A folklorico dancer, a plasteline clay St. Francis and a wooden Jesus all survived the studio fire.

Studio fire
When the front wall fell at Huberto Maestas' famous studio, some survivors emerged from the rubble.
St. Francis miraculously survived, according to Aubin Maestas. The original plasteline clay model was found untouched, along with a Spanish dancer, a wooden sculpture of Christ and numerous bronze items.
The actual loss is still impossible to estimate following the Dec. 4 fire that destroyed the studio workshop in the old county shop building.
A fire marshal has reportedly blamed a wood stove for the raging fire.
Maestas is a world-famed artist and the fire became widespread news. A GoFundMe page has been set up for Huberto’s studio.
In three days, $13,268 of the $50,000 goal had been raised.
“The Maestas family has lost the past 30 years worth of tools, equipment, materials and many other valuable items involved in the business,” wrote Maria Valdez Bloomfield, who set up the page. “One-of-a-kind art pieces were lost in the fire and most importantly, the Maestas family sculpture molds.
“The entire structure is lost. If possible, we are asking for help to get them back on their feet and rise from the ashes.”
Thinking of this, he suggests one of his sculptures could be a phoenix, rising from the ashes.
Huberto is acclaimed, not only for the near-life-sized Stations of the Cross Shrine on the Hill of Piety and Mercy, towering over the small, historic town, but for sculptures in Taos, N.M., Pueblo, Colo. and many other locations. His “El Pastor” herds sheep outside the Colorado Welcome Center in Alamosa.
Miniatures of them are in a collection at the Vatican Museums in Rome. Huberto created these and, in 1991, had them shipped to Rome, then flew out to personally present them to Pope John Paul II.
Casting molds of these and their large counterparts were burned in the fire, along with works in progress and work by other renowned artists. Maestas is a world-famed artist and the fire became widespread news.
Not only was it the workshop of Huberto, it was the studio of Aubin, who sculpts in stone, grandson Amyas, an accomplished sculptor at age 14 and daughter Bianca, a skilled painter and photographer.
Looking down at the ground, author Dana Maestas, wife of Huberto and matriarch of the family, said of the loss, “Thirty years of our lives – gone.”
Dana recently published a picture book, “San Luis,” commissioned by Images of America.
To donate, visit Huberto’s Sculpture Studio at gofundme.