Sept.13 , 2015
We live in a land of art hops, from Silver
City and Truth or Consequences to assorted neighborhoods in the Las Cruces
metropolitan area.
Their granddaddy, the annual fall ArtsHop
through galleries in Las Cruces and Mesilla, started here in 1994, and has
evolved into the Downtown Ramble, a tour of 20 downtown museums, art galleries
and shops and restaurants that have new art openings from 5 to 7 p.m. the first
Friday of each month. It’s become a solid staple for arts aficionados.
Unfortunately, it leaves out a lot of
impressive galleries that are scattered throughout Doña Ana County. There have
been some attempts to remedy the situation.
The Mesquite Street Gallery Tour made a
strong start, but never quite got off the ground.
The North Valley Art Loop Gallery Tour has
hung in there, but I suspect many of us have a tough time remembering just when
it occurs. Aa Studios owner Roy van der Aa opened his working studio, at 2645
Doña Ana Road, as a gallery in 2012 and participates in the quarterly event
with artist Flo Hosa Dougherty, a founding organizer of the popular Downtown
Ramble who moved her Main Street gallery to 4901 Chagar at the intersection of
North Valley and Taylor roads, and El Jardín de Las Cruces Gallery, 4010 N.
Valley Drive. A few home studios have dropped out, but the main three galleries
continue to welcome visitors at a special event every three months. The next North
Loop tour will be from 4 to 7 p.m. Nov. 13. For information, contact van der Aa
at wysiwyg@zianet.com or 575-520-8752.
Mesilla galleries seem to be more inclined
to support plaza fiestas rather than instituting any special joint gallery
events of their own, though Carolyn and Henry Bunch, owners of Adobe Patio
Gallery, 1765 Avenida de Mercado, have spearheaded some cluster art fiestas
with their neighbors, A.me and Mitch Alamag’s Rokoko Art Gallery and sometimes
include imaginative works by students at Las Cruces Academy (formerly Preston
Contemporary). It’s always fun to
explore the pretty little enclave off Avenida de Mesilla, where recent
additions will soon include a new private school, Roundtable Children’s Academy,
at what was once Lorenzo’s Restaurant, according to a “coming soon” sign. Just
across from the Mercado, the new LuLu Fine Art Gallery, inside the trendy LuLu
emporium at 1800 Avenida de Mesilla, offers a chance to see some of the
region’s newest, most creative artists.
There have been some downtown Alameda
neighborhood special events over the past decade, usually organized by artists
Georjeanna Feltha and Sherry Doil-Carter.
Thanksgiving weekend walking tours at several
Picacho Avenue artists’ homes and studios flourished for a while, then
consolidated under one roof, artist Bonnie Mandoe’s Quesenberry Farm House, 825
Quesenberry St., where she will again host several artists on Nov. 28 and Nov.
29.
Out west, the Artists of Picacho Hills, an
association founded in 2008 that now includes more than 35 artists, hosts two
annual events: Art in the Garden Tour in May and a Holly Day House, an arts and
crafts show traditionally held the weekend after Thanksgiving. This year, it
will be Nov. 21 and Nov. 22.
Some of our oldest and most prestigious galleries
continue to do solo openings and shows, including The Cutter Gallery, 2640 El
Paseo Road, NMSU’s University Art Gallery in Williams Hall, University Museum
in Kent Hall, and Mesilla Valley Fine Arts Gallery, a cooperative of more than
30 artists, just off the Mesilla Plaza.
Newer galleries that have been offering some cutting edge contributions to arts
here include Art Obscura, 3206 Harrelson St., Nopalito’s Galeria, 326 S.
Mesquite St. and Unsettled Gallery, 905 S. Mesquite (read more about their
second art exhibit with Australian artists in today’s Artist of the Week on
page E5).
The scattered locations of some of our best
and most innovative galleries, once honored at the annual ArtsHop, can make
them less accessible for newcomers, visitors, and fans who appreciated a chance
to start each fall with a state-of-our-arts-mecca tour.
One solution? Plan your own fall arts tour.
Pick at least two or three favorite events or better yet, design a custom art
tour of your own.
I did, with a new arts-adjacent category, that
includes establishments, some of them brand new, that aren’t yet on any tours.
I’ll tell you about it in an upcoming Las
Cruces Style column.
S. Derrickson Moore may be
reached at dmoore@lcsun-news.com,
@derricksonmoore on Twitter and Tout, or call 575-541-5450.
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