Forge Art at Coffeecup Court

Today is the last day of LeRoy Simmons' forge art at Coffee Cup Court on Limit. Or rather was since the coffee shop closes at 2 pm. "Trendy Mountainair coffee shop" has such an oxymoronic ring to it. Nothing cheers and refreshes quite like an oxymoron. If you missed the exhibit, hope for Coffee Cup Court to be running on Mountainair Time and not having the April exhibit ready for April 1st. Or visit LeRoy's Dragon Ash Forge at Main and Broadway, across from the Mountainair Baptist Church.

Ship in the Desert at Dragon Ash Forge

Photo by CD Hall

The March exhibit of Dragon Ash's forge art is part of CCC's series of monthly art exhibits featuring a different artist every month. Preceded by a photo exhibit (sorry, don't remember the artist's name), LeRoy's exhibit included his trademark flowers, the dragon (de-politicized for local public consumption), whimsical hooks with faces made from railway spikes and more.

headboard with trademark forge art flowers

Future exhibits, blogzibitable if someone gets pictures to me: April, Placitas wildlife artist Joseph Dowell; May; potter Brian Jory; June, Susan Aulde, specializing in recycled glass art, also exhibiting at Cibola Arts.

Vines of the Times, Joe Dowell, painting & 2003 NM Wine Festival poster

That's one April happening I can check off the list. Hopefully I'll get to the rest before running out of April...

Earth Hour 2008

Have you googled today? Then you saw the black screen with comment, "We've turned the lights out. Now it's your turn - Earth Hour."

from http://www.google.com/intl/en/earthhour/

Google users in the United States will notice today that we "turned the lights out" on the Google.com homepage as a gesture to raise awareness of a worldwide energy conservation effort called Earth Hour. As to why we don't do this permanently - it saves no energy; modern displays use the same amount of power regardless of what they display. However, you can do something to reduce the energy consumption of your home PC by joining the Climate Savers Computing Initiative.

On Saturday, March 29, 2008, Earth Hour invites people around the world to turn off their lights for one hour – from 8:00pm to 9:00pm in their local time zone. On this day, cities around the world, including Copenhagen, Chicago, Melbourne, Dubai, and Tel Aviv, will hold events to acknowledge their commitment to energy conservation.

---

Shaffer Hotel & ghosts on YouTube

Remember the "ghosthunter" event at the Shaffer pitched as involving the town but ended up not doing so? It's on YouTube - link below and at Mountainair Moments video feed at bottom of page,

OK so whoever made this video for KOBTV 4 misspelled Mountainair, but we're still (dead or alive) on YouTube. Feel free to complain to KOBTV 4 (go to Contact Us page) about spelling mistakes.



Ghost hunters spooked at Mountainaire hotel

The Independent and blogging news

From the inbox...

Leota Harriman [staff writer for The Independent] wrote:

Hi Vanessa,

I've just spent some time looking at your new blogs, which look pretty interesting and informative.

I have a gripe. You make no mention that I saw of any coverage the independent has done on issues like CNMEC and PRC, etc. I did see several references to coverage in the telegraph. Any reason you mention one paper and not the other? Granted it's your blog and you can write whatever you want there, no argument about that. But if you're looking to inform the community, I think it would be fair to mention our efforts as well.

Leota

I replied as follows but should have pointed out - with supporting links - that I do mention and link The Independent despite an online publishing policy that makes it time consuming. After replying, I wondered where were they at the last town council meeting.

Leota

People who live in glass houses should not throw stones. Look to The Independent's online publication policies for your explanation. I subscribe to online google news alerts for Mountainair. They cover broadcast and print news media with online editions, your paper's coverage does not show up (front pages and archives in pdf don't count).

I do not subscribe to the print edition and pretty much read my news online unless I pick up a copy of the Independent at the Mountainair Senior Center. Before some rejoinder about that not really being reading the news, allow me to add that my news diet includes NYT, SF Chronicle, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Le monde, El país, The Guardian, Der Speigel, Asia Times and others.

I blog on my own time and dime. Why you think I should promote The Independent let alone be personally out of pocket doing it Is a mystery to me. Or does this mean a complimentary gift subscription is about to be tendered? Mail it to PO Box 764, Mountainair NM 87034

By the way, who was The Independent staff writer who wrote that "more than 200 artists" exhibited at a past arts tour? We all got a big laugh out of that one.

Bloggerly Yours... Vanessa

PS See - I mentioned your efforts... just like you asked... and still have the last exchange on file for more mentions

Return of the Blogzibit: Recycled House Art

Blog + exhibit = blogzibit. It's been too long since the last one. I meant for them to be a regular feature & have been meaning to get back to them - especially now with Mountainair Announcements and Mountainair Online in place for their respective purposes.

I've long admired Kristine's flair for recycling to furnish as well as decorate her projects to. Not just House Art but also contempory folk art in the clever make-do spirit of traditional folk art forms. With my last art post recycled art, these details from Stonehouse's (Gallery and B&B) Limit Street Casita seemed a good blogzibit choice before heading into writing up April stuff. In addition to being a very full month with potlucks, concerts, gymkhana rodeo, art workshops and more, International Earth Day is April 22

Step through the recycled door, painted bright red for good luck and because it is a bright color and decorated with woven branches. China and California, welcome to New Mexico.


The images below are details of what may be the most original bathroom in town. Not having been in every bathroom in town, I can't make the claim with 100% certainty but would still make book on it. Yes, that is old corrugated roofing tin on the walls. The sink is a pot set on a board, an arrangement that increases floor space in a small bathroom. The floor, like the bathtub siding, is local stone, laid by not by a master stonemason but by Kristine herself and unassisted.

Who else has house art and recycled interior decor to share? I am also open to blogzibit nominations - by artist or theme. As demonstrated by this one, blogzibits do not have to be on conventional art areas either. Surprise us.

celebrate spring

What a nice way to celebrate spring

Click on the link above. You will get a black page. Click your mouse anywhere on the page & see what happens!

Better yet, click & drag your mouse over the black page

Tibet - Petition

Passing on a reader request: I don't normally send political messages to my friends but this is a special issue - below is a petition we should all sign - thanks, Kristine

Ed Note: I'll add to this - don't just sign but forward as well. Questions about the issue? Read more about it. Border conflicts and Chinese attempts on Tibet are longstanding. In the distant past, we could not do much because there were no diplomatic relations. Then because China was a valued trading partner. Now with China hosting the Olympics, perhaps the pressure of global public opinion can be brought to bear on the situation. In the global world of a wired world, we can be part of that

---

Stand with Tibet Support the Dalai Lama Click to sign petition to support Tibet and the Dalai Lama After nearly 50 years of Chinese rule, the Tibetans are sending out a global cry for change. But violence is spreading across Tibet and neighbouring regions, and the Chinese regime is right now considering a choice between increasing brutality or dialogue, that could determine the future of Tibet and China. We can affect this historic choice. China does care about its international reputation. Its economy is totally dependent on "Made in China" exports that we all buy, and it is keen to make the Olympics in Beijing this summer a celebration of a new China that is a respected world power. President Hu needs to hear that 'Brand China' and the Olympics can succeed only if he makes the right choice. But it will take an avalanche of global people power to get his attention. Click below to join me and sign a petition to President Hu calling for restraint in Tibet and dialogue with the Dalai Lama -- and tell absolutely everyone you can right away. The petition is organized by Avaaz, and they are urgently aiming to reach 1 million signatures to deliver directly to Chinese officials: Click to sign petition to support Tibet and the Dalai Lama Thank you!

Spring Break!

Today is the first day of spring and I am - in I can't remember how many years - taking a Spring Break. Maybe I am living backwards and now entering an adolescence redux phase. Whatever. Friends from Sacramento are here to visit and, after a cursory pass through town, whisking me off to Santa Fe for a couple of days. 

Accordingly, there will be a break from posting. Planned posts and the overdue mass email reminder to "take this blog and read it" are on hold. I'll post a brief potluck update to Mountainair Announcements maybe start another what's happening thread.

Also noting as new for you to check out, review and consider:

Mountainair Online: to be honest, I'm still not sure sure where this one is going but had been thinking for a while now that a Mountainair blog without "arts" in the name might suit for covering other aspects of an musings on Mountainair and small town life. More comprehensively representative of Mountainair than arts and less straight up neutral public announcements forum than Announcements. It might even turn into a blog portal for the transformation of my original website, with Mountainair, Sunflower and other pages. Input invited - actively sought...

Poets and Writers Picnic updates, complements and supplements static PWP webpage. In between picnic updates, blogging poetry and publishing poems. Expect me to exhort you to learn Spanish - not just because everyone living here ought to but also to read Lorca, Paz, Neruda, Marti and others in their original language...

Also new in virtual Mountainair:

Updated: MMAC (Manzano Mountain Arts Council) website

Newly published: MMAC March Newsletter (now being written by Sandi Steinlage)

A peculiarosity that neither mentions either Mountainair Arts or the Poets & Writers Picnic but nonetheless welcome additions to Mountainair on the Web.

Back Sunday or Monday... a Happy Easter and a glorious Spring Equinox & break to all

Boll Weevil / Looking for a Home

Or rather someone to host April Potluck.

A monthly potluck, held the 1st Wednesday of each month, is without a host for April. Hosts provide space, optional serving ware. Would you be a host? Contact Ruth Ballen, 847-2801

(also posted on Mountainair Announcements)


("Boll Weevil" - music and lyrics. Lyrics by Tex Ritter)

Announcing Mountainair Announcements

Announcing change in - or rather an addition to the Mountainair Blogosphere.  (Not the only change but more about that in a later post, either before or after recycled styrofoam art...)

I started a blog just for announcements and as a community calendar. Not unsurprisingly (or originality when you get right own to it), named Mountainair Announcements. There will be regular blog posts about events, public service announcements and calendar updates. Sidebar features include a comprehensive community event calendar, Mountainair links (with an emphasis on sites rich in community information), links to relevant online calendars, and so on.

Participation is equally open to all. I don't think of Announcements as "mine." Just that someone had to start it, open the account, set it up, send invitations, put word out and so on.  Look for me to use we, us and our because this is not an "I" endeavor. It will take us time to catch on and patience to persevere. We will.  My idea: multiple contributors, covering all local groups and interest areas, all of which will be able to post directly without sending information through me to post. Interested in becoming a guest contributor? Email me at vcrary@yahoo.com. Once underway, I'm open to someone taking over as moderator but won't hold my breath waiting... just getting the word out.

Want to contribute but prefer not to listed as a guest contributor? Sign up under a pseudonym (I have to know who you are though) or, as with Mountainair Arts, email me your announcement privately to post with or without your name on it - your choice. You can also post announcements and community calendar information as comments on a weekly "what's happening" thread. Comment to any thread or email to make suggestions, tell us about online calendars or announcement lists you think we should include.

Announcements will be user friendly and inclusive, welcoming input from any local individual or organization. No membership or affiliation required. There will be no special or thematic focus (i.e. arts, chamber, etc), no editorializing, not even much in the way of "stories" or extended pieces, other than basic background + links. There will be a weekly "what's happening" post for you to announce yard sale, fund raiser, open house, event, activity, meetings, reunion, business special or sale, public service announcement, whatever.

Come one, come all. Let's put together the best and most comprehensive community calendar and announcement list...

High Country News and the Goat blog

I've blogged High Country News before and listed the to HCN online newsletter and companion blog, the Goat blog (a hard to resist blog title). Don't look for them on the sidebar. Recently, I trimmed (saving not tossing) links lists to local, NM and art. So went HCN & the Goat - along with Museum of Bad Art (MOBA). Amazingly Bad Poetry Journal, spluch, Surrealist Insult Generator, Digital Dante and others.

Today I'm revisiting High Country News, in more detail this time, to share and recommend it. f you are interested in land use, water and development news and issues, you'll find much to read and enjoy in HCN. We're in the area it covers, so many HCN pieces, even ones written from Colorado or Montana, are on topics close to home. Whether or not you agree may be another matter. Take a look. read some articles and decide for yourself. Then select one of various subscription options if you want more.

HCN - according to the masthead, For people who care about the American West - is an independent biweekly news magazine that reports on the West's natural resources, public lands, and changing communities, covering 11 western states, from the Great Plains to the Northwest, and from the Northern Rockies to the desert Southwest.

Map of HCN States

About High Country News -

HCN Articles & Opinions

• Use it up, recycle, and never buy anything new – whew!
• Don'’t starve the Forest Service
• Primer on Water (with links to related articles)
  
• Primer on Recreation (motors & public lands but bears on tourism & thus economy & development, with links to related articles)
• Guarding Galisteo
• Why mining reform matters to all of us
• Rangeland Revival (progressive ranching movement, rotational grazing, Quivira Coalition)
  

More Goat blog

• The West: A land of refugees (urban, that is)
• The Windy West (particularly apropos today)
• Articles on Western Culture
• A list of articles on growth and development in the Western states.

Not gone though. I subscribed to and am currently testing Web 2.0 social bookmarking app del.ic.ious (just one of many) to save, organize and then share links. All without filling sidebar up with interminable lists of links, which of course means I can fill it up with something else. Then too I can do occasional (maybe even themed) links posts....and even try to remember to tag them.

Agree, disagree with HCN perspective - or undecided? Tell us about it. Got your own faves to share? Well, just post the links in comments with a few words about them. Same for suggesting categories - or reviewing already posted links, say for example, your favorite art or other site..

Recycled Art & Artists

Local recycling artists./ artists recycling.. Jude Mowris (Straw Mountain Studio - altered couture, paper, you name it - whatever catches her magpie eye),

Jude's recycled & wearable art
Straw Mountain Studio

Wana Beth Fox (clothing, scrap wood, bottles, old tools, dishware), Susan Aulde (Cibola, recycled glass art) and Maureen Hamilton (Jackass Junction - furniture, clothing & more) come immediately to mind, although I know there are others.

Jackass Junction's freehand decorative painting:
a new lease on life for old furniture and cabinets

Counting partial recycling, add Addie Draper (texture additions to gesso), Doris Burton and Ruth Ballen (fiber art creations).

by Ruth Ballen, aka The Wayward Elf

Count in local ATC artists too, as most use recycled materials for cards and to decorate them.

Stonehouse's Casita on Limit

In a separate category but still recycling and most definitely art, Kristine Lauritsen (Stonehouse Gallery and B&B) recycles not just scraps of this and that but entire houses - using recycled materials all the way through from basic refitting to decor and finishing touches...

And before any of them... Gordon McMath's "critters," welded sculptures created from old farm tools and equipment - scrap metal parts from all those things that break down on every farm and found in the scrap pille.

Indeed, found art, if not exactly recycled art, is related. The distinction, I think but should check with a "found art" expert like Tomás Wolff to make sure I get it straight, may depend on whether the artist changes the material or incorporates it as is into a sculpture, mosaic, installation, etc.

The list just keeps growing .... especially considering inevitable oversights and omissions. Why couldn't Creative recycling, along with collectibles, could become our niche. Trash to treasure in Mountainair, junk capital of NM, has a ring to it, doesn't it? A tour centered around recycled art / crafts.

---

Try your own hand at a recycled art project -

• Recycling Crafts for Kids: Art on a Shoestring
• Recycle it! Craft projects & useful things
• Crafts from Recycled Stuff
• The Imagination Factory
• Waste-Free Lunches: Recycled Art Projects

Recycled art projects made from aluminum cans at http://www.aluminouspublishing.com. E-book, Crafting Aluminum Art

• Artists Helping Children Foundation - Recycled Art
• Recycled Paper Crafts
• Recycled art projects
• MAKE: Blog: Recycled Craft Projects
• Recycling Crafts : Home & Garden Television
• Reduce, Reuse, Recycle Theme Page

Here are a number of links to Internet sites which contain information and/or other links related to the specific theme of Recycling.

• The Recycled Art Project (Emory University)

The ever-increasing demand for energy and resources and an ever-decreasing amount of those resources has generated an issue that needs our attention and action. Emory Recycles promotes awareness and dialogue about the issues facing our environment through the creative expression of making art out of the things discarded

• Bottle Cap Art
• ArtBuzz: bottle cap mosaic
• Unsealed, the art of the bottle cap - The Outsider Art Pages
• Bottle Cap Art Shed

Another Bottlecap Art page: urban homage to the ingenuity of Southern and Southwestern folk art, bottlecap figures and snakes

The list of potential links goes on...Glass art, like altered couture/ embellished clothing, is another HUGE category. Maybe for another time.

March Chamber Notes

Stood up again!

The scheduled guest speaker from Karbon Zero (the wind generator folks) did not make it to the meeting despite having initiated the speaking request. Ironically, there was a strong turn because so many members wanted to learn more about the Willard wind turbine project from Karbon Zero. This is not the first time an out of town guest speaker stood up the local chamber. Did someone fall asleep on watch? Who? Us or them? If you went to the meeting to learn more about win energy and felt let down, you can let Karbon Zero know how feel about their faux pas. Or would a follow up reminder from the CoC corresponding secretary have made a difference?

Wind Energy Photo Gallery

Company Background: Karbon Zero Energy was founded in 2001 as New Mexico WindPower.

Other:

• Chamber website maintenance renewal: another entity, Global Media Access, mystery meat to me but vouched for by a reliable source, put in a proposal to take over Chamber site maintenance. Supposedly, I was to have been notified about the proposal privately and personally. Didn't happen. The decision was tabled till next meeting for my input, leaving me with mixed feelings.
  

• Green Spring Fling Committee has met and made plans for the May events, no report available. Check the Community Event Calendar for dates, brief description and contact information for Ray Terhorst and Pam Pettingill - or just drop by The Rock Motel to leave your name for Pam and ask how you can help. Does anyone have a crabapple update to share?
  

• YCC (Youth Conservation Corp), sponsored by the Forest Service, will have a crew in Mountainair again this year in June and July.
  

• The Mountainair Ranger District is doing Blue Bird Boxesm, a project for 7th graders to build bird houses and take them out into the forest.

• The assembled membership voted Dorothy Cole an honorary lifetime membership for heroic efforts and achievements during her presidency, without which there might not still be a chamber. Well merited, past due and probably not nearly enough but then again, offering one's first born no longer had the cahet it once did. Why, though, wasn't it on the agenda emailed to members before the meeting. Motes and beams.
  

• The Chamber also donated $150 to the New Mexico Junior Rodeo Association for trophy belt buckles, as requested by local Gymkhana Rodeo organizer and NMJRA vice-president Red Kingston. Mountainair will be hosting a NMJRA Rodeo at the Mountainair Rodeo Grounds on June 27 & 28th - same day as Jubilee, so mark your calendars. Supporting this event and the Mountainair Gymkhana Rodeos is appropriate for the Chamber considering how much traffic and business these event bring to town. Wouldn't a sponsor's banner on the arena fence look great and be the best kind of community oriented public relations? Take a look at the action for yourself. If you missed the Sunday event, catch the next - they're listed on the Community Event Calendar. Check local photographer Kyla King's outstanding photos at King's Kourt Photography
  
  
• Kevin Turner and Rhonda Silva are organizing a potluck for returning veterans, March 16 at the Mountainair Campgrounds. The Chamber moved and approved a donation of $100. Contact Kevin or Rhonda for more information and to volunteer. Despite clear Chamber connection, this event has yet to be listed on the Chamber's Community Event Calendar or in Announcements on the main page because no one submitted information to post. Tsk, tsk.
  

Rio Grande Arts & Crafts Festival

March 7-9, 2008 20th Annual Rio Grande Arts & Crafts Festival Spring Show. Nationally recognized as one of the top 100 Juried Shows in the Country. Features over 200 fine artists' & craftsmen, artists demonstrations, entertainment, food & fun. The Festival was recently ranked among the "Top 200 Events Coast to Coast" by Events Business News. Participants in the show are selected from hundreds of applicants from across the country. EXPO NM Fairgrounds. I feel remiss about not having announced application deadlines and posted a link to the application form. I promise to do better next year - and hope your local arts council was on the ball about getting the information to you. In case not, here's a link to application information for the 2008 October and November shows.

More About the March Festival

Celebrate spring and watch art come to life at the March Rio Grande Arts & Crafts Festival, featuring 225 notable artists and craftsmen from across the country, entertainment, artists' demonstrations, food sampling, kids' activities, and fun for the entire family! The Festival highlights unique handcrafted items at affordable prices: pottery, paintings, jewelry, woodworking, clothing, and handcrafts of all kinds.

Dates & Times

Friday, March 7, 2008 - 10 am - 5 pm
Saturday, March 8, 2008- 10 am - 5 pm
Sunday, March 9, 2008 - 10 am - 5 pm

Location

Albuquerque, in the Manuel Lujan Exhibit Building at the Expo New Mexico Fairgrounds. From I-40, exit south on Louisiana Blvd. - turn west on Lomas Blvd. - turn south on San Pedro Blvd. to Gate 3-4 at the Expo New Mexico Fairgrounds.

See a layout for this event. Click here

Watch the Artists at Work

Stroll through the show and stop to watch artists at work- a potter turning a bowl, a glass blower forming a vase, or a painter working on a canvas. Watching the creation of a handmade piece increases the pleasure of owning a work of art.

Artist Gallery

For the Kids

Kid's Creation Station, where they can learn about and create their own works of art, for free! Magic Shows, to dazzle and entertain the young and young-at- heart.

Food & Entertainment

Featuring varied culinary arts booths where you can sample and purchase a wide array of gourmet foods. You can also enjoy the treats in the food concession booths set up year-round by the State Fairgrounds.

Take a break from shopping in the indoor park to relax listening to the soothing grand piano music

How Much?

Admission to the event is $6.00 for adults.
A 3-day pass is $8.00
The Festival is free for children under 12.
The Fairgrounds charges $4.00 for parking.

Report & Action Plan: Arts and Cultural Industries

Arts, Culture and the Economy

Once you get past the strange bedfellows effect, it makes sense, especially in the specific context of NM. where art and tourism are major cottage industries. Que est-ce c'est que Baudelaire ou Merlot-Ponty dirait sur cela? ¿Qué pensaría el gran pintor Picasso? Never mind. No importa. We need the development that the plan hopes to generate.

Excerpted from the Executive Summary of the BBER report on the Economic Importance of the Arts and Cultural Industries

Arts and culture, once considered luxuries that follow prosperity, are now understood to be conditions of prosperity. Yes, art and culture are big business and among the fastest growing sectors of the economy, but their economic importance extends far beyond the value of their receipts.

Today, a vibrant art and cultural sector is crucial to attracting and retaining a talented labor force and creating an environment conducive to innovation .

Finally, the most consistent finding of this study is a need to establish a secure and dedicated mechanism to fund local arts and cultural industries, particularly the small and mid-sized organizations that are so closely tied to innovation and creativity.

The complete report is available online

Presentation on Report, Arts Alliance:

Arts & Cultural Industries Action Plan Kick-Off DATE: Thursday, March 13 TIME: 5:30-6:30 p.m. LOCATION: KiMo Theatre, Central & 5th, downtown Albuquerque MORE INFO: Call the Arts Alliance at 268-1920 Arts and culture are big business in our metropolitan region, and could get even bigger. Learn how and why at a presentation of the recently released study on the Economic Importance of the Arts and Cultural Industries in Albuquerque and Bernalillo County. Christopher Mead, Dean of Fine Arts at UNM, and Dr. Jeffrey Mitchell, primary author of the report by the Bureau of Business and Economic Research (BBER) at UNM, will introduce and explain the key findings of this report. Join us for this informative presentation and learn more about the future of arts and culture in our community. Please forward this to everyone you think might be interested. Arts Alliance 1100 San Mateo Blvd. NE, Suite 8 Albuquerque, New Mexico 87110 505-268-1920

Arts & Letters: Announcements, Calls, Deadlines

excerpted from the NMCultureNet Newsletter 

---

CultureNet's Poets-in-the-Schools program contributes significantly to learning and literacy in Grades 7-12. This message from Alex Traube appealsl to schools, poets and others to support this unique program.

This year CultureNet poets are working with middle school and high schools in Santa Fe, Española, Pojoaque, Farmington, and Lovington. For the 2008-2009 school year, we hope to expand our work with GEAR UP and other schools around the state. If your school or district is interested in this powerful literacy program, please contact me for more information. Here's what Holly Atwood, teacher and GEAR UP coordinator at Lovington Junior High School wrote about the program at her school:

"It is amazing to see something that I have worked hard to get--worked to sell others on the idea, worked to maintain--come to fruition. The Poets Night [culmination of PITS residency] was phenomenal! Thank you for helping me achieve a goal. If you ever need a cheerleader, you've got several here. Let me know!! Love ya guys! Holly"

Poets-in-the-Schools supports poets as well as students and teachers by providing meaningful work at honorable pay for talented New Mexicans. We are ever on the lookout for a few gifted poets, be they graduates from one of our outstanding university Creative Writing programs or the SOL--School of Life. If you have interest, skills and experience in working with young people, I'd like to hear from you: 3-5 poems, a resume, references. Email only, please.

---

CALL TO ARTISTS

Artists community, art forum and online fine art gallery specializing in selling oil paintings signed by talented artists worldwide invites all New Mexican artists to join the community for free here: http://www.MyBestCanvas.com/community

---

CALL FOR ART SUBMISSIONS

Parallel Studios is issuing a call for fine art video and video installation submissions for ongoing exhibits. We are interested in seeing fresh, innovative work of any length, but prefer work no longer than 15 minutes. Mail dvd or mini dv tape to Parallel Studios, c/o Mariannah, 167 Soaring Hawk Trail, Santa Fe, NM 87508, or email website info to mariannah@cybermesa.com. Email or call 505-216-9638 for more info.

---

LOOKING FOR POETS

VE=NT / Voices Emerging=New Thunder is looking for teams of four to enter the Middle School Poetry Slam at the National Hispanic Cultural Center 1701 4th St SW in Albuquerque on Friday and Saturday, April 25th & 26th, 2008. You can represent a school, organization, or a home school community. You could enter a team from a community center, after school program, etc. All you need is between four and six poets who attend middle school. If you would like more information or would like to receive a packet about the festival, please email me ASAP, Sal Treppiedi salteaches@yahoo.com

---

CALL TO ARTISTS

Art Gallery 66 is proud to host a series of fine art photography exhibitions to uplift the spirit and enrich the community. Collectively titled Soul Portraiture, each show will explore the energy that creates and defines life through a variety of subject matter. A percentage of the proceeds from each of the four shows will be donated to a local charity. During the first exhibition, Spirit Blooms, professional and amateur photographers alike are invited to create an image that illustrates the living energy that bursts forth from the bloom. Get creative! Contact Information: Art Gallery 66, 505-867-8666, info@artgallery66.net

---

PROPOSAL DEADLINE: MARCH 15, 2008

The New Mexico Historical Records Advisory Board seeks project proposals to improve the preservation of and access to state historical records and applications for scholarships to attend archival and records management training. The maximum grant amount is $8,500. A minimum match of 25 percent of project cost is required. For scholarships a minimum match of 20 percent in travel costs is required. Grants and scholarships will be awarded for the period July 1, 2008 through June 16, 2009. Applications must be received by 5:00 p.m., March 17, 2008. Grant guidelines and application forms are available at: http://www.nmcpr.state.nm.us/nmhrab/regrant.htm. For additional information contact Randy Forrester at 505-476-7936, via e-mail at randy.forrester@state.nm.us, or by fax at 505-476-7893.

---

WRITING CONTEST DEADLINE: MAY 1, 2008

SouthWest Writers (SWW) is accepting entries for our 2008 Writing Contest. Our contest has 16 separate categories. It is open to all writers from around the world. 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners in each category will receive cash prizes. First place winners compete for a $1,000 Storyteller Award. A small entry fee is required. Entries must be postmarked by May 1, 2008. Our web site, http://www.southwestwriters.org, has the contest details and entry form. For more information, call the SWW office at (505) 265-9485.

---

JURIED ART QUILT EXHIBIT DEADLINE: MAY 9, 2008

Seams Unusual - An Exhibition of Contemporary Art Quilts by New Mexico Fiber Artists. Art Center at Fuller Lodge ( a 501-C3) is the venue, Los Alamos New Mexico, 30% commission. June 20 to July 26, 2008. New Mexico artists only. Deadline: May 9, 2008. Juried by digital images on CD, $30 for up to 3 entries. Prospectus available as PDF, http://www.angelfiredesigns.com. This is not a SAQA sponsored exhibition but is organized by several members of SAQA to include all New Mexico fiber artists.

---

WRITING SUBMISSION DEADLINE:JULY 30, 2008

Send us your stories! For the 2009 Albuquerque Almanac, an annual calendar, guide and selection of articles about Albuquerque, featuring writing by local writers on local subjects. We welcome essays, poems, short stories and other as-of-yet undiscovered kinds of writing of any length (though we reserve the right to edit and shorten). Writers will receive $30 for each accepted submission. Deadline is July 30, 2008. To submit or request guidelines, email mandy@streetsweeperpress.com or snail mail ABQ Almanac, PO Box 153, Cedar Crest, NM 87008.

---

ATC Swap & Groups

ATC Trade Event

Saturday March 8, 2008, 10:00 am - 12:00 pm
Rhonda's Creative Crafting Center,
Street: 8214 2nd Street NW,: Albuquerque 87114
Phone: (505) 899-6723

Theme for March 2008 = Pop Art

---

More ATC etceterania

And on the heels of that announcement - more reminders. Linda Johnson is still making ATCs - or rather ACEOs since she frames and sells them, Geree McDermott includes an ATC when she mails sold drawings from Chile (neat idea, eh?), and then an email from Joan Collins (Joan's Home Studio) out on the Pacific coast with links to ATC groups. An obvious case of ATCs and morphic resonance. Maybe its time for me reload VicMan and make digital ATCs, which I find a very relaxing activity.

Anyway here's Joan...

Hi Vanessa!

 

I'm doing a pass it on thing.    Just thought you might want to share these two links with any and all interested in ATC's. I am a newbie to both of them so I can't tell you much about them other than they seem quite active.  I'm looking forward to my first swap I plan on submitting for next week. Hope you're doing well.  Miss you. Joan

• http://groups.yahoo.com/group/atcsociety/
• http://groups.yahoo.com/group/artisttradingcards/

Check out my new Cafe Press stores at:

• www.cafepress.com/mountainairart
• www.cafepress.com/HolidayMarket  
• www.cafepress.com/jonet54
• www.cafepress.com/jmspiritworks    
• www.cafepress.com/bloominbirds    

---

Yup that's right - include links and plug your wares when you send me something bloggable.... I postively welcome hearing from formerly Mountainairside "foreign correspondents" - whether just across the llano, across the country or on another continent... maybe Tamra will try her hand at transforming macrophotos into ATCs

tomorrow and other days

Tomorrow, Tuesday March 4

Election for Town Council members: Community Center, 7am - 7pm. Candidates (remember the "great debate"?) are: Larry Zamora, Kevin Turner, Steve Sanchez an Whitney von Kutzleben.

Monthly Chamber meeting. Announcement in mailbox reads, "The March membership meeting of the Mountainair Chamber of Commerce will be Tuesday, March 4th 11:30 am at the Shaffer Hotel conference room. Guest speaker is Ednen Hindi of Karbon Zero Energy."

So what is Karbon Zero Energy? I looked it up, grumbling somewhat those not up to their information providing snuff. Seeing the google site blurb, I remembered then that is the company putting up wind turbines and building wind farm on private land near Willard. I blogged that. Remember the January story in the MountainView Journal about proposed Willard wind turbine plans hinging on permit? Beats me though why the announcement did not expand on Karbon Zero with a reminder about their specifiic relevance to our area. Does someone from Karbon Zero coming to a Chamber meeting bespeak interest in more Torrance County wind farming? Come to the meeting and find out...

Note closes, "We look forward to seeing you Tuesday." Really? 'Zat so? Then why not send more information about the guest speaker and an agenda with the announcement?

---

Odds & ends

A new town billing clerk and City Hall's Mountainair Newsletter. Debate comments (made by Kevin and at least one other candidate) about the town needing a newsletter gave this community blog the cold shoulder - hard to ignore - but on the positive side, inspired new town billing clerk, Peter Nieto to put out a one sheet newsletter - more info announcements - election, library hours, town council meeting dates, etc. The School District also puts out a newsletter, as do many of the local churches and organizations, including arts council. If local newslettering entities could get beyond content control issues (aka censorship), collaborate with each other and get the community behind the effort with more than words of encouragement, maybe Mountainair could again have a weekly paper.

1st Wednesday Potluck , same time, somewhere in the environs... but probably not over the rainbow.... most of the usual suspects will round themselves up, covered dish or potable in hand.. Drop by Cibola and ask where and how to get there. .

Arts Council & Annual Sunflower Whatever (is it a fest, a fair, a festival, a folk art day? Or maybe a bird or a plane?) flyers for Hat Competition, Chili Cook-off, vendor registration and silent auction solicitations are available from Kristine. Contact Ray Terhorst for more information about Sunflower and other arts council projects. The arts council site lists a selection of spring music events

Waiting on not Godot but more about and nifty pix to blog - the rest of MMAC's 2008 event schedule, upcoming Cibola exhibits and news (but there is coverage, a Mountainair story in the current Steppin Out that alo writes Two Ponyz Ranch, Ancient Cities and Meds & More, so pick up a copy or check it out online); artwork pix from Ron Minick and Doris Burton; Art Etc's jewelry making project and fund raiser.

Green Spring Fling, Spring Greening Fling, Flinging Spring Greenery & so on - Bingo, Thursday May 1, prizes plants. greenery & gardening goodies; Town Clean-up Day, Saturday May 3, with town providing 30 yd dumpsters for old furniture and other items too large for regular pickup. Other greening ideas - planting hardy but attractively flowering trees crab apple to line a designated street. Contact green flingers Ray Terhorst (847-2855) or Pam Pettingill (The Rock Motel, 847-2577 or 847-0082) for more information, meeting times or to volunteer. Since the committee has been known to convene without notifying all members (yet another Mountainair moment), connecting may require persistence.

Winter is indeed on its way out. Mountainair Gymkhana Rodeo season starts this month, 1st of the season Sunday March 9 at the Mountainair Rodeo Grounds. The gymhkhanas are probably the best attended events, consistently outdrawing arts tours and festivals. Contact Red Kingston, 847-2708. for more information about the Gymkhana Rodeos or to contribute trophy buckles. Call Sonya Greene, 847-0535, about vendor locations @ $25/table (odds are on making better sales than at Sunflower). I'll be blogging the Gymkhana again, Red will fill me in on background and send pictures.

around the web and back again

Back but still not ready for prime time (e.g. humming "when the snark bytes" to Mack the Knife). Instead, take a virtual paseo around Mountainair on the web and back again. Why? Backlogged google alerts are taking over my mailbox .Not wanting to delete them without skimming for the blogworthy, l. filter to keep them from crowding the inbox - out of immediate sight. not to mention out of mind. Today I took note and realized that going through them should be put off indefinitely. I was looking for an excuse to procrastinate, and this is it. So here are links and pix culled from Google Alerts for Mountainair. I omitted most of the sports ones but recommend the the MountainView Journal if you're jonesing for your local high school sports news fix. Unfortunately, The Independent's coverage does not include user friendly web archiving.

Mountainair in the news

Basque Club upholds ancient culture (Dec 07, not current but intriguing)

Some common last names found in New Mexico, linked to Spain but actually Basque: Abeyta, Anaya, Apodaca, Archuleta, Arellano, Esquibel, Jaramillo, Larrañaga, Mendoza, Mondragon, Montoya, Perea, Quintana, Ruiz, Saiz, Salazar, Tapia, Ulibarri, Urioste, Velasquez and Velarde, according to the Basque Club of New Mexico's pamphlets.

Since starting in 2004, the club has hosted periodical gatherings, including one in Mountainair on October, 2007. For more information, call (505) 690-8050 or go to the Basque Club website,