GRANTS, N.M. — A little Christmas magic returned to downtown storefronts this past week as local elementary school students from Mesa View Elementary School picked up their brushes for the eighth annual holiday windowpainting project led by Evelyn and Roger Siegmann.
The longtime Grants residents, working with assistance from the Grants-Milan Rotary Club, once again spent the week guiding students as they transformed business windows with snowmen, stockings, Christmas trees and other festive scenes. Participating businesses in Grants and Milan, including the Cibola Citizen office, opened their windows to the young artists to help ring in the season and hosted them for a fun lunch.
This year, the Siegmann’s are working with the elementary schools to paint nearly 100 windows across the community this year. The Siegmanns said Grants-Cibola County School District has been “great” and as of December 2 the Siegmanns have included students from across the county to bring holiday cheer to the streets of Cibola County.
The effort began in 2017, when Roger watched an out-of-town artist paint a single holiday window and wondered why local children couldn’t do the same. He and Evelyn approached teachers and principals at area schools with the idea, and the project quickly grew from 20 Milan Elementary students painting 20 windows to a communitywide tradition that now includes classrooms from multiple elementary schools.
Over the years, the Siegmanns’ project has raised donations from participating businesses and community members to support the Grants-Milan Rotary Foundation’s backpack program, which provides food for local children on weekends. By the end of the 2024 season, the effort had generated nearly $15,000 in contributions and involved more than 700 young artists, while also sending hand-drawn Christmas art to local care facilities and hospital rooms.
The annual outing has become as much about learning and service as it is about art.