Together With Veterans Taos: Veteran Story Series
Event Details
Join Together With Veterans Taos Coordinator, Valentina Livingston, for a panel conversation examining how the GI Bill shaped Taos’s artistic landscape not only through those who benefited from it, but also through those who were excluded. “Make Absence Visible (Not Silent)” will pose the question of, “Who was left out, and how did they shape the same creative ecosystem anyway?”. Panelists will explore the parallel pathways that sustained Taos’s art scene, including informal mentorship, shared studios, collaboration, critique, and labor.
While federal policy opened doors for many veterans, access was uneven—particularly for women veterans, Native, Black, and Latino service members, immigrants, Indigenous artists, and community-based creators who existed outside formal education systems. Many artists who never used the GI Bill were veterans whose creative lives existed outside federal definitions of access. Some lacked awareness that educational benefits were available, others returned to Taos long after service, and many were already artists before becoming veterans. Their absence from GI Bill records does not reflect their absence from Taos’s creative life. These veterans taught, collaborated, shared studios, and shaped artistic philosophy without federal support. By centering absence rather than erasing it, this panel reframes Taos’s postwar cultural history as one built through shared effort.
About Valentina Livingston
Valentina Livingston (Diné) is Tsenjikini (Honey Comb Rock People), born for Haltsooi (Meadow People), and from Albuquerque, NM. Her work centers education equity, cultural responsiveness, and community wellness, with a focus on suicide prevention and lethal means safety. Valentina is a Staff Sergeant in the New Mexico Army National Guard, assigned to the 111th Sustainment Brigade, with over a decade of service across Active Duty, the Reserves, and the Guard.She holds an MS in Marketing from Regis University and a BA in Journalism and Mass Communication from the University of New Mexico. Valentina believes real change happens when community voices are not only heard, but truly led.
Support for this program is provided in part by New Mexico Arts, a Division of the Department of Cultural Affairs, and the National Endowment for the Arts. Image: Courtesy of Valentina Livingston.