ALBUQUERQUE – The Visit Albuquerque (Visit Albuquerque) is teaming up with the National Hispanic Cultural Center (NHCC) and the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center (IPCC) in presenting ORNAMENTS Celebrating the Stories of Albuquerque. This event is a partnership of local community organizations coming together to create larger than life ornaments, which will be on display for the public at IPCC and NHCC from the Thanksgiving holiday through January 6, 2010.

The large ornaments in the exhibit represent different cultural aspects of Albuquerque and the organizations creating them. These organizations include:

· Indian Pueblo Cultural Center
· Holocaust and Intolerance Museum of New Mexico
· Common Bond
· Casa Esperanza
· Maxwell Museum
· Animal Human Society of New Mexico
· Downtown Action Team
· Unser Museum
· Challenger Museum
· Old Town Merchant Association
· Rainbow Artists
· Children’s Cancer Center
· Special Arts New Mexico

In addition to attending the large ornament stroll-through, visitors and locals can also participate in small ornament making workshops with local artists. The free workshops will be held at IPCC on December 5th, 12th and 19th anytime between 9am-4pm and at NHCC December 5th and 12th from 1-3:30pm. IPCC does require paid general admission to participate in their workshops.

The ornament events are part of a larger effort to encourage travel to Albuquerque during the holiday season. Many lodging specials, coupons and a host of annual events will also help attract visitors to the destination. Visitors that booked one of the lodging specials will receive a small commemorative ornament, calendar of events as well as a set of coupons. The hope is that the ornaments promotion will not only provide a glimpse into Albuquerque’s local culture, but will become an annual mainstay of the holiday season.
 
For more information, please visit www.itsatrip.org/holiday.