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2025 Visiting Artist Series #5:
Bonnie Meltzer
TIKKUN OLAM: MENDING THE SOCIAL FABRIC
Installation
RECEPTION MAY 1,   5 – 7pm

Ray Drew Gallery presents Bonnie Meltzer, TIKKUN OLAM: MENDING THE SOCIAL FABRIC, a solo exhibition. It is a privilege to show such an accomplished artist at Ray Drew Gallery, NMHU. Meltzer has exhibited her work widely across the U.S. A few highlighted institutions: Oregon Jewish Museum, Portland, OR,  Maryhill Museum of Art, WA, Museum of Contemporary Craft, Portland, OR, Hallie Ford Museum of Art, Salem , OR, Textile Arts Center, Chicago Illinois, and the Museum of American Craft, NY. 

Meltzer inspired by the concept of tikkun olam, a Hebrew term that means Repair the World, constructed the installation to literally do just that. Central to the exhibition is a 20 foot diameter parachute, a symbol of safety that was intentionally torn to convey the fraying of the metaphoric social fabric. As the Installation moves to new venues visitors patch and embroider the torn parachute creating a colorful border that became a symbol of action, hope and healing.

As part of the Ray Drew Gallery: Visiting Artist Series 
Meltzer will be on campus the week of :
April 28 – May 1

Come work with the artist during one of her workshops:
MENDING THE SOCIAL FABRIC – MENDING BEE 
Collaborative – Creative – Visible

Learn more: RAY DREW GALLERY EVENTS

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Ray Drew Gallery presents NORTHERN NEW MEXICO DEVOTIONAL SHOW 2025. Includes 14 artists in the show. Many of the traditional artists learned their craft from family members or mentors who have taught them the traditions of the art by using all-natural materials and pigments. The exhibition will include one of the last works created by the late Peter Lopez, in honor of his incredible dedication to the art form. 

Featured arts include: Margarito Mondragon, Yvonne Aragon, Adrian Montoya, Mary Margaret Lujan, Julia R Gomez, Mary Ellen Bilisnansky McMorrow, and many more.

Santos are revered for their simplicity, rich colors and intense expression of faith. The Hispanic Catholic devotional art of New Mexico is a window to view how people lived and how traditions are still carried on. Today’s santeros and santeras have found like any ongoing tradition, preserving it means making room for innovation. It is what keeps the art moving forward for future generations. New materials and subject matter bring differing responses but these modern artisans know traditions evolve, and in turn allow them to stay alive. Women have played an important role in bringing a contemporary voice to New Mexico’s Devotional Arts introducing embroidery & textiles into the art form. Fortunately, many historical santos have survived keeping the continuity of imagery alive. New Mexico’s contemporary artists are choosing to keep the art form viable and in their work it’s not just about religion it’s about a cultural connection and passing it on to the next generation.

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Ray Drew Gallery presents Sharon Stewart: El Cerrito: A Village Life Portrait, a solo exhibition.

It is a privilege to show such an accomplished artist at Ray Drew Gallery, NMHU. Stewart has shown widely nationally & internationally, most recently here in NM at Site Santa Fe. The exhibition is comprised of 26 gelatin sliver print photographs, exploring the beauty of community. 

“In a region of ghosted presences, the remote and tiny village of El Cerrito south of Las Vegas and situated on a triple oxbow of the Pecos River has endured through centuries. This survey presents an examination of its acequia culture and the community’s respectful tending of its vital waters. Seeing the universal in the personal, this exploration of El Cerrito’s survival provides insight into cooperative perseverance as a model redress to the dissonance sourced in our time’s divisiveness.” – Sharon Stewart

As founding vice-president of the Houston Center for Photography, Stewart served on its board for many years; volunteered and exhibited during FotoFest’s formative years. With writer Steven Fenberg she embarked on the Toxic Tour of Texas, a survey portraying citizen-activists who effectively challenged government and industry hazardous waste practices that were damaging their communities’ air, land, water, health, and culture.

Stewart resettled in the village of Chacón, high in the mountains of Northern New Mexico. Here, she set out to establishing a studio and gardens, building soil and relationships, while also pondering her photographic purpose. With cameras as her companions, she was inspired to serve history by exploring and chronicling a local culture redolent in tradition and ritual.

sharonstewartphotography.net

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Ray Drew Gallery is delighted to present MATT EATON,  Home House Houses Home, sculpture & prints.

Eaton is a NM artist working in Albuquerque, as an NMHU Alumnus he returns to Las Vegas, NM for a solo exhibition at the Ray Drew Gallery..

Matthew Eaton is a contemporary sculptor, printmaker and art educator. He was an Assistant Professor at the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico from 2015-2022, where he taught sculpture. After leaving IAIA in 2022, Matthew took on the role of Studio Manager and Collaborative Assistant to June Quick-to-See Smith.

His sculptural work is rooted in the contemporary cast iron art movement and has been exhibited at Grounds for Sculpture, The National Ornamental Metals Museum, The Birmingham Museum of Art , The Amarillo Museum of Art, and galleries around the United States, Scotland and Germany. 

Matthew received his BFA from New Mexico Highlands University, a Professional Printers’ Certificate from the Tamarind Institute, a MFA with an emphasis in Sculpture from Georgia State University and a MA in Art Education from the University of New Mexico

I create visual metaphors that relate to the choices we make as individuals or as humanity as a whole in our lives, and how we reflect on our path to better our experience. – Matt Eaton

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Ray Drew Gallery presents “Something Like Home”, Todd Christensen  a solo exhibition.

Prints Drawings & Stuffing From The Attic

A collection of Prints, Drawing and more presented in an installation style presentation.

Todd Christensen is an artist who likes his mashed potatoes and gravy.

Born in Provo, Utah and raised in Circleville, Utah, Todd now lives and works in Las Vegas, New Mexico. Mr. Christensen is a Professor of Art at New Mexico Highlands University, where he occasionally dabbles in impromptu dancing.

Todd Christensen has an MFA in printmaking from the University of Arizona. His work is diverse, including printmaking, drawing, painting, collage, mixed-media, book arts, sculpture, and whatever else suits his fancy.

Todd Christensen is occasionally funny but mostly only on Tuesdays at 11:11am.

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A part of the Ray Drew Gallery; VISITING ARTISTS SERIES ( #4 )

Ray Drew Gallery presents Making Marks Mark Time, a solo exhibition by Jason Franz featuring 23 classical figure drawings. Franz’s drawing skill is at a master’s level. Showcased in the exhibition is a broad array of his skills in multiple mediums, charcoal, ball point pen, and graphite. It is a privilege to show such an accomplished artist here at Ray Drew Gallery.

Jason Franz is a Cincinnati, Ohio based artist, educator, curator, and founding director of the non-profit arts organization Manifest. Manifest is internationally known for its drawing center and research galleries. Franz attended the then museum-school Art Academy of Cincinnati receiving his BFA degree with honors in 1988. During the first ten years of his career as a working artist he also served as exhibition designer and preparator at the Cincinnati Art Museum where he played a key role in establishing the Exhibition Design Department. He returned to academia in 1996 to pursue a Master’s degree at the University of Cincinnati’s College of Design, Architecture, Art and Planning, receiving his MFA in 1998.

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Ray Drew Gallery presents Annie Coe: Language of The Unknown a solo exhibition.

Coe grew up in Portland Oregon. Where she studied a varied curriculum of drawing, painting, & sculpture. After spending over a decade in San Francisco California, she made her way to New Mexico, and  has spent the last 28 years in Taos. Her work is naturally expressive, layered in depth, beauty and strength. The world she creates is of equal parts quietude and blanketed cacophonies of ambiguity.  As a Taos artist, she is some what unique in her pursuit of contemporary themes. She follows in the footsteps of the Taos Modernists, pushing the boundaries of artistic power. Her work boasts abstraction, expression and, at times, a hushed minimalist approach. Her natural soundings do not dictate her work, but infuse it with mystery and breadth.

“Each work of art is, for me, an adventure, an exploration of spirit, and attempt to say in paint or fabric what cannot be said in words. I believe in the healing power of art for the maker and the viewer. My process is to go inside myself, letting the work lead and guide me, bring forth something new, or maybe something ancient.” – Annie Coe

https://anniecoesstudio.weebly.com

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Ray Drew Gallery is delighted to present CARVING MY PATH a solo exhibition by Nancy Camacho. A series of new prints. Camacho at the age of 53 graduated NMHU with a BFA in the class of 2011. She returns to Highlands University with new work & some old favorites.

Within her bold graphic designs Camacho discloses her life’s journey and eagerly unfurls her stories to the viewer. Camacho’s work reveals the many people, cultures, and places that have impacted her work & world.

“Much of the designs are significant to the “Old School” style with a true connection to culture and traditions.  As the stories unfold, my journey has been driven by experiences, emotions and “the Hunger” for more knowledge and information.” – Nancy Camacho

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Santos are revered for their simplicity, rich colors and intense expression of faith. The Hispanic Catholic devotional art of New Mexico is a window to view how people lived and how traditions are still carried on. Today’s santeros and santeras have found like any ongoing tradition, preserving it means making room for innovation. It is what keeps the art moving forward for future generations. New materials and subject matter bring differing responses but these modern artisans know traditions evolve, and in turn allow them to stay alive. Women have played an important role in bringing a contemporary voice to New Mexico’s Devotional Arts introducing embroidery & textiles into the art form. Fortunately, many historical santos have survived keeping the continuity of imagery alive.  New Mexico’s contemporary artists are choosing to keep the art form viable and in their work it’s not just about religion it’s about a cultural connection and passing it on to the next generation.

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Terry Maker; Distance and Desire  a solo exhibition. Apart of the Ray Drew Gallery; VISITING ARTISTS SERIES ( #3)

It is a privilege to show such an accomplished artist here at Ray Drew Gallery, NMHU.  Maker has exhibited her work widely across the U.S. Her most recent exhibition was at the Museum of Art Fort Collins in fall 2023. Other notable venues Maker’s work has appeared in, Longmont Museum, CO, Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center & Museum, CO, Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art, CO, & CU Art Museum, Boulder, CO.

Terry Maker’s sculptural mixed media to be exhibited March 7 – April 26 highlights some of the artist’s most significant aesthetic and conceptual work to date. Like most mixed-media artists, Maker is constantly exploring new materials and processes.

In this body of work each piece is the result of seemingly unpredictable trial-and-error. By layering and arranging found objects and industrial detritus , Maker aggregates numerous materials and means to create complex visual alluvial terrains. In their fabrication, Maker’s 2d works are more like sculptures. The surfaces are so highly worked that they became topographical in nature. The works are large and deeply layered, and in some regards almost episodic. Maker’s work has size and significance, but it also has a range of humility in the materials and its outward fragility.

This is indeed the work of a woman artist in its complexity and depth. In our current world we no longer have to be surprised by art of magnitude and girth being produced by women. We welcome acclaimed artist Terry Maker & her work to be on view to celebrate International Women’s Day & National Women’s History month.

– Head Curator; Ray Drew & Kennedy Galleries and University Art Collections ; Gina Hartmann

Each piece in my various bodies of work emerges from humble origins, taking shape from an eccentric collection of ordinary materials that initially offer no hint of what they might become when made to live together. The final dense, tactile assemblages and free-standing sculptures present themselves with minimal clues to their complex origins. The building materials are highly considered, formally and conceptually. Yet as they come into being, my position in relation to these materials is the sometimes uncomfortable one of sustained suspense. Discovering their ultimate destiny requires curiosity-driven play—which, with such materials, is a visceral, physically demanding, and mysterious process.

I explore the process of art making while addressing themes relating to human desire and decay, death and resurrection, and mundane and sacred and mark-making–both literal and figurative. In all my work, I intend to pull viewers into these universal tensions, to stimulate novel, transcendent responses to the existential questions behind humanity’s search for meaning. The revealed surfaces present the viewer with a visual puzzle, made even stranger by its unique visual vocabulary, that opens the possibility of new connections, new perspectives. One circle, one cut, one compressed or expanded square inch at a time, I invite viewers to engage and explore our mysterious universe, expanding ever since it was just a little dot of a thing. – Terry Maker terrymaker.com

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 Bob Read’s kaleidoscopic exhibition of paintings and sculptures opens November 16. On view will be over 25 works from both current & past series.

The creative process begins early in life.  For me, scribbling, making mud figures, drawing colorful children with big heads and tiny bodies was a common experience. At a very young age, oil spills on pavement with their light-catching colors of blacks, reds, greens and blues swirling around, intrigued me.  That was early on. Creating art over time changes and this has been a long, enjoyable journey.  These paintings are a continuation of my admiration of color and a child-like attitude of design and perspective.  – Bob Read

Read graduated with a B.A. and M.A. from Highlands University. He worked at the Maintenance Department, Art Department and HU Library where he curated many shows for the Ray Drew Gallery.  Fortunately, the University offered employees one free class per semester.  Although Read had little experience in sculpture, he soon recognized that Highland’s Professor, Harry Leippe, had extensive knowledge and experience in sculpture, so he began taking classes with Mr. Leippe.  For many years, Read was able to cast bronze sculptures at the Highlands’s foundry.  

 Some of the bronzes in this show are organic vases and some are whimsical. Enjoy them with a mature, yet childlike eye.  – Bob Read

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 A Cartography of Solitude, a solo exhibition by Stephen R Pruitt opening October 5, 2023. Ray Drew Gallery; VISITING ARTISTS SERIES ( #2 )

Pruitt invokes the natural cycles of time, aging, & endurance in his serene imagery, distilling the fleeting aura of the natural world while speaking to us about our own existence in time & place. Pruitt pays homage to a fragile plant through these images and brings us up close to the persistent presence we continue to leave behind. His work speaks volumes about solitude with an ever-present nod to the churn of humanity.

For years, I’ve taken long adventures with just my camera and journal for company, and in those travels, I’ve experienced some stunning places that seem to revel in their remoteness, in their quiet, in their inhospitality, unless you’re willing to accept their terms – no easy meals, no water, no roads – stay only as long as you can be self-sufficient. Sometimes these are wilderness areas, where people have never settled and nature has held the humans at bay. In other places, there are signs or remains of where people tried to settle, and maybe even stayed a while, but in the end, the conditions were just too difficult, or no one else came along, and so the place reverted back to its solitary ways. – Stephen R Pruitt

www.fluxionphotography.com
www.fluxiondesigns.com
www.instagram.com/fluxionphotography

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Katherine Brimberry, NMHU Alumnus, Class of 1973 returns to Las Vegas, NM for a solo exhibition at the Ray Drew Gallery, NMHU. Brimberry’s new work; a series of multi-plate chine collé etchings with dry point, aquatint, and polymer photogravure will be on display as part of the Ray Drew Gallery; VISITING ARTISTS SERIES Ray Drew Gallery; VISITING ARTISTS SERIES ( #1 ). The collection of prints presents the viewer with translucent layers creating beautifully minimal atmospheric landscapes. The compositions play with perception and reflect the transience of the natural & unnatural world. Brimberry, as visiting artist will be giving a demonstration for the Fine Art Department Printmaking Class plus visiting the student studios on campus during her time here.

Katherine Brimberry, printmaker and art educator, lives in Austin, Texas where she is a member of Women Printmakers of Austin. Brimberry is Co-founder, Director, and Senior Master Printer of the Flatbed Center for Contemporary Printmaking. Brimberry’s expertise as Senior Master Printer is in the collaboration phase of intaglio or relief projects.  She has worked as a technical collaborator with artists such as James Surls, Julie Speed, Frank X. Tolbert 2, Trenton Doyle Hancock and Joan Winter, among many others. She is an experienced instructor of printmaking having taught printmaking at Texas State University, St. Edward’s University and Austin Community College.

As an artist her primary medium has been intaglio printmaking, and she has exhibited her work widely. Her prints have been collected by private collectors and museums internationally. As Master Printer and director of Flatbed-CCP she is directly responsible for the artistic and technical development of all Flatbed projects and has collaborated with artists for over three hundred Flatbed projects.

Every other year, Brimberry directs and teaches a two-week workshop, Intensive Printmaking at La Romita School of Art in Terni, Italy. In her recent work, she combines printmaking techniques creating layered images picturing historic or futuristic aerial images of the landscape.  She was honored to be an artist in residence with an exhibition in Nis, Serbia in March 2019.
https://www.flatbedpress.com

Read more about this months Exhibition in New Mexico Magazine:

https://www.newmexicomagazine.org/blog/post/five-things-to-do-this-weekend-august-25-27/

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Past Importance

A selection from: The New Mexico – National New Deal Preservation Association; New Deal Photograph Collection

Exhibition includes 23 photographs of public art works & photo reproductions of valuable artistic pieces of New Mexico History, plus prints from the Donnelly Library Art collection

Works Progress Administration (WPA) ; In the 1930s, President Franklin D. Roosevelt proposed a program he referred to as the New Deal, to help pull the United States out of the Great Depression. Although the New Deal did not end the depression, it relieved much economic hardship and renewed Americans’ faith in the democratic system at a time when other nations hit by the depression turned to dictators. While the New Deal focused primarily on helping farmers, industry, investors, and the desperately needy, it also bolstered and resuscitated the arts by providing work for artists, writers, actors and musicians through a program called the Works Progress Administration (WPA). Between 1933-1943, in the depth of the depression, 167 known artists lived in New Mexico, all struggling to sell art in a time when many Americans had little money available even for necessities. The New Deal’s Works Progress Administration Art Project provided an opportunity for artists to create artwork for public buildings, allowing them to remain independent, support their families, and enrich and enhance the community. Many of New Mexico’s best-known artists were involved in the New Deal program

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The exhibition features 12 artists all students of Elmer Schooley, showcasing a variety of genres & styles in printmaking & painting.

“This exhibition is simply a wink and a nod to our old friend, teacher, and guru Elmer “Skinny” Schooley. It is something many of us have wanted to do for a long, long time. Sometimes, good things take a while… Elmer’s way of seeing has stuck with all of us these many years, a gift we surely will treasure forever. Every one of us in our rag tag group has driven through the mountains on many occasions, looked up at the trees or meadows, smiled and said out loud “Now there’s a Schooley painting!” How lucky we have all been to have had Elmer as our guide and compass through art and life” 
– Enoch Doyle Jeter
N.M.H.U Class of 1976

MARK ADAMSON – PETER ANSELMO – KATHERINE BRIMBERRY – DAVID PEREZ ESCUDERO – ELAINE WIGGINS HOWE – ENOCH DOYLE JETER CARLOS QUINTO KEMM – LOUIS P. LUBBERING – SUSAN E. MORGAN  TED SCHOOLEY – ED SCHUTZ –  JERRY R. WEST 
Plus works from:
ELMER SCHOOLEY  – GUSSIE DU JARDIN 

ELMER SCHOOLEY
Elmer “Skinny” Schooley (1916 – 2007) was an American painter and printmaker. He received a BFA from the University of Colorado, and an MA at the State University of Iowa. Schooley was a Professor of Art and Head of the Department of Arts and Crafts, New Mexico Highlands University, Las Vegas, New Mexico for 30 years.

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Exhibition includes 10 artists working in wood painting & carving, textiles, print making & mixed media.

Santos are revered for their simplicity, rich colors and intense expression of faith. The Hispanic Catholic devotional art of New Mexico is a window to view how people lived and how traditions are still carried on. Today’s santeros and santeras have found like any ongoing tradition, preserving it means making room for innovation. It is what keeps the art moving forward for future generations. New materials and subject matter bring differing responses but these modern artisans know traditions evolve, and in turn allow them to stay alive. Women have played an important role in bringing a contemporary voice to New Mexico’s Devotional Arts introducing embroidery & textiles into the art form. Fortunately, many historical santos have survived keeping the continuity of imagery alive.  New Mexico’s contemporary artists are choosing to keep the art form viable and in their work it’s not just about religion it’s about a cultural connection and passing it on to the next generation.

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Monique Nevarez: BFA Exhibition. A collection of 20 plus ceramic pieces, ranging from traditional designs to organic and sculptural forms.

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 Al-Daghlise is a visual and installation artist, and the first woman in Jordan currently with a Masters in Fine Arts (MFA). She has earned multiple degrees from various prestigious universities including a Bachelor of Arts in print making from the University of Jordan and she received her MFA in sculpture from Fort Hays University in Kansas where she studied under Tobias Flores, renowned iron caster, metal artist, and professor of art and design at Fort Hays University.

Using both intense color, shadows, and projections, Al-Daghlise confronts social issues engendered by the displacement of people from homeland, separation from cultural heritage, and ideas that cross international boundaries, institutions, and cultures.

The Ray Drew Gallery exhibition consists of 8 large printed digital images, ranging in size from 3’ – 8’  all with intense color and line. The large size pulls the viewer in to Diala’s world of shadow and play. Join us for the reception & make sure to visit the Gallery regularly during the exhibition.

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A Season for The Dead

José Guadalupe Posada 1852 -1913 Mexico

The Calaveras, Etchings & Engravings

Posada’s work consisted of more than the calaveras, but his spirited skeletons were his main medium of expression. They are what he is most recognized for. Posada expressed the tragic destiny of man. He used the “calaveras” to mock our very existence. His skeletons portrayed the famous & heroic, the politicians & revolutionaries, and mostly the common person. Posada showed us his compassion for the woes of humanity through humor and satire. In his work he displayed the horrors of war and the injustices of humankind. Posada reminds us that no matter our wealth, power, or social status, all paths lead to the grave.

A collection of 28 works from the Dr. Robert Bell Fine Art Collection. Featuring everyday themes from workers to musicians, cooking to dancing, & politics to revolution. These intimate works range in size from 3 x 3” to 7 x 9”. Originally featured in illustrations for play bills, almanacs, card games, commercial advertisements, religious publications and newspapers.

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Past Exhibitions

Creative Quest from an Empty Nest

March 7 – April 18, 2022

Interpretations of Nature

Flora-Fauna and Somewhere In Between

2021 National Day of the Cowboy

Facundo Valdez School of Social Work Student Art Show

2021 Northern New Mexico Devotional Art Exhibition

 

 

 

“Masks and Artifacts from the Congo” features ceremonial masks from the Republic of Congo, as well as masks created by Robertson High School students and inspired by these original artifacts.

Artist Reception Wednesday, May 30 from 4-6 PM

 

October 12 – November 21, 2017

 Opening Reception
Thursday, October 12, 5 – 7 p.m.
with performance and lecture at 6 p.m.

An interactive exhibition that examines concepts of health and medicine among contemporary American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawai’ians and features interviews with more than one hundred tribal leaders, healers, physicians, educators, and others.

The U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM) developed and produced Native Voices: Native Peoples’ Concepts of Health and Illness. The American Library Association (ALA) Public Programs Office, in partnership with NLM, tours the exhibition to America’s libraries.

Exhibit Co-sponsored
New Mexico Highlands University Libraries
Ray Drew Gallery
The Native American Center
The Peoples Center for Indigenous Knowledges

B.F.A. Exhibitions

Kimberly Schlosser

Reception 5-7 pm, Friday, May 5

Artist’s Talk ~ 6 pm.

Separation Distress by Martina E. Gallegos 

Artist’s Reception ~ Friday, April 7^th from 5-7 p.m.

Artist’s Talk ~ Friday, April 15^th from 6 p.m.

April 3 – 21, 2017

CLOSING RECEPTION AND ARTIST’S TALK

Sunday February 19, 2-4 p.m.

DAGGER AND CATHEDRAL: Portraits and Landscapes from the Republic of Georgia”

Photography by Stuart Gelzer

The exhibition runs from January 18 – February 19, 2017.

Art Works

By Paul Maurer & Nancy Culmone
Paintings & Calligraphy
November 6 to December 7, 2016

The Past Beyond the Purple Brick Road
Highlights from New Mexico Highlands University’s
History from the Thomas C. Donnelly Library Collection
September 26 to October 30, 2016
Reception – Friday, September 30, 2016 from 5-7 p.m.

Whimsical Expressions in Wood by Terry Mossman

August 15 to September 18, 2016

Artist’s Reception, Friday, August 19, 2016

Paintings from Highland University’s Dr. Robert Bell and Dr. Stirling Puck Fine Art Collection June 6 – July 25

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