If you’re attending OTaosuCon, you’re immersed in someone’s dream right now.

The poster art, the energy, the collection of curated talent, the hard work by UNM-Taos staff and volunteers…. the entire event — it started as a vision, nurtured over four years, built piece by piece until it was real enough for other people to walk into. That’s not a metaphor. That’s what this panel is about.

“Building Your Universe” is the second installment of the Creators Without Borders panel series, and OTaosuCon is the proof of concept, the thesis made real: What happens when you follow your creative instincts long enough, seriously enough, and stubbornly enough? You end up somewhere like here, in totally unexpected ways.

Our panelists have each done exactly that — in different ways, across different timelines, with different tools — and they’re here to show you how.

One has been creating commissioned fandom art since she was twelve and turned that lifelong practice into an event that’s bringing Taos’ fandom community together for the first time.

One has spent sixteen years running Madrid Films & Entertainment, LLC — an independent production company with more than 90 projects spanning music videos, documentaries, shorts, and feature films — while also serving as a bridge between New Mexico’s working creators and the industry infrastructure, unions, and career pathways that can turn passion into a lasting livelihood.

And one, a freelancer for 31 years, has been creating and producing interactive, immersive, and entertaining events, holding the vision and building the support structures —websites, posters, logistics, programs — that help other people’s visions come to life, as well as her own and her daughter’s.

Together, they’ll delve into what universe-building actually looks like from the inside: how it starts (usually smaller and stranger than you’d expect), how it sustains itself, and how New Mexico — right now, in this moment — is one of the best places in the country to be a creator who’s serious about doing this for real.

This panel is for artists who wonder whether their passion can become a career. For the creator who has more than one thing going on and isn’t sure how it fits together. For anyone who has a universe in their head and isn’t quite sure how to start building it.

A Conversation between Maggie Duval, Brittany Madrid, and Hunter Tripp.