Art Making Playshops: Ninos y Mayores

Join us at Barelas Senior Center for a new program for elders and school age children.

Classes begin this spring at Barelas and culminate in a show at OFFCenter.

Contact Ron at OFFCenter (247-1172) or Roberta Marquez (269-0829).

This project made possible in part by a grant from the New Mexico Arts, Dept. of Cultural Affairs, State of New Mexico.

Just click anywhere on the image above about the Children and Elder Art Making Playshops to see the info larger...

Photo Montage

We Art the People!

(click for a bigger image)

Valentines Art Making Gathering

Wednesday, February 10^th, 2010 5-7pm Free

Come join in an evening of art making with others from the OFFCenter community of artists!

This Wednesday night from 5-7pm.

Choose from a variety of materials to create cards, gifts and other unique Valentine gifts. Bring along your friends and family.

Friends and Dragons

Our 2010 occasional Wednesday night workshops are proving to be popular and fruitful this year! Last Wednesday was a Chinese paper dragons intensive, in celebration of Chinese New year, led by longtime OFFCenter friend and art teacher Ann Dunbar.

Next Wednesday evening, it will be Valentine Gifts. Stay tuned for more info here, or check our OFFCenter Calendar on our main website. Come on by! All ages are welcome.

Hunger, a poem by Sari Krosinsky

More poetry sent to us by one of the poets who read at last night's Art of Devotion opening:

HUNGER

I cook like my grandmother, whipping up a badass stew
from spare parts. Hers, variations on leached chicken
swimming in grease. Mine, resurrecting potatoes-on-the-edge
with a couple cans green chilé. I mince garlic as you read
to me, baritone against the percussion of popping oil.
Looking at you, I reach for the pot, char my finger.
I thrust my hand under the tap; you go on reading
as cold water seals the burn in a scar.

Like my grandmother, I cook to feed armies. She rallied
relatives, friends, strangers to divide the booty.
I have you. Like her, will I never learn
to cook for one? Or like Orpheus, would I follow you
to Hades and, failing, survive still? When you’re gone,
I’ll play your cd, seal my hunger in your voice.

--Sari Krosinsky

Poetry from the Art of Devotion Opening

An excellent roster of poets read to us on the theme of devotion. Here are a couple of "gifts" from Dale Harris and Bob Reeves.

THE POETS MARRY

This man came careless to my life,
not meaning to,
was bound for somewhere else
and lost his way but stayed.

This man came light, brought only a few mementos,
some photos of old loves.
He didn't need much room.

This man came strong into my life,
cutting through the lies I called love,
rolling away the stone
from my living, breathing tomb.

This man came brittle,
feared that he would break upon my secrets
but learned instead to bend.

This man came thirsty
for truths he thought I knew --
although I never said I did
he thought it anyway.

This man came late,
came when I was tired
and would need him most.

This man came quiet to my life
until a song sang us both --
it sings us still.

--Dale Harris, 2006
-------------------------------------------------

SEEING YOU

We breathe into the air in front of our heads
facing the same way, two ends of a table,
a trace awkward, a trace killed by anything.
How did we stack up these unreachable lives
of changing adult dispers? singing in subways?
work, play, grief, our double names
hardly ever present? How can it feel like
my gaze is so heavy I have to lift it with both hands
to turn it on you? Can love really include
this much distance and waste? Of course, but
I'm sorry it does. I'm sorry. I'm in need.
Something in you finds me, a straight dart
through my dark mist, always. Something
in me wants to find you just as surely.
But I'm the older one. The sides of my paths are higher.
Show me how. Come, let's do this again.

--Bob Reeves

(printed with permissio of the authors, copyright remains with them)

Wednesday Night Workshop -- Chinese Paper Dragons

Wednesday, Feb. 3, 5-7pm

Get ready for this year’s Chinese New Year!

Join Ann Dunbar who will lead this structured workshop to create your very own Chinese Paper Dragon!

It will be a concentrated two hours of cutting, folding and gluing resulting in a delightful paper dragon that you will cherish.

Children under eight may need adult help to finish on time. All ages welcome!

$5 donation requested per dragon

OFFBags at Form & Function - 516 Arts

The OFFCenter artists and designers, who created and continue to make OFFBags, are being recognized for their work for exploring sustainability, reuse, decoration and innovation in designs and production of these one-of-a-kind, unique creations at 516 Arts' Form & Function exhibit.

OFFCenter will be at 516 Arts with about a dozen other artists and designers showing work in this vein. There will be a selection of OFFBags (made from recycled materials, lovingly gathered by OFFCenter artists) available for purchase at FORM & FUNCTION. Also at the exhibit, the new satchel models will be unveiled and available for purchase. Proceeds from sales will mostly benefit OFFCenter with a small amount to benefit 516 Arts, a non-profit whose vision "is to be an active partner in developing Albuquerque's cultural landscape...and offers programs that inspire curiosity, dialogue, risk-taking and creative experimentation, showcasing a mix of established, emerging, local, national and international artists from a variety of cultural backgrounds." We're proud that 516 Arts has chosen OFFCenter as one of their many collaborative partners toward achieving these goals.

FORM & FUNCTION
Exhibit at 516 Arts, 516 Central, SW
Public Opening Reception: Saturday, February 6, 6-8pm 516 Arts Member Preview: 5-6, Music by Soul Calypso
Artists: AREAWARE, Eliana Arenas, Angelo Arnold, ART GENS, Roger Atkins, Julia Barello, Sonya Cramer, Roberto Gallegos, Welmoed Laanstra, Cal Lane, Maria Michails, OFFCenter, Beth Rekow, Joan Weissman

A Heart Day's Night -- Valentine Art Sale

MAKE ART ~ BUY ART ~ MEET NEW FRIENDS
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sunday, February 7
10am -- 2pm

Come visit OFFCenter's
Annual Valentine's Day Gift Sale
featuing a dozen of OFFCenter's studio artists.

Stop by and pick out some special artwork for that special someone!

Experimental Art Klub begins Wednesday Jan. 20th

Experimental Art Klub begins Wednesday, January 20th, from 5-7pm

Continues every third Wednesday of the month until June!

Free!

A collaborative project led by Mary Lambert and Micaela Seidel.

Learn about new artists, try new materials and techniques, and within the time limit bring a work of art to completion. Every month Micaela and Mary will choose a new artist or type of art for inspiration to create a work of art for the month.

Participants will have a monthly “show” to share what they have done and exchange some of the challenges/rewards from that month’s experiment.

Join the experiment! Just drop in.

The January artist is Friedensreich Hundertwasser. Check out the following web sites for more info.

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedensreich_Hundertwasser
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hundertwasserhaus

Call for Entries: The Art of Devotion

Artists reveal through their art their devotion: people, places, things, ideas...

What's your devotion? Art you devoted to -- your lover? Family? Spiritual guides? Landscape? Animals? The artistic process? Squiggles? Lines, circles or squares?

Share your devotion with the world and specifically the OFFCenter community for the St. Valentine's month show "The Art of Devotion."

Please submit your artwork in any medium to OFFCenter by Jan. 29th. Show opens Feb. 5th.

This show is open to everyone, but please, one entry per artist.

Last Call for Holiday Gift Shopping!

OFFCenter studio and gift shop will remain open on Tuesday, Dec. 22 and Wednesday, Dec. 23. After that, the studio will close for a two-week holiday break, opening again on Tuesday, Jan. 5.

Did you know that 80% of your purchase price goes right back to the artist who produced it? Yes, it does. Did you know that the 20% retained by OFFCenter goes right back into open studio opportunities for other emerging artists? Yep. So your purchase helps the OFFCenter community sustain our mission of providing economic development opportunities for local emerging artists, some of whom could really use that 80% commission at this time of year!

Now is your almost-last chance to purchase holiday gifts for the unique, edgy, cozy, community-loving, quirky, fan of handmade and recycled art and craft person in your life. (Maybe that person is you!)

Our gift shop features original paintings, assemblage, tin work, beadwork, brooches, earrings, purses, altered and recycled household items, along with brilliant and quirky creations by emerging artists from all around our community. We also sell lots and lots of handmade greeting cards in a variety of styles.

Lots of wonderful artists are represented in our shop, including the highly collectible work of Mark Garcia, Marcia Sednek, and Joey Goss. We still have a couple of small paintings on wood by Jesse Reno and of course we have a variety of our studio-produced OFFBags, our sturdy & stylish market bags made of recycled plastic.

Won't you find some time to stop by this Tuesday or Wednesday? And thank for all of your support throughout the year, too.

Another OFFCenter event for Girl Scouts

OFFCenter is an ideal place for special event art workshops or birthday parties. On Saturday, December 12th, 26 young girls earned their Girl Scout Jeweler badges at the OFFCenter Community Art studio. Pictured above, instructor and former scout leader, Beverly Lazar presents one of the badges. Check the Trails of Fun calendar for more upcoming badge events in 2010 at OFFCenter. If you are interested in scheduling a special event call 247.1172 for more information.

RANA Float wins Neighborhood Cup in Twinkle Light Parade!

THANK YOU AGAIN to OFFCenter for making the RANA Twinkle Light Parade float banners.... and Guess What? - THE RANA FLOAT WON The Neighborhood Cup!!! (the first prize for neighborhood association floats)

Thank you, Craft Punk Fashion Show vol 2

Many thanks to Evolution Body Piercing, Crystal Sims and all the volunteers behind the Craft Punk 2 Fashion Show, held at the Launchpad on November 13th, for donating the proceeds of their event to OFFCenter.

Your wonderful generosity helps us to continue our work in providing a creative, supportive and safe environment for the whole community to make art, to attend workshops, and for our artists to sell their work in the Shop, and participate in gallery shows.

In total, the Fashion Show donated a whopping $2,800 to OFFCenter. Thank you so much!