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Branigan Cultural Center (BCC) reopens Oct. 1 in grand style with two outstanding exhibitions.
BCC, 501 N. Main St. Downtown, has been closed for renovations since February. The floors have been redone throughout the 1,500-square-foot building, said city Acting Museums Administrator Garland Courts. All exhibit spaces have new, adjustable and more energy-efficient lighting, walls have been repainted and ceiling tiles have been replaced, among other improvements, he said.
Beginning Oct. 1, you can visit “Cleared for Take Off: Aviation in Southern New Mexico” in BCC’s main gallery and La Calavera Catrina Dia de los Muertos in the Shannon Gallery.
Cleared for Take Off, which continues through the summer of 2022, is “an exploration of the history of aviation from its introduction in 1916 through the post-WWII civilian flying boom and into the 21st century,” according to BCC.
It will include the airport that was located near Downtown Las Cruces until 1967, the university airport that was at New Mexico State University from 1945-71 and trained students in aircraft mechanics, the Deming Army Air Field, local aviatrixes, Pancho Villa and a lot more.
The La Calavera Catrina Dia de los Muertos exhibition, which continues through Jan. 8, 2022, features 7-foot-tall skeleton sculptures created by Los Angeles-based artist Ricardo Soltero. The exhibit comes to BCC from the Denver Botanic Gardens.
La Catrina appears as part of the celebrations of Día de los Muertos held throughout Mexico, where death is not treated with mournful commemoration but as a colorful celebration of life, the City of Las Cruces said in a news release.
“Depicted as an elegant female skeleton, La Catrina was originally born out of Mexican social satire,” the city said. “In 1913, Mexican artist and illustrator José Guadalupe Posada created the very first version of La Catrina. She was intended as a parody, mocking the high-society European obsessions of Mexican President Porfirio Díaz, whose corruption led to the Mexican Revolution of 1911.”
A native of Nayarit, Mexico, Soltero is the set designer for the largest Día de los Muertos celebration in the United States, which takes place annually at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Los Angeles.
The building that is home to BCC was built in 1935 and was the city library until Thomas Branigan Memorial Library opened in 1979, Courts said. It opened as BCC in 1981, and has hosted many exhibitions, lectures, workshops, musical performances and meetings during the past 40 years. Its “permanent collection” includes a Steinway piano that was donated to BCC in the 1990s, Courts said.
BCC is open 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturday. It is accessible from RoadRUNNER Transit Route 1 Stop 1.
Call 575-541-2154. Visit www.las-cruces.org/museums and follow Las Cruces museums on Facebook and Instagram @LCMuseums.
