Arts Scene: September 2023

SILVER CITY

• The Silver City Art Association First Friday Gallery Walk is from 5-7 p.m., Sept. 1. During First Friday walks, SCAA downtown galleries stay open until 7 p.m. to hold receptions, and feature art demonstrations or other special activities. For a map showing SCAA downtown gallery locations, look for the big red dots, or to find out more about SCAA galleries, studios, and independent artists, see silvercityart.com. 

• The 2023 Red Dot Studio Tour exhibition is on display at Light Art Space Gallery, 209 W. Broadway in Silver City through Sept. 3. Enjoy the work of the studio artists and then visit their studios 10 a.m.- 5 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 2 and 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 3. Brochures and maps are available at Light Art Space. There will be a reception 5-7 p.m. Friday, Sept 1.

• “Trifecta.” featuring artwork by Charlee Alexander, Tom Manning, and Rebecca Rousseau is at the Silver City Library, 515 W. College Ave. through Sept. 30. Info: 575-538-6359.

• From Sept. 7 through Oct. 5, Francis McCray Gallery Contemporary Art presents, “Cecil Howard – Retrospective Exhibition 1955-2023,” a collection of over 60 years of his artistic career focusing on collage, assemblages, painting, sculpture, and ceramics. The opening reception is at 6 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 7, at the gallery on Western New Mexico University campus. Howard taught art in Kansas before accepting a position at Western New Mexico University where he first taught ceramics and basic art and was director of the Francis McCray

Gallery. The development of the fine arts program led to a later teaching emphasis on

sculpture and painting. He retired in 1994 after 31 years in the Department of

Expressive Arts, having been chair for several years. Howard’s six panel assemblage, "Heritage," is permanently installed in the WNMU Fine Arts Auditorium foyer and he exhibits art in the Blue Dome Gallery downtown and at Bear Mountain Lodge. Info: 575-538-6517.

• At Light Art Space gallery, 209 W. Broadway in Silver City, presents “The Still(ed) Life:  Celebrating Handmade Photographic Art.“ Juror Diana Bloomfield chose 48 images by 35 artists from across the United States. Each work on display was created by the artist using hand-made photography processes, many of them from the 19th and 20th centuries. “First Light, Last Light: Eric Renner and Nancy Spencer, Pinhole Photographs and Assemblages” will be on display Sept. 7-30 in the Flash Gallery with a reception planned Friday, Sept. 8. Also on view at the gallery is work in various media by the Light Art Space Artists: Joel Armstrong, Joe Huebner, Karen Hymer, Kathleen Koopman, Rhonda Munzinger, Art Peterson, Susan Porter, Eric Renner, Nancy Spencer, and Juan Velasco. The gallery is open 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Thursday-Saturday (until 7 p.m. on First Fridays); 10 a.m.-2 p.m. on Sunday; and by appointment. Info: lightartspace.com.

• The Grant County Art Guild is holding its annual “Creatures of the Gila” art and wildlife show Sept 1-10 at the GCAG Studio, 200 W Market St. in Silver City. This fun hybrid show features art that depicts, or is inspired by, “Creatures” (mammals, fish, birds, insects and reptiles) who live in the Gila River watershed. Each piece is paired with a description of the actual creature on which it is based. Show dates and hours are Sept 1-10, from 10 a.m.-5 p.m., with an opening reception Friday, Sept 1 from 5-7 p.m. during Silver City’s First Fridays Gallery Walk. For more information see gcag.org. The GCAG Gallery is open seven days a week, from 10 a.m.-5 p.m., with extended hours for special events. The GCAG Gallery is located at 316 N Bullard. The Studio is at 200 W Market St., both in Silver City. Info: gcag.org.

DEMING

• “Black and White, It Don’t Lie,” is the title of the September exhibit at the Deming Art Center. It is presented by the Mimbres Photography Alliance. The group consists of four award-winning, experienced photographers, dedicated to their art and to expressing their individual vision. The choice of black and white for this exhibition reflects their respect for the very roots of photography, using light, shadow, tone, and texture to capture the world around them. There will be a time to meet these talented photographers from 1-3 p.m., Sunday, Sept. 3. The exhibit will be on display Sept. 2 - 29. Deming Art Center is at 100 S. Gold St., Deming. The gallery hours are 10 a.m.-4 p.m., Monday-Friday and 10 a.m.-1 p.m. on Saturday. Info: 575-546-3663 and at www.demingarts.org.

ALAMOGORDO

• Otero Arts hosts its latest exhibition “The Two Anns,” 5-7 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 1, at Otero Artspace in the historic Women’s Club Building at 1118 Indiana Ave. (12th and Indiana) in Alamogordo. The public is invited to view works of art by Ann Bagby and Ann Beacht, two dedicated educators-turned-painters, and Otero County residents. Bagby is a figurative, narrative painter and colorist working primarily with oil paint, pastels, and salvaged materials. Beacht made the conscious decision to learn how to paint after she retired from a career in education. The gallery is open throughout the month 1-4 p.m. Thursday through Sunday. Info: oteroarts.org.

CLOUDCROFT

• The Cloudcroft Art Society's Gallery (CAS) annual Labor Day show and sale is coming up 1 a.m.-5 p.m. on both Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 1 and 2. The show features work by the society's local artists as framed and matted paintings in many art mediums, photography and digital photo art, scratch art, greeting cards, pottery, glass art, fiber dolls, gourd art and carvings and more. The artists are on hand to visit with during those times. The show is on display in the back room of the Nivison Library in the old red brick schoolhouse, 90 Swallow Place, Cloudcroft. CAS is a local non-profit organization whose mission is to promote individual creativity and understanding of the visual arts and to provide a showcase for area artists. CAS serves Cloudcroft, the surrounding Sacramento Mountain communities, and the Alamogordo-Tularosa area. Info: sznana@totacc.com.

MAGDALENA

• Magdalena Main Street Gallery Walk for Sept. 2:

Cruising Main, next to Judy Richardson’s studio, 104 N. Main St.

kind of a small array, 106 N. Main St.

Warehouse 1010, 110 N. Main St.

Info: 210-473-9062.

LAS CRUCES

• Gallery 925 presents new works by Diane Alire and Vickie Morrow for the month of September. Alire is primarily a photographer and mixed media artist. She has owned and operated Gallery 925 for the past three years. Her work is photography based and this show features photos that have been hand colored with transparent oils and colored pencil. Morrow is an assemblage artist who lives in Las Cruces. She hails from Deming, originally. Her works are made by grouping found or unrelated objects. An opening reception with artists and refreshments is 1-8 p.m., First Friday, Sept. 1. Gallery hours are 1-5 p.m., Fridays and 11 a.m.-5 p.m., Saturdays and Sundays. An artist talk with Morrow is from 1-2 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 10 and Alire will give a talk 1-2 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 24. Gallery 925 is located in the Mesquite Historical District near the corner of Spruce Street. Info: gallery925nm.com.

• Agave's Artist of the Month is Coy Lowther, one of Agave Artist’s newest members. Lowther is a New Mexican artist drawn to and inspired by the beauty of the desert. She earned her BFA from NMSU and creates art in the region, interconnecting nature and humanity. Her subject matter varies from intriguing to lighthearted and whimsical, creating an eclectic portfolio. When she isn't in her studio, she supports the community by creating murals. To view her art, the gallery is open 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Friday to Monday at 2250 Calle de San Albino. Info: 575-339-9870. Her work can also be found coysart.com or follow her on Instagram @coys_art. Agave Gallery’s Art Garden is 11 a.m.-5 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 16 and features multiple guest artists.

• For Elizabeth Abrams, whose work is on display at the New Mexico Farm & Ranch Heritage Museum, 4100 Dripping Springs Road in Las Cruces, the art of photography offers an opportunity to connect deeply with the world, especially in the form of nature. Her exhibit, “Antidotes: Seeing Beauty, Finding Connection,” continues in the Museum’s Arts Corridor through Dec. 2. The show features 24 landscape and wildlife images by Abrams, who lives in Las Cruces. The show also includes the “Death and Life” display, a memorial work dedicated to horses and other animals. Info: 575-522-4100.

• Three art exhibitions at New Mexico State University’s Art Museum. run through Sept. 16. “Cara Despain: Specter,” is on view in the UAM’s Contemporary Gallery, is an immersive multimedia exhibition featuring work by Miami-based artist Cara Despain. “Agnes Martin & Karen Yank: Meditations on Mentor and Student” is on display in the Bunny Conlon Modern & Contemporary Art Gallery. This exhibition explores the work and intersecting lives of the artists Agnes Martin and Karen Yank. For nearly 17 years. “Wild Pigment Project” is on display in the Mullennix Bridge Gallery. This group exhibition brings together painters and dyers, ink-makers and ceramicists, researchers, scientists and traditional cultural practitioners to explore pigments found in plants, minerals and the industrial waste stream. The University Art Museum is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday at 1308 E. University Avenue. Info: uam.nmsu.edu, call 575-646-2545 or email artmuseum@nmsu.edu.

• The Las Cruces Museum of Art, is featuring “ORIGAMI IN THE GARDEN: Transforming Paper to Sculpture,” featuring innovative artwork of Santa Fe artists Kevin and Jennifer Box. Through a laborious process using the lost-wax technique, Kevin Box transforms both large- and small-scale paper origami pieces into metal sculptures. The exhibition is on view through Sept. 23. The museum is open from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturday at 491 N. Main St. Info: www.lascruces.gov/museums or 575-541-2137.

• The Mesilla Valley Fine Arts Gallery, 2470-A Calle de Guadalupe, across from the historic Fountain Theatre features two local artists for the month September, Phillip Krumholz and Michael Nail. Krumholz began metalsmithing as a hobby in 1991, learning the arts of blacksmithing, metal casting and jewelry fabrication then added lapidary work in 2004 by building his own sawing, grinding and polishing equipment. Nail is a lifelong New Mexico resident and has lived in Las Cruces from an early age. He works primarily in pencil, charcoal and ink. First American Bank in Mesilla is well represented by gallery members who rotate the galleries artists’ work monthly. Gallery hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. Info: 575-522-2933, www.mesillavalleyfinearts.com.

• At Branigan Cultural Center the newest exhibition, “Trinity: Legacies of Nuclear Testing - A People’s Perspective” is on view through Sept. 23. With collaboration from the Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium and 17 juried artists, this empowering and impactful exhibit exposes the long-term effects and ramifications of nuclear testing in New Mexico. Branigan Cultural Center, is at 501 N. Main St., in Las Cruces. In “Trinity: Legacies of Nuclear Testing - A People’s Perspective,” featured artists shed light on the environmental injustices placed on New Mexico downwinder communities. The exhibit covers the period from the first use of an atomic bomb, the Trinity Test in 1945, to present day. The museum is open from 10 a.m.- 4:30 p.m., Tuesday through Friday and 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m., Saturday. Info: www.lascruces.gov/Museums or 575-541-2154.