First Friday Coffeehouse with Tortuga!

First Friday Coffeehouse
Friday Sept. 4
5 to 8 pm

Bring a friend or two and come hear the jazz fusion sounds of Tortuga , featuring Pax and friends playing for your enjoyment. It's Free!

Our gallery will be filled with Folk Festival puppets, masks and other festive paraphernalia.

Coffee and delicious refreshments will be available along with the usual great supply of one of a kind local art work on sale in our shop.

A Pass the Hat Production, hosted by Bonnie Bluhm.

Our Second Guitar Class Graduate!

Congratulations Terry!
Today Terry Begay has the honor of being the first comedian to earn an iCreate guitar, and to get the most compliments from listeners who happen to be creating art while he plays music. Terry composes and improvises with great flair and skill. All iCreate guitar class students are eligible to earn an instrument by completing the program requirements which are:
1) attend at least 12 classes
2) learn 5 songs by heart
3) perform the 5 songs to others

Mayoral Candidates Forum on Arts & Culture

Tuesday, Aug. 25
6:00 to 7:30 pm
VSA North Fourth Arts Center
Albuquerque

A public form.

Members of the arts and cultural community as well as memb ers of the public will have the chance to ask the candidates for the city’s highest office to clarify their positions.

All of the candidates have been invited to attend.

Members of OFFCenter's Board, staff and artists plan to attend. We are formulating questions for the candidates. Let's hope we get called on! (The questions are submitted ahead of time.)

Sharie's Studio Journal: I'm back!

Greetings everyone:

I have been out of the studio for about two weeks a bit "under the weather", but am back in the swing of things. It is great to be back in the studio and watch all that happens there. Some new faces always great to see new friends there.

The Earthquakes and Hurricanes show is coming to an end and if you missed it you missed a wonderful show.

WE are making "pitchy Patch" and making room for the puppets to get a face lift and get ready for the Folk Art Festival.

Come on down and bring your friends to make art and/or help get ready for the folk art fest. It is a lot of fun. We love all the help and participation. See you soon Sharie.

OFFBags - the hottest thing in recycled fashion

Above, Molly models an OFFBag portfolio constructed of recycled plastic bags and packaging.

Be on the breaking edge of the OFFBag fashion movement! Stop by and see our current selection of OFFBags on display in the OFFCenter Shop.

Twenty-seven Days til the Folk Art Festival

Won't you join us? Make puppets, dance, sell your art, make art in the kid's tent, stroll the park and listen to great music. Click the link for more information: http://www.offcenterarts.org/folkartfest.htm

Workshop: "Taking Flight" Parade Puppets with Wings

Saturday, August 29th

morning session 8:30am – 11:30am

afternoon session 2pm – 5pm

Free parade puppet making workshop!

Participants may make animals such as birds or butterflies or angels or other winged beings.

There will be two 3 hour sessions; 8:30am -11:30 am and 2pm-5pm. We will take a long break at lunch to allow the papier mache to dry.

The following Saturday, September 5th, participants may work on any unfinished pieces.

Workshop leader Sunny Birklund has been making and performing with puppets for over 20 years. She especially loves giant puppets and has helped many people over the years make their own characters with papier mache to participate in festivals and parades.

NOTE: These photos were taken at previous years' We Art the People giant puppet salsa parades, by Albuquerque photographer Deanna Nichols. See more of her photos on Flickr Thank you, Deanna, for allowing us to share them here.

P.S. The We Art the People parade is an annual event sponsored by OFFCenter to kick off our Folk Art Festival. This year's Festival is only a few days away -- come join us in Robinson Park, Sunday, Sept. 13!

Please contact OFFCenter to register for this workshop -- 505-247-1172.

More Summerfest Latin Night Art Projects

Like many of our visitors, this guy worked on more than one project.

The whole family learns about New Mexico punched tin work.

This girl colors in her punched image.

We all hammered to a Latin beat last Satureday!

We folded aluminum foil over a sturdy backing, then hammered a design with our homemade hammers and a big nail. Then we colored in the designs with permanent markers.

Summerfest Latin Night Art Projects

Saturday night was the last night of Summerfest 2009, and we got lots of kudos on our Latin-inspired art projects that intrigued adults and kids alike.

She and mom rode a tandem bike to Civic Plaza, and while mom rested under the tent, daughter made her shrine.

Our nichos project was very popular. Hers is adorned with shells and other small objects we set out on the tables.

This young gal was a repeat visitor this summer. Her nicho is called "Love."

These friends made nichos for their friends.

Stay tuned for our upcoming blog post about our other Latin-inspired art project -- we did our own "intro" version of punched tin work.

RUMMAGE SALE FUNDRAISER!

Saturday, August 1
7:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.
OFFCenter Studio Parking Lot

Come down Saturday morning and rummage through our collection of odds and ends in our parking lot between 7 and 11am – and help raise some money for OFFCenter!

Lots of good stuff will be on sale including:

• clothing


• fabric


• tools


• books


• housewares


• excess art supplies


• and other sundry items.

If you have some valuable items that you want to contribute drop them off before the sale.

When you are done complete your morning by browsing the fresh produce and art at the Downtown Growers Market across the street in Robinson Park!

Just a Few More Summerfest Photos

Our cozy tables and tent. Lots of room to create!

The hair beading table is always a hit. Margaret Lopez concentrates while big sister helps out.

We altered 45's in honor of Old Time Rock n Roll, aka "50's" Night.

We found out that you can be too young to make art.
Dad was willing, but Junior was determined to run and climb.

More Summerfest Artists

We featured some of the boys who visited our Summerfest booth on Saturday. Here are a few of the gals!

Exhibition: Earthquakes & Hurricanes

OFFCenter Featured Artist Series

West Coast -- Land of Earthquakes,
Southern Gulf Coast -- Land of Hurricanes,
Two Artists Meet
in the Land of Enchantment

Henry Kennison: native of New Orleans, survisor of Hurricane Katrina, presents his multi-media art in many styles.

Ayren Valery: Native of California, survivor of two major earthquakes, presents her photos in montage style.

Opening FRIDAY, AUGUST 7, 2009
5-8 pm
(exhibition thru Friday, Aug. 21, 2009)

Solo guitar by Becky Shreck

PLUS a Memorial Retrospective for Stephanie Anderson
Stephanie Anderson's art will continue to inspire a significant community of art makers and remind us of the amazing artist, friend, and shining light she was to all who had the fortune to know her. This exhibit is in her honor.

Click to download a color flyer from our website.

Boyz and Butterflies at Summerfest

Here are some of the fine young lads who visited our booth at Summerfest tonight, proudly sharing the projects they completed at our art tables. Our projects this week were butterflies made from fabric, glitter and clothespins; hair beading; and collaged 45 records to go with the 1950s musical Summerfest theme.

Stay tuned for more photos of this week's Summerfest.

The OFFBag Exclusively at OFFCenter

Here's a sturdy, recycled market bag developed by OFFCenter for OFFCenter -- and for you!
Drop by the studio to see what's in stock. They go too quickly to photograph each one . . .

Marcie models a medium sized OFFBag.

These market bags are so roomy and unique -- made almost exclusively ofrecycled plastic bags by a few of our studio artists. Prices range from $30 to $40 and we're selling these bags almost as quickly as we can make them.

Marcie tells me that it takes 100 years for ONE of the plastic bags in this OFFBag to break down. That's why so much of our art at OFFCenter is recycled -- we want to reduce, reuse, and raise funds for OFFCenter!