The New Mexico Folklife Project was conducted by Carl Fleischhauer of the American Folklife Center, in the summers of 1984 and 1985. In 1984, the effort supported the work of the folklorist Laurie Beth Kalb, representing the Museum of International Folk Art, Santa Fe, New Mexico, and focused on three Hispanic santeros in northern part of the state: Felix Lopez, La Mesilla; Eulogio Ortega, Velarde; and Horacio Valdez, Dixon, with additional documentation of the work of the artist Clem "Pop" Shaffer in Mountainair, New Mexico. In 1985, Fleischhauer supported Kalb and Boyd Pratt, representing the New Mexico Historic Preservation Division, part of the state's Department of Cultural Affairs, to record information about selected sites in the northeastern quadrant of the state, including Clayton, Mora, Mosquero, and Mosquero Canyon, New Mexico.

The project's photographs, sound recordings, and field notes document the Hispanic art and artists identified above; La Galeria de Colores, Las Vegas, New Mexico; Pop Shaffer's art environments, Mountainair; a livestock auction, Clayton; and aspects of life in Mosquero, New Mexico. In addition to photographic documentation, homestead settlements in Mosquero Canyon are the subject of recorded interviews with Joe Cordova and Alisandra Cordova and Margarito Garcia and Trinidad Garcia. Incidental photographs were made in Truchas; La Cueva, Mora County; Rancho de Taos; Vallecitos; Hayden, New Mexico; and other locations.

This online presentation includes the majority of the sound recordings and photographs in this collection. Selected manuscripts include those materials created by the fieldworkers, such as photo logs, field notes, and final reports. The remainder of the collection is available in the Folklife Reading Room at the Library of Congress.

The mission of the Library of Congress is to make its resources available and useful to the Congress and the American people. Through its website, the Library offers broad public access to a wide range of information, including historical materials that may contain offensive language or negative stereotypes. Such materials must be viewed in the context of the relevant time period. The Library of Congress does not endorse the views expressed in such materials. The events documented here are the personal recollections and perspectives of participating individuals; they are recordings of people's own stories and not necessarily the truth.