Best House Tour Ever!

The tally is in, and thanks to YOU, OFFCenter just completed the best Albuquirky House Tour in the four years we have held this fundraising event. We raised $4,500 through sales of 180 tickets. Which means that 180 of you from the Albuquerque community walked through three beautiful, unique, artistic homes in support of OFFCenter's mission. We hope you were inspired, and made a new friend or two.

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A very special thank you to the folks who opened their quirky homes to us!

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Sharie reports that she sold about 18 tickets at the OFFCenter studio on the day of the tour, so thank you for popping in for your tickets!!! You know we need you, and you came through for us.

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Sharie also reported that lots of you made purchases from our current show -- Shelter: Space, Place and Belonging, as well as from our own quirky gift shop. Thank you for supporting our emerging artists!

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Your support helps us continue to offer a free, open creative art space for the downtown community and way beyond.

Holy Water & Whiskey at First Friday Coffeehouse!

Bonnie Bluhm hosts:

HOLY WATER & WHISKEY

Albuquerque's Premiere Old-Timey Folk Trio

June 5, 2009 ~ 5-8 PM

Music Starts @ 6 PM

• Coffee & Refreshments
• Check out our one-of-a-kind Art Shop and our current exhibit, "Shelter."

FREE EVENT! A Pass the Hat Production!

Always Unique Gifts in the Shop

We don't want to brag, but we were recycling-for-art before it was cool, bending metal, repainting canvas, reviving afghans and making stuffed animals out of cut up sweaters.

Many Albuquerque residents and visitors come to the gift shop knowing they'll get a one-of-a-kind, handcrafted item for someone special, and that our emerging artists benefit from the very high commissions they keep on sales.

Where else are you going to find a coat rack made of high heeled shoes or a wall vase of rusted nail flowers? At OFFCenter, you'll find very special work by very special people. Like this composition made from bottle caps and cans, by Jill Cooper.

Albuquirky House Tour Photos

Feast your artsy eyes upon one of the beautiful houses our supporters visited
during the 4th Annual Albuquirky House Tour. Thank you, everyone,
for supporting OFFCenter.

These photos were sent in by OFFCenter Board Member Margaret Lopez.

art X change with 516 Arts May 14, 2009

Gallery Talk & ArtMaking
Thursday, May 14, 2009

Three sculptors in the West Southwest: ABQ-LA Exchange show at 516 Arts will discuss their creative process at 516 Arts, followed by a reception/art making session at OFFCenter Community Arts Project.

Please call 505-247-1172 to express your interest. Open and free to the community!

Meet and discuss with Lea Denise Anderson, John Garrett, and George Kalmar.

4-5pm Artist Talk @ 516 Arts, 516 Central Ave NW

5-6:30pm Reception / Art Making at OFFCenter, just down the street.

"Vital Slices" by Lea Denise Anderson

Opening -- SHELTER: Space, Place & Belonging May 1, 2009

Friday, May 1, 2009 5-8 pm

An Artscrawl Event

First Friday Art Opening

5:00 p.m. Video screening of "Garbage Warrior," a timely portrait of visionary Taos architect Michael Reynolds

6:00 p.m. Music with singer/songwriter Cole Mitchell AND also The Two Roses, Folk Harp & Flute Duo.

The show is an inquiry about where we live -- how it defines us and our relationship to our environment and each other.

A grand warmup to the 4th Annual Albuquirky House Tour on Saturday, May 2, 1-4 pm (Call OFFCenter for tickets!)

Art, Ritual and the Sacred, a workshop with Judith Shaw

Discover the power of art to connect us with our sacred source. Join visionary artist Judith Shaw, for a fun and inspiring 2 session workshop, incorporating guided visualization, group ritual and hands-on art making.

SIX HOURS TOTAL workshop time.

Saturday, April 25 - 9am – 12pm

Sunday, April 26, 2009, 1 - 4pm

• In the first session we create paintings and small sculptures of our personal sacred images.
• In the second session, gaining inspiration from the first day, we use a small box as our canvas and create a centerpiece for our home altars.

Each participant is asked to bring their own box.

NOTE: Please call Judith directly at 505-977-3792 to reserve your space.

Cost: $75 includes both 3-hour sessions and all required art materials.

Pastel Landscape Workshop with Jane Schoenfeld

Wow! We will work with Jane Schoenfeld both outdoors in Robinson Park and also in the OFFCenter Studio. All levels of experience are welcome. MAY 9, 2009 10:00 am TO 5:00 pm

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Tuition of $75.00 covers materials, including a set of 32 pastel half sticks to keep.

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Making art includes both predictable elements that can be learned by anyone and the magic that happens when we loosen up and allow our creativity to flow. Master Pastelist and Art Therapist Jane Shoenfeld will demonstrate and guide participants in both these area.

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Techniques of application and instruction on how to convey the illusion of depth in a landscape will be covered indoors. Then we will go to the park where Jane will demonstrate how to imaginatively simplify the landscape elements of bottom, middle and top. The emphasis will be on vivid color and freshness within the pastel medium. Layering and development from start to finish will be covered and exercises to stimulate the imagination and connections to nature will be offered.

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Jane Shoenfeld's landscapes have been represented in numerous museum exhibitions, including the Las Cruces Museum, the Millicent Rogers Museum and the Brooklyn Museum. She has been teaching pastel landscape and creativity development for over twenty years.

Art by Jesse Reno for Sale

Did you know that Jesse Reno submitted three paintings to OFFCenter's Gift Shop before he returned to Portland? One of them has sold. Another, a small painting of a lovely green creature can be glimpsed in this video (about 53 seconds in...) at YouTube:



Thank you Jesse! To inquire about the paintings, feel free to call, or drop by the studio/gift shop to have a look.

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Rolling Houses to City Councillors

OFFCenter community artists young and old have spent the last several weeks building, painting, and decorating little wooden houses to raise funds, as part of our cluster of activities around the 4th Annual Albuquirky House Tour May 2nd. FYI, you can come in and make a house too! Houses sell for about $20 to $30 each, and you can get yours in our gift shop.

So Sybil (left) and Molly (right and pulling the cart) decided to pack up some of these little gems and wheel them down to the offices of our city councillors and county commissioners, as a way of promoting OFFCenter and the House Tour event. Go girls!

Beautiful Pysanky

Workshop with Jo lanta Konopelska-Feliciano

Soft Sculpture Mermaid Workshop April 18, 2009

with Kathleen Schweizer!
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Saturday, April 18, 2009
10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
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Please Call OFFCenter to register.
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Cost: $40.
All materials will be provided.
Scholarships are available.

This is not a workshop but a “playshop!"
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Working with colors found in the ocean (teals, aquas, greens, blues) you will create a sweet soft sculpture mermaid. First you will learn to create a 2-D wire armature, then shape the armature so that it becomes a 3-D framework. Next you will cover the basic framework with fabric and then the real fun begins -- embellishment!! .

If you’ve previously taken one of Kathleen’s classes, you know that she will provide you with an abundance of materials from which to choose -- you will work with fabric, sequins, beads, shells, yarns, ribbons, feathers and more. Feel free to bring any items you would like to incorporate into your mermaid figure. If you have a pair of needle-nose, round-nose, long-nose or conical-nose pliers, please bring them with you to class.

Click Kathleen's picture to visit her Etsy shop!

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Albuquirky House Tour VIDEO

Check out this video about the upcoming Albuquirky House Tour, a very important fundraiser for OFFCenter. Thank you Holly for creating it!

Find more videos like this on OFFCenter Arts

Traditional Pysanky, Russian Egg Workshop Sat. 4/11

Hurry! A few seats are still available! This Saturday!

Call OFFCenter to register.

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Cost: $40 All materials will be provided. Scholarships are available.

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PYSANKY (PEE-SAN-KEY) - traditional Eastern European folk art of decorating eggs. Learn the batik technique of this unique traditional art in our 4 hour workshop taught by Jo lanta Konopelska-Feliciano. Jo lanta was born in Poland and learned this captivating art form in early childhood. She mastered this craft, adding her own unique styling to thousands of hand crafted, precisely designed, and beautifully finished Easter eggs.

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You will explore the batik technique by using beeswax applied with "kistka", dyeing eggs in vibrant colors, and designing them by following traditional Ukrainian and Polish symbolism or modern geometric forms. The final step will include empting an egg and preserving the delicate shell, so it can be used as an ornament or a unique gift for many years to come.

First Friday Coffeehouse with WAGOGO

OUR SECOND First Friday. Get it? Friday, April 3, 2009, from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Live music performance @6:15 p.m. with Wagogo, a musical blend of Chicano influences, Northern Mexico folk songs, warm calypso island grooves, & the captivating spirit music of Zimbabwe AND

our ongoing art exhibit -- Exquisite Corpse: A Surrealist Game, exploring the mystique of accident, a collective collage of images and words.

And...see our unusual, one-of-a-kind handcrafted art for sale in The Shop! And, Henry's cookin' some down home Louisiana style.

FREE EVENT -- A "Pass the Hat Production"