Educating a new generation: Organizations come together to create opportunities for Española Lowrider Bike Club

Feb. 15—Collaboration is key for the Española Lowrider Bike Club.

The club started talks with the Española YMCA Teen Center, Hands Across Cultures, The Española Lowrider Museum, Connecting Our Voices Coalition and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to become a safe haven for youth interested in the culture.

The program was inspired by the original chapter of the Olathe Lowrider Bike Club, developed in Olathe, Kansas.

"The club was envisioned as a safe place where teenage youth could gather and work in unison with community leaders and law enforcement to better improve relations, increase protective factors and improve truancy and graduation rates," says Diego López, Hands Across Cultures executive director.

The students will be showcasing their lowrider bikes to the public from 5-6:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 16, at the Museum of Spanish Colonial Art in Santa Fe.

López says after much recruitment from the DEA to start a program like this in northern New Mexico, Hands Across Cultures responded to the idea and began searching for partners.

A collaborative Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was drawn up between Hands Across Cultures and the Española YMCA.

The YMCA agreed to be the home base for the Española Lowrider Bike Club, utilizing teenagers that were signed on as members of the YMCA to participate in the programs and workshops.

"After the partnerships were made, The Española Lowrider Museum Coalition was instrumental in providing leadership of key members to join the initiative and become positive mentors for the youth," López says. "We also recruited local artists to come and provide workshops about art, murals, color theory, pinstriping and fabrication for the youth."

Hands Across Culture was able to establish a core team to help guide the Española Lowrider Bike Club and to show up to the Española YMCA from 4-6 p.m. each Wednesday.

"The core team has worked alongside the teens to create beautiful and dynamic works of art," López says. "A multitude of teenagers participated in the program and the workshops. They formed relationships with the mentors. They bonded over the act of putting together the bikes, while discussing life. The teenagers were exposed to healthy relationships and positive role models in their lives. The teenagers were taught resiliency and coping. They were also exposed to valuable knowledge, traditions and culture."