schoolhouse.  Cornerstones interns, Kateri Lopez and Ruben Kimmelman, worked with  carpenter, Fred Flores and project manager, Randy Skeirik, to complete the window restoration project at the Schoolhouse. Window trim was painted with a linseed oil paint and reset, and the original wood windows, two-over-two, double-hung sash, were restored and made fully operational using original hardware. The team also set the original transom window above the entrance doors.

 At the Kiel House, we addressed an unsympathetic patch of amended adobes on the building’s south wall gable. The amended adobes were removed and replaced with natural adobes that were made to match the color and size of the original bricks. Several of the original adobes on the south wall were also replaced due to severe erosion over the years.

Resetting transom window at the Schoolhouse.

Kateri securing exterior trim.

Ruben and Issac removing unsympathetic amended adobes at the Kiel House.

Lea, smiling after laying the last adobe of the repair area.

Cornerstones crew making adobes to match the original dimensions of those used at the Kiel House.

CASITA DESIDERIO Y PABLITA ORTEGA

 Limited-Focus demolition work has been completed at Casita Desiderio y Pablita Ortega in Chimayó! Our partners, Avanyu General Contracting, conducted assessments and have carefully removed deteriorated material, saving as much of the original fabric as possible. An excavator was hired to remove deeply embedded tree roots from the site. Now that we know what we are working with, we are ready to move forward with rehabilitation.

Avanyu Construction Manager, Mateo Peixinho, standing in front of Casita Desiderio y Pablita Ortega. Construction permit and Save America’s Treasures sign on his right.

A powerful excavator pulled and cleared stubborn roots from the site.

ALAN ASH

 Many of you have inquired about our friend, Alan. Alan Ash, Master Stonemason, has contracted with us since 2016 when he led the stabilization of a section of retaining wall on the old La Bajada roadway. More recently, he led the workshops to construct the Agua Fria Torreon, which serves as a prominent forever monument in the village. His work is typically all dry-laid in the European tradition of stone walling. While labor-intensive, the craft is characterized by its longevity- a well-built wall lasting centuries. 

 In October 2022, while leaving a restoration job out of Deming, NM, Alan was impacted head-on by an oncoming vehicle, narrowly escaping with his life. He is presently in long-term rehab with no guarantee of being able to work again. His daughter has set up a Go FundMe on his behalf. For more information, contact us at: Contact@cstones.org.

Alan standing in front of reinforced bank at Rael Acequia, 2022

Agua Fria Torreon.

NMHPA SURVEY

 Finally, Thank you to everyone who participated in our recent survey. Your feedback provided valuable information that is currently under review. Thank you!

Site Visits and Anticipating Spring

NUESTRA SEÑORA DE GUADALUPE, EL MACHO

Last Friday, our Program Director, Jake Barrow, and board members, Diantha McJilton, Eva Schmatz, and Boni Armijo, along with Granddaughter M’Kaylie Armijo, met with community members of El Macho, NM, at their beloved Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe Mission. 

Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe was built in 1857. It is constructed of adobe and contains a stone ribbon footing with a ribbed metal panel roof. A 1962 renovation saw the original sacristy removed, and was replaced with modern materials on the other side of the building. The south wall shows signs of horizontal and vertical cracking, which may be related to the removal of the sacristy. A photograph of the original sacristy would be helpful to confirm this; hopefully, one will emerge. We discussed what could be done to repair the wall and other interventions to prevent further damage to the building. In 2021 the mission families began fundraising to rebuild the south wall. So far, they have raised over $60k from mostly small contributions. We love to see it!

From L to R: Community members Victor Ortiz, Richard Roybal, Irene Romero, Mary Biles. Cornerstones crew Boni Armijo, Granddaughter M'Kaylie Armijo, Diantha McJilton, Eva Schmatz. Photo by Jake Barrow.

Shoring was put in place in 2021 to brace the vulnerable south wall and support the weight of the roof. The shoring spans eleven vigas. Photo by Jake Barrow.

Stained glass window. Photo by Jake Barrow.

SAN MIGUEL DEL VADO

In early February, community members of San Miguel del Vado (sometimes spelled "Bado") contacted us about a building held by the San Miguel del Vado Land Grant. Jake met up with Louis Gallegos, one of the land grant officials, who provided the tour of the building- an adobe structure with few windows and a later addition timber-framed pitched roof (partially collapsed).
                                                                                                          
San Miguel del Vado is the founding settlement of the land grant of the same name. The village is located on the west bank of the Rio Pecos along Highway 3 south of Interstate 25. The San Miguel del Vado Land Grant was the first major community land grant to expand the periphery of Spanish settlement on the eastern frontier of New Mexico. Following Mexican Independence in 1821, it served as an important commerce point between the United States and Mexico along the Santa Fe Trail.

In 1794 Lorenzo Marquez, for himself and on behalf of fifty-one other Santa Fe families, asked Governor Fernando Chacón to make them a land grant  at the place called "El Vado." Governor Chacón made the grant to the petitioners under the condition that the vecinos (citizens of the land grant) build a fortified plaza and dig an irrigation ditch to deliver water to the fields, and for governing, maintaining and defending their community.
 
The building remains somewhat of a mystery. It is clear that the original roof was flat, and the defensive style design (few windows, bars) would indicate it could date to the colonial period. There is currently no record of occupation; more research is needed. The community is very enthusiastic about saving their building, and we hope to help them do so!

 

Vecino Louis Gallegos.

Gable end and partially collapsed roof. Photo by Jake Barrow.

Gable end and partially collapsed roof. Photo by Jake Barrow.

CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS
FOR CLEANING THE RAEL ACEQUIA

We’re excited to enter our fifth season working on the Rael Ranch near La Cienega. Every year as the days grow longer and spring approaches, we return to clean the Rael Acequia to bring water back to the old apple, apricot, pear, plums, quince, and mulberry trees. After 300+ years of continual use, the Rael Acequia needs annual maintenance and some more major repairs. 

Like past years, we are looking for volunteers to help shovel debris, cut back overgrown brush, and help reconstruct portions of the embankment with the on-site stone and clay. Please email issac@cstones.org with your name, phone number, and availability for more details. We’ll be working on the acequia through the month of March and first two weeks of April.  

Spring 2022 stonework in progress. Photo by Lea Andersson.
 

Rael Acequia. Photo by Lea Andersson

Casita Desiderio | Dos Lomitas Continued

PLAZA DEL CERRO, CHIMAYO

 We are pleased to announce that work at Casita Desiderio y Pablita Ortega is starting up soon! The first task is removing tree roots and focused limited demolition to recover as much historic fabric as possible when roots come out. Adobe will be saved for reuse.

Project permit and signage.

DOS LOMITAS CONTINUED

 In January, Cornerstones returned to Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument for continued work on the Dos Lomitas Ranch House. The Cornerstones team and two volunteers, Chae Perez and Jose Dominguez, focused on assessing the structural viability of 103 year old adobe walls and repairing them with traditional adobes made by Cornerstones and Arizona Conservation Corps last November. 

The west wall of the Ranch House was extremely vulnerable due to burrowing rodents and basal erosion from moisture issues–both worsened by the cement stucco. The team constructed temporary shoring to support the roof load and upper portion of the wall while the incompatible stucco was cut and removed in sections. Damaged adobes were carefully removed and replaced with new ones. Cornerstones will continue to work with the National Park Service to fully stabilize the structure and make it safe for visitors to the Park.

The team. Back row from L to R: Kateri, Issac, Whitney, Ruben, Chae. Front row from L to R: José, Lea, Caroline.

Cornerstones volunteers, José and Chae, dry-packing upper mortar gaps in the reconstructed corner of the building.

West wall showing basal voids supported by shims and blocking. Shoring was installed where the wall was most vulnerable.

WELCOME BACK, JEAN!

 After two years away, Jean Bowley is out of retirement and back at Cornerstones. At 96, retirement simply didn't suit her style. Jean's connection with Cornerstones spans more than twenty-five years, beginning as a volunteer in the early days of our office operations. We are grateful for her lasting contributions and many years of service at Cornerstones. Jean will celebrate her 96th birthday this month. Happy Birthday, Jean! We are glad to have you back!

Jean Bowley, 96.

Cornerstones Community Gallery and Partnership with AZCC

CORNERSTONES COMMUNITY GALLERY

Cornerstones ended the new year on a good note, wrapping up workshops in Southern Arizona and finishing projects here at home in New Mexico. As we step into the new year, we are also excited to announce the creation of Cornerstones Community Gallery. 

Our team painted the walls, built a partition and cleared out filing cabinets and outdated cubicles at our office space in downtown Santa Fe to create a beautiful new gallery. In December we had a soft launch of the space, showcasing decades of photographs from artist and Cornerstones volunteer Jim Gautier. Soon we will open the gallery to the public for art exhibitions and events related to New Mexico’s architectural and cultural heritage. 

Cornerstones Community Gallery.

Angela Francis applying an earthen render onto our new gallery partition wall.

Cornerstones Community Gallery.New Mexico Heritage Preservation Alliance (NMHPA) Board of Directors- Jeff Pappas, Vicky Jacobson and David Rasch (Shawn Evans was absent) attending their last official meeting at Cornerstones (CCP) on Dec. 15, 2022.  Cornerstones Executive Director Trinette Robichaux-Chicock and Vice chair of the CCP Board Eva Schmatz are in the photo taken by CCP Program Director Jake Barrow. The NMHPA ceased operations in 2022 and transferred their remaining bank balance to CCP. CCP has a grant from the Santa Fe Community Foundation to evaluate the mission and vision of the Heritage Alliance in order that aspects of the Alliance’s activities may be incorporated into CCP operations.

PARTNERSHIP WITH ARIZONA CONSERVATION CORPS

For the full month of November, Cornerstones partnered with Arizona Conservation Corps to complete training workshops in Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. AZCC sent a Tohono O’odham youth crew to work on two of our current projects within the park–the stabilization and preservation of Dos Lomitas Ranch House and Levy’s Store at Victoria Mine. The crew was developed to focus on historic preservation in National Park sites throughout Southern Arizona.

During these four weeks, the crew learned about soil composition, how to make adobes, building assessments, interior and exterior earthen plaster, basal repair and adobe stitching techniques. After working with adobe, we also included a training session on stonemasonry using earthen mortars. 

AZCC crew member, Ben, placing earthen mortar at Levy’s Store at Victoria Mine.

AZCC crew with adobes made on-site from local soils. From L to R: Shane, Ben, Cole Shamira.

AZCC crew member Shane “stitching” in new adobes.

Alan Ash & Rocky Mountain Youth | Fort Bowie

Alan Ash helps lead Youth Program at Elephant Butte

Master Stonemason Alan Ash, a core member of our field team, supervised work by the Rocky Mountain Youth Corp this past week. Their project repaired and restored a house built by the Civilian Conservation Core in the 1930s within the Elephant Butte Historic District, outside of Truth or Consequences, NM. Elephant Butte Reservoir, set along the Rio Grande, has been a designated place for recreation for much of the last century, and the CCC houses were built to encourage travel and leisure. RMYC provides diverse opportunities for young people to participate in outdoor-based service and education, with internships, regional youth crews, and conservation crew programs.

Mickayla Hodgman, a Conservation Program Coordinator for Rocky Mountain Youth Corps, sent us a letter about the crew's work with Alan. She wrote:

Our crew worked with Alan for the last 8 days in Elephant Butte restoring the historic casitas to their sandstone finish. I just wanted to reach out to you and let you know that he was an absolute joy to work with. The crew reiterated multiple times that he is a kind and patient teacher and a daily source of positive morale.

His experience and expertise is evident in his comfort and ease with instructing, answering questions, and pivoting when things need adjusting.

I personally really appreciated his communication with me behind the scenes to keep the project moving in the right direction.

We deeply appreciated this praise for Alan, and we also loved hearing more about how youth are learning his traditional restoration techniques. Their project involved removing non-historic stucco from the rec house and repairing the stonewall underneath - technical work that deserves greater appreciation and wider knowledge.

An interesting aside of the Elephant Butte project was that it had a personal connection to our longstanding work at Rael Ranch, here in Santa Fe County. Alan Ash has joined our crews at Rael over the last few years, supervising repairs to the acequia that are accomplished through building stone walls within the acequia's banks. Alan learned that the Elephant Butte recreation site was built by a CCC team that included Alonso Rael, the last of the Raels to tend the fields at the 300-year-old family ranch. The deepening of our connection to that small part of New Mexican history was nice for Alan and the rest of our team.

A Trip to Fort Bowie

Recently our crew returned to Fort Bowie National Historic Site to continue work in the Post Trader’s Store. After decades of abandonment, the only remaining fragments are the adobe walls and the stone foundations they sit on. These unprotected adobe ruins have gone through decades of preservation treatments in order to prevent additional loss of the historic material.

Our crew was there to conduct a preservation training workshop and to work alongside National Park Service staff. We applied lime plasters and pigmented limewashes to the 1860s adobe walls. Lime plasters are much more compatible with adobe, particularly because of the “breathability” or the vapor permeability, than modern alternatives such as Portland cement-based stucco.

La Cueva & San Miguel | Jim's Photo Event and Cards

Continuing Church Work:
San Miguel and La Cueva

Cornerstones often carries out our work according to seasons, brickmaking before the monsoons, plastering after, and projects at National Parks outside New Mexico come late fall and winter. Over the last two weeks, we continued mud plaster work at Churches on parapets at San Miguel here in Santa Fe and walls of La Cueva in Mora. We plastered and did basal repairs across Mora throughout September, at Cleveland, Turquillo, and La Cueva. We continued to enjoy working alongside the people of Mora and volunteers as well as the audible support of passerby honking and calling out.

Angela Francis, our lead plasterer, headed up our work at La Cueva, and she worked alongside senior plasterer Don Sena on the San Miguel Parapets. We focused on basal repair around all of La Cueva while also addressing individual wall cracks. Basal repair is always needed on older adobe churches as moisture wicks up and erodes the bottom of walls. On the front of the building, we only had to do basal repairs around the corners. We applied a full coat on the back wall and did repairs on the west-facing side wall. On the east wall, we filled in spaces where there were large delaminations of plaster. The main situational challenge for La Cueva is that some walls weather more, particularly the back wall. Where there is more plastering remaining from previous years, there is less year-round weathering, and so plastering is overly thick. We tried to not over build out the plaster too much on the side walls as the weight of the plaster leads to the delaminating. San Miguel needed less-strategized attention, simply more mudding at the parapet tops to maintain them through the winter. We are proud to announce that the Catholic Foundation has awarded us two grants to continue preservation work on Mora missions.

Photos by Lea Andersson and Lucas Burdick

Jim Gautier Gallery Event:
A Party To Remember

We had a lovely, festive time this past Thursday at our event for Jim Gautier and his photographic work for Cornerstones over his last 30 plus years.

His wife Peggy read a beautiful statement by Jim written years before his death, saying he hoped he had another 25 years to take photos for Cornerstones, one of his favorite avocations.

Monie Blum, who recently timed off the board after serving as our Board Chair and member for two terms introduced our new Executive Committee: Lorna Calles who now serves as our new Board Chair joined by Eva Schmatz as our new Vice Chair, Lori Valencia is remaining on as our Treasurer, and Garron Yepa is joining the Committee as Secretary.

Jake Barrow, our acting Executive Director, also announced a new fund, set up in Jim's honor, that will support training interns at core mission projects. Jim loved documenting Cornerstones field work, taking action shots and before-and-after photos. He would be proud to be the namesake of a program that will preserve the buildings and communities across New Mexico he loved so. You can donate to that fund online through the button below or you can mail us a donation. 

Cornerstones sold prints of Jim's photographs, both matted and framed at the event. We intend to set the remaining photographs up in our office, which we are presently transforming into a gallery space. We also hope to make new print some of the photographs we sold.
 
Notecards of Jim's photos are also for sale. We made these for the Holiday season now upon us, and we can mail them to you or have them available for pick up. They are $25 for one set and $45 for two. These can be purchased on our website or in-person. Email contact@cstones.org to set up a time to meet us at the office. 
 
You can order cards for pick-up or mailing - and see the entire card set - at cstones.org/notecards

Mora Plastering | Moque Morada | TICRAT Documentary

Plastering in Mora

We are excited to report back on our early successes in plastering churches in Mora. Our staff and volunteers, Angela Francis, Tom Slocum, Ruben Kimmelman, Alejandro Jaramillo, and Kateri Lopez, joined volunteers from the surrounding community working on the repairs to the Santa Teresita Church in El Turquillo. A smaller crew, including volunteer Debbie Long, helped plaster San Antonio Catholic Church in Cleveland, NM. Passerbys cheered and honked horns as we worked, particularly in Cleveland, where the church is on a main road. The drive-by feedback imparted positive feelings in Mora, refreshing at a time when fire and flood have been so present in the community.

The first three photos are from Cleveland, provided by Angela Francis; photos below that are photos from Santa Teresita provided by the Mayordoma, Rebecca Montoya.

Progress at Moque Morada

A guest post by friend of Cornerstones, Anne Galer.

With the help of the Abiquiu community, Cornerstones’ adobe experts and volunteers, preservation work on the Moque Morada is nearing completion. When the project began in early 2019, my structural assessment revealed large parts of the interior adobe walls had been melted by water. Faulty drainage from the old metal roof was allowing water to collect at the base of the exterior north wall, and windowpanes were broken. It was clear that intervention was needed before serious damage endangered the entire structure.

The Moque Morada is unusual in that women are its caretakers. Theresa Jaramillo, the Hermana Mayor of the morada, reached out, and Cornerstones got involved. Thanks to Cornerstones’ Stephen Calles, the metal roof which was damaged by winds and age was secured, and a new gutter and downspouts now channel water away from the building.

A Documentary on TICRAT

Our thanks to Barb Odell, who has made us another great video, this one documenting TICRAT 2022, a four-day workshop this past June where some of the finest adobe builders in NM taught a range of adobe building skills. This 37-minute film produced by Cornerstones Community Partnerships captures the feeling of the workshops as narrated by Abiquiú community member Virgil Trujillo. We hope you enjoy it.

Fundraiser Celebrating Jim Gautier | UNM Summer Academy

Fundraiser in honor of our friend, Jim Gautier

We are very excited to be celebrating the life and work of our friend, Jim Gautier, who we lost last year. In the weeks before his untimely death, Jim was out in the field doing what he loved best—photographing the old mission churches of Northern New Mexico for Cornerstones. In his honor, we are holding a fundraising sale of his photos and a catered reception on Thursday, September 29, from 5:00 to 7:00 at Nedra Matteucci Galleries at 1075 Paseo De Peralta in Santa Fe.

Throughout his decades as a photographer, Jim continuously donated proceeds from his prints to Cornerstones. He also routinely called us to ask about projects underway so he could catch an action shot. His dedicated and devoted spirit expressed themselves through his work to capture the essence of a place. Jim began his professional career with the YMCA; soon he became Director of the Los Alamos YMCA where he loved developing youth programs. Towards retirement, he served on numerous boards, including ours.

Honoring Jim, we are establishing a fund in his name to support training and intern development. Our goal is to raise $30,000. This celebratory event kicks off this endeavor. Months before his death he was preparing photos for a Cornerstones fundraiser. Sadly, he is no longer with us, but we still have the photos he prepared, matted, and framed.

Limited gallery space and caterer planning require us to request an RSVP. To do so, by Tuesday, September 20th, contact us by calling (505) 982-9521 ext. 100, emailing contact@cstones.org, or mailing us at 227 Otero St, Santa Fe, NM 87501. Your name must be on our list to enter the gallery.

Over 34 years, Jim Gautier volunteered to document the mission churches of New Mexico tying his work to our projects. We hope you will purchase one of his photographs or donate to the fund we are establishing. All proceeds will support Cornerstones Community Partnerships. We look forward to seeing you at the show.

To see some of Jim’s work, check out this page.

UNM Summer Academy

In addition to the work we do in the field, we often partner with local institutions to educate local youth on all things adobe. This summer Issac Logsdon, our Assistant Program Director, visited the University of New Mexico’s Architecture and Design Summer Academy. This program is  intended to immerse interested high school students in architecture and design. This year the program had a special focus on designing a structure using adobe.

Alongside Cornerstones, the group made miniature adobes, learned about historic preservation, and the cultural history of adobe construction in New Mexico. 

Earth USA | International Earthen Building Committee

Earth USA 2022, Returning to Santa Fe, NM, September 23rd - 25th, 2022

An important international conference on earthen architecture and construction returns to Santa, Fe, New Mexico, after a three-year hiatus. Registration is now open!

Earth building enthusiasts from all over the world will converge in Santa Fe, NM to participate in Earth USA 2022, the 11th international conference on earthen architecture and construction. The conference will be held at Scottish Rite Center's Alhambra Theater in Santa Fe, NM Friday, September 23rd to Sunday, September 25th, 2022.

After such synergy at TERRA 2022, Cornerstones looks forward to participating throughout EARTH USA. We're equally excited for the collaboration and building up of the earthen building community through this conference. 

The three-day conference explores any material or method that uses clay as a binder — adobe, compressed earth block, monolithic adobe (cob), and rammed earth, among others. Presentations and poster sessions at Earth USA 2022 will allow academics and practitioners to discuss a broad field of disciplines, including architecture and engineering, historic preservation, public policy, environmental sustainability, cultural anthropology, sociology, and the arts.

In addition, Mark Chalom, a renowned architect who specializes in the field of sustainable architecture and who played an instrumental role in the significant 1970s Sundwellings Project at Ghost Ranch, in Abiquiu, NM, will be offering the keynote address. The conference will also award the second Fred Webster Earth Building Engineering Prize. In 2019, the inaugural prize was awarded to Jun Mu, Tiegang Zhou, and Wei Jiang of the Beijing University of Civil Engineering and Architecture in China.

For more on the conference, visit: https://www.earthusa.org/. Above photo from the Earth USA website, taken at their 2019 conference.

Jake Barrow Joins International Committee on Earthen Building

Jake Barrow, acting Executive Director, was given the distinguished honor of being invited to join the International Scientific Committee on Earthen Architectural Heritage (ISCEAH). He accepted on the condition that he could represent “hands-on” practitioners of earthen heritage in developing the committee charter.

ISCEAH is a subsidiary of the International Council on Monuments and Sites, ICOMOS. While ICOMOS works to protect cultural heritage places, such as World Heritage sites, ISCEAH focuses on conserving earthen building materials, archaeology, and architecture. ISCEAH also is integral in organizing the TERRA conferences, the latest of which was in Santa Fe this late spring, in which Cornerstones participated significantly.

In 2025, the next international conference will be in Quito, Ecuador; it is currently in the planning stages. Joining the committee offers Cornerstones a window into the perspectives of many international experts and case studies of potential interest to our efforts here in New Mexico.

Lake Valley Kiel House | New Board Member

Kiel House, Revisited

Last month, our crew went down to Lake Valley Historic Townsite to start structural adobe repairs on the Kiel House. Named after Judge William P. Kiel, the house is one of the few remaining buildings in the ghost town of Lake Valley, NM. Lake Valley was once a thriving mining town, primarily mining silver. The two-roomed adobe building needed structural wall repairs done to preserve the house.

Interns Kateri, Lea, and Ruben participated in structural adobe repairs, including basal repair and “stitching” new adobes into the wall. They were able to assess the structural problems alongside Historical Architect Randy Skeirik and adobe mason Issac Logsdon. We will be returning to the building to finish up these repairs later in summer.

Our Newest Board Member
Eva M. Schmatz

Cornerstones proudly introduces the newest member of our Board of Directors, Eva Schmatz. We are glad she will be joining our team, and we look forward to integrating her experiences in strategic consulting.

We are continually grateful for our Board Members. They work very hard, largely behind the scenes, to guide and maintain Cornerstones' projects and internal operations. We are always looking for additional Board Members. If you would like to nominate someone, please contact Boni Armijo.

Eva Schmatz is a 27 year resident of New Mexico. Her company, Summus, Limited, is a consulting and research firm that assists companies in making the connection between their strategic goals, internal culture and external markets. She advises clients on how to shape the work culture to better serve and succeed with customer constituencies. Her professional approach focuses on putting strategic insights to work through highly practical implementation. She has a B.A. and M.B.A. from the University of Chicago with a concentration in international business and economics.

Mass Resumes At San Miguel Chapel

Mass Resumes At San Miguel Chapel

Cornerstones preserves historic buildings out of a deep respect for the role that they play in New Mexico’s cultural heritage. For many New Mexicans, a central part of that heritage is the rituals of the Catholic Church.  

San Miguel Chapel has been an important, ongoing preservation project for Cornerstones since the early 2000s. If you read our Mud Blasts regularly, you know that Cornerstones has planned a solar project at the Chapel; we are now waiting on the solar panels, due to supply shortages. 

Mass services at the Chapel went on hiatus at the start of the pandemic. Late last year, a group of Santa Feans formed a committee to restart them. Cornerstones’ Board Vice Chair Boni Armijo was a key member of this committee. This group efficiently worked through all of the details – not the least of which was finding a priest. Having found one, Mass now takes place in the Chapel on the first Sunday of each month at 4 pm. 

On the first Sunday in June, I arrived at San Miguel to join this ancient ritual of the Catholic Community in what is believed to be America’s oldest church. Even though it was his fourth Mass of the day, Father Denis Kaggwa Ssenyonjo made his sermon specific to San Miguel Chapel by incorporating the significance of the Chapel’s long history. During the service, I wondered to myself, what does community mean at San Miguel Chapel?  

The Chapel’s lengthy history brings many layers of community. Saint Michael’s High School owns the Chapel, so the Chapel’s community includes students, faculty, and alumni. The Chapel relies on a devoted staff and docent corps community. Santa Feans - both the committee that worked to reinstate mass and those who immediately returned to worship – are a fundamental part of the community. Together, all of these groups, form the backbone of San Miguel Chapel’s unique community.   

The San Miguel Chapel community is open to all. Come on the first Sunday of the month at 4:00 pm – the next service is July 3  - and join this community.  

Photo from San Miguel's website.

Another Round Of Ryan Ranch Replastering

Just last month, we had our crew back out to the Ryan Ranch adobe in Joshua Tree National Park. Due to a fire in the late 1970s, these adobe walls have sat exposed for decades leaving them highly susceptible to erosion from rain and wind. Over the years, there has also been quite a lot of damage from visitors.

In 2021, we removed the deteriorated lime plasters and applied the earth plaster to the walls. Earth plasters–clay, sand, and straw–are traditionally used as a shelter coat to protect the adobes underneath while providing maximum breathability, or vapor permeability.

This year our work focused on applying another coat of earthen plaster. Guided by our Lead Plasterer, Angela Francis, the crew replastered the walls alongside local volunteers, NPS staff, and park interns. This training was intended to set up the park with the tools and experience needed to patch or work on the walls when needed.

Photos by Angela Francis.

Learning, Collaboration, and Fun at TERRA 2022 and TICRAT

Terra 2022: More Than Just A Conference

Cornerstones was well represented, received plenty of accolades, and had great opportunities to present our work across TERRA 2022, the international gathering of the earthen architecture community.

The opening session of TERRA's second day focused on the Latinx community and the challenges of preserving the culture and history of adobe in rural New Mexico. Francisco Uvina and Antonio Martinez, both alumni of Cornerstones, told personal stories of their work, as did Rebecca Montoya, Cornerstones liaison to the Mora churches. Pat Taylor, also an alum, recounted a lifelong personal history of adobe life, centered around his life and work in old Messilla. And I explained how our current work—in Mora, Abiquiu, and Chimayo—continues our mission of supporting communities by preserving their adobe heritage.

In the very next session, I presented a paper on the current project at the Plaza del Cerro in Chimayo that focused on the adaptive reuse of the Casita Desiderio y Pablita Ortega. Later that afternoon, I led 20 participants on a walking tour through Santa Fe. After many stops, we ended in the Barrio del Analco and San Miguel Chapel. San Miguel was a perfect ending to the day, providing an insider glimpse into the secrets of the enduring mud plaster, first applied there in 2011 and untouched to this day.

At the closing of the conference, I had the opportunity to express my deep appreciation for all who made the journey to Santa Fe. TERRA 2022 brought immense knowledge and expertise together, and that synergy will work itself into the fabric of Santa Fe’s building and restoration efforts. A wonderful time was had by all.

TICRAT 2022: A Weekend Adobe-building Bonanza

Cornerstones was front and center at the two-and-a-half-day earthen building workshop, TICRAT, a pre-conference workshop in Abiquiu for the larger Terra 2022 conference held in Santa Fe this past week. The International Workshop on the Conservation and Restoration of Earthen Architecture (known by its Spanish acronym, TICRAT) is a bi-national partnership between U.S. Gov, NGOs, and Mexican counterparts, particularly, the Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (INAH).

TICRAT was virtually lecture-free, with all participants getting their hands in the mud. Our own Angela, Issac, and Jake led training modules in plastering, adobe making, building assessments, and wall stabilization. Issac worked alongside Eric Calvert, an Ohkay Owingeh adobero, and Pat Taylor, a contractor, to teach basal repairs, stitching cracks, and surface repair. Issac also led the adobe making, allowing every attendee to make sun-dried bricks. Angela joined Mexican experts Haydee and Frida to teach many aspects of interior plastering, decorating wall surfaces with color, the lime cycle, and the fundamentals of lime plastering. Jake led the assessments and exterior plastering sessions using only their hands dipped into buckets of mud to spread a protective layer on a Jacal structure. Hawks and trowels rested in a pile on site unused.  (Jacal, as seen around Northern New Mexico, is a structure of verticle logs set into the ground side by side and mud plastered over.)

Francisco Uvina (UNM), National Park Service experts, and Mexican specialists from INAH were shoulder to shoulder with Cornerstones in bringing the TICRAT to an incredibly happy and successful conclusion. Abiquiu warmly welcomed and hosted all throughout. Cornerstones is now evaluating how the work the TICRAT did will ripple out across the community and stimulate the preservation of more buildings and homes there. 

Photos by Barb Odell