A glimpse into the art world on will only cost a quarter on Sept. 7.
The Albuquerque Museum of Art and History will be offering a one-day admission fee of 25 cents, the museum’s regular admission price in 1967, as part of the museum’s 50th anniversary celebration, complete with cake and a speech by Museum Director Cathy Wright.
Thursday’s Retro Admission Day kicks off a month-long commemoration of the museum’s birthday.
“Cathy Wright wanted to do something fun to encourage people to come celebrate with us,” said Denise Crouse Communications, manager of the Albuquerque Museum. “We were looking through files from the early years and found an exhibition invitation for a Leonardo da Vinci exhibition, and admission to the show was 25 cents. What a great way to have a ‘throwback’ day by making admission only a quarter.”
The Albuquerque Museum features artwork related to New Mexico and the history of the Central Rio Grande Valley, she said.
“In 1986 Albuquerque was at risk of losing one of its most important art treasures; Albuquerque High School’s art collection was about to be sold to private collectors,” Crouse said. “The Museum purchased this group of paintings and drawings, benefiting the local school system and preventing the displacement of our heritage.The collection includes masterworks by Ernest L. Blumenschein, Oscar E. Berninghaus and many more.”
The Albuquerque Museum also features artists with ties to the University of New Mexico, including Clinton Adams, Elaine DeKooning, Enrique Montenegro, Bob Ellis and Raymond Jonson, Crouse said.
“Clinton Adams was hired by UNM from Los Angeles to literally modernize the art department. It had been run by more traditional, representational artists who were antagonistic to abstraction,” she said.
Adams came in and hired Garo Antreasian to help him bring Tamarind Litho from LA to UNM, and to run it, she said, while DeKooning’s painting was completed while she was a visiting professor at UNM.
Former UNM professor and Chilean émigré Enrique Montenegro was Richard Diebenkorn’s grad advisor, Crouse said, adding, “When you point this out, anyone who knows Diebenkorn’s work recognizes relationships to our painting in ‘Common Ground.’”
Crouse sees this as an opportunity for the community to “enjoy a slideshow of key moments from each year and then pursue the galleries to experience this cultural treasure.”
Nichole Harwood is a news and culture reporter at the Daily Lobo. She can be contacted at news@dailylobo.com, culture@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @Nolidoli1.
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