Art association finds a home

After more than six decades in Las Cruces, a longtime arts organization finally has a gallery to call its own. 

The Las Cruces Arts Association will celebrate the grand opening of its new gallery Friday, Oct. 2, from 5 to 8 p.m. at 221 N. Main St. The space features work from 20 member artists across a range of mediums, from photography and watercolor to sculpture, fiber art, welded metal and 3D-pen work. 

For gallery director Rejina Christopher, the new space gives the association something its members have wanted for years: a dedicated place to display their work. 

“We acquired this space for our members because we have different places that we show around town, but this is actually for our members only,” Christopher said. “We’ll have events here, and we’re just very excited to help our members display their art and creativity.” 

Founded in 1962, the Las Cruces Arts Association has served the local arts community for more than six decades.  

The association signed paperwork for the space Sept. 2 and held a soft opening Sept. 11. Christopher said the association’s six-member board quickly came together to prepare the gallery, completing the first phase in about a week. 

What emerged is a collection that reflects the variety within the association itself. Visitors can find oil and acrylic paintings alongside photography, ceramics, assemblage, metalwork, sculpture, and other forms. Artists represented range from those relatively new to their craft to members who have spent decades developing their work. 

“I love the fact that it’s all our members and all of them are diverse in what they do,” Christopher said. “So, no one is just the same. You come in here and you see many forms of art.” 

Mel Christopher said the gallery is intended to reach beyond people who already consider themselves part of the arts community. 

“Anybody and everybody that’s walking on the street, to come in and see art,” he said. “It’s diverse. I think it’s beautiful. The colors are great. The textures. There’s so much diversity in this art.” 

He said the association also hopes the gallery attracts fellow artists and members of other organizations, creating opportunities to collaborate and strengthen the local arts community. 

For Rejina Christopher, that outreach extends to people who may not consider themselves creative at all. She said creativity can take many forms, including music, gardening, cooking and mathematics, and hopes seeing the work inside the gallery encourages visitors to recognize it in themselves. 

“We’re just hoping that these pictures, these forms of art, will just spark something in anyone who walks in,” she said. 

The gallery also marks a new chapter for an organization that Christopher said struggled during the COVID-19 pandemic as membership declined. Since then, the association has rebuilt its ranks and now hopes its downtown presence introduces its artists to a wider audience. 

“We’re excited that this old organization has got like a fresh face now,” Christopher said, “and we get to show it off.”