Established in 1706, Old Town is the city of Albuquerque’s first neighborhood. Throughout its history, Old Town has provided the city with iconic art, architecture and cuisine. One of the things that makes it unique in Albuquerque history is the vast number of art galleries. From the weird to the wonderful, Old Town is packed with art of diverse perspectives and drives.
For local muralists, art can serve as a powerful medium for bringing strength back to the people in times of great division and disenfranchisement. With this knowledge, mural artists here in New Mexico have created a means of revitalizing community strength through collaborative art. “What we’re really trying to do is show that art really isn’t the enemy. It’s a tool that some people can use to gentrify a community, but we choose to use it as a tool to collaborate with the community and to be a reflection of the beauty of the beauty that is already there. So, it’s not place-making, it’s place-keeping,” Vanessa Alvarado, lead artist at Apprenticeships for Leaders in Mosaic Arts, said.
Picture yourself in a classroom: four rectangular, cream-colored walls, each about 30 feet from each other. At the front of the classroom is a chalkboard: directly to the right, a small window. In front of the chalkboard is the professor’s desk, adorned with computer and projector controls; rows of desks fill the rest of the space. The bare walls direct your eyes toward the window and your mind toward what’s outside of it. Right now, though, the sunshine beaming down and refracting through the window casts an undiscovered beauty atop the entire scene; suddenly, the cream-colored walls become canvases, their corners and intersections transforming to reveal a hidden sculpture. You pause and ask yourself: is this mundane, everyday classroom art?
On Sep. 27, the Daily Lobo asked students at the University of New Mexico to submit their best photos for a chance to be featured on the cover of our Art and Photo issue, published this past Monday, Oct. 17. Here, the three winners provide a brief statement on their photographs and the stories behind them.
The principal concern of the filmmaker is image. Story, character, even sound are all secondary to the creation of compelling images. Think of the shower scene in “Psycho,” Gene Kelly and the lamppost in “Singing in the Rain.” With their composition, these iconic images, both within and outside their original contexts, provide sensations beyond sight to the audience — touch, smell, taste, even intrigue; a sixth sense of danger and imbalance or joy and virility. Now, think of an iconic shot from the past few years in film, particularly blockbusters: those we’re leaving behind to later generations. Our cultural footprint. Think of a shot as divorced from the context of plot as well, just what’s in the frame. Finding anything interesting? Likely not.
The city of Albuquerque and its surrounding area provides ample opportunity for both professional and amateur photographers to photograph places that are both beautiful and unique. Isaac Martinez, a film student at The University of New Mexico and practicing photographer for the last four years, spoke to the Daily Lobo about his favorite spots to take photographs with some common and uncommon spots.
At this year’s Linnell Festival of New Plays at the University of New Mexico, graduate student Julia Storch debuted her first staged play, “Smokebox.” The play explores the vulnerability of humans in all their imperfect perfection. “Smokebox” is about a queer couple who meet again many years after their high school relationship ended — one of them has a form of dementia, and memories and present-day become mixed within the play. The complications of the central relationship are what appealed to Rhiannon Frazier, director of the “Smokebox” inaugural staging.
University of New Mexico student Meg Vlaun is no stranger to hard work; a writer and mother of two with a job tutoring at Central New Mexico Community College and two master's degrees and aspirations for a third in tow, she possesses that rare quality which separates a good writer from the greats — drive and determination. Vlaun splits her time between her numerous commitments, including a new volunteer position as an editor on “Limina: UNM Nonfiction Review.” Through determination, she’s thrived across the board in her work.
As you make your way through October, you may find yourself seeking out movies and Halloween specials from your favorite TV shows to get you in the mood for spooky season. An all-time favorite of Halloween lovers is the 1993 film “Hocus Pocus.” While for many years this film has been a Halloween staple with a conclusive and relatively satisfying ending, it, like many other classic films, has fallen victim to the dreaded sequel. On Sept. 30, “Hocus Pocus 2” was released on Disney+, and many fans flocked to the streaming service to see the Sanderson sisters resurrected once again. Unfortunately, the film does not live up to its predecessor, and it’s difficult to imagine it becoming nearly as popular.
With governor elections coming up on Nov. 8, students at the University of New Mexico are preparing to make their voices heard by exercising their right to vote. To many students on both sides of the aisle, this election is crucial in determining the future of the state. As of the time of publication, polls have Democrat incumbent Michelle Lujan Grisham with a 6.1 point lead over Republican opponent Mark Ronchetti — but this still could be anyone’s election. Exercising the right to vote is the best way to ensure that we elect people who are willing to fight for our rights, according to Marcela Johnson, a third-year journalism and communications major.
With this year’s “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” Marvel proved they weren’t too afraid to conjure up a film that leans heavy into the horror genre. Now, with their first special presentation “Werewolf by Night,” Marvel is doubling down on the creepier side of the Marvel Cinematic Universe — so long as it is still identifiably Marvel.
With the fall movie season nearly in full swing, you might find yourself spending more time deciding what movie to watch than actually watching. But don’t you worry, darling — The Daily Lobo is here with a guide on the most notable films coming to theaters or streaming on Friday, Oct. 7, to hopefully save you from hours of indecision.
Balloonists from all across the nation gather yearly to fly their hot air balloons at the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta, which runs until Sunday, Oct. 9. One such balloonist this year is Kelli Keller — originally from South Dakota and winner of the U.S. Women's National Balloon Championship. The black hills of South Dakota, where Keller hails from, are home to the Stratobowl: a rectangular limestone canyon that shields balloons from the wind, creating good conditions to launch. The legacy of ballooning in the Stratobowl is strong — this was the location of the first hot air balloon flight by Army Air Corps Capt. Albert W. Stevenson, his second attempt, according to the South Dakota Department of Tourism.
Laurie Chavez has been involved with the International Balloon Fiesta since childhood. A pilot at the 50th Fiesta this year, she and her family have been participating since it began back in 1972, joining due to connections with Sid Cutter, one of the founding members of the Fiesta. Now, she carries on the family legacy as pilot of balloon “Jesse’s Girl Too.”
Listen, I get it: Blue cat-people, Unobtanium, Sam Worthington and hair sex, if you watch the extended edition. James Cameron’s “Avatar,” released in 2009, is inherently a little bit bad. But watching the re-release in IMAX 3D this week, I can’t help but find myself completely bought in anyway — visually stunning, emotionally compelling and technologically impressive, I hate to say that “Avatar” is kind of good. It’s December 2009. “I Gotta Feeling” by the Black Eyed Peas is dominating the radio. The economy is in shambles. People still can’t get enough of the most recent “Twilight” movie that just came out the month before. But you — all you are thinking about as you take your seat in a surprisingly crowded moviehouse with your 3D glasses is the film you are about to watch, a film that is about to become the highest-grossing movie of all time. Wait, sorry, I’m having trouble recalling the title … Oh! James Cameron’s “Avatar.”
With their fall 2022 season, the University of New Mexico Department of Theatre & Dance has prepared a lineup of several plays for local audiences to enjoy, including “Frankenstein,” “The Season of La Llorona” and the bi-annual departmental Linnell Festival of New Plays. In this year's production of “The Season of La Llorona,” an overarching theme of the two non-Linnell Festival plays is the idea of monsters, and how we define them culturally, according to Manuel Lopez Ainza, an actor in the show.
The Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta took flight for the 50th time at the Balloon Fiesta Park on Saturday, Oct. 1st, sending hundreds of hot air balloons up into the sky once again to enchant the thousands of visitors who will gather from the first through the ninth of this month. The Fiesta is an event that attracts both balloonists and visitors from all over the world. The event being hosted in Albuqerque was no matter of chance: the so-called “Albuquerque Box,” a mix of weather patterns and landscape, provides the perfect conditions for flying, according to the Fiesta’s website.
This past Saturday, Oct. 1 marked the 11th annual ABQ Zine Fest, hosted at the Sanitary Tortilla Factory in downtown Albuquerque. Founded by Mayra Errin Jones, a Master of Fine Arts candidate in dramatic writing at the University of New Mexico, and co-produced by Liza Bley, the event served as a chance for local artists to showcase their handmade crafts amongst a crowd of artistic community members and newcomers alike. The word “zine” comes from a shortening of “magazine,” and can constitute a multitude of different interdisciplinary conceptions. Typically, zines are small booklets of original work created and copied by an artist for distribution.
As we speed through the semester and midterms rapidly approach, it can be difficult to keep up with the grueling workload college brings. Lori Pinedo, a freshman nursing student at the University of New Mexico, has shared five tips for not letting schoolwork get the best of you while studying. Have a small distraction It can be easy to lose your cool when studying dense material, which is why Pinedo suggested keeping a piece of paper to the side to scribble on when you get frustrated by your work. “To not get worked up so fast and frustrated, have a piece of paper or just something to have on your hand,” Pinedo said.
The Instituto Cervantes Albuquerque hosted the 10th annual Cine Magnifico Latino Film Festival from Sept. 13-25, showcasing a variety of Latine films, directors and actors. On Friday, Sep. 23, the main program of the festival began with a viewing of “El Sustituto” (The Replacement) by Spanish film director Óscar Aibar and an opening cocktail party. Analy Morales Chavez, a worker at the festival, spoke on the original purpose behind the festival and the importance of hosting the event during Hispanic Heritage Month.
Solutions by The State News
