New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs

Click Here: Illuminating New Mexico, For America Goes Virtual, Bringing an Astronaut Back to Earth, and More

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 16, 2020

MEDIA CONTACT


Explore the latest online programming from the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA), bringing the state’s unique blend of cultures into your home through its museums, historic sites, and cultural institutions.

This week includes three outstanding programs:

The History and Literary Arts department at the National Hispanic Cultural Center presents the latest online lecture in the series Tertulia Histórica Albuquerque “Illuminating New Mexico: A History of Luminarias and Farolitos” via Zoom at 2 p.m. on December 19. State Historian Rob Martínez will examine the origins of these uniquely New Mexican cultural expressions. Before there was a Christmas tree, mistletoe, egg nog or Santa Claus, luminarias and farolitos were lighting the dark paths for ancient New Mexicans. Register for this free event here.

The New Mexico Museum of Art is offering virtual content from its current exhibition "For America: Paintings from the National Academy of Design,” including an interactive tour of the exhibit. Works by American artists are showcased across five exhibition sections: the origins of the Academy and the concomitant rise of the Hudson River School and American genre painting; the impact of contemporary European art and art education on the development of American painting; the Academy’s nascent role in the early 20th century as the purveyor of artistic tradition in the U.S.; how realism in its various incarnations remained a viable alternative to American abstraction; and the ways in which paintings from living National Academy members address contemporary concerns while harkening back to America’s storied past.

Join the Wonders on Wheels mobile museum program for new Music Mondays content, featuring activities, interviews with artists, story time, and presentations. Check out the latest video on the Wonders on Wheels YouTube channel, demonstrating how to make your own craft stick harmonica.

Here are other interesting programs from across the Department:

   •   Learn how to bring an astronaut safely back to Earth. New Mexico Museum of Space History educator Mike Shinabery explains the process using household items.

   •   Check out the newest installment of the Museum of Indian Arts & Culture artist and scholar dialogues series in which Lillia McEnaney spoke with Cannupa Hanska Luger (Mandan, Hidatsa, Arikara, Lakota, and European), a multidisciplinary artist who combines social collaboration with craft to visually communicate stories about contemporary Indigenity.

   •   The latest “This Week in History” post on the New Mexico Historic Preservation Division Facebook page examines several rural New Mexico county courthouses listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

More information related to social media and online resources for each division of DCA, including photos, is available upon request.

 



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