For a chunk of my life, I avoided shy people, assuming they had nothing to say. Then one day I realized that if I quit blabbering for a minute, they’d often utter something that would blow my mind.
The etchings and pencil drawings in Sara Honeycutt’s show “New Drawings” at the New Gallery on 108b Dona Luz will not hit you over the head with irony, political statements or blasts of color. Like with a shy person, you must be silent for a few moments to invite their potent whisperings.
A three-year-old clutches a bowl of fresh-picked plums and offers a blessing through wide, innocent eyes. Two bare feet nuzzle and create a basket for an egg. A woman holds a mango to her face, her eyes closed in sublime appreciation. If you get close enough, you can feel the delicate touch of her subjects, taste their contentment.
“These are a reminder of that peace and comfort and simplicity we all have at particular times of our day or lives. Every person needs that – that’s what keeps us going,” says Honeycutt.
Honeycutt’s first child, India, was born four years ago and her energy parades through many of the works, whether she’s modeling or making marks of her own. Her scribbles dance along the top edge of a portrait and one line even wanders rebelliously down through the subject’s face.
“When she did that, it scared me to death,” says Honeycutt. “But then I kept it… I love having her marks in there.”
Scrawled beneath “Plums,” a portrait of India, are excerpts from Honeycutt’s journal, raw with emotion of new motherhood. “I used to just take off whenever I would feel trapped, just go out to the trails or across the country but now that I have every thing I’ve ever wanted I have no escape,” she writes.
“India, I’m so sorry I’ve been a beast for days. What mother can be an artist without family, child help or money… I know how to get us untrapped, except it’s almost 3 a.m. now, will I remember in the morning?”
When Honeycutt was nine she was faced with the decision of whether to be an artist or a writer. “Somehow I knew I couldn’t do both, and there were artists in my family so I knew it could be done and that I loved doing it,” she says. She worked as an illustrator for magazines, newspapers and books for over a decade, always making time for her personal expression whether through self-portraits or sketchbook journaling.
The writing she’s begun to include in her work is a long-awaited celebration of both her childhood passions.
In one of her etchings, an assortment of amorphous cookies cool on a wire rack. Beneath it she writes about baking cookies and muffins with India, at home “where love resides.” But domestic bliss is not without its strife. She writes on, “Money worry slumped on the couch next to food stamp papers. How much did you make last month? At home where we are… is no I to be taken down, degraded.”
Below this piece is one of India’s scribble drawings, made into an etching. Its spontaneity grabs the viewer – it’s like a woman whirling, untamed and ecstatic. Honeycutt says India’s prints are one of the gallery’s most popular items.
For more information call New Gallery, which also displays recycled art lamps and psychedelic monoprints by Jan Nelson, at 575 779-7657 or email saramaji@gmail.com
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Arte De Descartes
August 27, 2009
A mangled old shoe sole, a crushed pair of glasses and a flattened rusted spray can are among Stu Wittwer’s coveted stash of art supplies. Using screws and wire, he joins these and other precious found items together to create sculptures. “Movie Man” is a robot made almost entirely from parts of a deconstructed 16mm Bell & Howell projector, no longer functioning because its worn parts are no longer sold. The coiled filament light now perches at the end of a branch-like metal arm, facing the viewer as if to say “I’m back!”
Join Wittwer and over 50 other artists for “Arte De Descartes IX,” which translates to “Art from Discards,” the ninth annual recycled art show at the Stables Gallery on 133 Paseo Del Pueblo Norte. Opening reception is Saturday, August 29 from 4-8 p.m., with live music provided Sunshine Archestra, formerly the Sunshine Marching Band and Atzlan.
“A lot of these artists are obscure, they do their own things and don’t really use phones or email. They come out of the wood work for this show,” says Melissa Larson, organizer of this juried show. Larson is also the founder of Wholly Rags, a non-profit dedicated to local recycling efforts. The show is an opportunity to explore the more playful and fun side of recycling, she explains. In conjunction with the show will be a Recycled Fashion Fair on Saturday, Sept. 5 from 5-7pm and a Recycling Meeting on Saturday Sept. 12 at 1pm.
Featuring mostly local artists, the show also includes pieces from an Ohio artist who weaves fabric softener drier sheets; a Texan with a penchant for shredded tablecloths and a Minnesotan who makes gourd-headed spirit dolls. Invited artists include Erin Currier, Lydia Garcia, Starr, Ed Larson and Terrie Mangat.
Mangat is a local, internationally renowned quilt artist who uses a range of techniques to create her brilliantly colored and textured works. She is currently working on a piece about water and when I spoke with her, was in the midst of sewing 100 crystals into the fabric.
“I also use acrylic paints, beads, hand embroidery and sometimes leather,” she says. “I have a huge stash of stuff that I work from. It’s been accumulating since I was 11 years old, when I used to take the public bus (in Kentucky) to the fabric shops.”
Joel Lage, also an invited artist, has been making recycled art since 1970. His school bus art studio near Penasco is packed with reclaimed items awaiting resurrection. “If there’s an arroyo with no junk in it, I’ve already been there,” he says.
“Study Hall Fantasy” is an old school desk with a ceiling fan, a rudder and a fog light mounted onto it. “Pull Toy” is a five-gallon gas can riding in a wagon adorned with tin cans and brass parts. “My theme is to take mundane, common place objects and make them look precious,” he says.
Kelly Barrett’s work traverses many media and now includes improvisational performance art that aims to “translate the spirit of the environment.” She borrowed an outfit from a friend years ago (a practice she formerly eschewed) which she wore in tranquil natural setting in France. A spontaneous dialogue emerged between her and mother nature, her movements became a sort of dance, giving birth to a new creative outlet. Borrowed clothing continues to be a key ingredient in opening the dialogue channels.
A self-proclaimed pack rat, Barrett chose a box of maps collected during her travels around the world, as her material for a recycled art piece. She glued them on top of one another, compressed them in a flower press and then cut out shapes. The resulting installation is a glorious nature scene (with roads and interstate highways winding through if you look closely) attached to the wall with specimen pins.
Along with “Movie Man,” this year Wittwer will present a line of 100% recycled material necklaces. Some contain lockets encasing magazine images; one is made from a broken tape measure, with sections fanning out like sun rays. Some are macabre with hands and legs from his grandson’s broken toys as beads.
“Last year my grandkids sent me a box of their broken toys with a note that said, ‘Make something!’ I love that, it’s like getting a kit,” he says. “And now they’re starting to get into making things which is great.”
The show runs through September 12. For more information, visit www.whollyrags.org or call 575 751-9862.
A mangled old shoe sole, a crushed pair of glasses and a flattened rusted spray can are among Stu Wittwer’s coveted stash of art supplies. Using screws and wire, he joins these and other precious found items together to create sculptures. “Movie Man” is a robot made almost entirely from parts of a deconstructed 16mm Bell & Howell projector, no longer functioning because its worn parts are no longer sold. The coiled filament light now perches at the end of a branch-like metal arm, facing the viewer as if to say “I’m back!”
Join Wittwer and over 50 other artists for “Arte De Descartes IX,” which translates to “Art from Discards,” the ninth annual recycled art show at the Stables Gallery on 133 Paseo Del Pueblo Norte. Opening reception is Saturday, August 29 from 4-8 p.m., with live music provided Sunshine Archestra, formerly the Sunshine Marching Band and Atzlan.
“A lot of these artists are obscure, they do their own things and don’t really use phones or email. They come out of the wood work for this show,” says Melissa Larson, organizer of this juried show. Larson is also the founder of Wholly Rags, a non-profit dedicated to local recycling efforts. The show is an opportunity to explore the more playful and fun side of recycling, she explains. In conjunction with the show will be a Recycled Fashion Fair on Saturday, Sept. 5 from 5-7pm and a Recycling Meeting on Saturday Sept. 12 at 1pm.
Featuring mostly local artists, the show also includes pieces from an Ohio artist who weaves fabric softener drier sheets; a Texan with a penchant for shredded tablecloths and a Minnesotan who makes gourd-headed spirit dolls. Invited artists include Erin Currier, Lydia Garcia, Starr, Ed Larson and Terrie Mangat.
Mangat is a local, internationally renowned quilt artist who uses a range of techniques to create her brilliantly colored and textured works. She is currently working on a piece about water and when I spoke with her, was in the midst of sewing 100 crystals into the fabric.
“I also use acrylic paints, beads, hand embroidery and sometimes leather,” she says. “I have a huge stash of stuff that I work from. It’s been accumulating since I was 11 years old, when I used to take the public bus (in Kentucky) to the fabric shops.”
Joel Lage, also an invited artist, has been making recycled art since 1970. His school bus art studio near Penasco is packed with reclaimed items awaiting resurrection. “If there’s an arroyo with no junk in it, I’ve already been there,” he says.
“Study Hall Fantasy” is an old school desk with a ceiling fan, a rudder and a fog light mounted onto it. “Pull Toy” is a five-gallon gas can riding in a wagon adorned with tin cans and brass parts. “My theme is to take mundane, common place objects and make them look precious,” he says.
Kelly Barrett’s work traverses many media and now includes improvisational performance art that aims to “translate the spirit of the environment.” She borrowed an outfit from a friend years ago (a practice she formerly eschewed) which she wore in tranquil natural setting in France. A spontaneous dialogue emerged between her and mother nature, her movements became a sort of dance, giving birth to a new creative outlet. Borrowed clothing continues to be a key ingredient in opening the dialogue channels.
A self-proclaimed pack rat, Barrett chose a box of maps collected during her travels around the world, as her material for a recycled art piece. She glued them on top of one another, compressed them in a flower press and then cut out shapes. The resulting installation is a glorious nature scene (with roads and interstate highways winding through if you look closely) attached to the wall with specimen pins.
Along with “Movie Man,” this year Wittwer will present a line of 100% recycled material necklaces. Some contain lockets encasing magazine images; one is made from a broken tape measure, with sections fanning out like sun rays. Some are macabre with hands and legs from his grandson’s broken toys as beads.
“Last year my grandkids sent me a box of their broken toys with a note that said, ‘Make something!’ I love that, it’s like getting a kit,” he says. “And now they’re starting to get into making things which is great.”
The show runs through September 12. For more information, visit www.whollyrags.org or call 575 751-9862.
Questa Sends Four Volunteers to Iraq
March 19, 2009
Framed by silver ribbons dangling from balloons along the ceiling, Sgt. Celso J. Ortiz, Specialists Joseph Gallegos, Isaiah Quintana and Richard Sánchez stood before a packed Questa VFW hall Thursday (March 12) for a hometown send-off to Iraq.
The four are headed to Iraq in May to serve a tour of duty with the U.S. Army, following training in Santa Fe, California and Georgia that began March 14.
Spearheaded by Village Administrator Brent Jaramillo, the gathering, which drew close to 100 people, included a blessing by Father Dino Candelaria, speeches by local veterans and officials, live music by Conrad and Justine Sandoval and heaping platters of food.
A total of 800 soldiers from New Mexico will be deployed to Iraq between April and June, according to Col. Brian Baca, chief of staff of the New Mexico Army and National Guard.
“To volunteer to serve is an instant act of courage and bravery,” Questa Mayor Malaquías Rael, the evening’s emcee, told the crowd. “Leaving family, your country, your part of the world to go somewhere you might not be liked or supported … It’s not easy.”
Following Rael’s welcome and Bianca Castillo’s performance of the National Anthem, the honorees introduced themselves to a rapt audience. Sánchez will be heading to Iraq for his second deployment. During his 2004-2005 deployment, he worked in transportation, driving a five-ton truck, delivering everything from weapons to personnel.
“A few guys I went with the first time decided to go back. I feel bad if they go and I don’t,” he said.
“It will be harder this time because of the little one,” said his wife Elisa Sánchez, referring to their son, Andrew Sánchez, 11 months. “But we have great family support. And being a military wife, I was ready for it.”
Before his job with the National Guard in Santa Fe, Sánchez was a Questa Police Officer, and when he comes back from Iraq he will work for the police department once again. Joseph Gallegos will be taking a year away from his job as a wildland firefighter with the forest service, to serve his first deployment in Iraq.
“My heritage inspired me to join. My family has a tradition of public service,” he said.
In 2007, while on patrol with the forest service, Gallegos rescued the driver from an overturned vehicle that was engulfed in flames, according to Paul Mondragón, his supervisor. He earned an award from the forest service and went to Washington, D.C., in 2007 to accept it.
“I didn’t want to go (to the ceremony) though because I wanted to stay fighting fires. That’s the spirit carrying me from this community,” he said. “That’s what’s going to protect us over there: The strength we gather from these people.”
“(In Iraq) We will represent each and every one of you,” Gallegos told the crowd. “We’re your ambassadors and we’ll show the strength of New Mexico.”
Ortiz has been in the National Guard for 16 years and this will be his first deployment. He has been employed at Chevron Mining for the past 13 years and kept his job as lead electrician despite the recent layoffs. The company will hold his position until he returns in one year.
“I’m anxious to get through and get back,” said Ortiz, 44, who will be working in convoy security.
“It’s awful letting him go. It’s too long to be away from family. But he has to do what he has to do. I’m supporting him — all of us are,” said his wife, Billie Ortiz.
The couple has four children: 7-month-old Marissa Ortiz, 10-year-old Alyssa Ortiz, 11-year-old John David Ortiz and Santana Ortiz who is 14. Sgt. Ortiz’ second cousin, 20- year-old Isaiah Quintana, has been in the military working in transportation for three years.
“I can drive any military vehicle and transport anything,” he said. A Costilla resident, he graduated from Questa High School two years ago. Inspired by his cousin Leslie Maez, to join the military, he volunteered to go to Iraq because he “felt it was something (he) had to do.”
“All three of us will be patiently awaiting his return,” said Jacquelyn Sánchez, his girlfriend.
With assistance from her parents, she will care for their 8-month-old daughter Braelyn, and a baby expected in October. The gathering featured speeches by local dignitaries. Among them was Taos County Commissioner Dan Barrone, who took the microphone. He asked the men to stand and turn their backs to the audience.
“Who has your back?” he shouted to the room.
“We do!” the audience chanted back.
“Who has your back?” he repeated, even louder.
“We do!” cried the audience with peak enthusiasm.
Fr. Candelaria gave the men blessed St. Jude medals, Rosaries, holy water and prayer cards to send them off with “spiritual protection.”
“We invite you all to the same place in 12 months,” said Mayor Rael, as the ceremony closed and the audience descended upon the honorees with handshakes, hugs and blessings. “Hopefully the room won’t be big enough to house the people that show up to welcome you back.”
Framed by silver ribbons dangling from balloons along the ceiling, Sgt. Celso J. Ortiz, Specialists Joseph Gallegos, Isaiah Quintana and Richard Sánchez stood before a packed Questa VFW hall Thursday (March 12) for a hometown send-off to Iraq.
The four are headed to Iraq in May to serve a tour of duty with the U.S. Army, following training in Santa Fe, California and Georgia that began March 14.
Spearheaded by Village Administrator Brent Jaramillo, the gathering, which drew close to 100 people, included a blessing by Father Dino Candelaria, speeches by local veterans and officials, live music by Conrad and Justine Sandoval and heaping platters of food.
A total of 800 soldiers from New Mexico will be deployed to Iraq between April and June, according to Col. Brian Baca, chief of staff of the New Mexico Army and National Guard.
“To volunteer to serve is an instant act of courage and bravery,” Questa Mayor Malaquías Rael, the evening’s emcee, told the crowd. “Leaving family, your country, your part of the world to go somewhere you might not be liked or supported … It’s not easy.”
Following Rael’s welcome and Bianca Castillo’s performance of the National Anthem, the honorees introduced themselves to a rapt audience. Sánchez will be heading to Iraq for his second deployment. During his 2004-2005 deployment, he worked in transportation, driving a five-ton truck, delivering everything from weapons to personnel.
“A few guys I went with the first time decided to go back. I feel bad if they go and I don’t,” he said.
“It will be harder this time because of the little one,” said his wife Elisa Sánchez, referring to their son, Andrew Sánchez, 11 months. “But we have great family support. And being a military wife, I was ready for it.”
Before his job with the National Guard in Santa Fe, Sánchez was a Questa Police Officer, and when he comes back from Iraq he will work for the police department once again. Joseph Gallegos will be taking a year away from his job as a wildland firefighter with the forest service, to serve his first deployment in Iraq.
“My heritage inspired me to join. My family has a tradition of public service,” he said.
In 2007, while on patrol with the forest service, Gallegos rescued the driver from an overturned vehicle that was engulfed in flames, according to Paul Mondragón, his supervisor. He earned an award from the forest service and went to Washington, D.C., in 2007 to accept it.
“I didn’t want to go (to the ceremony) though because I wanted to stay fighting fires. That’s the spirit carrying me from this community,” he said. “That’s what’s going to protect us over there: The strength we gather from these people.”
“(In Iraq) We will represent each and every one of you,” Gallegos told the crowd. “We’re your ambassadors and we’ll show the strength of New Mexico.”
Ortiz has been in the National Guard for 16 years and this will be his first deployment. He has been employed at Chevron Mining for the past 13 years and kept his job as lead electrician despite the recent layoffs. The company will hold his position until he returns in one year.
“I’m anxious to get through and get back,” said Ortiz, 44, who will be working in convoy security.
“It’s awful letting him go. It’s too long to be away from family. But he has to do what he has to do. I’m supporting him — all of us are,” said his wife, Billie Ortiz.
The couple has four children: 7-month-old Marissa Ortiz, 10-year-old Alyssa Ortiz, 11-year-old John David Ortiz and Santana Ortiz who is 14. Sgt. Ortiz’ second cousin, 20- year-old Isaiah Quintana, has been in the military working in transportation for three years.
“I can drive any military vehicle and transport anything,” he said. A Costilla resident, he graduated from Questa High School two years ago. Inspired by his cousin Leslie Maez, to join the military, he volunteered to go to Iraq because he “felt it was something (he) had to do.”
“All three of us will be patiently awaiting his return,” said Jacquelyn Sánchez, his girlfriend.
With assistance from her parents, she will care for their 8-month-old daughter Braelyn, and a baby expected in October. The gathering featured speeches by local dignitaries. Among them was Taos County Commissioner Dan Barrone, who took the microphone. He asked the men to stand and turn their backs to the audience.
“Who has your back?” he shouted to the room.
“We do!” the audience chanted back.
“Who has your back?” he repeated, even louder.
“We do!” cried the audience with peak enthusiasm.
Fr. Candelaria gave the men blessed St. Jude medals, Rosaries, holy water and prayer cards to send them off with “spiritual protection.”
“We invite you all to the same place in 12 months,” said Mayor Rael, as the ceremony closed and the audience descended upon the honorees with handshakes, hugs and blessings. “Hopefully the room won’t be big enough to house the people that show up to welcome you back.”
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Wise Fool Valentine's Cabaret
Feb 11, 2010
For some, the body is perceived as an impediment to transcendence; for others, it’s the vehicle.
As they float, glide and twirl through space, members of the Wise Fool Circus surf the edges of human potential and seem to carry audiences along for the journey. The performance group has offered classes for nine of the 10 years they’ve made Penasco their home. Their educational offerings include an after school program which serves local youth at nominal cost to participants.
This Saturday, Feb. 13th at 7:30 pm Wise Fool presents a Valentines Cabaret at the Penasco Theater, located at 15046 State Road 75, with “every penny” of the proceeds benefiting this program. The multi-media show features acts by local acrobats, trapeze artists, musicians and students as well as a screening of two short films from the Taos Mountain Film Festival. Admission is $5-$20 sliding scale.
Chocolate truffles, wine and handmade Valentine’s Day cards will be available during intermission and folks also have the option of indulging in a special dinner at Sugar Nymphs Bistro, prior to the show, for which reservations are recommended.
This marks the first year that experienced after school students have formed their own official company. For Saturday’s event they have crafted an original show that incorporates acrobatics, dance and stilts. “It’s amazing to see them learn something that is challenging at first but then once they master it, it gives them such a sense of empowerment and pride in themselves,” says Penasco Theater Director Alessandra Ogren. “Along with strength and flexibility they learn a lot of practical life skills like cooperation and team work.”
Amber Vasquez of Taos Youth Ballet will perform on Saturday as well, along with Ogren who will dance through a whirling aerial hoop.
Dangling from the theater’s 19-foot ceilings on strips of polyester fabric will be aerial fabric dancer Christina Sporrong. Invented in the 1990’s this is one of the newest aerial arts. The beauty of the form is accentuated by the angles, shapes and ruffles created in the fabric as the dancer hoists and releases into various poses and phrases of movement. It is currently gaining popularity in gyms as a creative way to get a workout. “One routine is the equivalent of doing about 25 push ups, “ says Ogren who studied with Fred Deb, a teacher credited as being one of the form’s inventors.
For those itching to break out into some moves of their own, Kombucha Mirimba, will perform a set of Zimbabwean music. “This isn’t music where you sit in your seat and politely clap when it’s over,” says Cathy Underwood who formed the trio with fellow Dixon dwellers Nancy Levit and Marie Coburn two years ago. “It’s kid friendly, dance friendly village music.”
Some of the pieces they’ll play are traditional songs passed down over hundred of years through the mbira, a thumb piano which is one of Africa’s oldest instruments.
The band recently formed a non-profit for the purpose of teaching marimba to the wider community for a very reasonable sliding scale fee. They now have five marimbas available for their weekly classes, which are held Saturdays 10-12 noon for adults and Friday, 3-4 pm for youth. They also teach an elective class in the Dixon elementary school.
For more information on the benefit, call (575) 587-2726. For information on Marimba classes, call Underwood at (505) 579-9631. Sugar Nymphs Bistro 575 587-0311
For some, the body is perceived as an impediment to transcendence; for others, it’s the vehicle.
As they float, glide and twirl through space, members of the Wise Fool Circus surf the edges of human potential and seem to carry audiences along for the journey. The performance group has offered classes for nine of the 10 years they’ve made Penasco their home. Their educational offerings include an after school program which serves local youth at nominal cost to participants.
This Saturday, Feb. 13th at 7:30 pm Wise Fool presents a Valentines Cabaret at the Penasco Theater, located at 15046 State Road 75, with “every penny” of the proceeds benefiting this program. The multi-media show features acts by local acrobats, trapeze artists, musicians and students as well as a screening of two short films from the Taos Mountain Film Festival. Admission is $5-$20 sliding scale.
Chocolate truffles, wine and handmade Valentine’s Day cards will be available during intermission and folks also have the option of indulging in a special dinner at Sugar Nymphs Bistro, prior to the show, for which reservations are recommended.
This marks the first year that experienced after school students have formed their own official company. For Saturday’s event they have crafted an original show that incorporates acrobatics, dance and stilts. “It’s amazing to see them learn something that is challenging at first but then once they master it, it gives them such a sense of empowerment and pride in themselves,” says Penasco Theater Director Alessandra Ogren. “Along with strength and flexibility they learn a lot of practical life skills like cooperation and team work.”
Amber Vasquez of Taos Youth Ballet will perform on Saturday as well, along with Ogren who will dance through a whirling aerial hoop.
Dangling from the theater’s 19-foot ceilings on strips of polyester fabric will be aerial fabric dancer Christina Sporrong. Invented in the 1990’s this is one of the newest aerial arts. The beauty of the form is accentuated by the angles, shapes and ruffles created in the fabric as the dancer hoists and releases into various poses and phrases of movement. It is currently gaining popularity in gyms as a creative way to get a workout. “One routine is the equivalent of doing about 25 push ups, “ says Ogren who studied with Fred Deb, a teacher credited as being one of the form’s inventors.
For those itching to break out into some moves of their own, Kombucha Mirimba, will perform a set of Zimbabwean music. “This isn’t music where you sit in your seat and politely clap when it’s over,” says Cathy Underwood who formed the trio with fellow Dixon dwellers Nancy Levit and Marie Coburn two years ago. “It’s kid friendly, dance friendly village music.”
Some of the pieces they’ll play are traditional songs passed down over hundred of years through the mbira, a thumb piano which is one of Africa’s oldest instruments.
The band recently formed a non-profit for the purpose of teaching marimba to the wider community for a very reasonable sliding scale fee. They now have five marimbas available for their weekly classes, which are held Saturdays 10-12 noon for adults and Friday, 3-4 pm for youth. They also teach an elective class in the Dixon elementary school.
For more information on the benefit, call (575) 587-2726. For information on Marimba classes, call Underwood at (505) 579-9631. Sugar Nymphs Bistro 575 587-0311
Friday, May 21, 2010
Lenny Foster's Show of Hands
March 19, 2009
Sometimes all it takes is a glimmer of hope.
This weekend Lenny Foster will provide more than a glimmer, and all we have to do is show up – and open to the power of spirit, through beauty, prayer and poetry.
His photography exhibit, “A Show of Hands” runs Friday (March 20) thru Sunday (March 22) at Living Light Gallery on 246A Ledoux street. In conjunction with the exhibit will be other uplifting events, also at the gallery and all open to the public.
On Saturday, March 21 at 3 p.m. a multicultural blessing will transpire, “with believers of varied traditions and non-believers too.” Sunday, March 22 brings a poetry reading at 3 p.m. with Veronica Golos, Connie Josefs, Pat McCabe; and Dora Mcquaid, whose work was recently published in an anthology called “Come Together, Imagine Peace.”
Friday’s opening reception is from 5:30-7:30 p.m. and will include Native American flute music by Paul and Grace Jones.
“In the middle of the economic downturn, the idea came to bring the community together to survive and thrive by turning our attention and intention to peace, prayer and love,” said Foster.
“Being witness to magnificence for so many years through my photography has taught me that it’s possible for that (magnificence) to be the norm. That you can walk with that fullness – not lacking anything.”
Some of Saturday’s growing list of guests, who will offer blessings from their various traditions, includes Grandmother Jean, Rev. Stephen Wiard, Joannie Summerhays, Father Larry Brito and Rick Klein. Group chants will be led by Mia Cohen and Ziva Moyal from the Taos Jewish Center.
Krishna Madappa and several UNM students will be conducting a scientific experiment to see if the group energy harnessed at the ceremony affects the molecular structure of water.
“It will be crazy. It could be fifty people or it could be 500. You never know in Taos. I hope there will be Challah (Jewish ceremonial bread.) I love that part at Bar Mitzvahs: where someone touches the bread and then someone touches them and so on until we’re all connected,” said Foster.
Surrounding and supporting the blessing circle will be walls filled with over a decades worth of Foster’s photographs of hands. This will be the first time this body of work is shown together.
On one wall, a 106-year-old West African healer does a reading over a basket. On another, a baby suckles his mother’s breast and raises a tiny star-like hand towards his momma’s face. A cowboy grasps his hat to his suede vest. A Lama counts his mala beads. These images – of shamans, healers of many traditions, activists, elders and “everyday people who come from a place of love and service” – are a portal to spirit.
“She just showed up here one day,” said Foster, gesturing to “An Elder’s Prayer.” In the image, wrinkled fingers, adorned with silver, turquoise and stone rings, clutch a hand-carved cane.
“I had just moved into the space and she sat there and hung out while I unpacked. I know that angels come in different forms.”
Each grasping finger is as expressive and complex as a face. Energy, strength and compassion transcend flesh, muscles and skin.
The hand series sprouted out of a trip Foster took to West Africa years ago. He was visiting a healing village that 200 healers worked out of, and he experienced a shift. He had been a nature and landscape photographer for years and he suddenly became more entranced by people and their details.
“I started to photograph hands because I was more drawn to spirit than personality,” he explained. Later, he realized that in photographing their hands, he was also capturing his subjects’ physical centers: their core, their hearts.
When he’s behind the lens, Foster gets very quiet, still and mindful. “I don’t shoot hundreds of pictures of one thing. My intention is to get to the essence and then what needs to be seen reveals itself,” he said.
“As a photographer I have to focus on the right stuff – so when I don’t have the camera, I can still focus on what is beauty, what is grace, what is true,” he said.
He was inspired to go even more deeply into his passion after traveling to Washington D.C. to attend president Obama’s inauguration. And he hopes the weekend’s events will inspire others to do so as well.
“Now there’s no excuse not to. Instead of being afraid of going out of my comfort zone, why don’t I just dive down like a hawk diving for his prey? If I go down in flames, at least I’ll be doing my thing.”
For more information call (575) 737-9150 or visit www.lennyfoster.com
Sometimes all it takes is a glimmer of hope.
This weekend Lenny Foster will provide more than a glimmer, and all we have to do is show up – and open to the power of spirit, through beauty, prayer and poetry.
His photography exhibit, “A Show of Hands” runs Friday (March 20) thru Sunday (March 22) at Living Light Gallery on 246A Ledoux street. In conjunction with the exhibit will be other uplifting events, also at the gallery and all open to the public.
On Saturday, March 21 at 3 p.m. a multicultural blessing will transpire, “with believers of varied traditions and non-believers too.” Sunday, March 22 brings a poetry reading at 3 p.m. with Veronica Golos, Connie Josefs, Pat McCabe; and Dora Mcquaid, whose work was recently published in an anthology called “Come Together, Imagine Peace.”
Friday’s opening reception is from 5:30-7:30 p.m. and will include Native American flute music by Paul and Grace Jones.
“In the middle of the economic downturn, the idea came to bring the community together to survive and thrive by turning our attention and intention to peace, prayer and love,” said Foster.
“Being witness to magnificence for so many years through my photography has taught me that it’s possible for that (magnificence) to be the norm. That you can walk with that fullness – not lacking anything.”
Some of Saturday’s growing list of guests, who will offer blessings from their various traditions, includes Grandmother Jean, Rev. Stephen Wiard, Joannie Summerhays, Father Larry Brito and Rick Klein. Group chants will be led by Mia Cohen and Ziva Moyal from the Taos Jewish Center.
Krishna Madappa and several UNM students will be conducting a scientific experiment to see if the group energy harnessed at the ceremony affects the molecular structure of water.
“It will be crazy. It could be fifty people or it could be 500. You never know in Taos. I hope there will be Challah (Jewish ceremonial bread.) I love that part at Bar Mitzvahs: where someone touches the bread and then someone touches them and so on until we’re all connected,” said Foster.
Surrounding and supporting the blessing circle will be walls filled with over a decades worth of Foster’s photographs of hands. This will be the first time this body of work is shown together.
On one wall, a 106-year-old West African healer does a reading over a basket. On another, a baby suckles his mother’s breast and raises a tiny star-like hand towards his momma’s face. A cowboy grasps his hat to his suede vest. A Lama counts his mala beads. These images – of shamans, healers of many traditions, activists, elders and “everyday people who come from a place of love and service” – are a portal to spirit.
“She just showed up here one day,” said Foster, gesturing to “An Elder’s Prayer.” In the image, wrinkled fingers, adorned with silver, turquoise and stone rings, clutch a hand-carved cane.
“I had just moved into the space and she sat there and hung out while I unpacked. I know that angels come in different forms.”
Each grasping finger is as expressive and complex as a face. Energy, strength and compassion transcend flesh, muscles and skin.
The hand series sprouted out of a trip Foster took to West Africa years ago. He was visiting a healing village that 200 healers worked out of, and he experienced a shift. He had been a nature and landscape photographer for years and he suddenly became more entranced by people and their details.
“I started to photograph hands because I was more drawn to spirit than personality,” he explained. Later, he realized that in photographing their hands, he was also capturing his subjects’ physical centers: their core, their hearts.
When he’s behind the lens, Foster gets very quiet, still and mindful. “I don’t shoot hundreds of pictures of one thing. My intention is to get to the essence and then what needs to be seen reveals itself,” he said.
“As a photographer I have to focus on the right stuff – so when I don’t have the camera, I can still focus on what is beauty, what is grace, what is true,” he said.
He was inspired to go even more deeply into his passion after traveling to Washington D.C. to attend president Obama’s inauguration. And he hopes the weekend’s events will inspire others to do so as well.
“Now there’s no excuse not to. Instead of being afraid of going out of my comfort zone, why don’t I just dive down like a hawk diving for his prey? If I go down in flames, at least I’ll be doing my thing.”
For more information call (575) 737-9150 or visit www.lennyfoster.com
The First Step- Children's Art Programs
February 25, 2010
Sixteen preschoolers fix their eyes on the blob of turquoise ink oozing from Lucy Perera’s palette knife. After a brief discussion about other sticky things, ink rollers and favorite animals, the children embark on their own printmaking projects. Steering pencils through paper-like sheets of Styrofoam, they first create line drawings – inspired by the work of Dwayne Wilcox, whose exhibit they just toured at the Harwood Museum next door.
As part of the Harwood Museum’s Art in the Schools program, 17 classes per month from Enos Garcia Elementary School visit the Harwood for a tour and related art-making experience. This is one of several children’s programs offered at local museums, which supplement the art education they receive in school, and also provide museum education.
“These kids and teachers are not necessarily traditional visitors to the Harwood… But for God’s sake, the Harwood’s been here for 85 years, I think it’s our job if we’re in the community to try to provide opportunities for everybody,” says Perera who, as Harwood curator of education, coordinates the program with educational assistant Jayne Schell.
Serving Pre K through first grade at Enos Garcia, the Arts in the Schools program reaches a total of about 300 kids per month. Perera’s goal is to add one more grade each year until they are serving the entire school, which is Pre K through fifth grade.
“In big city museums you can see things like Egyptian exhibits which is great – but are you Egyptian? Can you relate to that? Here in Taos’ museums it’s their history, their culture, their art forms and they can make correlations to them,” says Perera.
Singing their ABCs and chatting with their buddies, the youth seem to enjoy the stroll down Manzanares street to and from the Harwood as much as their time inside the museum. Enos Garcia was targeted for this program largely due to its proximity to the museum.
Art lessons include everything from sculpture and collage to clay work and murals. Basic art materials are generally utilized in part so that teachers can feel empowered to lead art projects in their classrooms as well, even on tight budgets.
“Art is not difficult to do. You can use magazines, glue sticks, colored pencils and crayons to do really creative things,” says Perera.
The Harwood also offers additional ongoing programs geared to different ages of schoolchildren. They are all free of charge, with occasional exceptions.
Abby Salsbury and Alex Kurtz recently taught a three-week series on clay marionettes as part of the free Saturday morning Museum Adventures in Art class.
Their class’ creations are on display at the new Sidney and Gladys Smith Children’s Art gallery, which is just off the foyer of the Fern Hogue Mitchell Education Center where art workshops are held. Fanciful creatures dangling from the ceiling include a plaid mermaid, a red and white striped peacock with a mop of red curls and a furry one-legged being.
Beth Haidle, who has run the Friday after school program for teens for the last year and a half, says that having a designated art space really helps students shift into the creative zone.
“The environment – with stuff dripping off the walls and stacked on shelves –
is really conducive to surprising yourself and getting an idea and going with it…,” says Haidle.
Though her program’s current focus is on wearable art, students are welcome to pursue other projects as well.
“I’ve only ever seen (my students) be really kind to each other, encouraging each other. Having the bond over the fact that they’re doing something makes it less awkward to step out of their social circle and intermingle. They exchange advice about projects but it extends to advice on life, family and school,” she says.
The newest addition to the Harwood’s youth art programs is Family Play Date, which launched on February 7 and will be ongoing every Sunday from 1-4pm. It’s designed as a drop in open studio art experience for families of all ages where caregivers can work together with their children on art projects of their choice.
The grandmother of all the Harwood children’s programs, according to Perera, is Art in Museums, started by Ruth Ann Karch and Mary Ann Boughton in 1998. The program rotates among the Museum Association of Taos’ five museums – E.L. Blumenschein, Hacienda de los Martinez, Millicent Rogers, Taos Art Museum and The Harwood – offering a free weekly tour and lesson for pre-school children.
Though the program (now run by Boughton and Peggy Baucam) has been on brief hiatus, they will resume again on Wednesday March 10, from 11-12, at the Millicent Rogers Museum with a special kick-off event called Museums and Muffins.
Leilani Torres brought her children, now seven and 11, regularly to Art in Museums events over the years. “The staff was phenomenal, informative, and nurturing to young artistic minds. My sons formed friendships with several of the artists who instructed the Wednesday art programs. These friendships and experiences have increased their self-esteem and opened many doors for their futures,” she says.
The Millicent Rogers Museum has been busy with youth education programs as well. “We try to reach all of Taos County. Not only the municipal schools but also Taos Charter School, Taos Country Day School, Taos Pueblo Day School and the home schoolers,” says education curator Michael Martinez. Visits are arranged for schools on a case-by-case basis.
They are especially busy in February and March as schools descend on the museum to view the Anything is Possible children’s art exhibit. Following tours they receive an art lesson from a curriculum that follows the New Mexico benchmark standards set up by the New Mexico Department of Education. Depending on grade level, activities range from clay pinch pots to weaving to 3D santos construction.
Martinez’s goal for next year is to offer special sessions for high school students. Their curriculum will use the museum’s collection as a vehicle to study a variety of disciplines including history, anthropology and art history.
Educational programs have been part of Millicent Rogers for over 20 years. “We wouldn’t be where we are without the (volunteer) docents on the education committee. They put together curriculum, prepare and lead tours and art activities,” says Martinez.
The majority of these museum programs are operating on a shoestring, relying on grants, donations and volunteers to function. For more information, contact the individual museums.
Sixteen preschoolers fix their eyes on the blob of turquoise ink oozing from Lucy Perera’s palette knife. After a brief discussion about other sticky things, ink rollers and favorite animals, the children embark on their own printmaking projects. Steering pencils through paper-like sheets of Styrofoam, they first create line drawings – inspired by the work of Dwayne Wilcox, whose exhibit they just toured at the Harwood Museum next door.
As part of the Harwood Museum’s Art in the Schools program, 17 classes per month from Enos Garcia Elementary School visit the Harwood for a tour and related art-making experience. This is one of several children’s programs offered at local museums, which supplement the art education they receive in school, and also provide museum education.
“These kids and teachers are not necessarily traditional visitors to the Harwood… But for God’s sake, the Harwood’s been here for 85 years, I think it’s our job if we’re in the community to try to provide opportunities for everybody,” says Perera who, as Harwood curator of education, coordinates the program with educational assistant Jayne Schell.
Serving Pre K through first grade at Enos Garcia, the Arts in the Schools program reaches a total of about 300 kids per month. Perera’s goal is to add one more grade each year until they are serving the entire school, which is Pre K through fifth grade.
“In big city museums you can see things like Egyptian exhibits which is great – but are you Egyptian? Can you relate to that? Here in Taos’ museums it’s their history, their culture, their art forms and they can make correlations to them,” says Perera.
Singing their ABCs and chatting with their buddies, the youth seem to enjoy the stroll down Manzanares street to and from the Harwood as much as their time inside the museum. Enos Garcia was targeted for this program largely due to its proximity to the museum.
Art lessons include everything from sculpture and collage to clay work and murals. Basic art materials are generally utilized in part so that teachers can feel empowered to lead art projects in their classrooms as well, even on tight budgets.
“Art is not difficult to do. You can use magazines, glue sticks, colored pencils and crayons to do really creative things,” says Perera.
The Harwood also offers additional ongoing programs geared to different ages of schoolchildren. They are all free of charge, with occasional exceptions.
Abby Salsbury and Alex Kurtz recently taught a three-week series on clay marionettes as part of the free Saturday morning Museum Adventures in Art class.
Their class’ creations are on display at the new Sidney and Gladys Smith Children’s Art gallery, which is just off the foyer of the Fern Hogue Mitchell Education Center where art workshops are held. Fanciful creatures dangling from the ceiling include a plaid mermaid, a red and white striped peacock with a mop of red curls and a furry one-legged being.
Beth Haidle, who has run the Friday after school program for teens for the last year and a half, says that having a designated art space really helps students shift into the creative zone.
“The environment – with stuff dripping off the walls and stacked on shelves –
is really conducive to surprising yourself and getting an idea and going with it…,” says Haidle.
Though her program’s current focus is on wearable art, students are welcome to pursue other projects as well.
“I’ve only ever seen (my students) be really kind to each other, encouraging each other. Having the bond over the fact that they’re doing something makes it less awkward to step out of their social circle and intermingle. They exchange advice about projects but it extends to advice on life, family and school,” she says.
The newest addition to the Harwood’s youth art programs is Family Play Date, which launched on February 7 and will be ongoing every Sunday from 1-4pm. It’s designed as a drop in open studio art experience for families of all ages where caregivers can work together with their children on art projects of their choice.
The grandmother of all the Harwood children’s programs, according to Perera, is Art in Museums, started by Ruth Ann Karch and Mary Ann Boughton in 1998. The program rotates among the Museum Association of Taos’ five museums – E.L. Blumenschein, Hacienda de los Martinez, Millicent Rogers, Taos Art Museum and The Harwood – offering a free weekly tour and lesson for pre-school children.
Though the program (now run by Boughton and Peggy Baucam) has been on brief hiatus, they will resume again on Wednesday March 10, from 11-12, at the Millicent Rogers Museum with a special kick-off event called Museums and Muffins.
Leilani Torres brought her children, now seven and 11, regularly to Art in Museums events over the years. “The staff was phenomenal, informative, and nurturing to young artistic minds. My sons formed friendships with several of the artists who instructed the Wednesday art programs. These friendships and experiences have increased their self-esteem and opened many doors for their futures,” she says.
The Millicent Rogers Museum has been busy with youth education programs as well. “We try to reach all of Taos County. Not only the municipal schools but also Taos Charter School, Taos Country Day School, Taos Pueblo Day School and the home schoolers,” says education curator Michael Martinez. Visits are arranged for schools on a case-by-case basis.
They are especially busy in February and March as schools descend on the museum to view the Anything is Possible children’s art exhibit. Following tours they receive an art lesson from a curriculum that follows the New Mexico benchmark standards set up by the New Mexico Department of Education. Depending on grade level, activities range from clay pinch pots to weaving to 3D santos construction.
Martinez’s goal for next year is to offer special sessions for high school students. Their curriculum will use the museum’s collection as a vehicle to study a variety of disciplines including history, anthropology and art history.
Educational programs have been part of Millicent Rogers for over 20 years. “We wouldn’t be where we are without the (volunteer) docents on the education committee. They put together curriculum, prepare and lead tours and art activities,” says Martinez.
The majority of these museum programs are operating on a shoestring, relying on grants, donations and volunteers to function. For more information, contact the individual museums.
Ira Moscovitz featured at Taos Art Museum
July 30, 2009
When renowned painter, Ira Moscowitz was revved up and ready to go, he could finish a painting in a heartbeat. His light speed marks and brushstrokes are unconcerned with interpretation, dedicated solely to transmitting the vitality of the moment.
Moscowitz’s lithographs, hand-colored etchings and oil paintings depicting Southwest American Indian ceremonies he witnessed from 1944-1947 are on display at the Taos Art Museum through August 31. They pulsate with vivid details – dancers’ mouths clamp the area just below the heads of snakes and grasp their mid-sections, as they parade through a Pueblo in “Hopi Snake Dance.” Every muscle is in motion and immersed in prayer in “Buffalo Dance.” You can almost hear the beat of the drums and the shuffling of feet.
To celebrate and bring to life the man behind the easel, the Taos Art Museum will host its first-ever panel discussion on Friday, July 31 at 5:30 p.m. Comprising the panel will be Moscowitz’s daughter, Diana Gordon; his granddaughter, Nicole Gordon; Richard Lampert, owner of Zaplin Lampert Gallery in Santa Fe and art collector Roy Coffee Jr. Museum Director Erion Simpson will moderate the discussion.
After the 1940’s and 50’s many of the ceremonies he depicted closed down to the public, according to Simpson. Prior to their restriction, Moscowitz’s documenting of them was not only accepted, but actually encouraged by elders. “One of the medicine men he was really close friends with said, ‘You have to document this, other wise we’ll lose our culture because the young people aren’t interested,” recalls Diana Gordon.
Moscowitz (1912-2001) cultivated deep friendships with his Southwest subjects, according to Diana, including members of Navajo, Apache, Zuni and Taos Pueblo tribes. “My father was interested and interesting enough … and attuned to nature and people,” she says. He would often pack a carload of his American Indian friends, who were also frequent houseguests, into his 1939 Plymouth and head off to healing ceremonies.
“He would visually document the ceremonies, then when he got home he’d made drawings recollecting them and then make them into lithographs,” says Gordon. Her father, who she describes as very demonstrative and gregarious, would often describe what went on at the healings to the family when he got home. Diana recently (two weeks ago) discovered some of his vividly descriptive writings about his experiences, which she will share at the panel.
Diana Gordon, an only child born in 1944, has first-hand accounts of various Pueblo events she accompanied her parents to as a youth. “When you are a young person of a certain age, you end up running around with kids your same size,” she recalls. “You hear the drum, see the fire, check in with your parents once in awhile… The whole village participates, everyone’s out there drumming… the intensity of the drum envelops the place and gets into you.”
Gordon now lives in New York City where she has a full time job managing her parent’s artistic legacy. Her parents are both artists – her mother, Anna Barry Moscovitz was an accomplished painter in her own right, and Gordon will share some of her images, via computer, during or after the panel discussion. The couple went out painting for their first date and by day’s end Ira asked Anna Barry to marry him.
Moscovitz chose to pursue painting rather than follow in the footsteps of his ancestors and become a rabbi. Nonetheless, celebration of the sacred was the core of his life’s work. His 10 years in the Southwest came on the heels of several years in Palestine and Europe, documenting religious ceremonies and indigenous people.
For more information, visit www.taosartmuseum.org
When renowned painter, Ira Moscowitz was revved up and ready to go, he could finish a painting in a heartbeat. His light speed marks and brushstrokes are unconcerned with interpretation, dedicated solely to transmitting the vitality of the moment.
Moscowitz’s lithographs, hand-colored etchings and oil paintings depicting Southwest American Indian ceremonies he witnessed from 1944-1947 are on display at the Taos Art Museum through August 31. They pulsate with vivid details – dancers’ mouths clamp the area just below the heads of snakes and grasp their mid-sections, as they parade through a Pueblo in “Hopi Snake Dance.” Every muscle is in motion and immersed in prayer in “Buffalo Dance.” You can almost hear the beat of the drums and the shuffling of feet.
To celebrate and bring to life the man behind the easel, the Taos Art Museum will host its first-ever panel discussion on Friday, July 31 at 5:30 p.m. Comprising the panel will be Moscowitz’s daughter, Diana Gordon; his granddaughter, Nicole Gordon; Richard Lampert, owner of Zaplin Lampert Gallery in Santa Fe and art collector Roy Coffee Jr. Museum Director Erion Simpson will moderate the discussion.
After the 1940’s and 50’s many of the ceremonies he depicted closed down to the public, according to Simpson. Prior to their restriction, Moscowitz’s documenting of them was not only accepted, but actually encouraged by elders. “One of the medicine men he was really close friends with said, ‘You have to document this, other wise we’ll lose our culture because the young people aren’t interested,” recalls Diana Gordon.
Moscowitz (1912-2001) cultivated deep friendships with his Southwest subjects, according to Diana, including members of Navajo, Apache, Zuni and Taos Pueblo tribes. “My father was interested and interesting enough … and attuned to nature and people,” she says. He would often pack a carload of his American Indian friends, who were also frequent houseguests, into his 1939 Plymouth and head off to healing ceremonies.
“He would visually document the ceremonies, then when he got home he’d made drawings recollecting them and then make them into lithographs,” says Gordon. Her father, who she describes as very demonstrative and gregarious, would often describe what went on at the healings to the family when he got home. Diana recently (two weeks ago) discovered some of his vividly descriptive writings about his experiences, which she will share at the panel.
Diana Gordon, an only child born in 1944, has first-hand accounts of various Pueblo events she accompanied her parents to as a youth. “When you are a young person of a certain age, you end up running around with kids your same size,” she recalls. “You hear the drum, see the fire, check in with your parents once in awhile… The whole village participates, everyone’s out there drumming… the intensity of the drum envelops the place and gets into you.”
Gordon now lives in New York City where she has a full time job managing her parent’s artistic legacy. Her parents are both artists – her mother, Anna Barry Moscovitz was an accomplished painter in her own right, and Gordon will share some of her images, via computer, during or after the panel discussion. The couple went out painting for their first date and by day’s end Ira asked Anna Barry to marry him.
Moscovitz chose to pursue painting rather than follow in the footsteps of his ancestors and become a rabbi. Nonetheless, celebration of the sacred was the core of his life’s work. His 10 years in the Southwest came on the heels of several years in Palestine and Europe, documenting religious ceremonies and indigenous people.
For more information, visit www.taosartmuseum.org
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