Making Adobe Bricks

HERITAGE WEEK DAY CAMP AUGUST 8-12

- submitted by Janet Chapman

Hey Kids! How would you like to spend a week this summer finding out what life was like for children who came west on the Santa Fe Trail? Cooking Johnnycakes over an open fire for breakfast? Gathering buffalo chips for fuel? Milking cows every morning and evening while you travel? Walking for miles on end beside a covered wagon? Glimpsing the mountains of New Mexico Territory for the very first time?

Tome on the Range will again sponsor a Heritage Week Day Camp for children ages 7-10. The program has been expanded to five days, August 8-12, and will run from 9 am to 2 pm each day at the Immaculate Conception Parish Hall, Plaza Park, Las Vegas, NM.

Life on the Santa Fe Trail in the 1840’s-50’s is this year’s theme. Using excerpts from both real and fictional journals, emphasis will be placed on historical events, geographical perspective, and survival skills. We’ll “start” in western Missouri on Monday, and advance along a significant portion of the trail each day until we “arrive” in Santa Fe on Friday.

Last summer, Tome on the Range launched the Heritage Week day camp at Rio Gallinas School with a three day program focused on what it was like for a child living in northern New Mexico in 1825. Themes and activities were based on the Josefina books from Pleasant Company’s American Girl series by Valerie Tripp.

This year, activities have been selected which are also appropriate for both boys and girls, and include campfire cooking, roping and knot-tying, beading, learning to use a compass, storytelling and camp songs, and building a model covered wagon.

Brochures for the 2011 session will be available by May 15 at Tome on the Range, 158 Bridge Street, Las Vegas, NM. Registration for the camp opens Monday, June 6. Enrollment is limited to 24; signup forms are at the store. The fee is $50, which includes all craft materials and daily snacks. Campers should bring a sack lunch. Call 505.454.9944 for more information.

With lunch at Masonic Temple  9am-1pm -  Sponsored by MainStreet de Las Vegas

Meet at 9 am at The Plaza Hotel Lobby -Tickets $20.   Limited to 40 tickets.  Call 425-2606

Guided by MainStreet Las Vegas, this tour highlights the progress made in the last 5 years in Las Vegas’ national registered historic downtown from the restored Railroad Depot through Douglas Avenue to Bridge Street and the Plaza Park.

Highlights of the tour include:  recently restored Murphey’s Drugstore Building into Community 1st Bank headquarters complete with teller line located below original pressed tin ceiling and neo classical balconey. E. Romero Fire & Hose Building (1906) which was recently donated to City of LV and being restored to house Fire Truck Museum and Plaza Hotel recent restoration of Charles Ilfeld Building which now serves as ballroom for conference and weddings and 30 additional hotel rooms overlooking the Plaza Park.

For Las Vegas Heritage Week, 2011, the Las Vegas Citizens Committee for Historic Preservation will offer a tour following the path of the Santa Fe Trail from Fort Union to San Miguel del Vado – a fifty-mile portion of the trail of great historic importance.  When the trail opened in 1821, San Miguel del Vado, the crossing of the Pecos River and the westernmost point on our tour, was the first settlement encountered by travelers after almost 800 miles on the trail from Missouri.  Over the next 30 years new settlements along the trail to the east, at Las Vegas, Watrous and Fort Union, appeared which dramatically enlarged and changed Santa Fe Trail traffic.

The tour will begin and end in Las Vegas (Santa Fe Trail Interpretive Center, 116 Bridge St.).  At 9 AM the bus will leave for a visit to historic Fort Union National Monument, Tiptonville (site of Barclay’s Fort) and Watrous where the Mountain and Cimarron Branches of the Santa Fe Trail merged before continuing west to Santa Fe.  Following lunch in Las Vegas, we will visit Kearny’s gap, or Puertico de la Piedra Lumbre, where in 1821, the first Santa Fe Trail trader, William Becknell and five companions, were met by Captain Pedro Ignacio Gallego and 450 Mexican soldiers and escorted to Santa Fe.  Then on to the villages of Tecolote and San Miguel del Vado, the earliest Spanish settlement east of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains.  Here we will view the site where the Santa Fe Trail crossed the Pecos River and visit the beautiful historic village church.  The tour will end and we will return to Las Vegas by 4 PM.

At many places along the way, ruts and swales are still visible marking the route of the Santa Fe Trail.  At Fort Union a Park Ranger will tell us about the fort and its important role in Santa Fe Trail history.   Throughout the tour, a docent will be present to relate the history of the Santa Fe Trail, identify the sites we will visit and relate stories about people and places along the “Corazon de los Caminos” (Heart of the Trails).  Cost of the tour is $30 per person.

New Mexico Territorial Brass Band

The New Mexico Territorial Brass Band is dedicated to the preservation and exhibition of the first generation of the American brass band tradition. The ensemble uses antique and reproduction instruments and wears authentic nineteenth century clothing to capture the sight and sounds of this dramatic era.

Original NM Territorial Brass Band

The band’s musical repertoire contains more than 100 songs including popular ballads like Aura Lee, Lorena, and When Johnny Comes Marching Home. The band provides dance music of the era, including Sunny Hours Waltz, Blondinette Polka and Mountain Bell Schottisch.

Patriotic songs abound, including Battle Hymn of the Republic, Hail Columbia, and America. The work of Stephen Foster is featured prominently. Many of the band’s arrangements are taken directly from the archives of Union and Confederate regimental bands. The band is involved in three types of performances: educational, historical reenactment, and musical entertainment.

New Mexico Territorial Brass Band will play in the Plaza on Friday, August 5 5:30-7:30 pm.  Sponsored by the Las Vegas First Independent Business Alliance, Chamber of Commerce and Friends of the Museum. Picnic in the park with several food vendors or bring your own.

Groupo Firme, formed in 2006,with Jake Marquez on the conga and singing lead. The rest of the band is Jimmy Garcia drums, Antonio Pena lead guitar and back-up vocals, Jennifer Roybal base and vocals, Robert Baca rhythm guitar and back-up vocals, and Raymond Baca keyboard and vocals. “Having four band members that sing is a big help to the variety of our music,” says Jake.

Jake formed the band in 2006 when the band he had been singing for switched to gospel. Jake likes to pick the best from the “archives” of New Mexican and country music, infusing traditional pieces “with more energy”, a slower tempo matched to what dancers need, and the unique sound that the conga gives to country western two-step, and to New Mexican cumbias, rancheros, polkas, and old-time rock and roll.

Do you know how to dance the arradondos, derived from the traditional handkerchief dance? Do you know the country music of Hankshaw Hawkins from the 40’s? Just two examples of how deeply Jake dips into the music from New Mexico’s past melting pot of cultural traditions.

Jake has been singing since he was six, and writing songs since 1981, including “Te Me Vas”, recorded and released by Reunido, to become a #1 Albuquerque hit.
Asked his most exciting musical moment, Jake says “it was when Al Hurricane’s band was playing in Vaughn and my band was playing in Encino, only 20 miles away, and 200 people came to the gym where we were playing.”

Jake Marquez 505-426-5761 or 426-0639; Jennifer Roybal 505-617-0119 grupofirme57@yahoo.com

Nacho Jaramillo

Las Vegas Arts Council

Gallery Space at 140 Bridge Street

Artists featured for this year’s Heritage Exhibit, entitled People & Places, are New Mexico natives Nacho Jaramillo and Toni Truesdale. Nacho’s portrait paintings and drawings, primarily rendered in black & white, will be on display. Large and brightly colored paintings of pueblo dwellings, as well as other landscape paintings by New Mexico muralist Toni Truesdale will compliment Nacho’s portrait work.

Artist Reception on 13 August, 1-3 pm.

Download Toni Truesdale’s brochure here.

Hermit's Peak by Isabel Benavidez

Call for Entries!

Please click here to download the entry form if you wish to participate in the Annual Hispanic Folk Art Market!

Annual Hispanic Folk Art Market:

Our Lady of Sorrows Parrish Hall on the Plaza.

An assortment of traditional and folk art will be for sale.

August 6, Time 10-5

Contact  505-670-1957

IMMACULATE CONCEPTION CHRUCH

The first Immaculate Conception Church in Las Vegas was built in Upper Town in 1852.  A new Church of the Immaculate Conception was built in 1884 in the area known as New Town, and in 1885, East Las Vegas (New Town) was listed as a separate parish.  In the 1940’s Rev. Adrian Rabeyrolle who was Pastor of the Immaculate Conception Church began construction of a new church, but he died before it was completed in 1954.  In 1992 Rev. George Salazar, present Pastor, spearheaded the renovation of the church which won the Best Restored Building of the year award.

OUR LADY OF SORROWS CHURCH

IN 1883, SETTLERS FROM San Miguel del Bado were granted the right to settle on the grasslands in the valley of the Rio de Gallinas.  The name of the community that was established in the area was Nuestra Senora de Las Vegas (Our Lady of the Meadows).  By 1836, these families were busy building homes, planting crops, digging ditches and erecting an adobe church dedicated to Nuestra Senora de Los Dolores de Las Vegas (Our Lady of Sorrows of the Meadows).  The early church was a long adobe building with a small window on each side high up towards the roof.  The settlement was a stop on the Santa Fe Trail and soon became an important trading center. With the help of wealthy Las Vegas merchants, it was decided to build a new and more impressive church after the territory became a part of the United States in 1846.  This new church of gothic revival architecture was dedicated in 1852.  The church boasts of a grand, mahogany pipe organ installed in 1885, at that time believed to be the largest pipe organ west of the Mississippi, and still operation to this day.  Our Lady of Sorrows Parish now serves as the Mother Church to the missions of Rociada, Tecolote, Variadero, Sapello, San Geronimo, Los Montoyas, Trujillo, El Porvenir, Gallinas, La Manga, San Ignacio, San Isidro, San Rafael, San Agustin and the chapel at Montezuma.  The Pastor is the Rev. C. John Brasher.

LOS HERMANOS DE PADRE JESUS NAZARENO

The Penitente Brotherhood is a lay religious organization related to the Roman Catholic Church in the Southwestern United States; primarily Northern New Mexico and Southern Colorado.  Los Hermanos (the Brothers), are almost exclusively men of Hispanic descent and Catholic faith.  Originally, organized for pious observances; involving a more spiritual life through prayer, penance, and for mutual help.  Besides functioning as the hub of village life these fraternities also became a conservative cultural force preserving language, traditions, culture and faith.  This Confradias (confraternities) or Hermandadida (Brotherhoods) continue to this day as the nucleus of a folk religion in the fullest sense.

RELIGIOUS PROCESSION (BLESSINGS OF THE WATERS)

Santos, are the focus of many ceremonies through the year.  The people carried the Santos out into the fields around the villages to assure good crops.  Christ in the tomb (El Santo Enternado) the body of Christ entombed in the Holy Sepulcher was carried to the fields on the feast of Corpus Christi.  The same was done with the statue of Saint Isidro the Farmer on the Saints feast day or when the parched fields needed rain or for the occasion that called for blessing of the waters.  A figure of Saint John the Baptist was taken out on June 24^th to bless the irrigation ditches, as well as to assure pure water and fertile land.   And, of course, Santa Barbara drove away hail and lightning.  As traditional and folk artists we hold true to the traditions of the past and one that has been practiced in Northern New Mexico for over 300 years.  The blessing of the waters: A ceremony that brings together several religious orders, from both Catholic Churches in Las Vegas, market artists and the community at large, as well as visitors.  The procession starts at 9am from both Our Lady of Sorrows and The Immaculate Conception Churches and meet at the middle of the Gallinas River Bridge which divides the Old Town and New Town.

Prior to the blessings by Deacons from both churches, one of the oldest religious orders the Penitente Brotherhood sing the Alabados (which go back to the middle ages) consisting of verses relating to the Passion of Christ.  We strongly encourage everyone to participate in both the procession and the Blessing of the Waters and the blessing of the Folk Art Market.

Some of the religious orders that will participate are:

The Deacons from both Churches

The Penitente Brotherhood

The Knights of Columbus

The Catholic Daughter

Prayer Groups

Our Lady of Sorrows Parish Hall

Last year was the first year we had the “Hispanic Folk Art Show” which took place at Our Lady of Sorrow Parish Hall.  We thought it would be an appropriate place considering the Art we were showing such as retablos, bultos, crosses, etc.  We also decided it would even be a way to support our church by donating what we charge the Artist for the space to show their Art to  Our Lady of Sorrows Church, not only for the usage of the hall, but as parishioners of the church and to also show our gratitude.  We requested for one of the Churches organizations to have the concession, which would provide food for our Artists and community. It was also another opportunity to make a little more money for our church.  We want to give many Thanks to Rev. C. John Brasher and Our Lady of Sorrows Church Committee.

Artist Biographies

Jose Florencio Thomas “Curly” Chavez

I was born in Las Vegas, New Mexico on November 4, 1952 to Ernest and Pauline Chavez.  I was one of seven children in our home. I have three brothers and three sisters.  I’ve been married to my wife Maria for thirty Five Years, we have two daughters my oldest daughter Melissa and her Husband Tom, my youngest daughter Aubrie we also have two grandsons Gabriel and Nathan.  My family is very close and very important to me.  After high school I went into the Military upon returning home I attended New Mexico Highlands University and pursued a degree in Art.

Throughout my life I have done many things I enjoy I’ve always enjoyed outdoor activities but my interest has always been my art work.  My interest in art developed when I was in high school, I took an art and photography class and from there I continued and have pursued my Art.  My first pencil sketch was of Our Lady of Sorrows Church which I still have to this day.

Today I do many types of Art with many materials I work with wood, glass, mirror, metal and even little odds and ends. My wood work consists of wood carvings.

Trucks, trains, blocks and children’s toys and my own expression of Santero Art.  My Glass and Mirror work is also incorporated in my woodwork; with glass I have I’ve made jewelry boxes, glass pianos. My metal work is combined with the little odds and ends that I use I’ve made windmills, wind chimes, garden statues I do this by welding the pieces together.

Throughout the years my interest has grown in Santero Art, I have continued to develop my personal style of the Santero Art. Each Saint has their own story through that I try to impress my personal expression and vision that is being told “Every Painting tells it’s owns Story”.  Over the years I have exhibited my art in many local art shows and Fair’s here in Las Vegas.  For eight years now I have exhibited my art at Highlands Rey Drew Gallery.  My Art has been exhibited in local Art studios on Bridge Street such as The Royal Mastodon Society.  I’ve participated in The Fiesta de Colores in Grants, New Mexico for two years.

I am content that I have been able to participate in my Local Art Shows and have become part of a group of individuals recently titled as the Artisanos Hispanos de Las Vegas Grandes who express their vision through art.

Margie Crespin Seay-Maez

I was born and raced in Las Vegas, New Mexico.  I graduated from West Las Vegas High School and hold a Master of Arts Degree from New Mexico Highland University.  I began my teaching career at West Las Vegas High School in 1963 and taught with the district for 46 years.  In 1990 I was selected for the In Recognition of Excellence Award by the New Mexico State Board of Education and the Governor’s Business Advisory Council for significant contributions to excellence in education in New Mexico.  In 2007 I received the Distinguished Alumna award from New Mexico Highlands University.  I paint in oils, retablos and do Spanish Colonial tin art.  I am in a volunteer for the Fiestas de Las Vegas.

Precious America Chavez (Margie’s Granddaughter)

I am 10 years old and a 4^th grader at Los Ninos Elementary in Las Vegas, New Mexico. I have been doing tin-work, an old Spanish colonial hobby for 3 years.

I am an avid folklorico mexicano dancer, with the Santa Fe Aspen Ballet Company.  I have been dancing since age 2.  I am involved in several extra-curricular activities such as: Student Council, Girl Scouts, Soccer, and the Missoula Children’s Theatre

I am also involved in my local church as an altar server, and plays trumpet with the Mariachi Cardenal Infantil.

My aspirations are to become a lawyer someday, to help people who are less fortunate than me.  I have volunteered with The Fiestas de Las Vegas council.

My mother is Angel Gutierrez, and her grandparents are Margie Seay and Robert S. Gutierrez, all of Las Vegas.

Joni  C. Crespin

I am the daughter of the late Carlos and Josie Crespin and the parent of one daughter, Jodi Rael.  I also have a very special great nephew, Anthony Salazar, whom is considered a grandson.  I love and cherish both my daughter and grandson.

I am a lifelong resident of Las Vegas, New Mexico.  I am a graduate of New Mexico Highlands University where I obtained a Master of Arts degree.  I also have an undergrad degree in art from New Mexico Highlands University.

I am retired from the Children youth and Families Department, as a Juvenile Probation and Parole Officer.

I have been very fortunate that I had my parents to encourage not only myself but my other siblings to work with various forms of arts and crafts.  Because of their encouragement, I decided to pursue a degree in Art.

My artwork has been show cased at the New Mexico State Fair and I have won many ribbons for my art work.  My art work has also been shown at the San Miguel County Fairs and some of my art work has been purchased from people in different countries, and has been displayed in various doctor offices throughout the state of New Mexico. In 2010, I did receive a Best of Show and a First Place on a relief carving of “Nuestria Senora de Guadalupe.” Also, I just currently began showing my art work at various Art Shows.

I also have been working with wood for several years and I do relief carving as well as doing bultos and retablos. I have also received instruction from Mr. Cruz Flores, who is considered to be a Master in the area of New Mexico Folk Art.

Jodi Rael (Joni’s Daughter)

I am the daughter of Joan Crespin and Tony Rael and the granddaughter of the late Josie and Carlos Crespin of Las Vegas, New Mexico.  I’m a graduate of West Las Vegas High School.   I have also attended Luna Community College and the University Of New Mexico School Of Medicine.  While taking classes at UNM I received my certificate as an EMT.  I can also say that I have been fortunate to travel overseas as an ambassador to Australia, where I was able to represent the state of New Mexico and the city of Las Vegas.

My interests include, spending countless hours with my nephews, Anthony Salazar whom I love very much.  I also enjoy reading and working on arts and crafts of different types.  I also have a very fond love of animals especially my Chihuahua’s.  I also enjoy spending time with my friends and family.

Since the age of 5, I was involved in the 4-H club and with the Summer Art’s Council Program of Las Vegas, New Mexico, where I learned my many different art and craft skills.  With the skills that I have acquired through these programs I learned how to quilt, sew and do photography.  Which helps me today with some of the project’s that I currently do.  Today my art and crafts projects have been tin working, quilting and photography.  My win working was taught to me by my mother, Joan Crespin.  Some of my tin work has been show cased at the New Mexico State Fair and also a few doctor’s offices in the state of New Mexico.  I’m currently working on glass and mirror etching where I use my learned photography skills. This past summer I was invited to show case my etched mirror’s in an art show.  I have also been invited to join various arts and crafts fairs.  Arts and crafts for me has always been a passion and a love for me, and will always be a passion and a love, when the time is right I will pass down the skills that I have learned to my own family, so they may find the joy that it brings doing these various arts and crafts.

Vera Jo Lujan

Vera Jo’s passion for art first became evident with her bulletin board displays at an elementary school where she was employed. Her creations of different seasons or joyful occasions soon earned the respect and admiration of her students and colleagues alike and eventually initiated her career as a professional artist. Vera initiated her first artwork with oil on canvas and later developed a love of watercolors where she took some traditional Retablo classes with Spanish Market Artist, Juanito Jimenz. Vera continues to try new endeavors in art but her favorite subjects continue to be Our Lady of Sorrows church in Las Vegas and the Santuario de Chimayo. Her love of art also brings her closer to many of her artist friends who get together several times a year to create art, as well as traveling to art shows throughout northern New Mexico with her son Joseph, a santero.

Joseph “JoJo” Lujan (Vera Jo’s Son)
I became interested in art admiring the oil painting of my mother Vera Jo Lujan who has become a well renowned artist in Northern New Mexico. I further developed my interest by enrolling for a Retablo painting class with JD and Rita Martinez as well as Spanish colonial furniture making with Ric Gonzales at Northern New Mexico Community College in El Rito, New Mexico. I also tried tin and bulto classes with JD and Rita but have focused the vast majority of my energies on retablos and furniture. I continued taking Retablos classes as opportunities arose with another Spanish Market Artist, Juanito Jimenez and I continue to expand my knowledge on every piece of art I complete. Although I have now taken many hours of instruction with well known artists, my greatest motivation comes from my mother and art has become something we do together. I look forward to the days when my work can be compared to the work of my mother.

Isabel Benavidez

June V. Lopez

I am the daughter of the Annie Lopez and late the Junio Lopez.  I am a single parent with two children, Chris and Sheena Lopez.  I graduated from West Las Vegas High School in 1979.

I have been a jack of all trades when it comes down to my work history.  I have been a cashier, hostess, waitress, salesperson, a manager for my father’s restaurant “El Restaurante Gallego” which was here on the Plaza, a license cosmetologist which I attended school for. I also attended Luna Community College and received an Associates degree in Early Children which I was an EC Teacher for 10yrs.  I am currently working as Library Technician at Luna.

Art has been a big part of my life since I was a child.  My parents have always encouraged and supported this “God given talent” as they would say.  I started off drawing which eventually introduced me to ink on velour paper, pastels which led me to start doing portraits in also oils. When my son was younger he had a project which needed wire to do, so I got him some and cut a piece and messed around with it and from there my wire art began.  The other inspiration for my wire and copper crosses came from two of my dear friends who had lost a loved one, so I made them each a cross and they were so touched by it, that it gave me such a gratification not only how people admire my art but how it could touch them so deeply.  My art comes from a deep passion within myself.  When I was an EC Teacher, the children I took care of were a great inspiration to me because they had very little limits or none at all when it came to art; so much of it was just fascinating to me. “A child without any set limits is so rich in expression” and it’s a shame we as adults slowly kill that.  Since I had worked with children I used to teach classes for the Las Vegas Art Council in the summer mainly jewelry classes.  I also volunteered to help finish the murals at Sierra Vista Elementary school when my daughter was a 5^th grader, which were all done by the kids.  I was just there to supervise and help them learn a process to work together and do a mural.  I initiated a mural at the Early Childhood which were children ages 3-5.  I also did 3 murals at “El Restaurante Gallego, plus several others for family and friends.

I have taken one class in painting, one in drawing and several in jewelry at Highlands University. I am easily inspired by so many things especially my love ones, children, places people have shared with me. Etc., it never stops.  I love to experiment with different materials and techniques.  I am working on forming wire and covering it with canvas and painting with oils.  I am also trying my hand in water colors and ink because of a couple of places that have inspired me.

Cruz Flores and myself have started on a mission to organize a group of Artists which recently we have given ourselves a name “Artisanos Hispanos de Las Vegas Grandes.”  I have never been in a group like this with so much passion, creativeness and talented people.  My personal main objective is to search out more of these Artists young and old, which have this talent to share it with the rest of our community because I consider it a rare treasure that people should at least see.

Cruz Flores

Traditional artist Cruz Flores was raised in a family where art was part of the daily family activity.  His father Willie Flores was a folk artist and woodcarver.  When Cruz and Antonia established a family, art always played a role.  Cruz for years has used his art experience to develop programs for children and families.  Cruz says, “There is no formula, but artistic expression helps families learn or improve communications skills.  The artistic environment provides families a safe medium for practicing and rediscovering social interactions skills.  It also allows participants to be members of a successful collective experience.  Cruz has developed the following art projects for community involvement:  Prevention through the Arts, Art projects for the Leadership and Education Opportunities Throughout the Americas, Three generations of Traditional Arts a Telemundo Television project called La Paloma, Cultural Arts and trades for the Center for sustainable Rural Development, 21^st Century after school art project, Bernalillo Summer Academy Art Program, Noches de Familia.  Cruz also participated for 12 years in Hispanic Spanish Market. Cruz, at present continues to keep art alive in the community.

Geraldine Flores

Geraldine has been doing art through most of her life.  She says that she was fortunate not only to experience art with her father Cruz Flores but to have been exposed in her early years to the art her Grandfather, Willie Flores.  This was a very profound and rich experience for me because my grandfather was a great story teller.  Geraldine feels that her art experience has given her the opportunity to continue the artistic education of her own children.  Geraldine says her son Andres is a carver and painter of retablos and her daughter Miranda paints retablos.  Geraldine has also been active in community art projects: She taught art during the Bernalillo Summer Academy art program, and the Prevention through the Arts program.  She also participated five years in Spanish Market.

“Lupe” Guadalupe Arrazolo Garcia

Raices Encantadas
Known • Found • Saved
The artist, Arrazolo, was born and raised in Northern New Mexico and currently lives in El Oro, Mora County, New Mexico.

The artist uses, as the foundation of his current art pieces, natural found objects typically wood or stone, or both. He selects the materials he will use one of two ways. Sometimes a particular piece of wood or rock will compel his attention, or ‘curia,’ and he will immediately see the image; other times he is simply attracted by the shape of the piece and the idea of what it will be comes later.

Once the artist knows what the piece will represent, he enhances the natural state of the wood or rock, adding shape or dimension to the inherent image so as to make it more apparent to the viewer, and then air brushing in the color.

The artist feels the natural state of the materials used in his art preordains the result; he only assists in bringing out the indwelling image. It is important to this process that all the separate parts to be used in the finished piece be in harmony or synergy with each other in the beginning.

The artist’s purpose is not to compel the viewer to see his pieces in a certain way, but rather to share a reality or perception founded in nature.

Cottonwood at La Liendre

Los Rios de San Miguel:

An Exhibit of Photographs by the Meadow City Camera Club

Exhibit runs from August 1 through August 31, 2011
Citizens’ Committee for Historic Preservation (CCHP)
Reception on Saturday, August 13, 2011, at CCHP
116 Bridge Street, Las Vegas, NM 87701

The Meadow City Camera Club will hold its third annual exhibit devoted to local historical areas during the Heritage Days of Las Vegas (New Mexico). The theme will be the four Rivers of San Miguel County—landscape, settlements, people, wildlife, and history. Los Rios are: the Pecos River, a tributary of the Rio Grande, whose fertile valley drew the first settlers from Santa Fe in 1794. The Gallinas, where Las Vegas grew up after 1835, is a Pecos tributary. The Sapello River joins the Mora River (outside San Miguel County) to become a major tributary of the Canadian River, which flows across eastern San Miguel County on its way to the Arkansas River and the Mississippi. These rivers flow through some of the most spectacular scenery of New Mexico, from dashing high mountain streams to desert canyons, and their story is that of the settling of New Mexico, the Santa Fe Trail, and the struggles between Spain, Mexico and the American dream of Manifest Destiny.

An exhibit of multiple photographers shows one topic through many sets of eyes, producing a multifaceted interpretation of a topic, a deeper exploration than would be possible with only a single artist’s work. Our first exhibit at CCHP in 2009 showed Fort Union and its history, introducing viewers to this jewel of history and western plains landscape just outside Las Vegas. Last year covered the broad topic of The Sacred Places of San Miguel County, from churches to roadside shrines. We go out on shooting expeditions in groups and inspire one another, finding that each of us has produced unique perspectives on the same subjects, producing a lively photographic conversation about what we have seen.

The camera club has twelve (more or less) participating members who have contributed to past exhibits. Among these are Meredith Britt, Bart Ellison, Carol Ditmanson, Denise Fox, Richard Gonzales, Mike Hodge, Jo Rita Jordan, Carol Macomber, Joe and Martha McCaffrey, Gail Sorenson, and others. We are amateur and professional photographers who exhibit in Las Vegas and Santa Fe and continue to study the art of fine photography.

Contacts: Jo Rita Jordan
joritaj@mac.com

Martha McCaffrey
mmccaffrey@bmi.net

Photographers

Meredith Britt

Meredith Britt is a writer, painter, photographer, and collage artist, represented in Las Vegas by El Zócalo Gallery

Carol Ditmanson

Carol is a San Miguel County native and is involved in preservation of Santa Fe Trail sites. She photographs ranch scenes, horses, rodeos, and subjects close to the heart of San Miguel County.

Bart Ellison

Bart Ellison is a landscape photographer in Las Vegas, NM. He has studied in the Media arts and Art departments at the Santa Fe Community College and at the Santa Fe Workshops.

Richard Gonzales

A resident of Las Vegas NM, Richard is a Highlands University graduate currently working as an accountant for the Los Alamos National Laboratory. He also works as a volunteer at Fort Union National Monument. He enjoys taking landscape photographs because it enables him to capture God’s beauty and mankind’s creations.

Michael Hodge

Michael Hodge has been a film photographer for many years and is now experimenting with digital. He is experimenting with the new film available for old Polaroid SX-70 cameras. He has studied at the Mesilla Digital Imaging Workshops, working on photo composites.

Jo Rita Jordan

Jo Rita Jordan is a digital photographer, experimenting with composites and altered images. She studies photography at the Santa Fe Community College schools of Media Arts and Art and studied Street Photography through the Maine Media Workshops in Paris.

Carol Macomber

Carol Macomber is a photographer specializing in alternative processes of imaging. Recently, she has been exploring digital photography and studying at the Santa Fe Community College.

Joe McCaffrey

Joe likes to explore back roads and photograph scenery, old churches and deserted places that are forgotten but not gone.

Martha McCaffrey

Martha and Joe McCaffrey work closely together, photographing and processing in Adobe Photoshop. They produce haunting photos of architectural details of old structures.

Gail Sorenson

Gail is a skilled digital photographer, producing fine shots of New Mexico’s wildflowers, winning an award at last year’s Native Plant Society of New Mexico competition. She regularly exhibits in group shows in New Mexico and Florida.

West Side of Town by Meredith Britt

El Zócalo – Los Artesanos de Las Vegas

Artists Cooperative Gallery

212 Plaza

Las Vegas, NM 87701

505 454-9904

elzocaloartesanos@gmail.com

The Hermit's Home by Duffy Peterson

“Historic Houses of Las Vegas”: El Zócalo’s ongoing theme for Heritage Week (and all of August) is “Historic Houses of Las Vegas.”

El Zócalo will be open into the evenings Friday and Saturday, August 5, 6 and 12, 13. Hours:  10 a.m. to 7p.m.

“El Zócalo, Place With A Presence”: Saturday, Aug. 6, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., with sidewalk art, plein aire in the park focusing on the surrounding historic buildings, and music and light refreshments from 2 to 5 p.m.

“Historic Houses of Las Vegas”: Second Saturday, Aug. 13, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., reception from 2 to 5 p.m., featuring our exhibit of Historic Houses of Las Vegas. Come and meet the local artists who live and breathe Las Vegas!
Member Artists’ Bios or Statements:

Deborah Suess

Deborah Suess, an avid knitter since age 5, added weaving to her fiber arts toolbox when she moved to New Mexico a decade ago.  She studied Rio Grande style weaving with Teresa Gomez Victor, and enjoys combing the countryside for plants to use when dyeing wool from local sheep—the ultimate shop local campaign!  She also creates wearable art using a variety of luscious yarns, and hand-spins “art yarns” that can be used by other fiber artists in their creations.   Her one-of-a-kind creations can be found in the  Las Vegas artists’ cooperative El Zocalo on the historic plaza, as well as in the shops of the Spanish Colonial Museum in Santa Fe and Ghost Ranch in Abiquiu.

Laurie Duff Peterson

Laurie Duff Peterson has been a member of el Zócalo Gallery – los Artesanos de Las Vegas since its beginnings, is an artist using the mediums of oil & acrylic, jewelry, assemblages and note cards.  Duffy has “made art” since childhood and has studied in St. Louis, Denver and Los Angeles and New Mexico.

Having lived in the Midwest, New York State, Colorado, Southern California and finally settled in Las Vegas, New Mexico, her many influences can be found in her artwork.  Traveling in Ireland, England, Scotland, Spain and Italy helped her focus on what was “real” in her experience as an artist.

Duffy enjoys teaching art classes to both children and adults in Broken Saints Studio at el Zócalo Gallery. Broken Saints Studio is a relaxed, although visually stimulating, environment.  Her motto is “Never Apologize for Your Art.” An often repeated quote by many artists, it is firmly adhered to at Broken Saints Studio.

Marti Nash

Marti Nash is a founding member of El Zócalo Gallery, Las Vegas’ only artists cooperative.  She works  in her studio behind the historic Las Vegas home she and her husband restored after moving here from Vermont in 2007.

Oil and acrylic painting, mixed media, and printmaking are her areas of interest.  She has written and illustrated with woodcut prints a children’s picture book, There Is A Tree.

Kristy Klaiber

Kristy Klaiber, a member of El Zócalo Cooperative Gallery, has lived near Las Vegas for seven years. She and her husband moved here from Arizona and built their house, an Earthship, themselves. Working mainly with mixed media she likes to integrate many different mediums into her work, such as photography, writing, found objects and painting. Her inspirations come from nature, literature and a healthy curiousity.

Alex Ellis

Art is an artifact of being human. It’s nourishing for one to create, it’s stimulating for one to experience, and it’s rewarding for one to share.

My job is to surrender – to give up being anything but “as Al as I can be” – to relax into the pretzel posture of being rotted in the world and orbiting outside it in the same moment – to accept the irony that though I have done this for many years, it is not knowing what I am going to do that gives the work presence. For me, a great work of art is honestly made – it has nothing to prove and nothing to hide. It simply is what it is and speaks to us.

I like to tell people, “What my work means in none of my business. You knkow as much about it as I do. My job is just to show up and make it happen.”

It makes for good repartee at a reception, but I really do mean it. I’m not saying that I don’t have personal ideas and associations in my head as I’m engaged in the work, but it’s no different than the personal ideas and associations anyone has as they encounter the finished work. The only difference is that I was there when it happened.

The paintings are made with encaustic – an ancient recipe of melted beeswax and botanical resins. It forms a magically luminous and fragrant medium which is uniquely versatile. As I paint, I also make paint. Each layer of paint is made as I work – tailored for just what is needed in the moment. This allows for the colors to evolve and develop along with the piece.

Encaustic is typically applied to the work hot – either as an oily liquid at about 200 degrees f. or a molten paste at 150 degrees f. It can be applied with a brush, a trowel, or poured on. Each addition to the work must take place very quickly as the medium cools and hardens in a few seconds. Each new layer of encaustic is then fused into the existing work by careful remelting – either with a heat gun, a torch, or an iron. After the new layers have been fused in and cooled, the piece may be worked subtractively – carved, scraped, burnished. It’s rather technical and labor intensive, but it’s worth it. The finished work – the object itself – is mysteriously appealing. It is a single matrix of pigments suspended in a solid, translucent body. It’s like petrified amber with something miraculous embedded in it. And it will last for centuries as long as it stays in an environment that human beings enjoy.

Alex Ellis is a self-taught artist living in Northern New Mexico with his partner, two dogs, three ducks and a flock of mixed chickens.

Samuel and Kathy Dixon

Samuel Dixon is a master silversmith.

Sam apprenticed under Sal Chavez, of Sal’s Jewelry, located on Central Avenue in Albuquerque. Sal and his Son are renowned Gold smith’s and Silver Smith’s.  Sam was able to do this and is now a master silver smith because of a program for disabled Veterans. He has been silversmithing for over 20 years, and specializes in custom belt buckles and other custom pieces.

Sam is a local, his Great Grand parents homesteaded outside of Las Vegas. They had a store on 6th street called “La Tienda Del Banco De Ahorras” (The Savings Bank Store), this was 1905-1908. Sam graduated from Robertson High School in 1966, then joined the Marine Corps.

We use hand tools, hand saws, and hand files to produce our jewelry. All forming, cutting, and manufacturing of our jewelry is done without the use of power tools. We pride ourselves in our ability to create quality silver work by using manual tools to work the silver. It is very labor intensive to work with hand tools, however, each piece is one of a kind and can not be duplicated. This makes each piece unique and a treasure to the owner of the piece.

Kathy Dixon started her gift shop where El Zócalo is now, in 1996, then moved over to Bridge street. She was treasurer and then secretary of Old Town Commercial Club.

She started oil painting in the 1970′s, when she lived in Albuquerque. She was a licensed Cosmetologist for 30 years. Kathy started silversmithing with Sam as his student. She also crochets wall hangings and won 2nd place at the N.M. State Fair. Also some of her bead work (earrings) are in the showcase, with the silver jewelry. She is now a member of the Las Vegas Arts Council, and had four of her paintings entered in the “Nature” art show.

Todd Christensen

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

Todd Christensen is an artist who likes his anxieties.

Todd Christensen, an artist born and raised in Utah, now lives and works in Las Vegas, New Mexico, the other Las Vegas. In addition to making art, Mr. Christensen also teaches classes 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 very diverse, including printmaking, drawing, painting, collage, mixed-media, book arts, sculpture (cast bronze), and whatever else suits his fancy.

Todd Christensen is funny but only on Tuesdays and only between 11:10 and 11:11 a.m.

Meredith Britt

Paintings, drawings, pastels, and cut-paper collage occupy much of my creative energy. I’ve always done artwork, and tried to make it my main focus for a long time. The University of Colorado at Colorado Springs bestowed on me a bachelors in art degree. I’ve learned a lot about art from just doing it. For me art is fulfilling, luxurious and necessary. Sunlight, the sky, other artists, other artists’ work, and my own art making give me inspiration. My hats express why I’m an artist, especially the red velvet one. I’m also really a pretty good writer. I don’t make any money at that either. But I wrote a novel and most of an autobiography this year.

I was raised by two yard gnomes in southern France who grew green beans in their small field and studied Chekov at night by candlelight. They lived in a stream valley near a tall train trellis outside Nice. They taught me to speak five languages, but I only remember a few important phrases like, “I didn’t do it,” “Where is the grape jelly,” and “Here comes Captain Kangaroo.” As I had an aversion to green beans, I was given crayons instead, which I used for keeping time on the snare drum, creating powerpoint presentations and decorating kerchiefs. I also wrote the crayon cookbook, which is out of print.

Then one day a kindly stranger, passing through Nice in a donkey cart, showed me the true meaning of art. I began to draw and paint. I took up tap dancing. People came from miles around. From that day forward I worked backwards, always careful to be careless. I soon became a university president, then the ambassador to the U.N. Now I am in the witness protection program in Las Vegas, N.M., where I decorate kerchiefs, keep time on the snare drum, and create powerpoint presentations in French for yard gnomes.

Las Vegas is very much like Westcliffe, Colorado, which is the center of the universe, only I can’t live there because it’s too cold and too small. Las Vegas has the same light and the same mountain range as Westcliffe. I’ve been here nine years. My mission is to meet everyone and become mayor.

Blessing of the Waters Ceremony

RELIGIOUS PROCESSION (BLESSINGS OF THE WATERS)

Santos, are the focus of many ceremonies through the year.  The people carried the Santos out into the fields around the villages to assure good crops.  Christ in the tomb (El Santo Enternado) the body of Christ entombed in the Holy Sepulcher was carried to the fields on the feast of Corpus Christi.  The same was done with the statue of Saint Isidro the Farmer on the Saints feast day or when the parched fields needed rain or for the occasion that called for blessing of the waters.  A figure of Saint John the Baptist was taken out on June 24^th to bless the irrigation ditches, as well as to assure pure water and fertile land.   And, of course, Santa Barbara drove away hail and lightning.  As traditional and folk artists we hold true to the traditions of the past and one that has been practiced in Northern New Mexico for over 300 years.  The blessing of the waters: A ceremony that brings together several religious orders, from both Catholic Churches in Las Vegas, market artists and the community at large, as well as visitors.  The procession starts at 9am from both Our Lady of Sorrows and The Immaculate Conception Churches and meet at the middle of the Gallinas River Bridge which divides the Old Town and New Town.

Prior to the blessings by Deacons from both churches, one of the oldest religious orders the Penitente Brotherhood sing the Alabados (which go back to the middle ages) consisting of verses relating to the Passion of Christ.  We strongly encourage everyone to participate in both the procession and the Blessing of the Waters and the blessing of the Folk Art Market.

Some of the religious orders that will participate are:

The Deacons from both Churches

The Penitente Brotherhood

The Knights of Columbus

The Catholic Daughter

Prayer Groups

Blessing of the Waters a Rich Spanish Tradition

by Birdie Jaworski

An old woman carried a small, hand-carved wooden statue of the Virgin in the crook of one arm. Her journey began at Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Church. A young schoolgirl walked beside her, two tiny sandaled steps to her grandmother’s one. The Virgin stared down Bridge Street, neck draped in scapular and rosary, as they passed a row of closed shops. Others walked too, their hands protecting images of the Virgin’s son, of San Martin and San José. They sang, one Spanish devotional song after another, voices as quiet and warm as a winter quilt.

I walked, too, another Virgin in my own hands, the work of a local santero. She wore a gown of cut stars, her face sanded into a soft, mixed expression of pain and love. I stumbled over the songs; I didn’t grow up in Northeastern New Mexico, didn’t know the Church’s breath as well as the others. As we crossed onto the bridge, we met the men and women who processed from Immaculate Conception. The Caballeros – the honor guard of the Church – walked, too, bodies wrapped in purple and red and black, heads towering in elegant white feathers.

Two priests faced the Rio Gallinas. They extended hands, backs gently bowed forward in submission, and recited a heart-felt prayer over the running water.

“Bless our river.”

The small gathering at the bridge began to grow in number as passersby stopped to listen, to pray. A young man with a sleeve of biker’s tattoos let his head drop in respect. His breathing slowed as we listened to the robed men ask God to bless our lives.

“Bless our acequias.”

The earth seemed to sigh in response as a small gust of wind caressed the gathering. The scene echoed a similar tableau, one that has been repeated many times over Las Vegas’ 175 years of existence. Priest relays the hearts of the people to the Maker, hands outstretched over water, a living, breathing memory of harsh summers in drought, of community heartbreak, of moments in joyful harvest and thanksgiving. The water brings us life, and we, in return, give thanks and honor to the One who brings the summer rains.

Saturday, 6 August during Heritage Week: Blessing of the Waters

Traditional Northern New Mexico acequia ceremony.

Procession begins at 9 am at Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Church and Immaculate Conception Catholic Church and proceeds to the Gallinas River Bridge.

Scenes from last year’s Blessing Ceremony:

Knights of Columbus gather at the Gallinas River Bridge

A young boy prays at the river

The procession down Bridge Street