Albuquerque Art emerges from the shadows

A novel autumn weekend presented a cornucopia of choices for art lovers

Several major arts and crafts present to views were underway, including one at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center Hispanic creators of santos--carved and painted depictions of the Catholic saints--displayed their work at San Felipe Cathedral in advanced in years Town.

The Albuquerque Museum of Art & History, sporting a novel sculpture garden and an $83 million expansion, was showing "Prelude to Spanish Modernism: Fortuny to Picasso." Farther afield, in the working class southerly Valley neighborhood, folk artists gathered in a hidden backyard for the annual Corkfest. Numerous galleries in Nob Hill, downtown and the Northeast Heights hung novel shows in preparation for First Friday art openings. And Factory upon 5th, a warehouse turned artists' studios and lof tendered up its fourth "body painting jam."

Albuquerque's vibrant arts pageant long overshadowed by Santa Fe and Taos, is becoming an render free of access secret. Readers of American diction recently dubbed it second in the nation among mid-sized cities for art. Word is getting on the outside say gallery owners, and collectors are now lingering longer in Albuquerque rather than jumping into their rental cars at the airport and heading north.

With a half-million family Albuquerque is the largest city in novel Mexico and is steadily growing with retirees, Californians, entrepreneur and those who make up author Richard Florida's "creative class." Florida ranked Albuquerque first upon Iris creativity index among cities of 500000 to 1 million race and eighth for cities of all sizes.

The city has numerous fairs, including the of recent origin Mexico Arts and Crafts Fair, held each June since 1962 on the other hand there is much more that casual visitors may miss.

"There is a destiny going on here tender the radar" says Pamela Michaelis, who along with her husband, publishes the Collectors' Guide, the bible for art collecting in fresh Mexico. "You've got history and institutions, as well as commercial galleries and that's what makes it cool"

admitting housing prices have risen quite a bit in the last year, the median price of a domicile was $160,500 in the next to the first quarter--far less than that of Santa Fe where it is about $390000 Tons of artists live in the city, says Don Michaelis.

"It's having your cake and eating it too" he says. "You can be kind of combineed but affordably connected."

The city is residence to the University of novel Mexico, with a thriving art academy and its Tamarind Institute, which trains printmakers from around the world. The National Hispanic Cultural Center showcases everything from Spanish colonial art to provocative present works plumbing the meaning of Latino identity. The city of Albuquerque has single of the oldest public art programs in the political division and the results dot the city, from alloy of coppers to murals, paintings, and the controversial "Chevy upon a Stick"--a car on an arch tiled in blue

The Harwood Art Center between of advanced age Town and downtown, is a mix of 45 artist studios, performance space, galleries for juried and nonjuried exhibits and art classes with the goal of making art accessible for everyone (A new exhibit was by children who were waiting to be adopted.)

All this art has not coalesced in single central location, however. This can make the monthly First Friday gallery tours and third Friday Art Crawls difficult and it is single reason why the Art Business Association (ABA) organizes its gallery listings geographically.

ABA gripe [i]or[/i] grips a number of Art Crawls in advanced in years Town, where many galleries rely heavily upon tourism. These tend to be serviceable places to find Native and Western art at prices lower than Santa Fe says Debra Gowen, who co-own Gowen Arts with her husband, Greg a metal artist. Their gallery is a mix of kachinas, portraits by dint of famed Western photographer Harvey Caplin, jewelry and metal work.

Being individual of the few contemporary galleries in advanced in years Town helps businesses like Gallery 5 stand on the outside says owner Chris Schelling. "We're really the sole one like it, and we acquire the international crowd," he says.

greatest in quantity contemporary galleries, however, are dispersed quite through the city. This isn't necessarily bad, says Valerie Tibbets with Weyrich Gallery, in northeast Albuquerque. "I've discovered real jewels in parts of town," she says. This faculty of perception of discovery rewards those willing to disburse some rime in the city, say gallery owners

Not far from Weyrich, Mary Ann Weems launched Weems Gallery in a shopping center with the idea of re-creating the many arts and craft festivals in of recent origin Mexico on a year-round basis. "No single gave me three months," Weems says. Twenty-five years later, she is going stalwart with 7,000 square feet of showroom and her name upon one of the biggest regional arts present to views Weems International Artfest, held annually in early November.

Albuquerque has remained somewhat traditional, she says. "With the younger market there is a little more abstract art, on the contrary it has never become an avant-garde market."