Forgotten Barelas: Recovered History of a Lost Business District
Monica Bencomo
at Fourteenfifteen
Opening Reception: Friday May 1, 6-9pm
Forgotten Barelas is an exhibition inspired by Monica Bencomo’s research project completed in Spring 2024 for the Historic Preservation Program at the University of New Mexico’s School of Architecture and Planning, in which she documented the business district that once existed in the Barelas neighborhood adjacent to the former Santa Fe Railway Shops. Long overshadowed by the prominence of the Santa Fe Railway Shops—the largest employer in New Mexico at its peak—this corridor was a vibrant, multicultural network of small businesses, workforce housing, and railroad-related industry that sustained the daily lives of railroad workers and neighborhood families. The exhibition brings into focus the businesses and built environment that supported both Barelas residents and the railroad economy.
The story of the business district will be told through a combination of archival photographs, newspaper articles, maps, and business histories paired with contemporary images. Forgotten Barelas invites viewers to reflect on the lasting impacts of industry decline and disinvestment, presenting the corridor as a learning landscape shaped by change over time. The exhibition presents a visual and historical juxtaposition of this corridor adjacent to what is now known as the Rail Yards, revealing what the area was then and what it has become today.
Monica Bencomo
at Fourteenfifteen
Opening Reception: Friday May 1, 6-9pm
Forgotten Barelas is an exhibition inspired by Monica Bencomo’s research project completed in Spring 2024 for the Historic Preservation Program at the University of New Mexico’s School of Architecture and Planning, in which she documented the business district that once existed in the Barelas neighborhood adjacent to the former Santa Fe Railway Shops. Long overshadowed by the prominence of the Santa Fe Railway Shops—the largest employer in New Mexico at its peak—this corridor was a vibrant, multicultural network of small businesses, workforce housing, and railroad-related industry that sustained the daily lives of railroad workers and neighborhood families. The exhibition brings into focus the businesses and built environment that supported both Barelas residents and the railroad economy.
The story of the business district will be told through a combination of archival photographs, newspaper articles, maps, and business histories paired with contemporary images. Forgotten Barelas invites viewers to reflect on the lasting impacts of industry decline and disinvestment, presenting the corridor as a learning landscape shaped by change over time. The exhibition presents a visual and historical juxtaposition of this corridor adjacent to what is now known as the Rail Yards, revealing what the area was then and what it has become today.
