Dar al Islam
Grants Awarded
The proposed non-profit program intends to implement sustainable access to Plaza Blanca, a 200-acre tourist attraction in Abiquiu, New Mexico, famous for its white rock formations. The program primarily focuses on the preservation of the natural landscape by geologically assessing the area, mapping and building new and existing hiking trails, regulating public access, and implementing a natural landscape preservation plan. This approach not only ensures a pleasant experience for visitors but also protects the site from overuse and damage.
Dar al islam was founded in 1979 and soon after that acquired 5000 acres land in Abiquiu, NM on which a large 30,000 square foot facility was built, consisting of a mosque, an elementary school (KG through 6th grade) and some houses. During the 1980s, the school had more than 150 students. In early 1990s, the school had to close down and Dar al Islam was transformed into a summer retreat site. Over the years most of the land was sold, so that today we own around 1550 acres, which includes the Plaza Blanca. The Plaza Blanca is generally open to the Public. There is a gate at the entrance of the site to ensure that people do not cause harm to the natural beauty of the site. However, this gate can be opened by using a code, which most Abiquiu residents that regularly visit it already have. Non-residents are able to get the code by going online, registering for the visit and will then automatically receive the gate code through email or on the same site. Dar al Islam does not filter/screen visitors and no visitors are excluded from visiting the Plaza Blanca, unless they provenly cause harm to it. Plaza Blanca was made famous by local artists Georgia O’Keeffe, these landscapes in a valley of the Rio Chama hills near the village of Abiquiu, when she made a series of paintings about the places she called “The White Place”, or in Spanish “Plaza Blanca”, this area of New Mexico is now on the grounds of the Dar Al Islam education center and mosque. While the White Place has of course been there for geological times it did not become what we today consider the “Plaza Blanca” until it was made famous by the paintings of O’Keeffe, and she did not arrive in the area until 1929, but at first she did not live in the area and only visited for part of the year. When Georgia O’Keeffe found Plaza Blanca near what was to become her home in Abiquiu, it was natural that by contrast it should be called The White Place. It was first in From the White Place, 1940, oil on canvas, that she showcased the amazing forms of this area.