Art Shorts
Grant County Arts Scene
The MainStreet Project will hold its second annual "Chair-ity Auction" at the Historic Silco Theater in Silver City on Aug. 4. Last year's inaugural event, in which attendees bid on directors' chairs colorfully and often whimsically decorated by nearly 50 area artists, raised more than $7,000 to benefit restoration of the Silco Theater. Once again this year, you can enjoy gourmet appetizers and bid on one-of-a-kind collectible directors' chairs. The event is co-sponsored by Desert Exposure and Manzanita Ridge. Tickets are $5 at the door or in advance at the Silco, Curious Kumquat or Yada Yada Yarn. 7 p.m. Silco Theater, Bullard St., 538-4374, ads@desertexposure.com.
On Aug. 18, three artsy downtown Silver City sites will celebrate canines. Blue Dome Gallery will open "Dog Daze," an art exhibit for dog lovers, with a reception 10 a.m.-5 p.m. The Hub will host "Doggie Demos" from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. And Seedboat Gallery will have "Pet Portraits" from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Information, www.bluedomegallery.com, bluedome@zianet.com, 534-8671.
"Transformation" is the title of a show of new works by Dayna Griego and Nanda Current opening Aug. 18, with a reception 4-7 p.m., at Leyba & Ingalls Arts, 315 Bullard St. in Silver City. 388-5725, www.LeybaIngallsART.com.
Silver City artist Mary A. Gravelle will offer a Wisdom Painting session Aug. 19, 1-4 p.m., at Leyba & Ingalls Arts. (See the May 2007 Desert Exposure for details.) $35 covers materials and guidance, $20 deposit required. No art experience necessary. (860) 888-6998, marylovespainting@yahoo.com, www.wisdompainting.com.
The familiar Big Ditch Art Fair that's been a Silver City institution on Labor Day weekends for a decade and a half has been reborn indoors at the Silco Theater. The 15th Annual Labor Day Art Fair, with a theme of "Labors of Love," will be held Sept.1 and 2. Sponsored by San Vicente Artists, the fair will feature juried original art, fine crafts and a silent auction. Hours are Saturday 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Sunday 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Silco Theater, 311 N. Bullard St., 534-4269.
Las Cruces & Mesilla Arts Scene
The Cottonwood Gallery at the Southwest Environmental Center will exhibit "Chihuahuan Desert Secrets: Wildflowers," a collection of photographs by Wynn Anderson, with an opening Aug. 3, 5-7 p.m., during the Downtown Ramble. Long an advocate for protecting the beauty of the Chihuahuan Desert, Anderson, a botanist and UTEP professor, finds his colorful subjects under desert shrubs, in arroyo banks and on canyon walls. 275 N. Downtown Mall.
The Patio Art Gallery will show work by Carolyn Bunch, Winfrey Hearst, Annetta J. Hoover, Joyce T. Macrorie, Julie Ford Oliver and Dan Tapper in August, with an opening reception for the artists Aug. 4, 1-4 p.m. "The Antique Dress Shop," the newest watercolor by acclaimed Las Cruces watercolorist Fred Chilton, will be the featured centerpiece of the exhibit. Painting for nearly half a century, Chilton, 63, traded in his oils and acrylics six years ago to take up the challenge of watercolors. With shades of lavender, turquoise, brown, blue and pink, Chilton captures in the "Dress Shop" piece the sensual and formal beauty of silk and the human form in the midst of the informal clutter in a 1977 Detroit antique shop. Struck by the charm of what he saw, the young Chilton snapped a photo and then set it aside, not painting the scene until just recently. A top award winner in every national show he enters, Chilton now prefers to contribute work to publications. In 2009, his work will be featured for the second time in the acclaimed art series, Splash, and in 2006 and 2007 he was among the highest award winners in the publication Watercolor Magic. 665 E. University Ave. at El Paseo, 541-7401, www.patioartgallery.com.
"Artists Who Paint with Julie and Annetta," an exhibit featuring the diverse works of 25 artist-participants who study with artists Julie Ford Oliver and Anetta J. Hoover, will show at the Tombaugh Gallery of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Las Cruces in August, with an opening reception Aug. 5, 12-3 p.m. 2000 S. Solano, 522-7281.
Las Cruces artist C.C. Cunningham will be the featured artist for August at the Alegre Gallery in Mesilla, with a reception for the artist Aug. 11, 1-4 p.m. Cunningham paints abstracted figuratives and imaginary scenes with texture and flamboyant, rich color. Her paintings are by turns humorous and whimsical or spiritual and ethereal. It has been said that her work recharges its viewers, like "soul batteries." 1701 Calle de Mercado, 523-2311, www.alegregallery.com.
The Mesilla Valley Fine Art Gallery will feature Phil Yost and Ann Peck as its August artists of the month. Peck's pastels and watercolor paintings express her interest in florals, old adobes, desert landscapes and many other distinctly New Mexican subjects. Yost's detailed watercolors describe a wide variety of landscapes and other subjects from all over the country. Yost's and Peck's works will be featured along with those of 30 other local artists in a variety of mediums. 2470 Calle de Guadalupe, 522-2933, mesillavalleyfineartsgallery.blogspot.com.
The works of Spanish surrealist Salvador Dali will be featured at the Las Cruces Museum of Art with an exhibition of 100 woodblock prints produced by Salvador Dali to illustrate Dante Alighieri's literary masterpiece, The Divine Comedy, Sept. 7-25, with an opening reception Sept. 7, 5-10 p.m., coinciding with the Dona Ana Arts Council's ArtsHop. Tickets purchased for ArtsHop will be honored for admission to the Dali exhibition on that date only. For the remainder of the exhibition, admission is $5 for adults, free for those aged 18 and under. Lectures will include: Dr. Elizabeth Schirmer on "Dante Alighieri and the Writing of the Divine Comedy," Sept. 22, 11 a.m.; Mireille Dohmen on "Personal Experiences with Salvador Dali," Oct. 20, 11 a.m.; Bernard Ewell, a Santa Fe art appraiser and Dali expert, Nov. 3, 11 a.m. All lectures at the Branigan Cultural Center's Shannon Room. Seating is limited. The Dali exhibit admission fee also covers musical performances held at the Museum of Art: Las Cruces Friends of Chamber Music, Sept. 29, Oct. 27 and Nov. 24, 1 p.m. Dali worked for nine years on the original watercolor renditions for the project, which he considered one of the most important of his career. The entire print suite, published in 1964 and loaned to the museum by a local collector, illustrates the 100 cantos, or verses, of Dante's allegorical journey through Hell, Purgatory and Paradise. To create prints from the original paintings, two artisans worked for three years to carve 3,500 woodblocks. Each individual image required approximately 35 separate blocks to capture its detail and color. 491 N. Main St., 541-2137, www.museums.las-cruces.org.
"As One," an abstract bronze by Las Cruces sculptor Tomi LaPierre, has been juried into the "Visions of America" art show at the Bennington Center for the Arts in Vermont, July 28-Sept. 9. LaPierre's work "To Market, To Market" has been juried into the "Black and White with a Splash of Color" show at the Hal Marcus Gallery in El Paso, running through August.
Sierra County Arts Scene
The Percha Creek Traders Gallery in Hillsboro will exhibit "New Artists, New Rooms," with an opening reception for the artists Aug. 18, 10 a.m.-4 p.m., 895-5116.
Cathy Pierce and Jan Thompson are August Artists of the Month at The Monte Cristo Gift Shop & Gallery. Pierce creates award-winning quilts for use on beds and as wall art, adorable fabric dolls, and fun and practical potholders, aprons and more. Thompson, a long-time jewelry artist in Albuquerque, will show her pastels that reflect the beauty of her Chloride mountain community and the western way of life. In historic Chloride, 35 miles west of Truth or Consequences via Hwy. 52. 743-0493, montecristo@zianet.com