If you've been around Socorro for awhile, you remember the Reiches – John, Phyllis and the five kids who graduated from Socorro High.
Somehow most of the media overlooked the fact that it was one of the Reiche kids, Greg, who designed that colossal sculpture, “Camino de Sueños,” that now stands near Interstate 25, and serves as a visual beacon to El Camino Real International Heritage Center in the background..
Reiche will forgive all of us for not remembering. After attending Mount Carmel Grade School, and graduating from Socorro High in 1975, he went to the University of New Mexico to study fine arts. But he wound up with a degree in accounting. For six years he worked as a CPA, not exactly the stuff that keeps one in the news.
Reiche was doing craft shows the whole time, however. Custom designed furniture was his stock in trade and sculpture his passion. “I just couldn't figure out how to make a living doing it,” he said.
Finally Reiche made the break, starting an art gallery, which he kept until 1996, when he became a full time sculptor with a studio at his Placitas home.
His reputation has grown remarkably in the ensuing years and he has done many public and private projects, including a monumental one for the city of Longmont, Colo., a gateway monument twice as large as the work that stands sentinel over El Camino Real south of San Antonio.
“Camino de Sueños” is impressive enough, however, towering 34 feet above the desert floor. Constructed of steel and glass, it is a striking visual reference to the environment of Camino Real. Its form, a stylized reflection of the jagged geological formations along the route, pays homage to Mesoamerican, Spanish Colonial and Pueblo architecture.
Deceptively simple and elegant in form, there is a vast array of symbols and concept embodied in the piece. The most obvious, Reiche believes, is that of the turquoise blue glass, reflecting the clear blue skies and the life sustaining water in the Rio Grande, without which, he points out, “there would probably be no trail.” The glass and captured light also serve as a symbol of life.
From the base, one sees a reverse perspective image of a straight road, expanding as it moves up through the imposing embrace of the steel. “Symbolically, it represents a growth and expansion of possibilities as one travels along,” says Reiche. “Eventually, the column fuses with the sky signifying both journey's end and limitless possibilities.”
For discerning visitors, the monument has the potential to entice all of our senses. With a small trail passing directly through the piece, one can physically move through it, engaging the sounds, sights and smell of the surroundings. On a summer day there's the stark contrast between the desert heat and the cool relief of the shadows; in winter, a place out of the wind to warm the body.
“It was very important to me that the artwork be physically accessible to people,” said Reiche. “I want people to get out of their cars and walk through the desert, even if on a very small scale, to experience the beauty and harshness of the local environment as early travelers along the road might have.
“Upon reaching the summit of the knoll and the sculpture, I want them to feel both a bit overpowered and inspired by the mass and beauty of the piece and the environment that surrounds it, feelings that many a traveler no doubt experienced.”
Reiche was probably the perfect artist to do the sculpture because of his life experiences in Socorro County. “Some artists wouldn't find a site in the desert inspiring, but I grew up on El Camino and spend a lot of time hunting, camping and rock hounding here,” he said, “so it was very inspiring.”
It is not Reiche's only public work in New Mexico. He also has sculptures on both the Eastern and Western New Mexico campuses and at T-VI in Albuquerque, but none as massive as “Camino de Sueños.”
Although Reiche gets into Socorro on a regular basis, none of his family currently resides in the county, his siblings having left to build careers elsewhere. His father, a longtime New Mexico Tech employee, and his mother, headed for the Gila Country after retirement six years ago.
“I think my dad thought Socorro was getting to big for him,” Reiche quipped.
(Ben Moffett is a San Antonio, N.M., native who has lived in four counties along the Camino Real during his lifetime – Santa Fe, Bernalillo, Valencia and Socorro. He prefers the latter.)
For more pictures and information on El Camino International Heritage Center, please read this (http://steppinoutnewmexico.com/forums/showthread.php?p=113#post113)
By Ben Moffett
If you've been around Socorro for awhile, you remember the Reiches – John, Phyllis and the five kids who graduated from Socorro High.
Somehow most of the media overlooked the fact that it was one of the Reiche kids, Greg, who designed that colossal sculpture, “Camino de Sueños,” that now stands near Interstate 25, and serves as a visual beacon to El Camino Real International Heritage Center in the background..
Reiche will forgive all of us for not remembering. After attending Mount Carmel Grade School, and graduating from Socorro High in 1975, he went to the University of New Mexico to study fine arts. But he wound up with a degree in accounting. For six years he worked as a CPA, not exactly the stuff that keeps one in the news.
Reiche was doing craft shows the whole time, however. Custom designed furniture was his stock in trade and sculpture his passion. “I just couldn't figure out how to make a living doing it,” he said.
Finally Reiche made the break, starting an art gallery, which he kept until 1996, when he became a full time sculptor with a studio at his Placitas home.
His reputation has grown remarkably in the ensuing years and he has done many public and private projects, including a monumental one for the city of Longmont, Colo., a gateway monument twice as large as the work that stands sentinel over El Camino Real south of San Antonio.
“Camino de Sueños” is impressive enough, however, towering 34 feet above the desert floor. Constructed of steel and glass, it is a striking visual reference to the environment of Camino Real. Its form, a stylized reflection of the jagged geological formations along the route, pays homage to Mesoamerican, Spanish Colonial and Pueblo architecture.
Deceptively simple and elegant in form, there is a vast array of symbols and concept embodied in the piece. The most obvious, Reiche believes, is that of the turquoise blue glass, reflecting the clear blue skies and the life sustaining water in the Rio Grande, without which, he points out, “there would probably be no trail.” The glass and captured light also serve as a symbol of life.
From the base, one sees a reverse perspective image of a straight road, expanding as it moves up through the imposing embrace of the steel. “Symbolically, it represents a growth and expansion of possibilities as one travels along,” says Reiche. “Eventually, the column fuses with the sky signifying both journey's end and limitless possibilities.”
For discerning visitors, the monument has the potential to entice all of our senses. With a small trail passing directly through the piece, one can physically move through it, engaging the sounds, sights and smell of the surroundings. On a summer day there's the stark contrast between the desert heat and the cool relief of the shadows; in winter, a place out of the wind to warm the body.
“It was very important to me that the artwork be physically accessible to people,” said Reiche. “I want people to get out of their cars and walk through the desert, even if on a very small scale, to experience the beauty and harshness of the local environment as early travelers along the road might have.
“Upon reaching the summit of the knoll and the sculpture, I want them to feel both a bit overpowered and inspired by the mass and beauty of the piece and the environment that surrounds it, feelings that many a traveler no doubt experienced.”
Reiche was probably the perfect artist to do the sculpture because of his life experiences in Socorro County. “Some artists wouldn't find a site in the desert inspiring, but I grew up on El Camino and spend a lot of time hunting, camping and rock hounding here,” he said, “so it was very inspiring.”
It is not Reiche's only public work in New Mexico. He also has sculptures on both the Eastern and Western New Mexico campuses and at T-VI in Albuquerque, but none as massive as “Camino de Sueños.”
Although Reiche gets into Socorro on a regular basis, none of his family currently resides in the county, his siblings having left to build careers elsewhere. His father, a longtime New Mexico Tech employee, and his mother, headed for the Gila Country after retirement six years ago.
“I think my dad thought Socorro was getting to big for him,” Reiche quipped.
(Ben Moffett is a San Antonio, N.M., native who has lived in four counties along the Camino Real during his lifetime – Santa Fe, Bernalillo, Valencia and Socorro. He prefers the latter.)
For more pictures and information on El Camino International Heritage Center, please read this (http://steppinoutnewmexico.com/forums/showthread.php?p=113#post113)