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Category: Front Page News Front Page News
Published: 28 October 2017 28 October 2017

By Mary Alice Murphy

Mimbres Region Arts Council Board President Maureen Craig opened the annual session on Oct. 25, 2017, by welcoming everyone and introducing Silver City Mayor Ken Ladner to speak.

"My wife and I would like to thank you for inviting us this evening," Ladner said. "I met with your executive director, Kevin Lenkner, and the city wants to help you with the Blues Festival so it will be bigger and better than it is even now."

Craig introduced the MRAC board members. Jay Hemphill and Jason Quimby are board members, as is Claudia Elferdink, who was unable to attend. The officers are Donna Sebastian, secretary; Bruce McKinney, treasurer; Carol Czujko, and "I am honored to be president."

She said the vision for the organization has changed to "Nurture a creative economy."

Craig announced the Blues Festival will add arts and crafts activities for adults and children. "We want to engage more of the community. We are seeking partnerships to expand the Blues Festival. Last year was the first Print Fiesta, where people could find tons of prints. The huge prints were made using a steamroller. We have discontinued Pickamania because of declining attendance and increasing costs."

She said Diana Ingalls Leyba would later give an update on the Youth Mural Project. "Thank you, Diana for leading the beautification of our community."

Craig said the Arte para Todos program provides an opportunity for children and adults to create art during outdoor festivals.

The New Mexico Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts support the Arte para Todos, and Freeport-McMoRan and Lineberry foundations support the Youth Mural Project.

"We are rebranding Mimbresarts.org," Craig said. "We have links to all our programs and links to other websites, with independent websites for the Chocolate Fantasia, the Blues Festival and the Print Fiesta.

"We are rolling out a new business membership program, with a lower membership level for smaller businesses," she continued. "We invite feedback. We want to have the downtown arts and galleries participating. It cost $180 a year or $15 a month."

Mimbres Region Arts Council holds two fundraisers a year. The Black Tie Ball, with the theme Arctic Vogue will take place Jan. 13, 2018, at the Grant County Veterans Memorial Conference and Business Center. Chocolate Fantasia will take place downtown Feb. 10, with the theme of Travels through Time.

"We do appreciate our volunteers so much, the long-term ones and the short-term ones for festivals," Craig said.

Next year's theme for the council will be Children's Literature. "We thank our sponsors, our members and our business members. We want to keep getting better. We are working hard to serve the community. If you are interested in volunteering, please call the office."

McKinney gave the treasurer's report and said the organization is down in members and sponsors, but up in grants. He noted that program services are the most expensive. "Last year, we had a shock in expenses. We have tried to scale down expenses, because revenues have come down, too. Our biggest challenge is the Blues Festival. It is a cultural success, but not as much of a financial success. We are focusing on improving that. You may see some proposals to look at alternatives to improve the finances."

Craig recognized the volunteers of the year, Mary Baumhover, Karol Warhank and Penny White. For board service, Craig recognized Juliana Albershardt, who stepped down last year after being a long-time board member, and Mimi Clark, "who just gets things done. She has been fantastic. She was president during the turnover between (former executive director) Faye (McCalmont) and Kevin (Lenkner)."

Oct. 29 will feature Arte para Todos as part of the Dia de los Muertos. Nov. 11 will kick off the Indie Folk Series with the Gabrielle Louise Trio at the Buckhorn Opera House in Pinos Altos. Jan. 26 will feature the Coteries as part of the Indie Folk Series, with Feb. 17 featuring Slaid Cleaves and March 10, a collaboration between the Indie Folk Series and the Silver City Blues Society featuring Missy Andersen. May 25-27 will bring the annual Blues Festival at Gough Park, and Fall 2018 will bring back the Southwest Print Fiesta.

Art education programs include the K-12 Southwest Student Art Exhibition; Blues in the Schools; Casas de Artes, which are pop-up art centers; PNM Fine Arts Fridays; Imagine That—a traveling art museum that will visit schools; and Youth Mural Camp and youth murals.

Craig said Janey Katz and Suzi Calhoun, who matched the Freeport-McMoRan Foundation grant, helped MRAC curate the art exhibit that will travel to as many schools as possible to give the students a museum experience on a small scale.

MRAC paid staff includes Lenkner, Office Manager Linda Gray, Bookkeeper Dea Gros and Elizabeth Rydeski, Event Coordinator and marketing.

Ingalls Leyba said the Big Ditch mural raised more than $22,000 from Comcast volunteers. "I still have raindrops. They will go on Yankie Street and a landscape mosaic at the Visitor Center on another wall. This one, funded by the Lineberry Foundation, will feature the Continental Divide Trail. The next Youth Mural Camp will take place again at the Silver City Public Library. And we are working on a mural for Memory Lane Cemetery."

Lenkner said MRAC is planning a social media campaign for the Youth Mural Project, as well as an individual website and new brochure, featuring all the murals in the community.

He presented MRAC 3.0. "There was MRAC before Faye, Faye was MRAC 2.0, and now we have MRAC 3.0. We are looking toward the future, looking at long-term."

Grant County has embraced performances. "There are now eight or nine groups, including what Faye is doing at the university. We are still doing the Indie Folk series. The university's job is to bring the world to Silver city. Our job is to grow what's here," Lenkner said.

He noted that change is difficult. "There will be more. If we don't change, we will become irrelevant. We want to serve the community and provide inclusion. With a small staff, there are only so many things we can do in the Wells Fargo location. Our next big idea is an arts center. We appreciate what Wells Fargo has done and is doing for us. We have a time frame for the arts center. We want to make significant progress by 2020. The tentative name for the center is Gila Center for the Arts. We need to find a larger exhibition space. We want to show things that may have more educational value, maybe not just to sell things. We want space for art and space for people. Not just visual arts, but also music and dance. An educational space and a community space. An active space where people are making art—sculpture, glass blowing, print making. We want to put them all under one roof or feature them periodically. It won't be just for our community; we want to attract people from outside. We will do more with Clay to build on the Clay Festival. We are trying to think manageable, but not small. We are thinking about the educational aspects and the economics of it. Arts are a great vehicle for growing creativity. Those who have access to the arts tend to do better academically."

"We want to be an anchor of downtown," Lenkner continued. "We think the whole of downtown would flourish as a result. Use the arts and art center for economic development. Bisbee turned a school into a center. Bisbee has already started a crafts school. If they can do it, we can do it better. It's our long-term vision. Join us in inventing MRAC 3.0."

Katz said she and Calhoun "are so excited by MRAC 3.0. We've looked forward to young people taking over, ones like Jay (Hemphill), Kristen Warhank, Jason Quimby. We know how good it feels to create. So many kids came to the Hub for the mural dedication of the mural they helped create. I would hear them grabbing Mom and saying: 'I did this and it will be here when I'm grown like you.' It is a way of meeting the next generation. When Suzi and I had the opportunity to match the Freeport grant for Imagine That, we jumped at it. It's time to think about giving away."

Craig thanked the attendees and invited them to eat the goodies prepared for them.