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Travel Highlight: February
For the Love of Art Month 2012
Downloadable For the Love of Art Month Event Guide
For the Love of Art Month, a regional celebration and appreciation of the arts, returns to charm residents of and visitors to the Mesilla Valley for the 14th year in February. Created by ArtForms Artists Association of New Mexico, the month-long event strives to encompass art in all it forms in locations both expected and unexpected. For the Love of Art Month has a major show at the new Las Cruces Convention Center for the first time this year and Leap Day, February 29, will be celebrated with a concert by the New Horizons Symphony at New Mexico State University.
For the Love of Art Month Chairperson Cherie Gamboa says, "One of our goals is to showcase not only visual arts, but performing arts. We've certainly accomplished that this year. When you look at our Event Guide, you'll see a wide range of art exhibits, multiple musical performances and concerts, poetry readings, and plays. We truly have something for every artistic taste."
The celebration kicks off with the opening of the ArtForms Member Exhibition at the Branigan Cultural Center Friday, February 3, from 5 to 7 p.m. during the monthly Downtown Ramble. Not only will art in many genres be on display, but music performed by American Indian flutist Randy Granger will enhance the appreciation of the exhibit. The Branigan Cultural Center is located at 501 N. Main Street and is open Tuesday through Saturday from 9 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. Admission is free.
ArtForms President John Northcutt says, "My goal this year was to have a performing arts event each weekend of the month at the Branigan Cultural Center to accompany our Member Exhibit. We kick off at the opening during the Downtown Ramble with Randy Granger playing flute. Then every Saturday afternoon from 1 to 2 is something different. Voz Vaqueros will sing on February 4, there's Flamenco dancing on the 11th, and drumming on the 18th. We wrap up the month with the third annual For the Love of Lit reading by local writers and poets."
Also open during the Ramble - and on display through the month - will be an exhibit by the New Mexico Watercolor Society, Southern Chapter, under the theme of "For the Love of Southwest Gates and Doorways," at the Blue Gate Gallery on the Downtown Mall. Photographs by Peter Herman will be exhibited at the Black Box Theatre illustrating performances of the season past. At the Thomas Branigan Memorial Library, the Southwest Calligraphy Guild will exhibit "For the Love of Lettering," calligraphy with mixed media, with an opening from 5 to 6 p.m. during the Downtown Ramble.
After the Downtown Ramble, head to Mikey's Place, 3100 Harrelson, for Mikey's Sheesh-Ka-Deesh, an eclectic mix of dance performance, music from the 1940s to present, refreshments, wine from Amaro and art from SumArt Art Co-op. The event will be held from 7:30 to 10:30 p.m. on February 3. Tickets are $10, with proceeds benefitting the Performing Arts Scholarship. More information at www.mikeysplacenm.com.
ArtForms is made up not only of individual artists, but of several other art organizations. The Artists of Picacho Hills, one of the member groups, will hold their For the Love of Art Show at the Picacho Hills Country Club, 6861 Via Campestre, on Sunday, February 5, from noon until 4 p.m. Over 20 artists working in a variety of media will display and sell their works. More information at www.artistsofpicachohills.com.
"Last year we tried something new with Art at the Amador. It went so well, this year we moved the concept to the new Las Cruces Convention Center. The ArtForms Show and Sale will feature 50 booths representing the best of southern New Mexico's many forms of art. The Las Colcheras Quilt Guild's Century of Enchantment show will be going on at the same time, so there will be the work of hundreds of artists to enjoy. We'll even have a very special musical surprise on Saturday, February 11, at 2 p.m. that you won't want to miss," says Gamboa.
The ArtForms Show and Sale is February 10 through Sunday, February 12, and features paintings, watercolors, sculpture, photography, jewelry, metal, wood, fiber art, fractals, gourd art, and much more. The Las Colcheras Quilt Guild's Century of Enchantment show offers over 200 judged quilts, a merchant's mall, an antique quilt display, quilt appraisals, and door prizes. There will also be quilt workshops on February 12 and 13 by Kimberly Einmo, master quilter, judge, teacher, author and quilt designer.
Both events open Friday, February 10, at 9 a.m. and continue until 7 p.m. and on Saturday from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. On Sunday, only the ArtForms Show and Sale will be open, from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. Admission is free to the ArtForms show and there is a $7 entry fee for The Century of Enchantment. For more information on the Las Colcheras Quilt Guild event, go to www.lcqg.org.
Again this year, there are two weekends of studio tours: February 18 and 19, followed by February 25 and 26. Studios are open, with a few exceptions, from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. All told, 15 studios will be open for visitors to peruse. Studio tour maps are in the Event Guide and available as a download from the ArtForms website.
Northcutt says, "I think one of the highlights of For the Love of Art Month is the opportunity to visit artists at their studios and talk to them about how they create their art. You can do that at an art opening, but during the studio tours, you see where and how they work. There's something special about making that kind of bond between artist and art patron."
Both individual artists and arts organizations will be exhibiting art all over town in February. On Thursday, February 2, from 5 to 7 p.m., the Mountain Gallery and Studios, 138 W. Mountain Street, will hold a grand opening and features the work of the Las Cruces Arts Association, celebrating 50 years of art in Las Cruces. Another opening that evening takes place at the Thomas Branigan Memorial Library, 200 E. Picacho at Main, from 6 - 7 p.m. for the GFWC Progress Club of Las Cruces. The show entitled "Art Inspires" may be viewed during regular library hours.
The Mesilla Valley Fine Art Gallery, 2470A Calle de Guadalupe in Mesilla, again hosts the popular My Masterpiece show, with members of this co-op gallery creating pieces that represent works by famous artists. There's a contest, too. Guess the famous artist whose work each painting represents and you go into the drawing. The reception for the exhibit will be held Friday, February 3, from 1 to 3 p.m.
But, wait. There's more! Such as the City of Artists Promotional Association's "It's All About Art!" exhibition at Lundeen Inn of the Arts; Jill Samoza's show at the Unitarian Universalist Church's Tombaugh Gallery; Fractal Art at Funky Karma Incense and Tea; and something completely different at Alma d'arte Charter High School: a recycled dumpster entitled "Trash the Violence." Individual artists are tucking their work into a variety of places around town, such as Toucan Market, Insta-Copy and High Desert Brewery as part of the Art Around Town Venues.
Along with the many visual arts exhibits, there will also be a number of performing arts events, in addition to those to be held Saturdays at the Branigan Cultural Center. The No Strings Theatre Company at the Black Box Theatre, 430 N. Downtown Mall, offers the 12th annual performance of "Love Letters" on Valentine's Day, February 14, at 7 p.m. Also at the Black Box Theatre enjoy "The Sisters Rosenweig" Thursday, February 2 through Sunday, February 5. More information at www.no-strings.org.
The Mesilla Valley Film Society offers a free film screening of "Cave of Forgotten Dreams" on Saturday, February 18, at 1:30 p.m. at the Fountain Theatre, 2469 Calle de Guadalupe in Mesilla. The film by Werner Herzog shows the earliest known works of art by humans drawn on the walls of the Chauvet Caves of southern France.
Rounding out an exciting month of art and music, the last day of February - an extra one for Leap Year - offers a free concert by the New Horizons Symphony at NMSU, directed by Shawn Robinson. "From Russia With Love" features Russian symphonic music performed at NMSU's Atkinson Recital Hall on Horseshoe Circle. The February 29 concert begins at 7:30 p.m., but arrive early for a seat for these always-popular concerts.
