Growing culture: City conference provides network opportunities for lowrider community

May 25—Lowrider culture is one that continues to grow in New Mexico.

The city of Albuquerque will host its Vehicle for Change Conference from Thursday, May 30, through Sunday, June 2.

This year's conference will be the fourth time the event is held.

The conference is spearheaded by 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.

The Albuquerque Super Show will be held at the Albuquerque Convention Center on Sunday, June 2.

According to city officials, the event 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. It 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 Super Show.

"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," Peña said in a statement.

Over the past four years, 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.

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, Kansas, 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," said 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 ninth 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, at Albuquerque Lowrider Super Show.