Arrowhead Park, New Mexico State University (NMSU), and Dona Ana Community College (DACC) have broken ground on our joint Creative Campus initiative, a broad-based collaboration in Southern New Mexico that focuses on the workforce, economic, and community development potential of the film and digital media industries.
The partnership includes DACC, NMSU, Arrowhead Center, KRWG Public Media, Film Las Cruces, Film NM, the Las Cruces Public Schools, and the New Mexico Economic Development Department.
The Creative Campus will be a state-of-the-art digital media complex where academia, industry, and entrepreneurship work together to develop next-generation talent, produce world-class digital content, and generate significant economic growth in the region.
DACC took the lead in the March 28 groundbreaking ceremony with their new Creative Media Technology academic building that will open in the fall of 2024. The building will feature a state-of-the-art soundstage designed to operate as both an instructional space and a functional TV/Movie soundstage. Classrooms and lab spaces are also included for Graphic and Web Design, Game Design, Virtual Reality and Animation, and Cinematography and Photography.
Attending the groundbreaking ceremony were New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham, Economic Development Secretary Alicia Keyes, FilmNM Director Amber Dodson, and many other local contributors to the project.
“The Arrowhead Park satellite campus of the New Mexico Media Academy exemplifies the collaboration that continues to grow the film and television industry in communities all across the state,” Governor Lujan Grisham said.
NMSU will follow in two years with new facilities for the Creative Media Institute, our top-20 nationally ranked animation program, and for our KRWG radio and TV broadcast facilities. Arrowhead Center will support all of these initiatives with entrepreneurial and business startup support for related businesses in the region.
Ongoing recruitment efforts will bring industry partners to the 35-acre Creative Campus site as we partner to fully realize the potential for film and digital media in New Mexico. These and other pending developments are expected to almost double Arrowhead Park’s current $105 million annual economic impact in southern New Mexico.
All of these Creative Campus facilities are possible with the support of the U.S. Economic Development Administration and a Public Works grant that is developing the new roadways and utilities for the project.
The Creative Campus initiative at Arrowhead Park aligns well with statewide initiatives promoting the growth of the film and digital media sector, including the new New Mexico Media Academy. In a significant collaboration between the New Mexico Economic Development Department and the NMSU system, a new volumetric stage for training in virtual production technologies will be built adjacent to the DACC Creative Media Technology building.
This training facility will be one of only a few in the country at this point, providing the opportunity to train and position New Mexico students for a growing new market place.
DACC Creative Media Technology Building
Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham
Arrowhead Park Executive Director Wayne Savage
Arrowhead Park Creative Campus Rendering