Visualizing Albuquerque is a comprehensive overview of twelve thousand years of artistic activity in the central Rio Grande Valley. From sophisticated Paleo-Indian spear points to Pueblo pottery, from the Spanish and American Colonial periods to the city finding its true voice after World War II, Visualizing Albuquerque reveals the vibrant creativity spawned by the encounter with this unique region. While to the north Santa Fe and Taos built reputations largely based on a retrospective nostalgia, Visualizing Albuquerque demonstrates that Albuquerque has often acted as the more vital art center. Throughout the twentieth century the city became a haven for modern artists who looked eagerly forward, rather than toward an idealized, mythic past. Albuquerque's role as a hub for commerce and cutting-edge technology inspired decades of artistic innovation and activity. Artists in Albuquerque continue to directly confront the city's unique factors of geography, ethnicity, and complex history to overcome divisions, and in doing so they discover political, aesthetic, and spiritual solutions to difficult problems in challenging times.