National Arts and Humanities Month

The Las Cruces Museum of Art, 491 N. Main St., will host in-person programs during the third weekend of October to celebrate “National Arts and Humanities Month” – a coast-to-coast collective recognition of the importance of art and culture in America.

The programs are free to the public.

Join us for a guest lecture with George Mendoza at 1:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 14. Mr. Mendoza is a legally blind, world-record-breaking Paralympic runner, award-winning Latino artist, author, philanthropist, and public speaker from Las Cruces.

He is the founder and president of the Wise Tree Foundation, Inc., a nonprofit corporation for the promotion of the arts, as well as a spokesperson for the New Mexico Commission for the Blind. There is no registration to attend the lecture, but space is limited.

Participants of all ages are invited to learn about and make their own monotype collagraphs with guest artist Oscar Moya from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday, Oct. 15 in the Branigan Cultural Center courtyard. Collagraphy is a printmaking process incorporating drawing, painting, and/or relief techniques, in which flat materials such as leaves, weeds, or any other flat material on which a small amount of ink is applied to a rigid surface such as cardboard, wood plate, or Plexiglas to print with or without a printmaking press.

The design is painted, pressed, and transferred onto watercolor paper, resulting in a unique collagraph print, or monoprint. No previous art experience is required, and supplies will be provided.

This workshop is related to the “Icons and Symbols of the Borderland: Art from the U.S.-Mexico Crossroads” exhibition at the Museum of Art. Mr. Moya is a featured artist in the exhibition and Oct. 15 is your last chance to see his work and the work of more than 25 other artists before the exhibition closes.

The Las Cruces museums follow all guidelines set by the New Mexico Department of Health and the New Mexico Governor's office as to COVID safe practices.

The Museum of Art is accessible from RoadRUNNER Transit Route 1, Stop 1. Visit the Museum System website at: https://www.las-cruces.org/museums or follow the Las Cruces Museums on Facebook and Instagram @LCMuseums.

For information, contact Bryan Lee, Education Curator, at 575/541-2217 or by email at BLee@las-cruces.org.