ARTS EXPOSURE

New Art Show Features ‘Monumental Territory’

Exhibit taps into mountains, ranches, heritage

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A new art exhibit at the New Mexico Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum taps into the rich scenery and heritage of Southern New Mexico.

The “Monumental Territory” exhibit is now open at the museum, 4100 Dripping Springs Road.

It showcases the work of Las Cruces artist Kayla Blundell and is inspired by the scenery at the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument and nearby farms and ranches.

Blundell was selected as artist in residence for the Friends of the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument program in 2016. Her experiences inspired the art in this new show.

The exhibit displays abstract paintings, acrylic spray painting and photographs. She also used paper mache to create 3D effects to help the viewer experience the mountains and the Kilbourne Hole volcanic crater in Southern Dona Aña County.

“One of the first things all the farmers, ranchers and New Mexicans in the surrounding areas see each new day (are the mountains), and it is one great historic landmark that connects all people who live here and continues to be a landmark in our lives,” Blundell said in a news release announcing the exhibit. “We get so used to the areas we live in and tend to be trapped in complacency, forgetting to look around at the gorgeous surroundings.”

“If you drive down Baylor Canyon Road, you will see three things: ranchlands with roaming cattle, the river and farmlands in the distance, and the beautiful national monument,” Blundell continued.

Blundell was born and raised in West Texas. She moved to Las Cruces in 2011 when she married her husband, Josh Blundell, who assisted her with the show. He made the frames for her work.

The New Mexico Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum is open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday.



 

 


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