D e s e r t E x p o s u r e 
January
2008
Art Shorts
Grant County Arts Scene
Casa de la Cultura en Santa Clara is looking for artists to participate in the Second Annual Mining District Fine Arts Exhibit/Sale & Auction, at 100 N. Prescott in the Santa Clara Center, Jan. 26, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Submission deadline is Jan. 11. 538-6526, 307-6678, metrillo2002@yahoo.com
The work of Jean Chandanais Bohlender will be exhibited in a one-woman show at the MRAC gallery in Silver City, Jan. 25-March 20, with an opening reception for the artist Jan. 25, 5-6:30 p.m. 538-2505. www.jeanbohlender.com See story in this section.
Citing medical concerns, gallery owner Major Benton closed the Reese-Benton Gallery at 211 N. Texas St. in Silver City at the end of last month. All best wishes, Major.
The San Vicente Artists will have a new collection of art displayed in the Teleperformance lobby, Hwy. 180 (next to Ace Hardware) in Silver City, with an opening reception for the artists Feb. 8, 5-7 p.m. The exhibit will run through April. A percentage of art sales along with the artists' entry fees goes toward a scholarship fund the group is developing for art students.
The Southwest Women's Fiber Arts Collective will open a fiber arts center this month on Texas Street in Silver City, in the space recently vacated by the Reese-Benton Gallery. The non-profit group promotes grassroots economic development and cultural entrepreneurship, and will continue to operate The Common Thread, its Silver City storefront on Broadway. The new center will be used for meetings, classes, outreach programs, a summer fiber-arts camp and studio space for members. The first class will be a Rigid Heddle Weaving class, Jan. 26, 10 a.m.-2 p.m., with renowned fiber artist Tina Salmon instructing. Participants will go home with a scarf. Register at The Common Thread, 107 W. Broadway or call 538-5733. www.fiberartscollective.org
Dona Ana County Arts Scene
At the Las Cruces Museum of Art, two exhibits, "Unified Field: The Border," paintings and drawings by Mexican artist Beatriz Ezban, and "Hyl_ Expression," works in wood by Santa Fe artist Pascal, continue through Jan. 26. From Jan.18-Feb. 23, first-year art students will exhibit drawings in ink and charcoal and ceramics in the Dona Ana Community College Student Exhibition. And Feb. 1, two shows will open: an exhibit of mixed-media works by participants in the Heart to Art class held in the museum, and "After China," featuring ceramic artists Marie Weichman, Dryden Wells and Ian Thomas, presenting ceramic and mixed-media sculptures produced during and after their two-month residency in Jingezhen, China. 501 N. Main St. in the Downtown Mall, 541-2137, www.museums.las-cruces.org
Also at the art museum, registration is open for art classes for adults and young artists. Winter session classes will begin the week of Jan. 22 and extend through March 10. Registration materials are available online.
The Las Cruces Arts Association will present "Glass on Glass Mosaics" with artist Pat Lawrence at its Jan. 20 meeting in the Dresp Room of the Thomas Branigan Memorial Library at 1:30 p.m. The public is invited. Lawrence, a former Michigan resident, now teaches stained-glass technique at the Munson Senior Center. Her art is influenced by her work as a watercolor artist. She will bring samples of her students' artwork to the meeting and show that glass work can be done on a variety of materials.
The Mesilla Valley Fine Arts Gallery's featured artists for January are Alice Dressler, a watercolorist, portrait and oil painter, and Lucia Wilcox, who works primarily on Yupo paper as a watercolorist. 2470-A Calle de Guadalupe, Mesilla. 522-2933.