There’s more than gleaming metal surfaces and a sexy street presence in Gabriela Campos’ photographs of lowriders in New Mexico.
Dagger fingernails and polished glass, swirls of blue ink wrapping muscled torsos, tough-guy biceps cradling newborn babes — the images capture quintessential New Mexican culture, one that boldly proclaims its stature among lowrider communities in Los Angeles, Phoenix and Tokyo.
Her lens cruises like the cars, a magic carpet ride with a kick-ass orgullo.Jay Sanchez wipes the raindrops off his 1999 Lincoln Town Car, which goes by the name “Hustler’s Ambition,” as it sits on three wheels on Albuquerque’s Central Avenue, June 2024 (top). James Valdez and his family drive their Impala toward the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi in Santa Fe, March 2017 (left). Laura Peralta looks out the window of Joseph “Star” Vigil’s 1985 Cutlass Supreme while cruising on three wheels through downtown Albuquerque, April 2023 (right). Gabriela Campos/High Country News
Campos rode in the New Mexico scene for years, getting to know the unabashedly proud drivers whose vehicles are a personal expression of life in the streetlight glare in New Mexican towns like Burque, Spaña and Chimayó. Her long familiarity with the culture enables her to capture the celebratory atmosphere and shared love of pageantry. She illuminates the badass drivers, tattooed chicas strutting alongside Impalas and Regals and Caddies alive with dizzying lines and Chicano-themed murals. Dancing cheek-to-cheek down Burque’s streets and scattering light from radiant metallic spokes, lowriders speak to a cultural identity that cannot be subverted or stereotyped or captured by any meme.
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A young man navigates his lowrider out of a parking spot after a cruise in the Barelas neighborhood following the Albuquerque Lowrider Super Show, June 2023 (top left). Matthew Cordova holds his newborn daughter, Ava, during a Sunday evening cruise in the Barelas neighborhood of Albuquerque, July 2022 (top right). A group of women pose for a photo while cruising their lowrider in downtown Albuquerque, May 2021 (bottom left). Paula Jaramillo lifts the bed of her custom mini-truck while cruising down Central Avenue with Steve-O Garcia, August 2021 (bottom middle). Lillyana Martinez leans on George and Amor Bustamante’s 1959 El Camino while hanging out in the Barelas neighborhood, April 2023 (bottom right). Gabriela Campos/High Country News
Her lens cruises like the cars, a magic carpet ride with a kick-ass orgullo.
A view looking out of Amor Bustamante’s 1980 Oldsmobile Cutlass at a Chevrolet Fleetmaster, November 2023. Credit: Gabriela Campos/High Country News
In her eyes, lowriders are poetry in motion, statements in style that shout in bold double-underlined letters, “I’ll show you who I am! Stand back, heads up, look at me!”
The don’t-mess-with-me attitude of the drivers is accompanied by a warm invitation to join them for a ride beneath the vast New Mexico clouds. Campos shows that lowriders are so much more than colorful cars and rebellious tough guys; she shows hometown heroes, a cadre of spirited vatos and everyday fathers and mothers and children, all empowered by cruising the streets in their artfully crafted and lovingly cared-for behemoths.
A lowrider hops during an informal competition while spectators look on in an Albuquerque parking lot, August 2021 (top left). A young woman looks out from a lowrider during a Sunday evening cruise in downtown Albuquerque, January 2023 (top right). Anthony Miramontes stands atop his 1980 Buick Regal and lifts a plaque for the Superior Car Club after an impromptu hopping competition on Central Avenue in Albuquerque, February 2023 (bottom left). Guillermo and Alicia Jimenez park their 1964 Impala at Albuquerque’s iconic Dog House Drive In on Central Avenue in Albuquerque, September 2023 (bottom right). Gabriela Campos/High Country NewsLou Varela hops his 1984 Cutlass Supreme down Central Avenue as a storm rolls into Albuquerque, New Mexico, in June 2024. Credit: Gabriela Campos/High Country News
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This article appeared in the May 2025 print edition of the magazine with the headline “Drop It Low.”
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NM FAST (New Mexico Federal and State Technology) is now accepting applications for a free space-sector accelerator cohort designed to help New Mexico-based technology companies compete for federal funding through the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs. The cohort targets founders and researchers pursuing grants from NASA, Space Force and related federal agencies, with programming set to launch July 21.
The cohort will admit six to 10 New Mexico companies and run for 10 to 12 weeks, meeting in weekly sessions of approximately one and a half to two hours. Programming covers the full arc of federal commercialization strategy, including space-sector SBIR/STTR opportunities and federal funding pathways, proposal development for technical narratives and commercialization components, federal procurement positioning and agency discovery, capital strategy and follow-on funding options, and transition planning from Phase I to Phase II awards. Participants also receive targeted one-on-one advisory support throughout the program. The cohort is offered at no cost to accepted companies.
The program is open to companies at both the pre-award and early-award stages. The majority of cohort seats are designed for Phase 0 companies preparing to submit Phase I SBIR/STTR applications to NASA or Space Force. A limited number of seats are available for Phase I awardees working toward Phase II readiness and Phase III transition planning.
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“New Mexico has a deep base of research and a growing pipeline of founders ready to translate that work into companies that can compete for federal R&D dollars,” said Carlos Murguia, director of the Technology and Innovation Gateway at Arrowhead Center. “This cohort focuses specifically on the space sector, pairing New Mexico companies with Larta’s expertise in SBIR and STTR commercialization to give founders a clear, structured path from early-stage research to federal award.”
Larta Institute, NM FAST’s commercialization partner for this program, will lead the full design and delivery of the accelerator curriculum. Larta has supported startups that have collectively raised more than $23.7 billion since 1993 and brings that track record to founders working in New Mexico’s growing aerospace and space technology sector.
The cohort aligns with the aerospace priority sector named in the New Mexico Entrepreneurship Programmatic Support Grant and is relevant to companies working at the intersection of advanced computing, bioscience and advanced energy applications in space-related contexts.
NM FAST is administered by Arrowhead Center at New Mexico State University and operates statewide, serving founders in Las Cruces, Albuquerque, Los Alamos and rural communities across New Mexico. Over more than a decade of programming, NM FAST has supported more than 470 New Mexico startups and helped companies secure nearly $28 million in federal SBIR awards. Targeted outreach is directed to rural, women, veteran and minority entrepreneurs.
The program is sponsored by the New Mexico Economic Development Department’s Technology and Innovation Office through the New Mexico Entrepreneurship Programmatic Support Grant, which supports continued statewide programming for SBIR/STTR-eligible companies in the four priority sectors.
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Applications are open now and will be accepted through July 14, 2026. Interested companies can apply at forms.gle/CqSwEL7LahqB5pGu9. Space is limited, and selected companies will be notified before the program launch.
SANTA FE, N.M. – Santa Fe County and Edgewood approved a new agreement and ordinance that secures ongoing fire and EMS services for Edgewood residents.
According to a joint announcement from the Town of Edgewood and Santa Fe County on June 19, the two governments negotiated and adopted a new Joint Powers Agreement and ordinance to keep the Santa Fe County Fire Department serving the town.
County and town representatives drafted the agreement together. The town adopted the ordinance unanimously at a special meeting on June 16, putting an end to weeks of uncertainty.
Santa Fe County District 3 Commissioner Camilla Bustamante said, “I believe we are all relieved to know that the people of Edgewood will continue to have the fire and EMS services necessary to protect their homes, their families, and their community. This community deserves nothing less.”
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The announcement said the ordinance takes effect five days after final publication. The statement also said no further action or approval is needed to guarantee continued fire suppression, fire prevention, and EMS services for Edgewood residents.
Both governments noted the agreement will continue indefinitely unless either side ends it with five years’ notice.
