City sponsors Spacefest activities April 9 at Museum of Nature and Science

Bulletin report

The Doña Ana Arts Council (DAAC) will co-host the 2022 Las Cruces Space Festival Art Show, “Across Space,” at the Mesilla Valley Mall, 700 S. Telshor Blvd., Thursday through Sunday, April 7-10.

Show hours are 1-7 p.m. April 7-8; 11 a.m.-7 p.m. April 9; and noon-5 p.m. April 10.

For the show, artists from the region have been invited to display work highlighting space exploration and “astronomical art, bridging the gap between science and art,” said DAAC Executive Director Greg Smith.

The show will include more than 45 works by 26 artists representing the solar system and modern space technology seen through photography, mixed media, video and painting, Smith said.

"Artists have been interested in celestial bodies since the invention of the telescope and well before that," said DAAC Program Manager Karen S. Conley, who is curating the art show. "We are very excited to be having the show in person at the mall and can’t wait for the public to see it."

Many of the artists who participated in the 2021 online show “Dawn of Discovery” are back with some new work and pieces from the online show, Smith said. Local painters Kathleen Deasey, Jerry Hernandez, Paul Maxwell, Jan Minow, Cheryl Nelson, Susan Perez, Jo-an Smith, Gabriele Teich, Nolan Winkler, Sara Walsh and Luis "Woar2" Cisneros are exhibiting work. Photographers David Turning and David Sorenson have also joined the show. Northern New Mexico artist Linda Heath, who was instrumental in last year’s Kennedy Center Arts Integration Project, also titled Dawn of Discovery, will return with her “Fusionist Art” based on Hubble telescope images and New Mexico iconography.

The event will also include two videos and the top 30 entries from the 2022 Las Cruces Space Festival Poster Contest.

The exhibition will be located next to Zale’s Jewelry store in the space that was formerly known as FootAction USA.

For more information, contact DAAC at 575-523-6403 and manager @daarts.org.