Save the Date: 4th Annual Vehicle for Change Conference and Albuquerque Lowrider Supershow from May 30 to June 2, 2024
ALBUQUERQUE – From May 30 to June 2, the City of Albuquerque will be hosting the 4th Annual Vehicle for Change Conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico. City Councilor Klarissa Peña, the Albuquerque Police Department, Bernalillo County, and the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office are spearheading this Conference at various locations throughout the city, and they are dovetailing it with the Albuquerque Lowrider Supershow being hosted by local event producer Artemis Productions at the Albuquerque Convention Center on June 2.
Similar to previous years’ Conferences, this year’s Conference will provide networking opportunities for lowrider communities, police departments, school systems, and city officials from around the country and provide them with technical support for starting up their own lowrider bike club and lowrider police vehicles programs or helping them grow. The Conference will also include technical support for municipalities to learn how to repeal any anti-cruising legislation in their communities. The Conference will include a wide variety of breakout groups, workshops, activities, and opportunities for participating communities to share best practices and identify funding opportunities to support their programs. Conference attendees will also have the opportunity to exhibit their lowrider cars and lowrider bikes in the Albuquerque Lowrider Supershow on Sunday.
“It has been incredible to see this national network grow over the past four years and for my office to serve as an information clearinghouse for communities wanting to explore innovative approaches to elevating their lowrider communities and to celebrate lowriding as a cultural heirloom that is passed down from generation to generation,” said Councilor Peña.
Over the past four years, City Councilor Peña’s office has been convening a national network of communities through a combination of monthly meetings and annual conferences with the goal of celebrating lowrider culture through a combination of lowrider-based youth programming and legislative action. This growing national network spawned out of the lowriding initiatives that Councilor Peña’s Cruising Task Force first deliberated over back in 2017. One of the legislative recommendations that came out of the Cruising Task Force was to repeal the City of Albuquerque’s No-Cruising Ordinance, which was done in 2018. The City of Albuquerque was the first City in the country to repeal anti-cruising legislation, igniting a national effort among other cities and states to repeal their own anti-cruising legislation, much of which was enacted in the 1990’s and 2000’s and was discriminatory against lowriders and lowrider culture. Since the City of Albuquerque repealed its No-Cruising Ordinance in 2018, the City has supported multiple cities in California repeal their anti-cruising legislation as well as helping repeal legislation at the State level in 2023.
Besides supporting other cities in taking legislative action to celebrate their lowrider communities, Councilor Peña’s office has also collaborated with other communities in developing youth-centric after school programs that have bridged the gap between local law enforcement officers, lowrider clubs, and schools. One of those communities, Olathe, KS, pioneered the mentorship-based lowrider bike club model and has supported Albuquerque and Española in launching their own lowrider bike club chapters over the past few years. “As the founder of the Leadership Lowrider Bike Club, I am so proud to see all of the chapters doing so great,” Erik Erazo, Executive Director of Student & Community Engagement at Olathe Public Schools. “I love seeing our Bike Club family grow.”
The Conference will kick-off at City Hall in the City Council Committee Room on the 9th Floor on Thursday, May 30 and move to other key locations like the Westgate Community Center Annex and the Route 66 Visitors Center over the following couple of days. The Conference will wrap up on Sunday, June 2, when participants move to the Albuquerque Convention Center to enjoy the Albuquerque Lowrider Supershow starting at noon.