Denver’s Art District on Santa Fe (ADSF) is excited to present Alma de Santa Fe, a Month of Photography exhibition celebrating the La Alma Lincoln Park neighborhood, home of ADSF and one of Denver’s oldest neighborhoods. 

Located on the ancestral, traditional, and contemporary homelands of Arapaho, Cheyenne, and Ute peoples, the neighborhood’s cultural heritage has since been shaped by a rich history of immigrant communities and the influence of the 1960’s Chicano movement. While ADSF has always been proud to celebrate this history, we find ourselves at a time when doing so has become increasingly contentious and political. More than ever, we stand firm in our dedication to both honoring our past, celebrating our heritage, and striving for an increasingly diverse and accessible future for the Art District and beyond. 

What defines a neighborhood, both literally and beyond its physical and political boundaries? What people, spaces, rituals, traditions, and values make our neighborhood unique? How does our history and heritage inform the dreams and visions ahead of us? In Alma de Santa Fe, photographic works by local artists consider these questions from a range of perspectives. From the visitor’s standpoint, to the resident’s point of view, and various attempts to reconnect with the Mexican and Chicanx heritage whose influences can be found around every corner of the neighborhood, these artists invite you to discover and celebrate our community by paying close attention to the small details and moments that give it life. 

In a political climate where we are being asked to look away from the very people and stories that have shaped us, this exhibition defiantly turns inward, exploring the stories, traditions, landmarks, and individuals that have built the inimitable slice of Denver we are proud to call home. Alma de Santa Fe engages the past, present, and future of this neighborhood, the heritage that shaped it, and its role as a cultural landing pad for the intersection of art and community—now, when we need it more than ever. 

Alma de Santa Fe will be on display through March 31st, 2025.

Banner Image by Joshua Bergeron