Downtown calls for artists

The Downtown Las Cruces Partnership (DLCP) and the Las Cruces Arts and Cultural District (ACD) have created an artist-in-residence program and are issuing a call for artists.

The program is a series of events for six individual artists which culminates in a collective show to be held in June 2021 and hosted by DLCP and ACD, DLCP said in a news release.

 Unlike a traditional artist-in-residence (AIR) program that brings an artist to a place or space to create,

the DLCP/LCACD AIR “is designed to showcase and celebrate the artists already creating in our district,” the news release said. “Through an open call and selection process, DLCP and ACD will promote six artists who live and/or work in the ACD district. The pilot program will highlight makers, creators and artists who draw inspiration from the unique history, culture and atmosphere of the original town site.”

The program will be open to artists working in all genres and mediums, the news release said, including but not limited to culinary art, fine art, literary arts, music and textile arts.

As part of the program, DLCP/ACD will host an in-person or virtual (depending on state public health orders) event for each artist, December 2020-May 2021, and the Las Cruces Bulletin will publish a story about the artist and his or her artwork. At the end of the season, on Friday, June 4, 20201, DLCP/ACD will host collaborative show, featuring the work of all six artists.

To apply for the DLCP/ACD AIR program, an artist must: 1) be at least 18 years old; 2) create or reside within the ACD district; 3) have content of original work which is not subject to outside copyright or licensing; 4) draw inspiration for his or her art from the people, culture and atmosphere of the ACD; and 5) make him- or herself available for the Bulletin interview and attend the individual promotional event

June 4, 2021 collaborative show.

Visit www.las-cruces.org/DocumentCenter/View/1055/Arts-and-Cultural-District-Plan-PDF and scroll to page 18 of the document to see a map of the ACD.

To apply, artists should submit three electronic examples of their original work. Files must be openable through Adobe Acrobat or Windows programs, and each file should be named with the artist’s first initial, last name and example number, i.e., JSmith1.jpeg.

Each artist should complete and submit the AIR application, which includes a personal narrative of up to 250 words about the artist’s work and how he or she draws inspiration from the Arts and Cultural District, along with a narrative of up to 100 words about each submitted piece.

Complete the form at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdGxKHyvyOznIVDrBtJJ5bmDLLGMHisG8UhNji1IbUvXEa89w/viewform. Examples of artwork should be submitted to assistat@dlcp.org. The deadline for applications and submissions of work is 11:59 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 8, 2020.

Artwork submitted for consideration must be appropriate for publication on social and traditional media. If the work is collaborative, all participating artists must give written consent for its submission.

All qualifying submitted works will be considered by a jury comprised of ACD subcommittee members. A scoring system will be used to evaluate the submissions based on artistic quality, diversity of medium and creative connection to the ACD. Artists will retain 100 percent of the proceeds from sales of their work promoted by the DLCP/ACD AIR program.

For more information, contact DLCP Community Coordinator Susan Greenwald at 575-525-1955 or  assistant@dlcp.org.