Art

Art

PHOTO STORY: ‘Alebrijes and Nahuales’ brings Downtown to life

Alex Joe | July 1

"Alebrijes and Nahuales" is a touring art project on display at Robinson Park in downtown Albuquerque until Friday, July 17. The pieces are wooden sculptures emulating the titular characters from Mesoamerican folklore. Originally commissioned by the city of Lille, France, the 22-foot-tall sculptures were made by artists in Mexico for an eight-month cultural festival celebrating the latter country in Lille. Among the pieces included are “The Happy Alien” by Constantino Blas,  “The Dog” by Adrian Xuana and “The Rabbit” by Maria Jimenez. 

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Culture

"Culturas Del Sol" mural brightens up Popejoy

Megan Holmen | April 23

Editor’s Note: This is the first in a series of articles on different UNM public art pieces. Continue to follow the Daily Lobo for more. The University of New Mexico has over 25 pieces of public art. One of these pieces titled “Culturas Del Sol” by James Jacob is a Talavera Tile mural found in the UNM Center for the Arts outside Popejoy Hall in the foyer of the Center for the Arts. Made in 1996, “Culturas Del Sol” translates to cultures of the sun.

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Culture

Art student creates exhibit dedicated to crying

Megan Holmen | April 1

Sallie Scheufler’s art exhibit, “A Good Cry,” examined the act of crying both socially and emotionally from March 12 through 30. This exhibit was her last step in earning her Master of Fine Arts degree at the University of New Mexico. The exhibit reflected her own experiences with crying and allowed viewers to begin to reflect on their own experiences, she said.

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Culture

Art exhibit depicts junk food's health impacts

Shayla Cunico | March 26

The University of New Mexico’s Maxwell Museum is showcasing a temporary exhibit that demonstrates the negative effects of processed foods in modern diets, titled “Last Supper.” Over the next two weeks students will have the chance to experience the conceptual installation by C. Maxx Stevens. The exhibit displays monotone-painted processed food placed on a large white table dusted with glitter to represent the commercialism and the addiction of sugar, Stevens said.

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Culture

Graduate Art Association holds 24th Annual Juried Art Exhibition

Megan Holmen | March 24

The University of New Mexico Graduate Art Association is having its 24th Annual Juried Art Exhibition at the UNM Art Museum now through May 5. The graduate students in the art and art history department at UNM have an opportunity to have their work on display every year in this exhibit. The exhibit is put on and run by the GAA. The GAA chooses the juror and oversees the jurying process, according to Mary Statzer, the UNM Art Museum curator of prints and photographs and this year’s juror for the art exhibit. Statzer is new to the UNM Art Museum and collaborated with Steven Hurley, the UNM Art Museum coordinator of exhibitions to put up this year’s exhibit.

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Music

Maxwell Museum hosts exhibit supporting refugees

Megan Holmen | February 21

The Maxwell Museum of Anthropology at The University of New Mexico is taking an anthropological perspective on the current political climate. Now through March 3, the museum’s open-to-the-public exhibit, “No Hate, No Fear,” will focus on immigrants and refugees in the United States. Devorah Romanek, the curator of exhibits at the Maxwell Museum, said that this particular exhibit is part of a series that addresses contemporary anthropological issues that are in the news.

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Culture

Exhibition connects art and politics

Megan Holmen | February 10

The Albuquerque Museum currently has an exhibition that focuses on politics through the lens of art. “Art of Politics” is an exhibition put together by Benjamin Masemen in collaboration with Albuquerque Museum Assistant Curator of Art Titus O’Brien. The exhibit displays various forms of art including photographs, drawings and protest signs. The exhibit contains a variety political views and sentiments, said O’Brien. The art depicts anti-militarism politics, contemporary politics and identity politics. It also includes civil rights politics, international politics and Chicano politics.

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Culture

Latin American food exhibit showcases global connections

Megan Holmen | February 8

The University of New Mexico Zimmerman Library is currently featuring the art exhibition, “Food for Thought: Latin American Foods.” This gallery includes multiple pieces, primarily posters, from different Latin American cultures including Brazil, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Cuba and Panama. According to Garcia and Schadl the exhibit was put together in the hopes of helping people see the variety of places our food comes from. One of their goals was to bring people together to have an interdisciplinary discussion about food so that people could learn from one another.

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News

UNM begins class on "Three Peoples" mural

Megan Holmen | January 31

This semester the University of New Mexico is offering a new class that focuses on the “Three Peoples Murals,” which were painted by Kenneth Adams in 1939 and originally funded through a grant from the Carnegie Corp. Located in the west wing of Zimmerman Library, the four murals depict the intercultural relationship between Native, Hispanic and Anglo Americans as the artist viewed those relationships at the time, which caused criticism for decades.

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News

End of ART construction finally in sight

Madison Spratto | December 3

The long-anticipated end to construction on Central Ave. is finally in sight. From the West Side to the BioPark, the Albuquerque Rapid Transit system is up and running — the rest of the ART corridor is being used for bus drivers to practice the new system. The $126 million project started May 2016 and is projected to be complete by the end of 2017. With a new transportation service comes new road rules drivers need to be aware of.

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Culture

Art Review: Student uses photography to connect with her past

Hannah Eisenberg | October 15

When trying to move on from painful experiences, it can be tempting to imagine that old memories can simply burn, fall away into a harmless ash that leaves nothing more than a temporary residue on our minds. This is not how memories work though. Rather, they simmer through us. Our thoughts, patterns, actions, beliefs, our cultures and our histories exist not in an entirely progressive vacuum but in our connection to what was and who we have been. It is this idea of the durability of memory, of living an authentic history, that UNM Master of Fine Arts candidate and photographer Fatemeh Baigmoradi explores in her thesis show, “It’s Hard to Kill.” From late September to early October, “It’s Hard to Kill” was housed in the College of Fine Arts downtown gallery.

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Culture

Art takes over the streets with 508 Mural Fest

Nichole Harwood | September 17

Albuquerque’s artistic side is up for show with the first 508 Mural Fest is now underway, featuring the work of over 25 muralists at 12 different locations in the city. The event began Sept. 12 and is scheduled to continue through Sept. 23. Mural Fest is produced by Warehouse 508, and its title sponsor is Maddox and Co. Realtors. The festival’s turnout has been a “beautiful” reaction to local art, said JP Eaglin, director of Warehouse 508. “People are walking by everyday, loving it,” Eaglin said. “Driving by honking their horns. There's a new energy Downtown.” 508 Mural Fest is packed with activities for audiences of all ages, including a concert on Sept. 21 featuring talents such as Wild Humans and Timewreckers.

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Culture

ABQ Museum of Art and History celebrates 50 years

Nichole Harwood | September 7

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.

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Culture

Review: UNM exhibits cache of famous photos

Hannah Eisenberg | August 27

Popejoy Hall buzzed with excitement Friday evening as the University of New Mexico Art Museum opened “Frida Kahlo: Her Photos,” an exhibit of the artist’s personal albums. Roughly 1,300 people attended the event, making it “the biggest opening for the museum in many years, possibly ever,” according to UNM Art Museum Director Arif Khan. To the dedicated observer, the story of Frida's life can be puzzled together through the dark, surrealistic imagery of self-portraits she painted. It is these photographs, though, snapshots from the days of her life, that give a more accessible view into Frida’s world. What we find there is something equal parts ordinary, illustrious and painful.

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News

ART expected to clean up Downtown

Brendon Gray | August 20

The City of Albuquerque is looking to clean up its act this fall and hopes the Albuquerque Rapid Transit project will make major strides with the roll-out of 60-foot, all-electric buses. As the ART project aims to wrap up by year’s end, Mayor Richard Berry’s office hopes the new transportation system — along with other large investments — can transform Albuquerque’s center. Earlier this month, the mayor unveiled the new buses and announced Albuquerque would be the first in the nation to have all-electric rapid transit. Reminiscent of a Route 66 diner, the buses have a grey body, a checkered stripe and a neon accent running along the top.

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Culture

Travel Blog: Cuentos de Costa Rica

Elizabeth Sanchez | July 5

Two cooking lessons, one soccer game and a hundred hugs later, I’ve returned back to the States with improved Spanish jargon and a new perspective on travel. I spent three weeks in Costa Rica, entirely out of my element, but also incredibly in it. I joined a UNM professor, a few professional Costa Rican (Tico) athletes and around 20 collegiate student-athletes from across the U.S. for a summer internship like no other. I have the superpower to trip on thin air, frequently burn dinner and experience chronic nose bleeds—if you know me, you know that I’m not a student-athlete.

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Local

Artist Profile: Stranger Factory gives alternative art a platform

Nichole Harwood | June 25

Stranger Factory is a gallery devoted to bringing a new style of art to Nob Hill with exhibits featuring artists from around the world, including work from local artist Karl Deuble, a native New Mexican and UNM alum. Deuble’s art specializes in cartoons and character based artwork while also falling under pop surrealism and lowbrow. He started following the work of artists at Stranger Factory in college after being inspired by the gallery owner's creations for years. After graduation, he worked as a screen printer for six years and attended Stranger Factory show openings. That was when Stranger Factory contacted him for his screen printing, saw his art and invited him to participate in a Halloween show, he said.

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News

ABQ celebrates World Refugee Day

Gabriella Rivera | June 25

In celebration of World Refugee Day, an international event voicing support for displaced persons in every community globally, one Albuquerque group hosted a crafts fair where refugee women sold handmade goods. Women’s Global Pathways is a branch of the Immigrant Refugee Resource Village of Albuquerque, whose mission is “empowering the most marginalized populations of New Mexico including refugee, other immigrant local low income women, girls and their families.” Their work aims to help this population with some of the common issues they face, including acquiring transportation, breaking language barriers and securing jobs.

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Culture

Art exhibition showcases graduating students' work during 70th anniversary

Nichole Harwood | May 9

Potential future art instructors are presenting their work at UNM’s Masley Art Gallery for their 70th annual All Graduating Art Education Student Exhibition. Many of the art program’s graduates plan to become art instructors, possibly in the public school system, so it’s beneficial to show they’re practicing artists, said Meredith Chapman Graduate assistant for the Masley Art Gallery. “I think people kind of misconstrue ‘if you can’t do, you teach,’ which isn’t true especially as an art instructor,” Chapman said. “I feel like a lot of them are really talented artist.”

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Culture

UNM art program draws inspiration from nature

Manuel Chavez | April 26

In an effort to bring communities together, the UNM Art Museum is hosting an educational workshop designed for families to explore the flora of the Southwest through art. “Lobo Studio Family Workshop: Exploring and Recording Nature” is in collaboration with a current exhibit at the University museum which showcases the horticultural sketches of Edward Skeats, a scientist and amateur artist who worked in New Mexico during the late 19th century. Traci Quinn, a curator of education and public programs for UNM’s art museum, currently strives to facilitate collaboration among different departments as well as create holistic learning opportunities within the museum space.