Regina Held – Biography

Regina Held was born in Germany and arrived in the United States at 23 years of age. She earned her Bachelor of Fine Art from the University of Texas at Austin, and her Master of Fine Art from the University of New Mexico with an emphasis in printmaking. Having fallen in love with New Mexico she recognized the need for an open access printmaking studio specializing in Intaglio. With non-toxic etching systems just becoming available she opened New Grounds Print Workshop & Gallery in 1996. It ended up becoming one of the first completely non-toxic professional printmaking studios in the world. In 2000, Regina moved New Grounds to a 3,000 square foot location in Albuquerque’s Nob Hill. She expanded the print workshop to include an art gallery, reasonable artist membership, diverse printmaking classes, custom printing and framing. In 2007 she expanded again to add Matrix Fine Art, a contemporary gallery located in a space next to New Grounds. In addition, for almost 20 years, she participated in international gallery fairs exporting New Mexico art all over the world.

After selling both Matrix Fine Art and New Grounds in 2016 – New Grounds is still in existence today; Matrix Fine Art closed its doors in 2022 – she opened her consulting firm Artful Living specializing in art curation, art consultation, artist mentoring, and professional organization. Since 2016 her main contract has been curator for Gallery with A Cause located inside the New Mexico Cancer Center. Her contract was expanded to gallery director in 2020. Regina organizes four major shows a year at the NMCC, each featuring about 380 works of art by 18 artists.

For 30 years, Held has curated exhibitions for various organizations, private homes and businesses. She juried numerous exhibitions, organized two major retrospectives, and handled art estates. Lastly, she served as board member and vice president for Albuquerque United Artists and the Albuquerque Business Organization. She received the Magnifico and Bravo Award for her contributions to the Albuquerque art community and is often invited to speak on the topics of printmaking, collecting prints, and the business of art. She is also the author of New Grounds: The Manual for Non-Toxic Etching, which continues to sell nationally and internationally.