D e s e r t E x p o s u r e
February 2012
Arts Exposure
Love Art?
It's your month in Las Cruces and Mesilla.
For the Love of Art Month, a regional celebration and appreciation of the arts, returns 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 its 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, Feb. 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."
The celebration kicks off with the opening of the ArtForms Member Exhibition at the Branigan Cultural Center Friday, Feb. 3, from 5-7 p.m. during the monthly Downtown Ramble, accompanied with music by American Indian flutist Randy Granger. Then, every Saturday from 1-2 p.m., ArtForms and the Branigan will present something special: Voz Vaqueros, "The Singing Men of Las Cruces," performs on Feb. 4; local flamenco dancers join Lucilene de Geus to entertain on Feb. 11; the percussionists in Ten Plus One perform on Feb. 18; and Sin Fronteras will hold a poetry reading Feb. 25. All programs are open to the public and admission is free. 501 N. Main St.
Also opening 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 5-6 p.m. during the Downtown Ramble.
Also on Feb. 3, from 7:30-10:30 p.m., Mikey's Place will present 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. Tickets are $10, with proceeds benefitting the Performing Arts Scholarship. 3100 Harrelson, www.mikeysplacenm.com.
The Artists of Picacho Hills, one of ArtForms' member groups, will hold its For the Love of Art Show at the Picacho Hills Country Club, 6861 Via Campestre, on Sunday, Feb. 5, from 12-4 p.m. More than 20 artists working in a variety of media will display and sell their works. www.artistsofpicachohills.com.
At the new Convention Center, the ArtForms Show and Sale will feature 50 booths representing the best of southern New Mexico's many forms of art. The show, Feb. 10-Feb. 12, features paintings, watercolors, sculpture, photography, jewelry, metal, wood, fiber art, fractals, gourd art and more. Hours are 9 a.m.-7 p.m. Friday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. The Las Colcheras Quilt Guild's "Century of Enchantment" show will also be at the center, Friday and Saturday.
Again this year, there are two weekends of studio tours, Feb. 18-19 and Feb. 25-26. Studios are open, with a few exceptions, from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. This year 15 local studios will be open for visitors. Studio tour maps are in the Event Guide and available as a download from the ArtForms website.
Other For the Love of Art events include the City of Artists Promotional Association's "It's All About Art!" exhibition at Lundeen Inn of the Arts and Alma d'arte Charter High School's recycled dumpster creation 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 Brewing as part of the Art Around Town Venues.
In performing arts events, the No Strings Theatre Company at the Black Box Theatre offers its 12th annual performance of Love Letters on Valentine's Day, Feb. 14, at 7 p.m. 430 N. Downtown Mall, www.no-strings.org.
The Mesilla Valley Film Society offers a free screening of Cave of Forgotten Dreams on Saturday, Feb. 18, at 1:30 p.m. at the Fountain Theatre. 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. 2469 Calle de Guadalupe.
The last day of February — an extra one for Leap Year — brings a free concert by the New Horizons Symphony, directed by Shawn Robinson. "From Russia With Love" features Russian symphonic music performed at NMSU's Atkinson Recital Hall. The Feb. 29 concert begins at 7:30 p.m.
Details about these and other activities, including studio tour maps, are in the For the Love of Art Month Event Guide, distributed at locations around Las Cruces and Mesilla. It may also be downloaded from the website www.artformsnm.org.