KiMo Theatre and Art Gallery
Introduction
Text-to-speech Audio
Perhaps the city of Albuquerque's most famous downtown building, the KiMo Theatre was built in 1927. The name "KiMo" was selected from many suggestions and can mean either Mountain Lion or leader in the Tewa language which is still spoken by the Pueblo people of New Mexico. The building design combines stucco with modern art deco styles, a blending that was meant to symbolize the ideal future of New Mexico as a blending of old and new. A large fire in the early 1960s nearly destroyed the stage while urban sprawl eroded the nightlife in the city's core-a common trend in urban history throughout the United States. The theater fell into disrepair in the 1970s and was nearly demolished until community activists raised awareness of the building's historic significance and beauty. Several renovations have made the theater the center of Albuquerque's downtown once again.
Images
The Kimo Theater was saved from destruction in the late 1970s and
This picture of the stage was taken when the theater opened in 1927
Backstory and Context
Text-to-speech Audio
The KiMo Theater is one of only a handful of theaters and downtown buildings that still stand and were deeply influenced by Native American art and architecture. The artists who designed the interior traveled throughout the region studying Pueblo and Navajo art and culture. Among the designs in the interior can be found several swastika designs that are woven into the rest of the artwork Long before this design was used by the German government, the swastika was a Navajo symbol that represented freedom and happiness.