Renee Maderazo, with her living sculpture, graduates in May with a Master of Arts in TeachingSILVER CITY, NM — For Renee Maderazo, the road to a master's degree wasn't a paved highway; it was a winding trail. This path led her from the exhausting "slog" of the freelance world to the transformative, high-desert landscape of the Gila. Maderazo will graduate on May 8 from Western New Mexico University (WNMU) with a Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT). This milestone marks Maderazo's evolution to a confident artist and educator.
Maderazo's journey began in Arizona, far from Silver City's quiet mountains. After earning her BFA from the University of Arizona, Maderazo spent three years navigating the professional "grind." She balanced the pressures of freelance graphic design with shifts in the restaurant industry, a familiar "day job" reality for many creatives. "I was just going through the motions," Maderazo recalled. "The hustle took a lot of the joy of making art out of it. It was directionless."
The turning point came when her parents retired to Silver City. Maderazo was drawn in by the unique creativity of the Silver City community and the natural wonders of the Gila. Maderazo took a leap of faith at her parents' encouragement and enrolled at WNMU, hoping the university could provide the breakthrough Maderazo didn't know she needed but had been seeking for years.
At WNMU, Maderazo found more than an academic program; she found a mentor in Assistant Professor of Expressive Arts, Erin Wheary, Ph.D. Under Wheary's guidance, Maderazo's artistic philosophy underwent a radical shift. She moved away from the "heavy, dense permanency" of traditional bronze and woodworking she had studied previously. Instead, she found a new voice in ephemeral artworks designed to transform, lose their luster, and eventually return to the earth.
"Meeting my mentor was magical," Maderazo said. "Erin let me grow artistically and personally. She encouraged me to listen to my soul, not just my brain, and reminded me art can have levity and meaning."
This newfound freedom let Maderazo connect with the local environment. Inspired by the Gila Wilderness and the Continental Divide, her work became a "transcendental" exploration of nature. She mastered a wide array of media, from complex lithography to soft sculpture, eventually creating standout braided sculptures from natural raffia fibers.
As Maderazo's artistic voice matured, so did her ambitions. She had originally enrolled in the Master of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies (MAIS) track, but upon realizing that her love for creating was matched by her desire to give back, she switched to the MAT program. This duality—being both a dedicated artist and a trained educator—became her "secret weapon" during the rigorous graduate application process to achieve her MFA at the University of New Mexico, a highly competitive program. A maximum of 15 students is accepted each year from a global applicant pool.
"I'm proud to say I came from Western New Mexico University," Maderazo said. "There are diamonds in the rough here—dedicated artists who work hard, not just coast. The faculty makes you earn every step forward."
Looking ahead to Commencement, Maderazo describes the feeling as "bittersweet." While she is ready for the next chapter, the "wacky and weird" magic of Silver City has become her home. Drawing from her own journey, her advice to other non-traditional students or artists feeling stuck is heartfelt: "It isn't easy. It's a lot of hours in the studio and a lot of following through on a hard commitment. But it is 100% worth it. Take that leap of faith."
