Art Shorts
Big Art in the Big Ditch
Each Labor Day weekend, San Vicente Artists (SVA) sponsors the Big Ditch Art Fair in Silver City's historic "Big Ditch," the former Main Street that was turned into a park after years of flooding. The 12th annual art fair will take place Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 2 and 3, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day. Local and out-of-town artists and crafters will be showing and selling their wares—paintings, photography, sculpture, ceramics, wood turning, fiber art and jewelry—in this pleasant shaded park.
Food vendors and children's programs will also be featured along with several "Artists in Action." Dave Rotherham will be demonstrating his woodturning skills again this year. According to the SVA, "silversmith Diane Reed may also be coaxed into divulging her secrets with metals and gems." SVA members again will be donating works of art and fine craft to be raffled off on Sunday afternoon.
The venue for this event, Big Ditch Park, is located in the historic downtown area of Silver City, and has quite a history of its own. Not quite a hundred years ago, torrential summer floods turned Main Street in Silver City into the Big Ditch. In the ensuing years, rains continued to feed the creek and this downtown area became shaded by cottonwoods. Silver City residents and planners, including downtown businesses and the MainStreet Project, took advantage of this scenic venue and built a park in which strollers today can be cooled by the tree canopy on a hot summer's day.
For additional information about the art fair, call 388-1082 or see www.silvercityartists.org/artfair.html.
At the Galleries
The second annual "Beauty in Human Form" exhibition, co-sponsored by the Silver Spirit Gallery and Ikosaedar Gallery, will be on display at the Ikosaedar Gallery in Silver City through August 5. The show depicts the human body in many forms, nude and clothed. 315 N. Texas St., 388-1260 or 534-0133.
Mesilla Valley Fine Arts Gallery's August artists of the month are Ray Baird and Roberta Widner. Baird paints with translucent colors in a style he describes as "impressionistic expressionism." Widner's paintings, which often reflect people and places in the US, Mexico and Europe, have been exhibited throughout the Southwest. 2470 Calle de Guadalupe, 522-2933.
The Teacup Garden Studio artists will exhibit a group of small works at the Blue Teal Winery during the month of August, beginning with an artists' reception August 3, 5-7 p.m., with a wine tasting and jazz on the patio. The paintings, collages and handmade greeting cards by Jan Addy, Martha Randall Brown, Gail Cunningham, Juliet DeLaricheliere, Sharon Gaskill and Laurel Weathersbee will celebrate harvest time and the enjoyment of wine. 1720 Avenida de Mesilla, Las Cruces, 524-0390.
The gallery When will present a one-man show by Truth or Consequences artist Jeff Barbour, from August 3 to Sept. 3, with an opening reception for the artist August 4, 6-9 p.m. Barbour will give a talk about his work August 12, 4-5 p.m. Barbour's artworks, which he calls "wall sculptures," begin with a loose drawing. Barbour develops the drawn shapes and eventually settles on a design that can include up to four layers of varying shape. He cuts, sands and paints the shapes using high-gloss enamel, then combines them into one coherent piece. The exhibit at When will feature all- new work. www.whengallery.com, when.grapes.mailstreet@gmail.com,
894-0032 or 894-0087.The works of watercolor/collage artist Laurel Weathersbee and fiber artist Ann Edington will be featured in the historic Rio Grande Theatre Galleries, with an opening reception August 4, 5-7 p.m. Weathersbee's work depicts the landscapes of the Southwest and the wild flora and fauna of the local Chihuahuan Desert. She has been exhibiting her work in solo and group shows in the Midwest and Southwest since 1995 and was awarded the DAAC Newcomer Award in 2005. Adams is an award-winning weaver who has exhibited her work all across the country and internationally in Mexico. 523-6403.
The Patio Art Gallery will hold an opening reception August 5, 1-4 p.m., for "Clay and Canvas," its August show featuring the works of ceramist Janice Cook of Mesilla and painter Daphne Wirthlin of Las Cruces. El Paseo at University, Las Cruces, www.patioartgallery.com, 541-7401.
Laughing at the Sun gallery in Las Cruces will show the paintings of Colleen Hennessy during the month of August, with an opening reception August 5, 5-7 p.m. 1910 Calle de Parian (inside the Old Tortilla Factory), Mesilla. www.laughingatthesunmesilla.com,
523-1890.The Tombaugh Gallery of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Las Cruces will feature the students of regionally known painters Carolyn Bunch and Julie Ford Oliver. Known as the "Monday Studio Painters," the group began about two years ago and now includes 24 artists. The show will run from August 4-30, with an artists' reception August 6, 1-3 p.m. 2000 S. Solano, Las Cruces, 522-7281.
"Summer Musings," an exhibit of works by Dayna Griego, Gordee Headlee and Mary Alice Murphy, will open at Leyba Ingalls Arts on August 11, with a reception from 5-8 p.m. 315 N. Bullard, Silver City, 388-5725, www.LeybaIngallsART.com.
"Furniture as Art," works by master craftsman Robert Winston, opens at Lois Duffy Art on Sept. 2 with a reception from 4-7 p.m. Winston creates modern sculptured furniture from aged woods. The show runs through Sept. 30. 211-C N Texas St., Silver City,
534-0822, www.loisduffy.com.The new Smith-Benton Gallery in Silver City will hold its official grand opening on Sept. 2, from 4-7 p.m., with door prizes, music, flowers and food. 211-D N. Texas St., 590-2200.
Taos Indian artist Dennis Lujan has opened the Salon de Taos Artist Studio in Las Cruces. An award-winning artist, Lujan works in many media, including pencil, oil paint and sculpture. 709 El Prado, by appointment, dennis_lujan@yahoo.com or 526-1551.
Barnett's "Life Journey" at Art Museum
"Reaching for the Sublime, a Life Journey," an exhibit of landscape paintings by Dave Barnett, will open in the Director's Gallery of the Las Cruces Museum of Art, Friday, August 4, with a reception for the artist, 5-7 p.m. The museum's main gallery features "New Vision," digital photography by students in the summer High School Honors Digital Photography class, through August 19, with a reception for the artists August 4, 5-7 p.m., and "Light Through Stone: Brief Works of Harmony," sculptures by Doug Gray. 490 N. Water St. in the downtown mall, Las Cruces, museums.las-cruces.org 541-2137.