Biography

Allegra was born in Nicaragua just as that country was erupting into revolution.  She lived in Central and South America until a move brought her to Taos, New Mexico in 1990.

The Taos painter creates figurative and experimental work with a bright color palette in both watercolor and acrylic. Allegra has been featured in Southwest Art Magazine five times. The artist was awarded a Taoseña Award, with a feature article in Taos Woman Magazine in 2019. An ongoing Taos IS Art Lamppost Banner Winner, the artist has shown & is collected internationally.

Her work can be found at Wilder Nightingale Fine Art and Las Comadres Gallery in Taos. Allegra is a Signature Member of the Taos Watercolor Society, and served as President for a two year term in 2023 and 2024.

Shows

“Taos Watercolor Society at the Taos Inn”, Group Show, April 2025-2026

“Hearts & Stars”, Group Show, Wilder Nightingale Fine Art, Taos, NM Feb 2025

“23rd Annual Miniature Show”, Group Show, Millicent Rogers Museum, Taos NM Feb 2025

“Off Kit Carson Road: Taos Watercolor Society Pop-Up Show”, Group Show, Wilder Nightingale Fine Art, Taos Sept 2024

Taos Fall Arts Festival, Group Show, Taos NM Sept 2024

"Best of the Southwest", Group Show, Taos Watercolor Society at the Stables Gallery, Taos NM July 2024

“22nd Annual Miniature Show”, Group Show, Millicent Rogers Museum, Taos NM Jan 2024

“High & Dry”, Group Show, Jenn Tough Gallery, Santa Fe, NM Nov 2023

Taos Fall Arts Festival, Group Show, Taos NM Sept 2023

"Best of the Southwest", Group Show, Taos Watercolor Society at the Stables Gallery, Taos NM Sept 2023

“8th Annual International Tour Show”, Invitational Tour Show, Espacio Gallery, London, England July 2023

"8th Annual International Tour Show”, Invitational Show, P Fine Art, Atlanta, GA July 2023

“21st Annual Miniature Show”, Group Show, Millicent Rogers Museum, Taos NM Jan 2023

“20th Annual Miniature Show”, Group Show, Millicent Rogers Museum, Taos NM Jan 2022

Taos Fall Arts Festival, Group Show, Taos NM 2022

"Best of the Southwest", Group Show, Taos Watercolor Society at the Stables Gallery, Taos NM 2022

Taos Watercolor Society at the Taos Country Club, Group Show, Taos NM 2021-2022

“19th Annual Miniature Show”, Group Show, Millicent Rogers Museum, Taos NM Jan 2021

“What Is Love?”, Invitational Show, Studio 107B Gallery, Taos, NM Feb 2020 

“18th Annual Miniature Show”, Group Show, Millicent Rogers Museum, Taos, NM Jan 2020

“Time, Travel: Allegra Sleep at Taos Art Museum”, Solo Show, Taos, NM Winter 2019  

“Love and #metoo”, Invitational Show, Studio 107B Gallery, Taos, NM Feb 2019 

“17th Annual Miniature Show”, Group Show, Millicent Rogers Museum, Taos NM Jan 2019 

"Water That Sustains”, Group Show, Millicent Rogers Museum, Taos, NM 2018

"Best of the Southwest", Taos Watercolor Society at the Stables Gallery, Taos NM 2018 

Taos Fall Arts Festival, Group Show, Taos, NM 2018 

“16th Annual Miniature Show”, Group Show, Millicent Rogers Museum, Taos, NM 2017

Taos Fall Arts Festival, Group Show,Taos NM 2017 

Park Fine Art, Invitational Tour Show, Albuquerque, New Mexico 2016 

Galerie AM Park, Invitational Tour Show, Frankfurt, Germany 2016 

“15th Annual Miniature Show”, Group Show, Millicent Rogers Museum, Taos, NM 2016

“14th Annual Miniature Show”, Group Show, Millicent Rogers Museum, Taos, NM 2015 

Galerie 89, Invitational Tour Show, Paris, France, 2014 

419 Veronese Gallery, Invitational Tour Show, Los Angeles, CA 2014 

Park Fine Art, International Tour Show, Albuquerque, NM 2014

Taos Select, Invitational Show, Taos, NM 2013

“Under the Hill”, Invitational Show, Blumenschein Museum, 2013 

Taos Select, Invitational Show, Taos, NM 2012 

Blumenschein Museum, Group Show, Taos, NM 2009-2010 

“Hearts & Stars”, Group Show, Wilder Nightingale Fine Art, Taos, NM 2008 

Taos Open- Taos, NM Sept 2007 (Award) 

KRZA 2nd Annual Art Auction, Alamosa, CO 2007 

“Pushpin Show”, Group Show, Center for Contemporary Arts, Santa Fe, NM 2006 

KRZA 1st Annual Art Auction, Alamosa, CO 2006 

Taos Open, Taos, NM 2005 

Taos Home Grown Gallery, Group Show, Taos, NM 2005 

Taos Open, Taos, NM 2005 

“Allegra Sleep: New Works”, Solo Show, Taos Artisans Gallery, Taos, NM 2004

Taos Open, Taos, NM 2003

ThinkTank Studio, Group Show, Albuquerque, NM 1999 

Bad Ass Coffee, Group Show, Albuquerque, NM 1998 

Stables Gallery, Group Show, Taos, NM 1990

Publications

Taos News, “Allegra Sleep Dreams in Color”, by Lynne Robinson, May 2023

Southwest Art Magazine, "Off the Easel" article feature, May 2021

Taos News, “Allegra Sleep's Artistic Journey Through Time”, by Tamra Testerman, Nov 2019

Southwest Art Magazine, New Mexico Editorial, August 2018

Bad Influence: Inspired by Frida, featured artist, Edited by Lisa Vollrath, Oct 2016

Southwest Art Magazine, “Juror’s Choice” article feature, January 2014 

Southwest Art Magazine, “Artists of the Southwest” article feature, August 2014 

The Artist’s Magazine, Annual Art Competition, Finalist for Abstract/Experimental, December 2013

Awards

Taos IS Art Lamppost Banner Winner, 2023

Taos Utility Box Project Winner, Taos Mainstreet, 2022

Taos IS Art Lamppost Banner Winner, 2021

Taos IS Art Lamppost Banner Winner, 2018

Juror’s Choice, Southwest Art Magazine 2014

Finalist Abstract/Experimental Category, The Artist’s Magazine Annual Art Competition 2013

Artist’s Choice Award, Taos Fall Arts Open 2007

“I live and paint in a small mountain town in Northern New Mexico called Taos. Its name is derived from the Native American Pueblo language Tiwa, meaning 'place of red willows'. Located roughly seven thousand feet above sea level in the Sangre de Cristo mountain chain, which is the end of the Rocky Mountains; the geography is as awe-inspiring as its sunsets. Sangre de Cristo is Spanish for 'blood of Christ'. A fitting description for the blood red hue that the mountains turn at sunset. The town consists mainly of square adobe buildings which house both shops and residences. These adobes are built of dried mud bricks, which have fantastic insulative qualities. Their palate of hues are earth toned, the color subtle, yet striking.

The first inhabitants of the area were the Pueblo Indians, and Taos Pueblo is a National Historic Landmark and World Heritage Site, having been inhabited for over 1,000 years. The town of Taos was established in 1615 and dubbed 'Fernandez de Taos' by the Spanish. In 1846, the United States laid claim to the territory of New Mexico, installing its first American governor, Charles Bent, who was killed just four months later in what is called The Taos Revolt. The place of his death is less than a block from where I type this right now. On Bent Street, his home is now the Governor Bent Home and Museum, and is open to the public. According to the story, the women in his family dug a hole through the adobe wall of the house to escape the angry mob that killed Charles. They escaped into an alley which is now called Martyr’s Lane.

Starting in 1899, Taos became known as an artist Mecca, drawing big names from the East Coast and abroad. The Taos Society of Artists was created in 1915, by artists Bert Geer Phillips, Ernest L. Blumenschein, Joseph Henry Sharp, Oscar E. Berninghaus, E. Irving Couse, and W. Herbert Dunton. With the advent of Fred Harvey’s railroad empire at the turn of the century, Taos became even more accessible to artists. Socialite Mabel Dodge Lujan, known for her art salons in Europe and New York, moved to Taos and is responsible for introducing many famous artists and writers to the area. Names we all know, Ansel Adams, Georgia O’Keeffe, the writer D. H. Lawrence. America was enamored with the West, and it needed artists to record and preserve it.

Today, there are close to 100 art galleries in Taos. Located mainly in the historic district: on Bent Street; Kit Carson Road; the Taos Plaza; and Ledoux Street. Organizations like the Taos Gallery Association, the Taos Center for the Arts, the Taos Watercolor Society, and Taos Artist Organization (TAO) unite local artists and galleries, and hold shows, and exhibits throughout town. Taos boasts an art market that competes with much larger cities such as those in New York, and San Francisco. Not bad for a town of 6,000 residents.”

-Allegra Sleep, 2011