Mesilla Valley Fine Arts Gallery has May 7 open house; features artists Ray Baird, Kerry O’Neill in May

Mesilla Valley Fine Arts Gallery (MVFG), 2470-A Calle de Guadalupe, on the historic plaza in Mesilla, across from the Fountain Theatre, will host an open house 11 a.m.-3 p.m., Saturday, May 7. Gallery members will attend, and some will demonstrate their art techniques. Light refreshments will be served.

MVFG will feature two local artists for the month of May: Ray Baird and Kerry O’Neill.

Baird, an oil painter, grew up in the Midwest and has a BFA in drawing and painting from the University of Kansas. He has lived in Las Cruces since the 1990s. Baird’s work is described as impressionistic expressionism, according to an MVFG news release. His work “uses translucent complimentary colors that represent his feelings, rather than a true representational image.”

O’Neill, a ceramicist, has had a passion for art since early childhood, MVFG said. She attended the University of New Mexico as a flute major and eventually earned a bachelor’s of science degree in fashion/costume design from the University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio, Texas. O’Neill became a home education teacher and eventually switched to teaching elementary art.

MVAG’s 30 featured artists offer original art in various media, including oil, acrylics, pastels, watercolor, fused glass art jewelry, woodturnings, stained glass, photography, ceramics, mixed media, decorated gourds, textile weavings, art tile, fiber art, natural gemstone jewelry, fused glass, colored pencil, charcoal, pen and ink drawings, prints, cards and miniature paintings.

First American Bank, 1553 Avenida de Mesilla, features the work of many of the gallery’s artists.

MVFG is open 10 a.m.-5 p.m. every day.

Call 575-522-2933. Visit www.mesillavalleyfinearts.com.