Screening of Nuclear Savage: The Islands of Secret Project 4.1
Wednesday, September 13th 2023, 6:00-7:30pm
Rio Grande Theatre in downtown Las Cruces
211 N Main St, Las Cruces, NM 88001

Screened in conjunction with Cara Despain’s Specter and Branigan Cultural Center’s juried show Trinity: Legacies of Nuclear Testing, the film Nuclear Savage (2011, 87 minutes) is an intimate ethnographic portrait of Pacific Islanders struggling for dignity and survival after decades of intentional radiation poisoning at the hands of the U.S. government. Radioactive coconuts, leaking nuclear waste repositories, and densely populated slums, were the result of 67 nuclear tests conducted by the U.S. government in the 1950s. Relying on declassified documents, devastating survivor testimony, and archival footage, documentary filmmaker and activist Adam Jonas Horowitz reveals how the U.S. government devastated an entire population to observe the effects of nuclear fallout on human beings with devastating results.

Cancelled: Artist Conversation with Cara Despain
Thursday, September 14th 2023; 5:30-6:30pm
Zane Bennett Collection Study Room (RM 106) in Devasthali Hall

Due to unforeseen circumstances our Artist Conversation with Cara Despain, originally scheduled on Thursday, September 14, has been cancelled. Please make sure to come and see Cara's exhibition Specter New Mexico before it closes on September 16th, and check out our first talk with Cara from our panel of artists and authors who have influenced the conversation around nuclear weapons testing and production in the Southwest. 

Conversation with Karen Yank, Tonya Turner Carroll, and Marisa Sage
Thursday, August 31st, 5:30-7:30 pm
Zane Bennett Collection Study Room (RM 106) in Devasthali Hall

UAM Director Marisa Sage spent an evening with Artist Karen Yank and Santa Fe’s Turner Carroll Gallery Co-Owner Tonya Turner Carroll. Sage, Turner Carroll, and Yank explored the themes of UAM’s current exhibition Agnes Martin and Karen Yank: Meditations on Mentor and Student on display in the Bunny Conlon Modern & Contemporary Art Gallery. Martin taught Yank how to focus her inspirations, create a strong artistic vision through meditation, and scale her mind's-eye sketches into large-scale artworks. Turner Carroll and Sage will discuss with Yank the practices she gained within her mentorship with Martin and how it has influenced Yank’s career.

For more information on the panelist click here

Screening of The River that Harms and Under the Cloud with a Virtual Q&A by Pedro Reyes
Wednesday, August 30th 2023, 6:00-8:00pm
Rio Grande Theatre in downtown Las Cruces
211 N Main St, Las Cruces, NM 88001

Screened in conjunction with Cara Despain’s Specter and Branigan Cultural Center’s juried show Trinity: Legacies of Nuclear Testing, filmmaker Colleen Keane’s The River That Harms and artist Pedro Reyes’s Under the Clouds consider the duration and devastation of uranium mining and nuclear waste on Indigenous territory in the U.S. After the screenings of these two films, the UAM will moderate a virtual Q&A with Pedro Reyes and Joanna Keane Lopez from the Rio Grande theater. Joanna Keane Lopez, the daughter of Colleen Keane, is a multidisciplinary artist who seeks to investigate the history and ongoing reality of land contamination, specifically that of nuclear colonialism that has shaped the landscape of the Southwestern United States and beyond.

For more information on the films click here

Nuclear New Mexico, What’s Next? with Senator Jeff Steinborn
Thursday, August 17th 2023, 5:30-7:00pm
The Bleachers at the UAM

Check out the Instagram live broadcast

In conjunction with Cara Despain’s Specter and Branigan Cultural Center’s juried show Trinity: Legacies of Nuclear Testing, Senator Jeff Steinborn will be sitting down with Alicia Inez Guzmán to discuss the past, present, and future of our Nuclear New Mexico. What are the consequences of past mining and nuclear development? How did we get here? and most importantly, where are we going? Please join us for a conversation between Steinborn and Guzmán which explores how nuclear development has shaped New Mexico and what can be done to improve our future.

State Senator Jeff Steinborn represents District 36 in Doña Ana County. He recently passed legislation banning the storage of high-level nuclear waste in New Mexico and accelerating the cleanup of abandoned uranium mine sites. He is the Vice-Chair of New Mexico’s Legislative Radioactive and Hazardous Materials Committee. Raised in the northern New Mexican village of Truchas, Alicia Inez Guzmán has written about histories of place, identity, and land use in New Mexico. She brings this knowledge to her current role at Searchlight, where she focuses on nuclear issues and the impacts of the nuclear industry. The former senior editor of New Mexico Magazine, Alicia holds a Ph.D. in Visual and Cultural Studies from the University of Rochester in New York.

Panel Discussion: Artists and Authors on Our Nuclear Legacy
Wednesday, July 19th 2023, 6:00-7:30pm
The Bleachers at the UAM

In conjunction with the exhibitions Cara Despain: Specter and The Branigan Cultural Center’s juried show Trinity: Legacies of Nuclear Testing, join a panel of artists and authors who have influenced the conversation around nuclear weapons testing and production in the Southwest. Moderated by Alicia Inez Guzmán, artist Cara Despain joins authors Josh Wheeler and Myrriah Gómez to share everyday stories of life in a region deeply impacted by nuclear legacies and investigate the way artists and authors can bring awareness to those stories.

For more information on the panelist click here

The Art of Icon Making: A 2-Day Workshop with Sara Edenburn Harper
July 7th - 8th, 2023; 9:00am-3:00pm each day
Limited space. Registration required. 

Highlighting the exhibition “Icons & Retablos: The Blessings of Christ on Home Altars” NMSU Art Museum is offering a 2-day iconography workshop with Iconographer Sara Edenburn Harper. Sara will lead us in painting an image of the face of Christ using egg tempera which we will prepare ourselves. She will also be demonstrating how to prepare an icon board using traditional materials. This workshop is free, and supplies will be provided. Beginners through advanced artists ages 12 and up are welcome. Space is limited and registration is required.

This workshop is full, please email artmuseum@nmsu.edu to be placed on our waitlist

Artists Walkthroughs: Tilke Elkins, Karen Yank, and Cara Despain
Thursday, June 22nd 2023, 3-5pm
UAM Galleries
     Tilke Elkins from 3:00–3:30pm
     Karen Yank from 3:45–4:15pm
     Cara Despain from 4:30–5:00pm

Join artists Elkins, Yank, and Despain for a walkthrough of the UAM’s three new exhibitions prior to the opening reception. Curator Tilke Elkins will offer insight into the artwork and artists of Wild Pigment Project in the Mullennix Bridge Gallery. Sculptor Karen Yank will discuss her decades-long friendship with artist Agnes Martin and the importance of Martin’s role as an artistic mentor in Agnes Martin and Karen Yank: Meditations on Mentor and Student in the Bunny Conlon Modern & Contemporary Art Gallery. Artist Cara Despain will talk about her site-specific, research-based practice explored in Specter in the Contemporary Gallery. Please plan to stay for the opening reception from 5:30–7:30pm.

For more information on the artist click here

Live Performance by A. Billi Free
Thursday, June 22nd 2023, 5:30-7:30pm 
The Bleachers at the UAM

Join us at the opening reception for three new exhibitions at the UAM and enjoy a live performance from local vocalist, DJ, beat producer and community organizer, A. Billi Free. Her sound is rooted in a fluid blend of Hip Hop, R&B, and electronic music. In 2022 she released "Holy Body Roll" a vocal album with producer The Lasso on the Mello Music Group label and completed two international cultural diplomacy arts residencies as site manager to Poland and Romania with the Next Level organization. When not traveling, she calls the frontier lands in the Southwest region of the United States her home and can be found performing, producing films and mentoring youth.

A. Billi Free will be performing by the Bleachers in Devasthali hall during the opening reception of Cara Despain: Specter, Agnes Martin & Karen Yank: Meditations on Mentor and Student, and Wild Pigment Project curated by Tilke Elkins.

Feminist Border Arts Film Festival
June 28th, 2023; 10:00am - 8:00pm
Location: The Mullinex Bridge Gallery, rm 106 and The bleachers 

The Feminist Border Arts Film Festival celebrates the power of cinema as a creative tool to reflect upon urgent social issues and thought-provoking representations of identity and difference. The festival defines “feminist border arts” as a practice that challenges the limits of conventional representation through telling stories from the edge; threshold visions from the margins that create new ways of seeing, that visualize underrepresented ways of knowing. Selected films revive the promise of cinema, the possibility of film, video arts, and new media to open minds, create new vistas, and challenge dehumanizing forms of representation.

The festival emphasizes artistic vision in telling these stories through short film, including live-action narrative, documentary, essay film, video art, experimental film, new media, and animation. FBAFF showcases student, indie, and professional filmmakers, domestic and international. The festival specializes in films 15 minutes and under. 

FBAFF is a highly selective festival whose programming and curation are nationally and internationally recognized. Films bearing the FBA laurel appear in top film festivals like Cannes, TIFF, and Sundance.

The curated exhibition of films will be held on June 28th, 2023--in honor of the Stonewall Riots--at the University Art Museum on the campus of New Mexico State University. Free and Open to the Public. Save the date.

The 2023 NMSU Feminist Border Arts Film Festival is Sponsored by the academic unit for Gender & Sexuality Studies, the University Art Museum, the Department of English, and the Department of Art

Click here for more information 
Click here to listen to FBAFF featured on Puentes by Emily Guerra

Workshop with Curator and Artist Tilke Elkins : Conversations with Wild Pigments 
Saturday, June 10th 10:00am - 12:00pm
Location: The Zane Bennett Collection Study Room (RM 106) in Devasthali Hall

OutsmART: Nicho Making with Sara Edenburn Harper
May 27th, 2023; 1:00pm-2:30pm
Location: The Zane Bennett Collection Study Room (RM 106) in Devasthali Hall

Join local artist, Sara Edenburn Harper, as she shares with us about the traditional Mexican practice of retablos and the nichos made to protect and honor them. We’ll explore the Retablo’s currently on display at the NMSU Art Museum’s exhibition “Icons & Retablos: The Blessings of Christ on Home Altars” learning more about their traditional use in home altars. Participants will also get the chance to make their own decorated paper nicho to take home and share. All supplies for this project will be provided so just bring yourself and your friends!

 

OutsmART: Nature Walk with Ashley Diane Saldana
April 29th, 2023; 10:00-11:30 am
Where: La Llorona Multi-Use Path Trailhead

Intersection of Calle del Norte and River Levee Rd, Las Cruces, NM 88005

In this workshop, artist Ashley Diane Saldana will take us on a nature walk and practice creative field writing and sketching. Walking in nature allows us to be more observant, curious and attuned to our senses while noticing the smaller details of the world around us. Saldana, will share more about her art making practice followed by a short, guided walk and journaling along the Rio Grande. (Sketchbooks and drawing materials will be provided but you are welcome to bring your own. Please bring water and wear comfortable shoes.)

Saldana’s work will be on display in the University Art Museum’s, “Echoes of an Empty Space: MFA Thesis Exhibition” from April 28th until May 20th. 

Read more about OutsmART events on our OutsmART page 

Echoes of an Empty Space Walkthrough with Artists
April 29th, 2023; 2:00pm-3:00pm

Join MFA candidates Ashley Diane Saldana, Yashoda Latkar, and Gus as they share the inspiration behind their thesis exhibition Echoes of an Empty Space. Each will take time to share about their individual work and the collaboration process it took to curate the joint exhibition.

Behind the Scenes: Tips & Tricks for Everyday Drag
May 2nd, 2023; 5:30pm-7:00 pm
Location: Bleachers

Come by and enjoy a night of tips and tricks for getting into drag, whether for going to church or into the town. As RuPaul Charles says, "You are Born Naked, and the Rest is Drag." Artist Gus will provide makeup advice and a behind the scene glimpse of the process of creating their artwork; all while Gus paints their mug into drag. Come engage with the artist and simultaneously receive an intimate look into Gus' artistic processes.

Gus’ work will be on display in the University Art Museum’s, “Echoes of an Empty Space: MFA Thesis Exhibition” from April 28th until May 20th. 

Mapping the City: A Zine Making Workshop
April 21st, 2023; 4:00-6:00pm
The Zane Bennett Collection Study Room (RM 106) in the University Art Museum

Join us at the NMSU Art Museum for a zine-making workshop titled Mapping the City. Zines, short for “magazines,” are self-published artistic and literary booklets that offer a powerful way to directly share our ideas with the world around us. Drop in any time during this event to engage with poetry and collage materials to create a collaborative zine together. We’ll explore ideas of identity and place in a city like Las Cruces and we’ll also have a pop-up mini library of local zines for inspiration.

This workshop is presented by the Critical Approaches to Place initiative. “Critical Approaches to Place: Teaching Narrative Mapping in Southern New Mexico” is a three-year curriculum development and public engagement project organized by collaborators from NMSU’s Geography and English departments.

Retablos and Icons: The Blessings of Jesus Christ on Home Altars with Dr. Elizabeth Zarur
April 11th, 2023; 5:30pm-6:30pm
In-Person: HSS Annex 101
Online: https://nmsu.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJwsfuqrpjMoHdW31UPyvLKThaS7CK8PRvny

Dr. Elizabeth Zarur, guest curator for collaborative exhibitions between the Museum of Russian Icons and the University Art Museum at New Mexico State University, will be joining us to discuss Mexican retablos and Russian icons. She will talk about their styles, themes, materials, techniques, and iconographies. Dr. Zarur will share a brief history of icons, retablos, and the political situations in Russia and Mexico that led to the propagation of these religious objects in home altars. Her curated exhibition, Icons & Retablos: The Blessings of Christ on Home Altars in the Margie and Bobby Rankin Retablo Gallery will be open late for viewing prior to the presentation.

Click here for directions from the University Art Museum to HSS Annex

Radical Expansion: A Civic Dialogue Through Art and Education
April 2nd, 2023; 4:00 pm - 5:30 pm
Location: SITE Santa Fe in-person & live-streamed

Register here

Join us for a panel discussion on the radical expansion of civic dialogue in contemporary art and community-based education, featuring Desierto Mountain Time partners and regional artists and educators Jamie Blosser, Bianca Castillero, Viola Arduini, Jessie Ryker-Crawford (White Earth Chippewa), PhD, and Daisy Quezada, moderated by Matthew Contos, SITE Santa Fe Director of Creativity and Learning.

More information at DesiertoMountainTime.org.

Stop Motion Film Workshop
February 22nd, 2023; 6:00 - 7:30pm
Location: TBD

Video as Performance and the Performance of Video: How to Make Stop Motion Films on Your Phone

In this hands-on practicum, Peekaboo Pointe will demonstrate and model her art-making process for creating stop motion short films, a process she was introduced to during her MFA program in Interdisciplinary Arts and one she developed– often obsessively – during COVID. She began to question what happens to performance without an audience? How can video itself be a type of performance, and what does that mean for both the live and the mediatized? Her films, and her process for making them, begin to unravel strict divisions between live and digital, the body and mind, all the while offering a tongue-in-cheek stance that permeates her work as a performer and choreographer.

The workshop will include students taking their hand at creating their own stop-motion films, using found objects (to be provided) and the serendipity of incongruous juxtapositions. No prior experience or materials necessary, though students will be asked to download an app on their phone or device in advance of the workshop.

For more information about PEEKSHOW, contact lsally@nmsu.edu.

PEEKSHOW
February 21, 2023; 6:00 -7:00pm
1308 E. University Ave., Las Cruces, New Mexico, 88003
Location: Bleachers

Stop-motion film showing with Artist Talk Back (Peekaboo Pointe & Dr. Lynn Sally) First come,  first served.

PEEKSHOW features the mind-blowing stop-motion short films of renowned performance artist Peekaboo Pointe (NYC). Her films are melancholy and campy, taking head-on issues such as the aging female body, what it means to be a performing artist in a digital age, and her own personal struggles with fertility. As a queer multi-disciplinary artist, Peekaboo Pointe’s work celebrates the unveiled female form as a site of agency and subjecthood. 

PEEKSHOW includes a talk back between the artist Peekaboo Pointe and scholar Dr. Lynn Sally, author of Neo-Burlesque: Striptease as Transformation, currently teaching “Performing Gender: Camp, Drag & Burlesque” at NMSU.. 

Screening: “The Art of Un-War” a film by Maria Niro
February 2nd, 2023; 6:30 - 8:00pm
HJLC Building Room 125

Join us for a special screening for the new exhibition Ad Infinitum: Artists Against War and Imperialism NMSU Art Museum will be screening Maria Niro’s documentary “The Art of Un- War,” a tribute to Polish artist Krzysztof Wodiczko’s life, artistry, and passion for “Un-War.” Dr. Joanna Matuszak, NMSU’s Professor of Contemporary Art, will start the evening with an introduction of the documentary and the artist at the center of it.

See a trailer for more details: https://youtu.be/O25cnBmvXA0

Exhibition Walk-through with Curator Dr. Joanna Matuszak
January 28th, 2023; 1:00pm - 1:45pm

Join Dr. Joanna Matuszak, visiting Assistant Professor of Contemporary Art History in the NMSU Department of Art for a walk-through of her exhibition Ad Infinitum: Artists Against War and Imperialism, a curation of war-era posters and artworks from the NMSU Permanent Art Collection. Matuszak will share the implications of contemporary art’s criticism of war and describe in more detail the selections from the collection chosen for this exhibition.

Exhibition Walk-through with Curator Leslie Moody Castro for NMSU students
January 19th, 2023; 5:00pm
January 20th, 2023; 4:30pm

Join our visiting curator, Leslie Moody Castro, for a walk-through of Together Through as Within. Moody Castro, independent curator, and writer, will share her inspiration for this experiential exhibition of the recent work from staff and faculty within the Department of Art at New Mexico State University.

This walkthrough is being provided for NMSU students, faculty, and staff. Students interested in more information on how they can get involved as voluntary docents for the run of the exhibition are strongly encouraged to attend.

Place: Artists, Making, and Moving
Dec 6, 2022 06:00 PM PST, 7:00 PM MST
Digitally broadcasting from Stanford & New Mexico State University

Join MFA students from Stanford and New Mexico State University for a virtual studio visit with artists Krystal Ramirez in Stanford, CA and Justin Favela in Springdale, AK. Ramirez and Favela both have work in the exhibition Contemporary Ex-Votos: Devotion Beyond Medium currently on view at the New Mexico State University Art Museum in Las Cruces. Both artists hail from Las Vegas, creating work that addresses where they come from, while living elsewhere. What does it mean to make work about a place you are no longer in, even if that move is temporary?

Justin Favela’s work draws from art history, popular culture and his Guatemalan/Mexican heritage. He is a Las Vegas native with a BFA in Studio Arts from University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) who works in the mediums of painting, sculpture, and performance.

Krystal Ramirez is an interdisciplinary artist whose work is centered around labor and the consumption of the brown body. She's a second-generation immigrant from the working-class landscape of Las Vegas, Nevada. She received a BFA in Photography from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) in 2009 and is currently an MFA candidate in Art Practice at Stanford University.

Image credits:
Image 1: Justin Favela, Image courtesy of the artist. Photograph by Mikayla Whitmore
Image 1: Krystal Ramirez, Image courtesy of the artist. Photograph by Mikayla Whitmore.

OutsmART Ex-Voto Collage Workshops
October 22, November 5, November 19, 2022

Nazarin Movie and Discussion
November 17, 2022; 5:30pm

Screening of Luis Buñuel’s 1959 film Nazarín, followed by a discussion with Emmanuel Ramos-Barrajas of Borderless Cultures. Borderless Cultures is an ongoing collaboration with filmmakers and scholars to create opportunities for entertainment, education, and the critical dissection of the racialization of Latinx peoples in film.

Artist talk with Eric J. Garcia, in partnership with NMSU’s Visiting Artist and Scholar Series Online/Offline 
November 7, 2022; 6:00pm "Artist Talk"
November 8, 2022 9am - 11:30am "Workshop"

Exhibition artist Eric J. Garcia will discuss research and new work from his time with the Roswell Artist-in-Residence program. He interrogates the language of the U.S. immigration system, specifically the term “alien,” and invading colonial powers to the Americas. The graphic style of his politically-charged work challenges viewers to question sources of power and the whitewashing of history.

https://forms.gle/at1HDanYLAyfbu2QA

Walk-Through with Dr. Emmanuel Ortega
October 1, 2022; 1pm: 

Join exhibition curator Dr. Emmanuel Ortega, Marilynn Thoma Scholar and Assistant Professor in Art of the Spanish Americas at the University of Illinois at Chicago, for a walk-through of ContemporaryEx-Votos: Devotion Beyond Medium. Ortega will discuss themes present in the NMSU retablo Collection, commissioning artists for this exhibition, and his collaborative curatorial approach.

Performance by DJ Mira Mira
September 30, 2022; 5:30pm - 6:30pm

Join us for a performance by DJ Mira Mira. Mira Mira aka Xochi Solis (she/her) is a mixed media artist born and raised in Austin, TX. In addition to her studio practice, she spins records with the Austin chapter of Chulita Vinyl Club with a focus on the preservation and performance of Tejanx culture. Find more of her mixes at www.mixcloud.com/mira_mira or www.patreon.com/mira_mira

Virtual Lecture - Judy Chicago, Perspectives from Archives and Collections

Saturday May 7th, 1:00pm 

This lecture, which was presented by William L. Fox, Director of the Center for Art + Environment at the Nevada Museum of Art will focus on the Nevada Museum of Art’s collection of Judy Chicago artworks, and the importance of institutional collections and archives for documenting and preserving artwork, resources, and historical information related to artists. 

William L. Fox, Director of the Center for Art + Environment at the Nevada Museum of Art in Reno, Nevada, has variously been called an art critic, science writer, and cultural geographer.  He has published sixteen books on cognition, art, and landscape and has researched and written books set in the Antarctic, the Arctic, the Himalaya, and the deserts of Chile, Australia, and the United States. His most recent book is Michael Heizer: The Once and Future Monuments.

OutsmART Event- Embroidering a Feminist History

Saturday May 7th, 1:00pm 

This OutsmART event will was led by Las Cruces-based embroidery artist, Bethany Meier from Queer and Crafty Creations. Meier will lead students through a workshop to create their own embroidery artwork that symbolizes and reflects on important women in their lives. This workshop included age-appropriate options for children, and will end with participants able to take their original artworks home with them! A digital version of the option will be available at the UAM’s website, and we encourage anyone who participates from home to post or send a photo of their artwork and tag the UAM. 

Bethany Meier-Evans is a local art vendor and the owner of Queer and Crafty Creations. She started embroidering as a pandemic hobby in the spring of 2020 and loved it so much that she has turned it into a successful small business! When Bethany is not making embroidered art or hanging out at local art shows, she enjoys spending time with her spouse and their pets! As someone who is passionate about women's rights, Bethany is excited to have an opportunity to connect women's history with her love of embroidery! You can find her on Facebook, Instagram, and Etsy @QueerandCraftyCreations!

Panel Discussion- Critical Approaches to Place:
Thursday, January 20, 5:30PM

COLLAB SPACE, UAM, Devasthali Hall and on Zoom 
Panelists shared thoughts on Las Cruces and our region—its pasts, presents, and futures. The panel coincides with a Spring 2022 class co-taught by Dr. Kerry Banazek (NMSU English) and Dr. Eric Magrane (NMSU Geography) that examines sense of place, media, mapping, and representation. Both the class and panel are part of the NEH-sponsored Critical Approaches to Place project.

Exhibition Opening Reception:
Contemporary Gallery & Bunny Conlon Gallery – Nikesha Breeze- Four Sites of Return: Ritual, Remembrance, Reparation and Reclamation

Mullennix Bridge Gallery– Remembered Landscapes: The Sacred Space of Home. Works by
Jackie Mitchell Edwards
University Art Museum, Devasthali Hall
Friday, January 21, 5:30-7:30PM

Stages of Tectonic Blackness: Blackdom live performance
University Art Museum, Devasthali Hall
January 21, 6:30PM

 Here is a link to the performance: Stages of Tectonic Blackness - Live Performance

Artist Exhibition Walkthrough W/Nikesha Breeze
University Art Museum, Devasthali Hall
January 22, 12:00PM

The Colored Museum, A play written by George C. Wolfe
University Art Museum, Devasthali Hall
Fridays, February 4 , 11, 7:00PM

Performed and produced by The Be Group, The Colored Museum presents 11 humorous “exhibits” of African-American culture — from the depths of the Celebrity Slaveship to the spinning heights of Harlem.

Artist Talk: Sites of Resistance- Marie Alarcón, Nikesha Breeze, Nansi Guevara
Saturday, February 19, 1:00PM
Features artists who activate the intersections between diasporic communities, cultures and places to forge sites of resistance and sources of power. This panel is off-site and is part of Desierto Mountain Time. It will be located at Santa Fe Art Institute, 1600 St. Michaels Drive, Building #31 and online. 
Learn more about the panel here

Panel Discussion: Blackdom, New Mexico– Its History and Potential Futures
University Art Museum and on Zoom
Saturday, March 5, 2:00PM
This collaborative panel will explore the history of Blackdom, NM, the first and only all Black community in New Mexico, through the perspective of scholars, artists, and descendants of the founding 13 African American families of the town. The goal of this panel is to facilitate discussion of possibilities for lasting change in Southwest New Mexico for Black and brown people, and to make action steps towards gaining public and sustained access to the ruins of Blackdom, NM for future generations. The panel is presented by partnering organizations in Desierto Mountain Time (DesiertoMountainTime.org), a cross-border contemporary art collaboration. 

OutsmART Children’s Workshops:
OutsmART is a series of Saturday interactive art workshops exploring the power of art to impact children’s everyday lives. All ages and experience levels are encouraged to attend. Parents and guardians are invited to come to the classes. Each workshop is related to artwork exhibited in the University Art Museum. More information coming soon. 
Collage and Hand Tools Workshop W/Jackie Mitchell Edwards
Date: Saturday, February 5, 1:00PM
Community Performance Workshop W/Nikesha Breeze
Date: Saturday, February 12, 1:00PM
Theater Production workshop W/The Be Group
Date: Saturday, February 26, 1:00PM

Online Paper Plant Making Workshop with artist Justin Favela

The University Art Museum hosted a live virtual plant-making workshop with artist Justin Favela where he taught community members and children how to create piñata-style paper sculptures for a desert garden that will be integrated into the show. This interactive event was pre-recorded and posted on the UAM website for individuals to access after the workshop.
Read more about the workshop and follow along with the lesson here. 

Saint Joseph & The Laborers, Retablo Making Workshop
Taught by NMSU alumni: Karen Conley, in collaboration with the Dona Ana Arts Council
Watch and follow along here:

The University Art Museum hosted a live virtual retablo making workshop with artist Karen Conley where she taught community members and children how to make retablos for the museum’s, “Joseph’s Feast Day” event, a community-sourced collection of homemade altars built by confined families all over the world. Altars can include retablos, photographs, food offerings, rosaries, milagros or other materials that may connect to stories of surviving COVID-19, struggles with illness or hardship and other journeys associated with labor.

This live interactive event was recorded and posted on the UAM website for individuals to access after the workshop to help make their home alters and retablo. Read more about the workshop here.
Download lesson plan now. 

Labor: Motherhood & Art in 2020
On view: February 28 – December 6, 2020
This exhibition features the work of artists Tracey Baran, María Berrío, Patty Chang, Lenka Clayton, Amy Cutler, Joey Fauerso, Tierney Gearon, Kate Gilmore, Jessica Jackson Hutchins, Las Hermanas Iglesias, Mary Kelly, Justine Kurland, Marilyn Minter, Laurel Nakadate, Hương Ngô & Hồng- Ân Trương, Yoko Ono, Catherine Opie, Laurie Simmons, Wendy Red Star, and Mickalene Thomas. 
Public Opening reception: Friday, February 28, 2020, 6:30-8:30 PM
Jessica Jackson Hutchins Site-Specific Performance: Friday, February 28, 2020, 7:15 PM

Post Labor Events
February 28- March 30, 2020 
Read, view and watch all the events we had opening weekend and throughout the first two weeks of Labor: Motherhood & Art in 2020 including: a curatorial Walkthrough with Marisa Sage and Joey Fauerso, an ARTIST/MOTHER Live Podcast: With Kaylan Buteyn, a Reading of the artist book by Lenka Clayton Mothers’ Days , and the Feminist Border Arts Film Festival. 
Click here for full details.

ALONE/TOGETHER is a curated series of prerecorded online programs that took place on Saturdays during the Covid-19 pandemic. Created by the UAM in collaboration with artists and programming partners from Labor: Motherhood & Art in 2020 (Labor), ALONE/TOGETHER was fully online, utilizing an array of social media and online apps the global community had become even more familiar with in this new world of social distancing. 

Many of these projects developed from existing programs that were slated to take place in the museum exhibition, including live performances, pre-recorded video, and experimental community programs led by artists in our community. Plans continue to evolve as our global situation does, and as we reopen to the pubic, we welcome you to read all about and watch all the programming that took place by clicking here.

Mama Create-Ups (Prerecorded and available online!)
The UAM transitioned many of our previously scheduled Mama Create-Ups to a new online format. The Mama Create-Ups series provided informational talks by local specialists on themes, such as lactation, FMLA, and carving out time for your passions, offering resources for mothers within the local community, as well as our expanded digital community. All events took place on Saturdays at 1PM MST using the digital platform Zoom, and they lasted approximately one hour. In connection with each of the digital Mama Create-Up events, the UAM presented a uniquely designed OutsmART children’s art workshop created by a local artist mom. The UAM’s OutsmART children’s workshops mission is to expose children in the southwest region to art through exploration and play. These events were designed to be done around the house, with common art supplies, and can still be completed by children by following the videos and PDFs provided. This art workshop’s goal is intended to provide mothers with some alone time, but the art projects can be completed at any time and in collaboration with your children! 

All the events and workshops were recorded and can be viewed below: 

Online Mama Create-Ups #1: Mama’s Leche: Michelle Hackney and New Mexico Breastfeeding Task Force
Video of the event available now / Recorded live on June 20th.
OutsmART Children’s Program:  
“Wild Beasts” Project for the Fierce Mama’s & Babes Artist to know: Henri Matisse with Mama’s Leche Illustrator: Mia Ortiz-Gandara. Download the PDF here and create at anytime from home. 

Click here for more information regarding this event.

Online Mama Create-Ups #2: Carving Out Time For Your Art (Passions)
Artist/Mother Book-Heather Kirtland and Marissa Huber 
Video of event available now / Recorded live on July 11, 2020
OutsmART Children’s Program: Andy Warhol Animal Portraits a workshop by artist/mother Isadora Stowe. Watch online and create from home at anytime by clicking here. 

Click here for more information regarding this event.

Online Mama Create-Ups #3: The Facts About FMLA: Dulcinea Lara
Video of event available now / Recorded live on July 25, 2020 
OutsmART Children’s Program: Radial Patterns w/artist mother Zoe Spiliotis

Click here for more information regarding this event.

Online Mama Create-Ups #4: Doula, Midwife, and OBGYN Panel: Explore childbirth options in the time of COVID. 
With Ruth E. Romo, Bernadette Carrillo and Sabrina Paulos.
Video of event available now / Recorded live on Saturday, August 15, 2020
OutsmART Children’s Program: Stop Motion Animation, a workshop by artist/mother Sharbani Das Gupta
Register online here for the zoom workshop

Click here for more information regarding this event. 

More online Mama Create-Ups programming coming soon including: Fostering or Adopting in New Mexico, and a panel with a Doula, Midwife, and OBGYN exploring childbirth options in NM. Check back often for updates. 

NMSU Art Museum joins over 14 institutions to host events about climate change
Artists from Las Cruces to Albuquerque hope to draw attention to a biological crisis happening along the Rio Grande with an exhibit titled “Species in Peril Along the Rio Grande.” Subhankar Banerjee, NMSU alumnus and University of New Mexico professor of art and ecology, co-curated the exhibit at 516 Arts, which reached out to enlist other institutions including the Albuquerque Museum, the Ruben Center for the Visual Arts, the New Mexico State University’s Art Museum and many others. The result is a series of local events in Las Cruces throughout October and November intended to bring recognition to issues of regional climate change. Events include a city proclamation, an extinct species workshop, a mural, a film screening and a lecture.
Learn more about Species in Peril Along the Rio Grande and the events around Las Cruces by clicking here. 

Border Zones and Liminal Bodies 
 This screening features short video art pieces by 12 U.S. and international artists that invite viewers to contemplate contemporary issues, such as migration and refugee crises, disability and the body in movement, feminicide in Ciudad Juárez, water insecurity, and other issues. This program is the first of two screening events for this year’s Feminist Border Arts Film Festival organized by Gender and Sexuality Studies/Interdisciplinary Studies Department in collaboration with the Creative Media Institute. 

ON VIEW: March 12, 2018, 10 AM – 6 PM.

Read more here for press and programming information. 

In partnership with Visual AIDS, the University Art Gallery, Creative Media Institute and Gender and Sexuality Studies at New Mexico State University presents  ALTERNATE ENDINGS, RADICAL BEGINNINGS   for the 28th annual Day With(out) Art on World AIDS Day, December 1, 2017.

New Mexico State University:

Where: CMI Theatre:  2915 McFie Circle, NMSU, Las Cruces, 88003.

When: December 1, 6pm

What: Screening of   ALTERNATE ENDINGS, RADICAL BEGINNINGS   with introduction by Marisa Sage (University Art Gallery), Dr. M. Catherine Jonet (Gender and Sexuality Studies.), and Laura Anh Williams, Ph.D. (Gender and Sexuality Studies.). Co-presentation between the University Art Gallery, Department of Art, Creative Media Institute, and Gender and Sexuality Studies at New Mexico State University.

Read more about the event here.

Artist Lecture:  Eric  LoPresti: Superbloom and Trinity Site Visit

Almost Famous Student Sale

Friday, April 28, 2017, 4:00-7:00 pm 

Lobby of the University Art Gallery

Sponsored by: The Friends of the University Art Gallery. 

During the opening reception for the MFA thesis show, Life As It Is: Yolanda Cooper and the 2017 Juried Student Show.

WE ARE ALMOST FAMOUS, BUY OUR ART WHILE YOU STILL CAN!!
All mediums will be represented, from painting, prints, photography, sculpture, drawing, ceramics, and mixed media. The money raised at the student sale will not only support the individual students, but also the NMSU Department of Art clubs which give students opportunities to go to conventions, symposia, and other enriching activities that supplement their education. A portion of the art sales will support the Williams Hall Renovation Project and will be matched by Ammu and Rama Devasthali. In addition, the funds from any Friends of the University Art Gallery memberships purchased during the sale will go towards the William Hall Renovation Project. So, not only are you supporting the student artists, you are supporting the NMSU Department of Art clubs, as well as the future generations of art students at NMSU.

  The sale is sponsored by the Friends of the University Art Gallery.

The 2nd Annual Valentine’s Party…Masquerade!

Thursday, February 9, 2017, 6-8 p.m. at the University Art Gallery

Enjoy a night of revelry while supporting the arts!

Suggested Donation: Friend Membership ($25/year)

Click here for the Facebook event page! 

Click here for event images. 

Welcome Back Mixer & Closing Reception for Cranbrook

Presented by: UAG

August 25, 2016, 5-7 PM

University Art Gallery

Fallen Stars Movie Series

co-sponsored by the NMSU CMI Department

A new movie series in the UAG honoring four recently deceased actors/filmmakers

Click here for more info!

Lecture/Outing with artist Katy Stuckel: Consumption Byproducts as Materials

Friday, April 22 at 10am

Read about this event here!

“Making Collaborative Art” with guest artist Lea WiseSurguy-Sophiliazo

April 1, 2016 from 12-1:30pm in the UAG

At this event, WiseSurguy-Sophiliazo will give a lecture about collaborative art followed by a collaborative workshop resulting in a performance! Click here to view photos from the lecture. 

I ♥ Art Valentine’s Party 2016

February 11, 7-9pm,  University Art Gallery

Friends of the University Art Gallery (UAG) invite art lovers/all current UAG members in the Southern New Mexico and Western Texas communities to “Be   Our Valentine” at the first annual I ♥ Art Valentine’s Party on Thursday, February 11, 2016, from 7-9 p.m. at the University Art Gallery. You must RSVP by February 8th!

Click here for party photos!

Panel: Relational Sustainability–Explorations into water preservation, conservation, and water remediation ideas.

Saturday, January 23, 2016

12-1pm,  University Art Gallery

As an associated program with our exhibition, Water! What is it good for?, exhibiting artists Bethany Taylor and Brenda Perry will present a panel discussion focused on environmental issues.  This event is free and open to the public.

Click here to view photos from the lecture. 

2016-17 Banner Project: Inspired by GEOMAGIC: Art, Science, and the Zuhl Collection

The University Art Gallery invited artists of all levels, ages, and locations to submit digital files of original works for consideration for our Biannual Banner Project.

The call for this Banner Project asked artists to submit works that dealt with themes surrounding the Anthropocene age and the natural environment. The project’s objective was to create an outdoor gallery experience that complemented the Zuhl Collection specimens and contemporary artworks featured in the GEOMAGIC exhibition. Check out the banners below and on the exterior walls of the Department of Art / D.W. Williams Hall building on the NMSU Main Campus

Saturday, October 3

Panel: Borderlands as Negotiated through the Arts

A scholarly panel focused on the topic of: visual and performance arts as creative catalysts that spark critical conversations among audiences about the complex, global issues of border governance.

University Art Gallery, 2pm

Thursday, October 1

Artist Lecture: Terri Warpinski

University Art Gallery, 6-7pm

Saturday, September 26, 2015

“Become a Friend” Membership Party

University Art Gallery, 4-7pm

Learn more here!

Friday, September 4

Artist Lecture: Jason Middlebrook

University Art Gallery, 6-7pm

RSVP on Facebook here!

Thursday, September 3

Reception for Your General Store and BETWEEN HERE AND THERE | Paul Turounet |
Terri Warpinski

Gallery talk and walk-through with artist Paul Turounet 6pm

University Art Gallery, 5-7pm

RSVP on Facebook here!

Wednesday, September 2

Workshop with Paul Turounet

Making Photographic Ex-Votos

University Art Gallery, 12-2pm

If you plan on attending, you will need to RSVP here.

June 26th, 5-7pm

“30 UNDER 30” Exhibition Opening

Santa Fe Community Convention Center, Santa Fe, NM

The Santa Fe Commission’s Community Gallery will be opening their doors for their “30 UNDER 30” Exhibition. The featured artists (which include both NMSU faculty and alumni) were selected by a jury, of which our very own Director, Marisa Sage, was a part! If you cannot make the opening, the exhibition will run from June 26th through September 5th, 2015.

Read more about this event here.

May 28

The Near East Family: Ode to the West

David & Tara Gladden create a site-specific audiovisual performance

University Art Gallery, 6pm

Read more about this event here.

Lecture by Lea WiseSurguy-Sophiliazo & Mr. Ruben Zapata

Graduating MFA student Lea WiseSurguy-Sophiliazo and Mr. Ruben Zapata from NMSU’s Food Safety Laboratory will be giving a collaborative artist and scientist lecture on the bio-artworks of Lea WiseSurguy-Sophiliazo, who uses agar to grow human bacteria in her artwork.

This lecture will be an insight into the precedents of bio-arts, a look into the current works of bio art in the University Art Gallery, and a scientific explanation of the technologies used for these pieces

The gypsy wagon will be making a stop at the University Art Gallery on April 7th at 4pm. Peter and Donna Thomas are book artists from Northern California who have been spending the last year traveling around the U.S. in a handmade gypsy wagon.  The wagon is their temporary home as well as a place to sell their books, teach book arts workshops and give talks and lectures.  Wherever they’ve gone, their gypsy wagon has attracted attention for its whimsical color and design.

For more information on the Wandering Book Artists, you can visit their website at:   http://wanderingbookartists.blogspot.com

Artist workshop in conjunction with JSS 2015:

Juan Cholo-“Light is the New Heavy”:
March 20, 12-2pm.

Read more here.

“COMMUNITY WEAVE”

JOHN GARRETT USES YOUR OLD CLOTHING FOR A RAGS TO ARTWORK WOVEN COMMUNITY STORY! Community weave will ask Las Crucens to donate their old t-shirts and clothing to be used in a large woven piece.

Starting on January 5, Garrett and Sage request that you donate all forms of knitted garb, including used and old T-shirts, knitted pants, shirts and skirts, which, over the course of the month, will be constructed into a large tapestry.  Read more here

Las Cruces Connects

Saturday, February 7, 12:00-4:00pm
Las Cruces Connects was a celebratory weekend of art exhibits, art-based events, and performances. This artistic weekend created a connection between the University Art Gallery, Las Cruces Museum of Art, and all the various arts organizations within our community. We created a map of each participating organization.  There was bus transportation at each of the blue marks on the map. View the map here:  Art_Hop_Map_ 2015Final.

Gallery Talk: Marisa Sage

Saturday, February 7, 2pm

On curating vs. Creating and Miami Basel

Gallery Talk/Panel: Chris Bardey  

Thursday, February 12, 6pm

On community arts engagement

Read more about the event and view photos.

Collaborate with your Kids Workshop

Saturday, February 21, 12-2pm

A workshop with the artist Isadora Stowe.

See pictures from the workshop, and read more here.

Gallery Talk: Artist John Garrett

Thursday, February 26, 6pm

On his art and the Community Weave project.

Gallery Talk: Visiting Artist and Scholar Lecture Series: Peter Turchi

Friday, February 27, 3pm

Author Peter Turchi will give a talk exploring the challenges of discovery, the challenges of presenting those discoveries, and how the presentation itself is often the key to discovery.