A Las Vegas Artists' Salon!

Writer Brian Sandford (yellow shirt on the far left) leans in to hear a Las Vegas artist answer his questions.

This past Saturday, I hosted an artists' salon in my home. It was a lot of fun, and we had some very interesting conversations around art. But the impetus for this event was a visit from a new friend and writer for Pasatiempo, which is the award-winning arts and culture magazine published by The New Mexican – Brian Sandford.

We met earlier this year when my Co-Chair of the New Mexico State Committee of the National Museum of Women in the Arts, Tracy King, introduced us to promote the NMC's inaugural Artist Registry Exhibition at the Turner Carroll Gallery on Canyon Road. Brian wrote a fabulous article about the exhibition, and since then, I've made a point to read everything he writes for Pasatiempo.

As we talked about art, I told Brian about Las Vegas' art scene, and he said he was interested in writing about it. So, we scheduled a visit! And in the meantime, I invited six local artists and then asked them to invite another artist. That way, the attendees would be a wider cross-section than the artists that I knew.

In the end, 13 artists, plus me, all crowded into my dining room to talk about their art, art in general, and answer Brian's questions. (The room is actually rather small, so I was only able to fit about half of the group into the photo above.)

Afterwards, Brian said:

I cannot say enough positive things about what you did yesterday. I told a couple of the artists, "I knew when I woke that this would be a day I'd never forget, in a positive way. It's special when you know that going into a day." I've never experienced anything like yesterday.

 I obviously interview lots of artists in one-on-one settings, but I'd never sat in a room with them and watched them react to one another's statements and/or meet one another for the first time. I felt ensconced in "the art world," like I'd cashed in a golden ticket allowing deeper understanding of what I do for a living.

One of the artists said:

It took me a day to settle down from the very good mental/emotional/creative stimulation of Saturday's Artist Salon, but I wanted to thank you for organizing and hosting the event with Brian. I think it was a great success and the evidence of that is that everyone stayed until the very last minute!  Brian was an excellent 'participant observer', as they say in cultural anthropology, asking very thoughtful questions and listening so deeply that he picked up on and reflected back insights that may have been under conscious awareness for us, the artists! That is skill!  I think there should be more of these events in the future, and I would consider hosting. 

And another artist who studied at an atelier in Seattle, WA, said:

The artists salon reminded me so much of when I studied at the atelier. Your question about if you see color, line, shape or form first when you are attracted to certain subject matter still has me thinking. Very nostalgic and illuminating. Hope to attend another in the future. 

Personally, afterwards, I felt energized and joyful. Being surrounded by other artists, hearing all the different ways they create, and how they see the world was pure magic.

Now Brian is planning another trip to Las Vegas to check out our art galleries and the many other talented artists in town and at the New Mexico Highlands University (NMHU) Art Department. Afterward, he plans to write a feature story on NMHU's 12th Annual New Mexico Painters' Exhibition for the September 5th edition of Pasatiempo. Additionally, he writes an editorial column for the magazine every 3 weeks, which will be that September 5th issue, and will use it to tell readers, "Here's why the Las Vegas art scene deserves your attention." Dreaming big, he also hopes that his story will be featured on the magazine's cover. 

All in all, I think the Las Vegas artists' salon was a success, and I'm looking forward to reading Brian's article about his experience. Don't worry, dear reader, I'll post a link to it on my blog so you can read it too. 😊

And maybe, just maybe, we will have another artists' salon just for the joy of being together and talking about art.