2.12.2015

Our panel discussion was a success! We covered the questions with each of the panelists giving their ideas and inspiration: Five years from now, what do we want our community to look like, to its residents, businesses, and to the rest of the state, the country, and internationally, in regards to the arts? How can community engagement help shape the city we want to see?

The microphone was then passed to the community members to hear their ideas and suggestions. We had a great turnout of community members who shared some fantastic ideas. Some of the ideas included creating more public art and collaboration opportunities, using empty buildings in town to put on art shows, educating the public and patrons about collecting and viewing art, and continuing to build upon the solid foundation of galleries and first friday events that are already taking place in Las Cruces.

There was a spark and excitement about conversation about how we all believe that community engagement will lead to inspire people to care about art in this area and that art is already an integral part of this community. This panel discussion shined a light on that importance. The discourse continued after the formal panel discussion was over and the panelists and community engaged face to face over snacks and Beck’s Coffee. The future is bright for our arts community here in Las Cruces! If you are interested in joining and contributing any ideas to help build our arts, email us here at the gallery! artglry@nmsu.edu