About the Cultural Treasures Project

Taos County is rich with stories, traditions, and places that connect us to the land and to each other. From sacred peaks to corner stores, from languages and lifeways to murals and matanzas—these treasures hold our shared identity. With increasing gentrification and economic pressure, we risk losing what makes this place home.

The Cultural Treasures Project (CTP) is a community-led effort to identify, catalogue, and honor the places, practices, and people that matter—before they’re erased, paved over, or forgotten. This is about naming what we love so we can protect it. It’s about making sure future growth reflects and enhances who we are, rather than exploits or diminishes what makes this region unique.

Spearheaded by Taos County Economic Development and a diverse advisory group of local residents, the project gathers community input through surveys, interviews, and focus groups. Elders, youth, long-time locals, newcomers—everyone is invited to share what matters to them. We’re documenting not only buildings and landscapes, but also traditions, celebrations, gathering places, and the people who keep culture alive.

This research-informed approach will give us an opportunity to make mindful decisions, combat gentrification, and move with intentionality. It offers us the choice to preserve and safeguard our collective, diverse heritage or risk losing it. Common across age, race, ethnicity, geography, and sector is a deep love for this place, and a collective vision to responsibly manage growth, tourism, and development while honoring and strengthening creative, cultural, and artistic life. We cannot steward that which we have not identified. The CTP is a direct response.