Cibola Arts Council plans holiday events

By Mike Marino
Cibola County Bureau

GRANTS — The arts are thriving in Cibola County and it’s been a record-setting year for gallery events and attendance at the Cibola Arts Council/Double Six Gallery

Executive Director Robert Gallegos said this week.
Not content to rest on their laurels, they’re getting warmed up for the holiday season. Summer was busy for them, and in August they said they had the highest attendance numbers in their history, 224 people coming through the doors of the gallery, Gallegos said. September was the second busiest month for attendance with 214 visitors, and July saw 194 registered visitors.

In conjunction with the gallery, the Cibola Arts and Artifacts Museum opened with a reception, and was recently named with the recent Archeology Fair that involved state and city cooperation among the many entities that are trying different avenues to drive more tourism to the area. The gallery and museum hosted lectures on the evening of the opening day of the fair, and extra chairs had to be brought in just to accommodate the crowd, Gallegos said.

“We were moving displays to make more room and I was on the phone trying to find more seating. The crowds in the park were a good indication of what we could expect that night, so we wanted to be prepared,” Gallegos said.
As if the last part of the year wasn’t busy enough at the gallery they have a schedule of events to appeal to a wide cross section of the community. The current student art exhibit is on display and will remain in place until Dec. 31 and new student art will replace it for the new year. The artists exhibits usually have a theme such as Mount Taylor or Chaco, but starting Nov. 1 and running through Feb. 29 will be an exhibit of new works by members that will be free form and non-thematic, however, in conjunction with the show, the Chaco display will remain in place until Dec. 31.

The Western New Mexico Ceramics show closed recently and was the largest show of its kind in the region with a large display of ceramic art. Now the gallery is focusing on miniature art for the Lilliputian Art Show slated to begin on Nov. 26 and run through Dec. 15 featuring “tiny art” by local artisans. It can be any form of art and the purpose is to have fun with the medium chosen.

“We also hope to schedule a book signing by some of our local authors. We decided to include written works along with visual arts,” Gallegos said. The Christmas season just wouldn’t be right without music and on Dec. 12, the gallery host a Mariachi Celebraton Concert.

Information: Cibola Arts Council/Double Six Gallery, 287-7311 or visit their Web site at www.cac66.com