Visual Art at Music from Angel Fire

Music from Angel Fire has garnered enthusiastic acclaim from music lovers and art aficionados for illustrating the website and print pieces for each season by top visual artists inspired by the beauty and culture of northern New Mexico.  The series, launched by the late Harold Geller when he was the first board president of Music from Angel Fire, has become an integral part of the annual festival.  Through this series, Geller left his imprint on the festival.  With his leadership, a visual artist was selected each year to create a featured work.

For the 2026 season of Music from Angel Fire, here is visual artist Nathaniel Franklin.

Nathaniel Franklin is a self-taught artist, designer, and builder based in northeastern New Mexico, working in large-scale steel, acrylic painting, and watercolor. His work is grounded in the landscape of the American West—wide horizons, volcanic formations, and the remnants of past generations. Using reclaimed steel and salvaged materials, he builds without formal plans, allowing each piece to take shape through direct engagement with the material.
His sculptures are often monumental, carrying both physical and historical weight. His paintings focus on light and atmosphere—western skies in motion. His watercolor works document the fading structures of rural America.
Across all mediums, Franklin reframes overlooked materials and places—holding tension between past and present, permanence and decay.
Through Prairie Punk Gallery and a collection of restored historic properties in Raton, New Mexico, he extends this work into lived spaces—original art, custom furnishings, and turn-of-the-century structures brought back with purpose.
At his family’s home in the high desert, this approach moves further into the landscape: custom-built structures designed for immersion in dark skies, open ground, and the raw natural beauty of the West.

The painting, titled Capulin Sunset, by Nathaniel Franklin, captures the beautiful skies around the Capulin Volcano.