September 7- Cecil Howard 50 Year Retrospective
Opening Reception 6pm
Francis McCray Gallery
Exhibit runs through October 5
Free and open to the public

Cecil taught art in Kansas before accepting a position at Western New Mexico University where he first taught ceramics and basic art and was Director of the Francis McCray Gallery. The development of the Fine Arts program led to a later teaching emphasis on sculpture and painting. He retired in 1994 after 31 years in the Department of Expressive Arts, having been chair for several years.

A recipient of the New Mexico Governor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts in 1999,

Cecil served on the Capitol Arts Foundation Board of Directors for many years. He has exhibited and received numerous awards in painting, sculpture, and crafts on regional, national, and international levels, and he acted as a juror for several exhibitions in the Southwest.

Private and public collections include his artwork. A large collage is on permanent exhibit in the New Mexico Capitol Art Collection in Santa Fe and an assemblage is in the foyer of WNMU’s Fine Arts Auditorium. Several of his pieces were part of successive traveling art exhibitions compiled by the New Mexico Museum of Art.

Initially recognized for his collages and assemblages, Cecil has more recently focused on painting in acrylics, producing colorful canvases. His subjects are sometimes representational, sometimes abstract, or often a combination of the two, for intentional ambiguity. Once, a friend jokingly described his work as that of a “baroque surrealist.” His studio is in Silver City.

September 9- Brennen Leigh
The Gardens at Light Hall
7pm
FREE

Awash in full-throttle fiddle, weeping steel guitar, a sprinkling of heavenly backing vocals, and anchored by her warm, expressive vocals, Brennen Leigh’s latest album is an emotion-packed revelation. Rooted in vintage country, Ain’t Through Honky Tonkin’ Yet is an unapologetically beer- and tear-soaked homage to an era when hard-country weepers burst forth from AM transistor radios.

“I’m in love with this idea of the real Nashville, ” says Leigh. “The idyllic golden age, which, to me, is around 1967, 1968, because of the alchemy, the explosion that occurred, with the best country music songwriters ever, the best singers in country music.” The album’s country roots run deep, with guests like Marty Stuart and Rodney Crowell and a lineup of top-flight musicians, yet each track soars with abandon. With thoughtful, incisive lyrics and vibrant melodies at the forefront, Leigh has successfully created a modern gem, while honoring country music’s enduring golden era.

September 15- Creede Repertory Theater Young Audience Outreach Tour: The City Dog and the Prairie Dog
Fine Arts Center Theatre
10 AM
FREE
TEACHERS! To RSVP for your class please email cultural.affairs@wnmu.edu  or call 575-538-6469

The City Dog and the Prairie Dog is a bilingual musical for grades K-6, exploring themes of community and belonging. Expect to dance, laugh, and sing along, with lots of audience participation!

ABOUT YOUNG AUDIENCE OUTREACH
Now in its 40th season, The Young Audience Outreach Tour’s mission is to bring high quality musical theatre to rural and historically neglected communities. This program annually produces an original children’s show for students in grades K-6 that tours throughout the Southwest and has served 400,000+ young people.

The Young Audience Outreach Tour is always:
Geared for students in grades K-6!
In alignment with National Core Arts Standards!
A musical that empowers and motivates action!
Full of audience participation!
Productions last approximately 50 minutes. The actors will interact directly with the students throughout the show. It is a highly energetic hour of learning and entertainment.


September 19- Distinguished Speaker Series: Monica Ortiz Uribe and Patricia Michaels
Native American fashion designer Patricia Michaels and Independent reporter Mónica Ortiz Uribe speak on the crises of missing women
Light Hall Theater
7PM
FREE

Mónica Ortiz Uribe is an independent reporter who specializes in the U.S./Mexico border and the American southwest. She last worked for the El Paso Times, writing about racial disparities and economic inequality. Mónica co-hosted the podcast, Forgotten: The Women of Juárez about the murders of women in the Mexican border city across from her hometown of El Paso. The production was listed among the top ten podcasts of 2020 by the Atlantic. Mónica’s work has also been featured extensively on National Public Radio.

Patricia Michaels [Bpaw-oo Pbup-oo] of Taos Pueblo is a world-renowned Fashion and Textile Designer. She has studied at the Institute of American Indian Arts, 4 years independent studies at Chicago Art Institute, with Nick Cave as her mentor. Worked at Santa Fe Opera in the costume department and with Italian tailors in Milan, Italy. Recently she designed costumes for Opera Lafayette, and for the opera Silvain opening at the Kennedy Center. Her jewelry, silk scarves and bomber jackets can be purchased at the Metropolitan Museum in NY. Her new costumes designed for Dana Tai Soon Burgess Company are on view at UNM Albuquerque, LACMA West CA, and National Portrait Gallery in Washington DC. Her gown “Recollections of My Journey To Blue Lake” was purchased for the Peabody Essex Museum’s permeant collection after being included in the “Contemporary Taos Art Show” at the Harwood Museum in Taos, NM. The Cristal Bridges Museum of American Art has an image and written statement about her fashion and textiles in book “Fashioning of America.” Other publications include “Native Fashion Now” and “Remarkable Woman of Taos”.

Patricia is the first Native American designer for Season 11’s Project Runway where she was runner up. She went on to Project Runway Allstars. The Smithsonian’s National Museum of American Indian awarded her the first inaugural “Arts and Design Award” in NYC, she was a speaker at the Bill & Melinda Gates Scholar Foundations. Her works as a Native CEO of the PMWATERLILY LLC, takes her to places around the world, having shown in, New Zealand, South Africa, Canada, Europe, Asia and at least twice a year for NY for fashion week to do fashion, lectures, presentations, workshops, fundraisers, artists in residencies and inspirational speeches. She has completed a home collection for “Atkin Homes”, uniforms and boutiques collections for hotel Chaco in Albuquerque, NM as well as boutique collections for Malouf’s on The Plaza, Eldorado Hotel, Inn at The Spa Loretta in Santa Fe, and El Monte Sagrado in Taos, NM.

Patricia works as an activist for organizations like Missing & Murdered Indigenous People, Community Against Violence, American Indian College Fund, Big Brother Big Sister, Art Smart, Preservation of Indian Culture & Natural Resources. Social Media are key in keeping the original Native voice authentic. Her biggest driving force are her two beautiful children Mozart & Margeaux, the elderly, youth and empowering women. Her cottage industry encourages women’s voice, LGBT Community, Transgender Men, Transgender Women, and all races. Patricia is occupied with many new developments working on costumes for a new film to be announced and recently starting a new organization to help the native fashion and textile industry “Native American Fashion & Textile Alliance”. Her works are continually emerging in 5 star resort hotels, museums, museum shops and boutique galleries throughout the USA. She is actively working on the first Native American Opera as the Designer for costumes and sets. In between this she manages time for an active involvement with her Taos Pueblo cultural life ways and beliefs.