Haberl selected as OMDP artist in residence

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and Friends of the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks (FOMDP) have chosen Las Cruces artist Michelle Haberl as this year’s local artist in residence, the BLM said in a news release.

The artist-in-residence program is a partnership between the BLM and FOMDPNM and is managed by the Friends, a nonprofit, which provides the artist with a stipend. The BLM, which manages the monument, provides housing for the artist at the monument. In return, the artist is responsible for a creative community project, a public event (i.e., tour, demonstration or workshop) and a completed art project to be used to promote the monument, the news release said.

From late May to early June, Haberl will travel throughout the 497,330-acre monument, capturing images through her impressions on canvas.

"I am excited to be selected as the 2023 local artist-in-residence for the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument,” Haberl said. “I look forward to representing the monument’s rich legacy through my paintings and building public awareness for its majestic beauty by exploring all the ‘nooks and crannies’ at the Dripping Springs Natural Area and beyond."

“We look forward to the artwork that Michelle Haberl will capture, and the interaction she’ll have with the public to share the unique characteristics and opportunities the monument has to offer,” said BLM acting BLM Las Cruces District Manager Johnathan Beck.

The monument was established May 21, 2014, and contains some of the West’s most iconic landscapes in the Organ, Robledo, Sierra de las Uvas, Doña Ana and Potrillo Mountains, the BLM said.

Haberl holds an MFA in painting and drawing from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and a BA in studio art from Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, according to her biography on the New Mexico State University website. Haberl is a visiting professor of painting/drawing at NMSU.

The BLM manages more than 245 million acres of public land located primarily in 12 western states, including Alaska, and administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation.

Established in 2012, FOMDP is a Las Cruces-based nonprofit that seeks to enrich the local community and diverse culture through advocacy, conservation and restoration of the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument.

For more information, contact FOMDP at 575-323-1423 and email info@organmtnfriends.org.

Visit www.organmountainsdesertpeaks.org, www.facebook.com/FriendsOMDP and michellehaberl.com.