Arts Scene

• Stewart Grange has created Krazy Katz in time for the holidays. What started with a neghbor’s one-eyed cat expanded to a collection of reasonably priced fanciful Katz. Just a Little off the Wall Gallery, 4215 Pearce Road in Silver City is now home to all the Katz. Call for appointments. Info: 612-616-2843.

• From 5 to 7 p.m., Friday Dec. 2, Silver City’s Aldea Gallery, 217 N. Bullard St. downtown has a holiday opening event featuring a great selection of new fine art and folk art. New from fabric artist Donna Flenniken is a series of Low Rider quilted tapestries. Multimedia artist Brent Flenniken’s newest work includes a collection of dragonfly paintings along with new prints of colorful Silver City street scenes and historic sites, including St. Vincent de Paul Church, the Buckhorn Saloon & Opera House, the Buffalo Bar, Parade on Bullard Street and El Sol Theatre downtown. Other work in the gallery‘s holiday show includes sculptures by James Stuart Kane; folk art by Nan Chalat-Noaker; prints by M. Fred Barraza; pottery by Kate Brown and ceramics by Susan Porter; paintings by Cynthia Carlson, Paula Manning-Lewis, and Susan Porter; heirloom quilts and hand-painted furniture by Donna Flenniken, and jewelry by four local artisans. In addition, for a limited time, Aldea is showing a private collection of Native American jewelry by Navajo, Hopi, Santa Domingo, Zuni, Lakota Sioux and Cochiti silversmiths and jewelers. From 1-4 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 3 a special trunk show is featured offering more of the private collection of Native American art and jewelry from Africa.

• For a dual art opening of recent work @  a)S p..."A"© E   Studio • Art • Gallery, 5-8 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 10, Kelly Hart and Linda Joanou are featured artists. Hart provides a unique interpretation of early human artistic expression with symbols of life rendered in the form of panels of inlayed wood, or marquetry. Joanou creates sculpture variations of recycled rubber bicycle tubes, yarn and cast bronze. The dual exhibits are up through January. The gallery is open 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Friday-Sunday and is at 110 W. 7th Street, Silver City. Info: 575-538-3333.

• The Grant County Art Guild, now over 50 years old, is a non-profit organization whose mission is to increase art awareness in the community. On display at the gallery will be the art of over 35 local artists working in a wide range of mediums. The GCAG Gallery is located at 316 N Bullard in Silver City, NM, in the historic Hester House (Look for the big purple building).  Hours are 10 a.m.-5 p.m. every day. Info: gcag.org.

• Light Art Space Fine Art Gallery features “Navigating the Internal,” photographic imagery by Karen Hymer which explores themes of isolation, loneliness and body image. As a single woman over 60 with an imperfect body, Hymer makes self-images to navigate her internal thoughts and feelings. Silk hangings and gilded prints will also be on display. “One-of-One,” hand-made photographs and objects d’art by Carmen Ruiz includes her photographs and 3-D photographic objects during the month of December in the Flash Gallery of Light Art Space. Ruiz art includes unique, one-of-a-kind, hand-printed photographs of the world around her rendered in varied techniques. Gallery hours are 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Thursday to Saturday, 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Sunday and by appointment. Info: 520-240-7075.

DEMING

• December is the time for the annual Holiday Gift Boutique at the Deming Art Center. Gallery hours are 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday-Friday and 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday, (closed Christmas Day). The boutique runs from Dec. 2-30, and there will be a time to meet the artists from 1-3 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 4. The Art Center is located at 100 S. Gold St., Deming. Info: 575-546-3663 and at www.demingarts.org.

ALAMOGORDO/TULAROSA

• Jennipher Cunningham, from Colorado and, more recently, Santa Fe, is the featured artist from through Christmas at the Dancing Dog Gallery in Tularosa. Cunningham grew up on the back of a spirited, spotted horse riding the plains of Colorado finding inspiration in scuffed knees and dirty hands. Visit Tularosa to see Jennipher's view of New Mexico with her bold colors, loose brush and dynamic vision. Affordable art for the adventurous art lover can be found Tuesday-Saturday at the Dancing Dog Gallery, 313 Granado Street in the Arts District.  Hours are11 a.m.-4 p.m. or by appointment. Info: 575-585-2228 or sunny@dancingdog.art.

• Otero Arts Inc. and Cloudcroft Art Society (CAS) have partnered for an exhibition of a group of CAS artisans and fine artists for a Holiday Gift Show. The exhibition will begins with an opening reception from 5-7 p.m. Friday, Dec. 2 at the Artspace, 1118 Indiana Ave., Alamogordo. Lyn Canham, pastelist; Lynda Brugman and Chip Greenberg, photographers; and Winston McInnis, scratchboard nature artist are among those who will be showing their work. John Tieman creates wooden hangings appropriate for the holidays. Nancy Apprill , Ella Olson, and Janet Amtmann will have paintings in oil, acrylic, watercolor and pastel. Several artists have art cards and matted artwork for sale. Info: 575-434-2238.

CLOUDCROFT

• The Cloudcroft Art Gallery The gallery has many works of art and juried crafts ranging from paintings in all media, fine art photography, framed and matted prints, cards, pottery, fine jewelry, baskets, glass, fiber art, gourds, carved wood, and intarsia. All of the art on display and for sale is by local artists. The gallery is located at the east end of Burro Street where it intersects with Swallow Place in the old Red Brick School House that also houses the Nivison Library. The gallery is open Saturdays 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. from June through December. Info: ccartsociety@gmail.com.

LAS CRUCES

• Doña Ana Arts Council features the work of 13 quilters in December. The exhibit is comprised of two separate collections of art quilts: “Thorns and Spikes,” and “The Wisdom of Trees.” The 13 artists of “4 Common Corners” are Vicki Conley, Shannon Conley, Michelle Jackson, Bev Haring, Lynn Rogers, Lynn Welsch, Betty Hahn, Sandra Hoefner, Debra Goley, Diana Fox, Anne Moats, Nicole Dunn and Frances Murphy. Continuing to exhibit in the Staszewski Gallery in December is Laura Goldstein’s custom, one-of-a-kind jewelry. Goldstein holds an MFA in creative writing from Virginia Tech and a PhD in Rhetoric and Professional Communication from New Mexico State University. Both exhibits are at the Doña Ana Arts Council gallery located at 250 W. Amador Ave., Suite B, Dec. 2 - 29, 9 a.m.-5p.m. Monday through Friday in addition to the First Friday reception 5-8 p.m. Dec. 2 and the Second Saturday reception at noon-5 p.m. Dec. 10. The gallery will be closed Dec. 23, 26, and 30. Info: www.daarts.org or 575-523-6403.

• Agave Artists Gallery is holding a holiday party featuring markdowns and percentage off pricing on artwork from 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Friday to Sunday, the gallery is at 2250 Calle De San Albino, Mesilla. Info: haikulife3@gmail.com.
• The Tombaugh Gallery features seven New Mexico artists, each using their own unique style to create one-of-a-kind pieces for December. Carol Blaschka creates handmade greeting cards, many special for the holiday season. Cindy Dexter's primary medium is fused glass, both functional pieces for your dining room table and art pieces to hang in your window or place in your garden. Jeannie Hunter is a textile artist and will feature a variety of fabric ornaments. Mary Kay Shannon designs wind chimes often from vintage bottles, cholla, beads and found objects. Steph Ross creates whimsical characters from gourds and clay that are sure to bring smiles. Sylvia Hendrickson, a long time artist, styles maidens and masks from gourds using jewelry and found objects, feathers, carving, woodburning, painting and so much more. Teri McCatherin incorporates many southwest designs into her gourd ornaments and paintings on slate. The gallery generally asks that you pick up purchases at the end of the show. But for this show patrons are invited to purchase pieces to share or gift during the holiday season. The exhibit begins on Dec. 4 and ends Jan. 8, 2023. The artists have a reception at 11 a.m. on Sunday, Dec. 11 to give brief presentations about their work and to answer questions. Visit the Tombaugh Gallery at the Unitarian Universalist Church, 2000 S. Solano Drive. Las Cruces. The gallery is open 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday and 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Sunday. Info: jelicht@gmail.com.

• The Mesilla Valley Fine Arts Gallery, 2470-A Calle de Guadalupe, across from the historic Fountain Theatre, features two local artists for the month of December: Mark Morden and Bobbie Widner. Morden is a retired architect from the Pacific Northwest who paints still lifes and portraits. In addition to pastel painting, Mr. Morden also draws charcoal pencil portraits and figure studies. Widner is a native New Mexican whos paintings most often reflect the southwest and its people. First American Bank in Mesilla, is well represented by gallery members who rotate the galleries artists’ work monthly. Gallery hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. Info: 575-522-2933, www.mesillavalleyfinearts.com.

• In a first for the New Mexico State University Art Museum, the exhibition titled “Contemporary Ex-Votos: Devotion Beyond Medium” pairs 19th and 20th century retablos from the NMSU Permanent Art Collection with new works by contemporary Latinx artists. UAM is located inside NMSU's Devasthali Hall at 1308 E. University Avenue. The exhibition runs through Dec 22 and is free and open to the public. The exhibition presents 15 artists including Guadalupe Maravilla, Yvette Mayorga and Francisco Guevara. Art museum hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.

• The Branigan Cultural Center features exhibition, “Desierto. Arte. Archivo.”
  This exhibit displays a compilation of art from 16 artists who have interacted with the Chihuahuan Desert and created a series of individual and collective arts-based inquiries based on their experiences. The participating artists interpreted the desert as a holistic lifeway where all desert dwellers – human, animal, and plant comingle and inform each – other. “Desierto. Arte. Archivo” is on view through Dec. 31. The Branigan Cultural Center, 501 N. Main St., is open from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, and from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturday. There is no admission fee. Info: www.las-cruces.org/Museums or 575-541-2154.