Fine Art is within reach in Las Cruces

The Las Cruces Museum of Art on the downtown mall.

There are those who believe that the merits of a city are measured by the quality of its Arts and the venues in place to express them. Every metropolitan center has at least one. But that doesn’t mean we here in the Valley have to travel great distances, just to surround ourselves with world-class beauty. In fact, one downtown location in particular is proving that a city doesn’t need a population in the millions to rate a first class repository of fine arts. I’m speaking, of course, about the Las Cruces Museum of Art.

It’s no secret that the Arts are very much alive and thriving in Las Cruces. One has only to get out and experience any given first Friday Downtown Art Ramble to see that. On the forefront of this renaissance, is the Las Cruces Museum of Art. Open since September of 1999, the museum is best described through the words of Museum Manager, Lisa Pugh. “We like to think of the Museum of Art as a community gathering place where people of all ages can enjoy works of art, while learning about the works and the artists who created them.”

What sets the museum above all other galleries in the area is the caliber of its exhibits. “While our major focus is on showing the works of prominent contemporary artists, the Museum of Art has been able to bring in the works of internationally known artists like Ansel Adams, Auguste Rodin and Salvador Dali,” Pugh says proudly.  “We’ve also been able to highlight the works of up and coming artists who are pushing the boundaries of contemporary art and changing the way we look at the world around us.”

One of five paid staff members at the museum, Lisa is currently working alongside her fellow visionaries and the many volunteers who help keep the organization running, to prepare for its upcoming 10-year Anniversary in September. But not before filling their calendar with a variety of exhibits and activities to keep the intervening months brimming with excitement.

A view from the inside, where art breeds camaradarie.

On April 17^th, the museum will host an exhibit showcasing the works of graduating high school seniors from Alma de Artes, Las Cruces High, Mayfield High and Oñate High. The exhibit will be up for a week and all works will be eligible for honorary awards. In addition, students from the various Culinary Arts programs will cater the reception, while also competing for taste and presentation awards. On May 8^th, it’s the college student’s turn with the Bachelor of Fine Arts Exhibition, running throughout the month.

Turning up the heat on June 5^th, the museum will unveil an exhibit entitled “Las Cruces Collects,” made up of artwork borrowed from collectors right here in the Mesilla Valley. “This exhibit began as a discussion on what people collect and why, then was expanded to how they started collecting,” says Pugh. The exhibit will range from historical lead soldiers to modern and contemporary art, with works borrowed from J. Paul Taylor and even some Asian antiquities. “We’ll even have some surrealist sculpture by Leo Dohman,” Pugh adds. “It will be a very eclectic collection and a really great summer show.”

To mark its 10-year Anniversary, the museum will present two exhibits in September, but only one will be contained within its walls. The first, opening September 4^th, will be “From The Ground Up,” a regional juried ceramics exhibition co-hosted by the Potters’ Guild of Las Cruces. The second, opening on September 11^th, will be the living arts project entitled “Time.” Funded through New Mexico Arts, it will consist of temporary installations made for the environment and include six pieces installed in various locations throughout the city.

But all of that is just the icing on a very rich cake. The Museum of Art also has an active studio program, consisting of seven-week classes for children as young as 4, up through retired adults. Subjects of study include ceramics, drawing, painting, weaving and digital photography. To this end, the museum employs 10 – 15 instructors per session, made up of working artists from throughout the community. Begun in 1999, when the museum opened, the classes have been a very popular form of community outreach for the museum, particularly in the summer, when school is out. Summer programs for children begin registration on May 5^th.

“We’re very proud of the strides made by the museum over the last ten years,” says Pugh.  “We’ve offered lectures, demonstrations and musical performances that compliment the exhibits and enhance the visitor’s experience. We’ve allowed students of all ages to explore and create their own works. And we have been able to bring in some wonderful shows. Every time a new show comes through the doors, our hope is that it will exceed everyone’s expectations and bring new visitors to the Museum of Art.”

And why not? There’s always something new and interesting to be found at the Las Cruces Museum of Art. Case in point, the whimsical works of internationally renowned local artist Stephen Hansen are currently on display and bringing unexpected smiles to faces, both young and old. Meanwhile, in addition to the upcoming exhibits already outlined above, in February of 2010, the museum will host a major touring exhibition of works by the late pop art icon, Andy Warhol.

Even with the Museum of New Mexico, in Santa Fe, celebrating its 100^th Anniversary, the ten-year milestone being celebrated this year, by the Las Cruces Museum of Art, is hardly overshadowed. For those of us living in the Mesilla Valley, the Museum of Art is a shining bastion of modern civility and a reminder that one doesn’t have to live in a more cosmopolitan area in order to experience the finer things in life. It’s a measure of quality we can be proud of.

(Originally published in the Las Cruces Sun-News, March 26, 2009)