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When one thinks of the great American cities for arts and culture, one thinks of New York, Chicago, San Francisco, New Orleans.

Given its size and lack of huge arts benefactors, Albuquerque is seldom at the top of the list of hot cities for music, theater or art. But that all may be changing.

Let's be honest. It's hard for Albuquerque to compete with America's largest cities when it comes to the amount of money spent on the arts. Rockefellers and Carnegies are rare or nonexistent cultural sugar daddies in New Mexico. However, for a city our size (less than 1 million people), Albuquerque is becoming a cultural force.

This may sound like naive wishful thinking from a hometown boy drinking the Kool-Aid from the Tourism Department. But I would submit, that Albuquerque's arts and cultural renaissance is here, and it's time us locals take advantage of it.

Albuquerque is home to one of the hottest flamenco dance companies in the world. Eva Encinias and her family have made the National Institute of Flamenco the envy of dance companies around the country. The institute hosts one of the best known international flamenco festivals in the world - right here in Albuquerque. Outside Spain itself, it is difficult to find the quality of flamenco performance that the institute and its annual festival provide.

On the theater front, one of the most avant garde, original theater companies in the country, Tricklock, started by Albuquerque actor/director Joe Perrachio, is in residence in Albuquerque. Its annual international theater festival, Revolutions, has gained an international reputation, and the company has traveled extensively to perform original pieces at festivals around the world.

The latest addition to Albuquerque's growing international reputation for the arts is Globalquerque, an international music festival that has featured some of the biggest acts from around the world. Started by local music promoters Tom Frouge and Neal Copperman, the festival has brought international acts that literally pack arenas in other countries.

And if it is visual arts that you love, Albuquerque is home to one of the most renowned fresco painters in America, Federico Vigil, who is currently painting an impressive fresco inside the torreon at the National Hispanic Cultural Center. He is one of many nationally and internationally known painters who call Albuquerque home.

In film, the nationally-known Duke City Shoot Out is providing small, independent filmmakers a chance to show their talent and creativity in an annual ragtag, one-week filmmaking extravaganza. Add to that the incredible burgeoning national film industry in the city that has featured top actors such as John Travolta and Jennifer Lopez, and it becomes clear that Albuquerque is becoming a leader in the arts and cultural world.

If you think this all sounds like a giant infomercial for my beloved hometown, it is and it isn't. My greatest frustration and surprise is that many of us locals have not partaken nearly enough in the wealth of great music, theater and arts available right here.

A trip to Los Angeles or New York usually includes taking in a show or a museum. However, most Albuquerqueans haven't been to the flamenco festival, Globalquerque or Revolutions. That's too bad, because when it comes to world-class arts and culture in a hometown setting, Albuquerque is becoming the place to be. See for yourself.

Griego is an Albuquerque writer and former Albuquerque City Council member.