University Art Gallery

Friends of the Gallery

Dear Friends of the Gallery:

The Fall 2009 season is coming into full swing with a fascinating exhibition of paintings and drawings by Polish-American artist Joanna M. Wezyk (see the UAG website for full description). The opening reception starts at 5pm on 6 November in the Main Gallery.

We have had a number of very exciting new acquisitions come in. A folio of poems inspired by the Russian author Alexander Solzhenitsyn, accompanied by etchings by nine Italian artists was purchased from a gallery in Venice this summer. Photographs of Native Americans by the renowned Edward Curtis (1868-1952) were donated in memory of Perry Kohn, a Las Cruces artist who passed away last year. All the above, plus a wonderful 1850s etching by James McNeill Whistler, donated by Nancy Newman Apodaca, add to our strong collection of works on paper. We also have a number of very interesting acquisitions in the works -- check this space for more details in the coming weeks.

The Friends gathered for a coffee-and-dessert talk on the Venice Biennale on October 8. A lively discussion of relational aesthetics, nationalism, and the increasing dependence on text to explain contemporary art followed.

MFA candidate Chris Bardey is working with me to curate a show focusing on the relationship of text and images in contemporary art, drawing on our works on paper in the Permanent Collection. We aim for a Fall 2010 roll-out for this exhibition.

Lastly, we finally got the go-ahead to bring our website into the 21st century. The improvements you see are the work of MFA candidate and graphic designer extraordinaire Ed Schmitt.

Preston Thayer
Director

Membership Renewal

*Patrons are invited to participate on an Advisory Board to determine new acquisitions for the Permanent Collection.
*Benefactors participate on an Acquisitions Advisory Board, and receive an original Laurence Sisson watercolor.

Special Projects

In addition to your membership, please consider contributing $25.00 to one or more of the following special funds:

• Publicity: The Gallery needs money to buy advertising for future shows, and to pay for the new $2,000.00 sign on University Avenue.
• Equipment: The Gallery needs a vinyl letter machine, new light fixtures, and a working vacuum cleaner!
• Exhibitions: To defray the cost of bringing high quality artwork to NMSU.