ABOUT
Our People
Meet the empathic, engaged, and inspirational people who bring Moving Arts to life.
Since 2008, we have handpicked the right folks to lead us forward. From invested board members and advisors, to dedicated staff, and a wealth of talented instructors, Moving Arts continues to grow to meet the needs of our community. Please meet our family.
History
From grassroots involvement to inspiring a community of families.
Meeting the changing needs of our youth and local community has required taking the long view of progress over time. The journey began twenty five years ago as an in-school arts enrichment program throughout the Española primary schools. We now offer a year-round creative and experiential learning afterschool including summer programming to cultivate thriving children, youth, and young adults. Our curriculums expanded beyond the arts to include technology and science.
Founded on the unwavering dedication of Roger Montoya and Salvador Ruiz Esquivel who have built their lives around combining the arts, learning, and creativity, Moving Arts is now entering a new chapter of growth. One where the reach of services increases, the dedication to achieving a vibrant and resilient community is delivered on, and where students continue to find their unique voice and identity, one child at a time.
ABOUT SALVADOR RUIZ ESQUIVeL
Prior to receiving the prestigious Univisionario recognition in 2022 as a top ten entrepreneur among Hispanic Americans, Salvador has worked continuously tirelessly for the arts in his career. He believes that education through the arts is essential in the growth and development of a healthy child, and utilizes his extensive business background to bring responsive programming to children and youth. In 2023, his work was included in the United States Congressional Record and he was a 2024 recipient of the Hopkins Award for Excellence in Ethical Practice by a non-profit given by Central New Mexico Community College.
ABOUT ROGER MONTOYA
Roger is an American humanitarian, painter, former professional dancer and gymnast, and a former politician who served as a member of the New Mexico House of Representatives from the 40th district. For over 10 years, Roger’s Arts in the Schools program raised $4M while employing 75 artists across 276 classrooms impacting over 3,000 children. He was recognized in 2019 as a CNN Hero for his visionary programming at Moving Arts Española. An ancestral native of Northern New Mexico, Roger is recognized for his efforts in using the arts to address trauma, violence, and poverty.
Awards and Recognition
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Moving Arts is a proud recipient of the 2024 Hopkins Award for Excellence in Ethical Practice by a Non-Profit. The Hopkins award is based upon organizations that exhibit ethics in running their business. Organizations are nominated based upon the way their organization positively impacts the lives of the families that they serve.
The annual New Mexico Ethics in Business Awards program honors companies, both for-profit and not-for-profit, and individuals in New Mexico that demonstrate a strong commitment to the highest level of ethical practices in daily operations, management, and personal philosophies, and in their response to crises and challenges.
The Ethics awards were created in 2000 and are now presented by Central New Mexico Community College (CNM). Nominees are evaluated first by a group of vetted volunteers and selected by CNM business students.
When asked what does ethics mean to you, Salvador responded, “My ethical standards were instilled by my father. He taught me to serve with honesty, compassion, and humility on behalf of the community. As a leader in the nonprofit sector, my team is dedicated to financial transparency and accountability.”
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Our beloved Executive Director and Co-founder, Salvador Ruiz Esquivel was recognized September 22, 2022 as a top 10 finalist in the Entrepreneur Category for Univision's new initiative called Univisionario. 10 finalists were selected and honored for their visionary contributions within their communities.
The Entrepreneur Category recognizes individuals for their skills and ability to conceptualize their ideas. Those whose actions and creative projects affect both small groups and entire communities.
The Univisionario initiative honors the amazing work, ideas and initiative of individuals throughout the United States and their impact on the community.
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Our beloved Co-Founder and Former Artistic Director Roger Montoya is a bastion of hope in the Española Valley and across Northern New Mexico. This inspiring man, with his leadership and unyielding efforts to uplift and enrich our community, was recognized as a 2019 CNN Hero!
“I am so honored to live , work and serve the communities of the Espanola Valley and our neighboring tribal communities––together we have earned this recognition!”––Roger Montoya
Each week, a CNN Hero is profiled on the global networks of CNN and on CNN.com. The 2019 Top 10 CNN Heroes were announced in the Fall of 2019 and we were so proud that Roger made it to the Top 10!
In making its decision, CNN looks at a multiple of factors, including the number of unique visits and views to Roger Montoya’s CNN Hero page, Extra Video: A Mosaic of Dance, Video Extra: Pueblo Ballerina and the donations received by Moving Arts Espanola.
In addition to the honor of being recognized as a CNN hero, the publicity that Moving Arts Espanola received, has helped the organization to grow and obtain goals that it had been striving for. Moving Arts is beyond grateful to all of our new and existing donors for helping us reach our goals and more!
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In 2016 Moving Arts proudly received the 2016 Best Nonprofit Award from the Española Chamber of Commerce.
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In 2015 Moving Arts was honored to receive the Santa Fe Community Foundation Piñon Visionary Award for their need-responsive arts education center founded by Roger Montoya and Salvador Ruiz-Esquivel.
Since 1987, the Santa Fe Community Foundation has selected and awarded the Piñon Awards to local nonprofit organizations that have made extraordinary contributions to the community. First held in a board member’s living room, the Piñon Awards ceremony has become a fall tradition filling the La Fonda ballroom with awardees, supporters, and friends of the Foundation.
MOVING ARTS OVER THE YEARS
Below is our video archive, telling our story from over the years. See how we have grown.
