Archive for December, 2008

Tattoos in our culture have come from being seen as something scandalous or trashy to a common thing.  In Las Cruces, they have even made it to a museum exhibit. 

The Branigan Cultural Center’s feature exhibit, Ink: Tattoos as Personal Expression takes you on a tour of everything from tools, to tattoo removal.

The exhibit focuses on all aspects of tattooing, from history, to technology and even the local tattoo scene in Las Cruces.  The museum featured three local tattoo artists in a video shown in a mock tattoo parlor.  They talked about their perspective of the tattoo industry.  Another video features a local doctor explaining the process of tattoo removal.  The exhibit also includes a small theatre with a video about the history of tattoos.

Tattoos have become something of an identifier.  They are often a symbol of group affiliation and can help people fit into society.  Tattoos are prevalent in every culture all around the world; the exhibit shows this and takes a look into why people get tattoos.

Photographer for the exhibit, Chris Mortenson spent more than one year taking photos of the local tattoo scene.  Out of hundreds of images, about 20 were selected for the exhibit. 

Going to the exhibit made me want to do some research on my own.  What is the general impression of tattoos in our culture? Surely if the Branigan cultural center is featuring them as an exhibit they have become something of a more socially accepted personal expression.  As I began looking around for some information people all over were confirming that tattoos were becoming something socially more accepted.  They are no longer the mark of sailors or convicts (something you learn at the exhibit).  People get tattoos to mark a significant event in their life such as achievements or memorials (another aspect of the exhibit).  While the general feeling is they are still not as acceptable in the workplace, socially a tattoo is not as taboo. 

The exhibit is an interesting tour of “Tattoos as Personal Expression”.  It takes you on a journey through the ancient years of tribal tattoos to even Barbie with tattoos.  It gives people a sense of what the “tattooed” culture is about. 

If you go:

What: Ink: Tattoos as Personal Expression

Where: Branigan Cultural Center- on the North end of the Downtown Mall, 501 N Main Street  

When: Runs through January 24, 2009, Mon. – Fri. 10 am – 4 pm, Sat. 9 am-1 pm  

Additional attractions in Las Cruces: Las Cruces, New Mexico, White Sands National Monument

New Mexico Tourism Department officials will recognize 11 New Mexico communities and organizations for their efforts at local beautification at the New Mexico Clean & Beautiful Annual Awards ceremony Friday (December 19, 2008), 1:30 p.m., at the State Capitol Building in Santa Fe

The purpose of the awards is to recognize communities and organizations for their efforts to make their communities cleaner, more beautiful and overall, making a difference by improving their community’s surrounding environment.

“Governor Bill Richardson issued a challenge that all New Mexicans do their part to keep New Mexico clean and beautiful,” said Tourism Department Secretary Michael Cerletti, “positively impacting not only on their community, but the entire state as well.”

“We honor these communities and programs for their efforts in litter control, education and elimination, beautification, recycling, graffiti and weed eradication,” said Joe Lobato, executive director of New Mexico Clean & Beautiful.  “Every year, communities take on many different projects and programs which clean up their areas of the state, and involve their citizens in taking greater responsibility in improving their cities, towns, villages and tribal lands. This is our way of thanking them for their outstanding efforts.”

New Mexico Clean & Beautiful, a program of the New Mexico Tourism Department, was created by the Litter Control and Beautification Act of 1985 and is affiliated with the national organization Keep America Beautiful, Inc. The program is charged with coordinating statewide litter control and beautification efforts.

Who: Eleven New Mexico communities
When: Friday (December 19, 2008)
Where: Rotunda - State Capitol Building, 1:30 p.m.
What: New Mexico Clean & Beautiful Awards Ceremony

Community Recognition –
Silver – City of Portales
Gold - Bernalillo County Anti-Graffiti Program, Keep Espanola Beautiful/Graffiti Task Force and the Village of Mosquero 

Affiliate Recognition –
Gold – Keep Albuquerque Beautiful, Keep Clovis Beautiful, Keep Las Cruces Beautiful, Keep Luna County Beautiful, Keep Rio Rancho Beautiful and Tierra Bonita of Valencia County

A beautiful new exhibit at the New Mexico Farm & Ranch Heritage Museum will have people looking at quilts in a whole new way.

“Elements from the Front Range Contemporary Quilters” features 35 quilts created by an organization of artists primarily from Colorado, Wyoming, New Mexico, Nebraska, and Kansas. 

The show opens Dec. 15 and continues through Feb. 8 in the Traditions Gallery. The museum has added some traditional quilts from its collections that are displayed in the North Corridor outside the gallery.

Inspired by the themes and atmosphere of the West, these artists explore the concept of elements from a wide array of perspectives. Their quilts allude to earth, air, fire, and water, as well as to environmental degradation, seasonal change, day and night, and the chemical makeup of the planet on which we live. 

These contemporary quilters are a continuation of the art quilt movement of the 1970s, when pioneering artists moved quilted textiles from the bed to the wall, declaring that fiber arts were valuable and worthy of notice as fine art. These quilts incorporate the accessible and familiar with the new and edgy, using a media that has become, for many artists, a strong avenue for contemporary expression.

The Front Range Contemporary Quilters was established in Colorado in 1988 to educate, inform, and celebrate the art quilt. From its eight-member beginning, the organization has grown to more than 200 members and provides a dynamic forum for education, mentorship, and support for the contemporary quilter.

The museum is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Saturday and noon to 5 p.m. on Sunday. Admission is $5 for adults, $3 for senior citizens and $2 for children 5 to 17. For more information, please call (575) 522-4100.

Additional things to do in Las Cruces New Mexico: White Sands, Old Mesilla