I'd Walk a Mile for a Camel!

The Rupert News

Briefs Below

August 10, 2007

Editor,

After years of boycotting the Taos News, I recently started carrying the paper in my stores because I saw an editorial shift that seemed more engaged with progressive ideas for Taos. But, no more. The recent picture of Applebee's with fawning caption suggesting Taosenos are thrilled at the arrival of another corporate monster (one that could put local restaurants out of business), the ad for Camel cigarettes (in Spanish) in the "school" section of the paper and the ad for a local pawn shop which suggests that they deal in stolen merchandise was the last straw. Once again, you show an extreme insensitivity to members of the Taos community who are concerned about health and quality of life issues as well as the troubled economy for local businesses.

Applebee's is free to build anywhere they want, but not all communities want an Applebee's in their neighborhood. Despite their slogan "eatin' good in the neighborhood" Applebee's offers some of the worst food of many of the chain restaurants and have no real connection to neighborhoods they invade.

And because they sell their junk food at cheap prices they pose a threat
to local restaurants that don't have Applebee's buying power and
therefore are unable to compete with Applebee's prices. I know of two Taos
restaurants who are deeply fearful that Applebee's could put them out of
business. For the Taos News to feature Applebee's on their internet home
page with a caption suggesting that Taosenos just can't wait to line up
for Applebee's slop is a fantasy that exists in the heads of the editors
of the Taos News. In reality, many folks in Taos are sad to see another
sign of suburban sprawl being erected on our main drag. Its another
example of the rapid erosion of Taos' unique character. This beautiful
town is slowly losing its special charm. It is up to the citizens and politicos to develop a vision of what the future of Taos is going to be. Will we be "eatin' good" in a neighborhood that looks like every other town that has been decimated by strip malls and chain stores. The Taos News should pull its snout out the backsides of chain stores and tobacco companies and focus on what we can do to help local businesses succeed and flourish.

Hyping Applebee's may be your way of trying to grab their advertising dollars, but it ain't in the best interest of the local businesses who could be fatalities of Applebee's faux neighborliness. If I want baby back ribs I'm going to Brady's, Damon's or other locally owned restaurants in the neighborhood. That's "eatin' good".

As for the pawn shop ad that features the word "Steal?" next to a handful
of cash. Is this to suggest that they deal in stolen goods? Is it a joke? If so, its a bad one. Certainly someone at the Taos News might have suggested to the advertiser that the ad was in very bad taste.

Marc Campbell


Breaking News

According to the Town of Taos, “Town of Taos Police Chief Eddie Lucero submitted his notice of retirement to Town Manager Tomas Benavidez. Next week the Town of Taos Council will be asked to appoint an interim Police Chief. There will be a transitional period prior to the Chief's official date of retirement in October, 2007. Lucero indicated that his decision is for personal reasons, having nothing to do with his tenure as Town of Taos Police Chief. He is sorry to leave, but personal priorities require it.�

Today, all public officials, including Planning and Zoning Commissioners and CIA directors excuse their resignations by saying they need to spend more time with their families. Looking back at the brouhaha that surrounded the hiring of the controversial chief, it all seems like a silly waste of energy, now, especially the politics of bigotry that accompanied it. The man on the right, who seems to be playing an increasing role in local politics, may have called it. Well, Eddie gave it a good shot. We hear the department backs Capt. Syling just about one-hundred percent. Recently, in Santa Fe and Espanola, cops have been voting yea and nay against or in favor of their chiefs. So maybe grassroots response and concern by those who do the work on the street is spreading. Or maybe police chiefs are becoming like planning department directors in Taos: they are just visiting. We wonder what plans Boss Jeff may have for the mayor and manager. Taos is a strange place. When the mountain gets involved and the pendulum swings, anything can happen.

Media Criticism

Yesterday's post (below) from Mark Campbell may be prescient but BBQ at Applebee's is the least of the it at The Taos News. Somebody might mistake that Camel's ad in The Taos News for propaganda and a new ironic comment on cancer. Look at the half-page ad below the photo of some sweet Yaxche kids and an article about GEDs and you might think the local news is flogging cigarets to kids. Talk about bad taste. Course, coporate journalism will do anything to make a buck today. Maybe Rupert Murdoch is coming to town. What's next? Sour Mash for Minors? There's another ad in the paper that ambiguously suggests you can off load your DVDs, no matter how acquired, to the equivalent of a local but legal fence. Great community values, Chris. While Horse Fly fights to protect the First Amendment from retaliatory politicos, The Taos News exploits the Constitution on behalf of greed. You guys have really scored a big one this week.

Dog Days

It's the Dog Days of Summer, when heat and humidity burn through the body and brain, the way Slick Gus Cordova is burning through his supporters in Espanola. According to an article in yesterday's Rio Grande Sun, he may have lost the support of as many as six councilors-due as much to hiring a union buster as his own arrogance--if you read between the lines. In the last few weeks, the 19-year Town of Taos manager, now running things in Espanola, has been accused of micromanaging the police department, shorting the library on funds, union-busting, and surprising the council with a last-minute budget. Sound familiar? According to the Rio Grande Sun, he has been the sixth manager since March of 2006. Espanola is a tough town when it comes to politics.

Apparently, only Mayor Joseph Maestas and a bit of procedural finagling, based on the re-interpretation of the Open Meetings Act, may have saved Slick from the axe this last week. While Gus may be thinking about a return to Taos, the announcement that the Quixotic Sanchez is running for Town Council in Taos will, in all reality, forestall that fantasy. Sanchez is absolutely serious about throwing more than his old hat into the race aand taking a seat as the ultimate swing-vote. He plans on making it absolutely hot for Erlinda, Meliton, and the Mayor. Vote one time for Sanchez and see the council and mayor squirm. Tomas might as well start sending our those resumes. He may not agree with Darren and Rudy on much, but Tomas will be a marked man if Sanchez wins.

Discontent among local merchants has never been higher. Apparently, local retail shops, art galleries, and ancillary businesses are suffering from poor visitor counts. The nationwide sub-prime crisis is affecting the real estate market. Sure, the evil developers are coming to the P&Z table with a variety of projects: condos, single family residential subdivisions, etc. And we hear the builders are thrilled by the new composition of the town's Planning and Zoning Commission. The Cunnyngham project in the county looks like a proposal that will fill up the hillsides around Miranda Canyon with highly visible second homers and it along with a number of projects may keep things going financially for the gray hairs.

But there's more to the quality of life and savoring the spirit of community than building houses. Though the Town of Taos has thrown a few bones to the art community and tried to move marketing away from local in-fighters among the hospitality and recreational industry, the total amount of money involved equals little more than the salary of one highly paid town manager (about $120 grand, including benefits), according to nebulous reports. This despite generating an estimated $800,000 a year in lodger's tax. Ten percent of the marketing funds are used for promotion and 90% for something called “Visitor Counseling� i.e. the convention center, Chile Line, and Visitor's Center. Nothing much changes here despite the last three years of stories about the lack of concern by politicos for the fast-disappearing vitality, which once made Taos attractive. While Taosenos for Real Traffic Relief meet to greet traffic problems, I can't see where the traffic congestion is? Or maybe there are plenty of cars but fewer pedestrians? Who knows.

It seems as if the private sector is promoting its assets. First rate art shows include the Diebenkorn at the Harwood, National Museum of Women in the Arts, New Mexico version coming up at the Harwood and the MRM, the Ribak-Mandelman retrospective at Fenix, new work at Parks, and there's a variety of shows at galleries throughout the community. But without a community-wide marketing program that targets traditional and new sectors of the tourist economy in nearby states, Taos is not competitive: we just can't sell to each other like the kiddie drug dealers on the Plaza. There's a kind of slackness in the air. (I wish somebody would send me the latest comparative occupancy rates.)

If you drive around town, however, you can see the accelerating gentrification of Taos historic neighborhoods. Sure, that's good for those involved in remodeling and construction and real estate. But do any of these folks purchasing expensive homes live here and take part and buy stuff besides espresso and meals in the community? And the local folks are being driven out or selling and moving.

I've heard Councilor Rudy Abeyta complain how local folks take their dollars south to buy stuff but where's the leadership that should be promoting our local businesses? What chamber? Complaining about the P&Zers is a red herring. As everybody knows, it's damn difficult to open a new business in the Town of Taos and to keep one going, due to the bureaucracy, which has nothing to do with commissions.

We hear that Lowe's may be coming to town. I'm sure Randall's, Rio Grande Ace, Cook's, and Olguin's will be happy to hear about that just as Shadows will probably welcome Applebees with open arms. Say what? Rudy also talks about affordable housing. What affordable housing? What is affordable housing? Putting two working people in the banker's jail so they can rent a mortgage for thirty years is not affordable housing. It serves contractors, maybe, developers, land sellers, and realtors.

Isn't Rudy a realtor? I have nothing against realtors. Some of my oldest friends and ex-drug dealers and bartenders are realtors. Everyone needs to make a living. But there's more to life than selling land or (even art and potato chips). We need a more balanced economy

I hear that one house has been built at Chamisa Verde since the first of the year. Surely that can't be true. Councilor Abeyta is a good example of cognitive dissonance. He and his bro make a living off development, i.e. a market driven by second homers, not affordable housing or the vitality of the historic tourist economy, except when it is used as bait for buyers. Apparently it's all about catch and release and churning the water, not about keeping folks in town, whether native or newcomer, so they will enjoy the sights and sounds and spend money for days on end.

The current trend looks like all local politicos are passively reacting to the market, getting by by selling second homes, which leads to unoccupied dwellings, suburban ennui, and an increasing trend toward relying on gross receipts tax revenue generated by corporate fast-food and retail operations as substitute for a vital local economy. It's sure easier to deal with the management of Applebees than a bunch of cantankerous local yokels. (where's Applebees gonna get the staff by the way?) Second homers, god love'em, of retirement age, probably read free newspapers and watch TV or go hiking but they ain't buying art and jewelry or we aren't getting the right demographic, so to speak. Or maybe they are tired of rubber tomahawks and t-shirts from the fakirs.

Once second homers visit their second, third, or fourth home and thanks to the omnipresent propaganda of the corporate press, which says entertain yourself, they shop the internet, in Santa Fe, Albuquerque, or while they travel. Just as the economic gap is increasingly creating a two class society in America, so the culture gap and literacy gap are broadening and leaving a functionally illiterate class behind in the brush smoking cannabis. Increasingly, Taos no longer makes an impact the way it once did on folks in terms of its artistic, creative, spiritual, and cultural spirit-except for the view-shed aficionados. When I go to gallery openings, there's generally little in the way of vitality or even support by artists for other artists. In other words, I see a kind of myopia infecting all parts of the community, including politicos, who are still hanging on to the notion that is us against them even as they sell out their neighbors. We need to wake up and smell the sagebrush.

In my travels among the cultures in Taos, I sense a great deal of hostility on the street, among both natives and so-called newcomers. It's being directed at town councilors and county commissioners alike. Sure, there's plenty of people who are out of touch. But, I sense that the voters are not happy. Frankly, I fear for the justice center project, due as much to deserved criticism of the county as it is due to cynicism in general about government. From Washington D.C. to Taos to the County, folks are fed-up with those who act as if they are the exclusive arbiters and deciders. Actions speak way louder than words and the people are way smarter than the politicians. Pockets are being picked and when the economy suffers, your American voter gets pissed off.

Applebee's Controversy

"What Taoseños want to know is when we can order our Applebees Honey BBQ
Baby Back Ribs".

I know of no Taosenos who want to know when they "can order our Applebees
Honey BBQ Baby Back Ribs". I know of several local businesses (Brady's, for instance) who fear being driven out of business by Applebees. We don't need another chain restaurant in Taos. We need more locally owned and operated businesses. I have yet to meet a single person who thinks Applebees is good for Taos. I cannot believe you guys are shilling for a corporate predator who sells unhealthy food in a souless environment. Congratulations Taos News for once again proving how out of touch you are with the community you supposedly report on. Are you whoring for Applebees advertising dollars?

Marc Campbell, Mondo Video (Independently owned and operated).


THE TEXAS SAPPHIRES
ON TOUR THROUGH WEST
BEHIND NEW LIVE RECORDING

Upcoming ROADHOUSE GEMS LIVE Features Boy-Girl Harmonies,
Fine Musicianship and Original Songs that Fans Crave

AUSTIN, Texas -- The Texas Sapphires, the five-piece alt-country-hillbilly-bluegrass combo set to release this summer its ROADHOUSE GEMS LIVE @ John T. Floore Country Store in Helotes (Stag Records), is touring behind the new recording and its debut, making stops from New Mexico to Wyoming, with several shows across Texas.

The Texas Sapphires play at 9 p.m. Friday-Saturday, August 10 and 11, at Sagebrush Inn, 1508 Paseo Del Pueblo Sur in Taos Cover is free; information: 505.758.2254.

The band's debut album on Stag (label co-owner Gary Moore says the combo fits the label's sound "like a well-worn vintage boot") was VALLEY SO STEEP, with a dozen songs like the swing-rocker "The Emerald Outlaw" that feature a classic twang and keen and clear harmonies by band front man Billy Brent Malkus and Rebecca Lucille Cannon, who "together make formidable duet partners."

Dirty Linen magazine (the April/May 2007 issue) continues: "... While the band's overall accomplished playing is enough to draw the listener in, The Sapphires' real beauty lies with Malkus' lyrics, which possess a poetic prose atypical of [roots-centric bluegrass, honky-tonk-country and singer-songwriter-folk]. Occasionally subtle metaphysical imagery seeps through, and many tunes are centered on quirky, humorous derelicts. ... Somehow it all works, and this disc can be treasured by those craving sharp steel guitar, fiddle and guitar flat-picking playing or those salivating for thought-provoking lyrics."

The upcoming release, recorded in the famous Texas country store of John T. Floore, will be out later this summer. Calling the band "a breath of fresh air," Americana singer-songwriter Jesse Dayton of Austin blessed The Sapphires for "bucking the trend of the ultra conservative/safe Texas Music scene."

In addition to Malkus (guitar, Dobro and piano) and co-lead vocalist Cannon, The Texas Sapphires are Bobby Daniel on bass guitar and Bob "Slim Bawb" Pearce on banjo, mandolin, Dobro and steel guitar. Honorary Sapphires include Lloyd Maines (Dobro, pedal steel), Kim Deschamps (pedal and lap steel, Dobro, banjo), Nathan Fleming (pedal steel, Dobro), Scotty Mathews (drums) and Justin Kolb (bass).



Opening Reception: Friday, August 10, 2007, 5:00-7:00 pm
Exhibition Dates: August 10 - October 6, 2007
Contact: Hannah Hughes: hannah@jameskelly.com

Above left: Richard Long, Untitled, 2004, Cornish china clay on Umpqua River drift wood, 71-1/2 x 2-7/8 x 3-1/4 inches.

James Kelly Contemporary is pleased to announce an exhibition of sculpture with work by Roni Horn, Michael Heizer, Tom Joyce, Donald Judd, Sherrie Levine, Richard Long, John McCracken, Ken Price, Kiki Smith, Fred Wilson and Robert Wilson. The show is diverse in media and approach, ranging from minimal to figurative, from porcelain to plastic.

Untitled (89-49 Ballantine) by Donald Judd is a classic work with four plywood box units installed on the wall. Each box is the same size and open to the room, but they are partitioned differently within. The piece is an example of Judd's "specific object" which is three-dimensional yet non-anthropomorphic and non-referential, involved with real space rather than illusion. Roni Horn's floor piece, Kafka's Complaints, Selected (Fur & Teeth), holds to some tenets of minimal art, while contradicting others. It consists of two rectangular blocks composed of plastic and aluminum in which the red plastic spells out "fur" in one block, and "teeth" in the other; both words being among the most frequently cited complaints from Letters to Felice by Franz Kafka.

Oof is a new example of Ken Price's sensual and humorous work with "blob" forms whose source, according to Dave Hickey, is "in primal soup where the surfer's ride begins and ends." In Oof, the blobs are bunched together, suggesting growth and multiplication of form. Berg XIII, forged from a massive scrap iron ingot by Tom Joyce, is also suggestive of organic form. The title refers to the fact that this sculpture is only the visible portion of a much larger piece of iron that has been used in aPublic Service Announcement
For Immediate Release
Contact: SOMOS 758-0081 somos@laplaza.org

Poetry Reading and Gallery Showing of the late poet
and “Quiet Legend� Robert Sund
The reading will take place on Saturday August 11th at 7:00 PM at the Rane Gallery on Ledoux Street in Taos. Cost is a suggested donation of $5
Glenn (Chip) Hughes, editor, and Taoseno Arthur Greeno will read poems from Taos Mountain, the new full-length book of poetry by Robert Sund. Sund who was mentored by Theodore Roethke was a much-loved poet, painter, and calligrapher of the Northwest.
Taos Mountain derives from a large, unrevised manuscript written by Sund during a long stay in Taos in 1991. Before his death in 2001, Sund requested that Hughes edit the manuscript into a book of poetry interspersed with prose pieces, in the manner of Sund's award-winning first book, Bunch Grass. Several of Sund's original paintings from Taos Mountain will be on display the evening of the event.

Democratic Party of New Mexico
Discussion Panel on March Precinct Elections in Taos County,
Kachina Lodge 413 Paseo del Pueblo Sur, Aug 12 1:30 pm - 3:00 pm

The Democratic Party of New Mexico's Chairman Brian Colón and state officers will be hosting a Discussion Panel in Taos on Sunday, August 12th, at the Kachina Lodge beginning at 1:30 PM.

The Discussion Panel will be an informational session that is geared to give party activists and community members an opportunity to address their concerns about precinct elections that were held in Taos on March 13, 2007. The Discussion Panel will then use information and testimonies from the August 12th meeting to ensure that precinct elections in the future are fair and inclusive.

All members of the community are encouraged to participate.

TCA Coming Events

Iconographic
Fri. 8/10 - Wed. 8/15 - Opening Reception Fri. 8/10, 5-7pm.
An art exhibition by Ed Heffernan, Jonathan Blaustein & Jessie Kaufman in the Stables Gallery.

Diva Dog: Pit Bull on Wheels presented by Stray Hearts
Sat. 8/11 at 7pm.
Tickets at the door.

"Angel-A" presented by Movies at the TCA

Sun. Aug. 12 at 2pm & Mon. & Tues. Aug. 13 & 14 at 7:30pm NEW TIME
Shot in striking black & white with Paris as the backdrop, this stylish and sentimental film tells a timeless love story in a new & interesting way. Every second ANGEL-A is on screen she is so excruciatingly beautiful & captivating the viewer might see her in color. Tickets $7, TCA Members & Students with ID $6. Box Office opens 45 minutes prior to screening.

Living Treasures
Sun. 8/12 at 1pm
Join in honoring some of Taos' extraordinary elders at Bataan Hall. FREE.

Concert for Kids at Risk
Fri. 8/17 at 7:30pm
Tickets $15 at the door.

Music from Angel Fire Concert
Sat. 8/18 at 7pm
Info. & Tickets at 505-820-2540.

Rent the Stables Gallery
Only a few weeks available to rent this summer. November and December discounted rates $15/hour, $65/day, $350/week. Call Kristine today, 758-2052.

Reminder:
UNM registration is due now for the fall semester. There are some wonderful art, film and cultural classes offered.

TCA provides this calendar as a community service.
Please support the TCA with your donations. Visit www.taoscenterforthearts.org and click on the DONATE NOW button or call the TCA, 758-2052.


Kristine Rippel
Marketing & Facility Manager
Taos Center for the Arts
505-758-2052

RMYC

For the eleventh year, the Rocky Mountain Youth Corps, Taos, secured funding and in-kind support from the New Mexico Youth Conservation Corps, Carson National Forest, Village of Questa, Bureau of Land Management, and Town of Taos for its Summer Youth Conservation Corps Crews.

Among this summer's projects, RMYC had a crew remove trash and invasive plant material from three miles of the Rio Fernando in Taos, starting at Fred Baca Park. Six crew members, and a supervisor, worked for eight weeks and removed 40 trailer loads of debris. Two attached photos show the crews working in the Rio Fernando, and one shows the Town of Taos Council and Management Staff on 8/8/907 reviewing the great work that was completed, and thanking the RMYC for their efforts.

The Summer Youth Conversation Corps Crews of the RMYC specifically focus on trail improvement, community infrastructure development, and public lands restoration. This year's overall Summer Corps funding was over $200,000. The Town of Taos contributed $12,500 to the specific Rio Fernando effort, plus in-kind support. The youth employed by RMYC not only earn $6.40 an hour, but receive invaluable workforce training, learn new skills, learn how to work as a team including conflict resolution, and undertake projects that provide a sense of worth and completion. The RMYC web site provides more information at http://www.youthcorps.org.

Mary Passaglia, RMYC Development Director, will be present this afternoon to provide further details about the project, the crews, and the RMYC.

Passaglia can be reached at 505-751-1420 or jjordy@youthcorps.org. Carol Colonius, Executive Director and Co-Founder of the RMYC can be contacted at the same phone number. His email is colonius@youthcorps.org.

Road Closures

Road Closure Continues: As previously announced, New Mexico Department of Transportation, District 5, is working on redesigning Highway #585 (Canon).

In a week, around August 16th, this work will affect Taos Middle School's entrance/exit for those exiting onto Gusdorf and wishing to head south to #585. The section between the arroyo and #585 will be closed through October.

This is the same section of Gusdorf that is currently closed due to Town of Taos Utility Department work in the arroyo/flood control area as they replace the bridge. This work by the Town is schedule to be completed by the end of August, but NMDOT will continue to have this section closed through October.

Karyn Lujan, PIO
District Five NMDOT
827-9567 office
231-4431 cell

Bio Demos

BLPs, FLPs, and the Biology of Democracy

Editor:

Anyone who has used marijuana medically knows that it is effective medicine. As a
scientist, I can assure you that there are numerous peer-reviewed articles that support
the patient's claim. However, what I want to talk about today is that marijuana not only
promotes the health of individuals, but of our democracy and possibly mankind.

Fundamental physical laws of the universe are responsible for all creative forms, from
galaxies to humanity. Even man's economic, political and social systems have evolved by a common underlying process. Intrinsically, the yin and yang of ongoing creation may be found in; capitalism vs. socialism, conservatives vs. liberals, democracies vs. fascism. In all manifestations of life, a tension between opposites is the functional reality.

All levels of life must maintain balance between the nourishment extracted from the
environment and the waste returned to the environment in order to create and maintain
health. The production of free radicals is a common denominator that signals an
imbalance between a life form and its sustaining environment. Free radicals are highly
reactive and modify the chemistry of life. They are believed to be responsible for aging
and age-related illnesses such as cardiovascular disease, auto-immune disorders,
cognitive dysfunction, and cancers. Marijuana-like compounds, known as
endocannabinoids, are produced by all humans and are central players in life's
biochemical balancing act, known as homeostasis.

Using this platform, we can speculate on the biology of democracy and the role played by endocannabinoids and marijuana. Mankind is engaged in an evolutionary genetic battle between more primative cannabinoid deficient people who are backward looking people, BLPs, and evolutionarily more advanced cannabinoid endowed people. who are forward looking people, FLPs. BLPs appear to be found in a high concentration in the United States government, whereas FLPs are excluded from our government, both naturally and by law. I propose that BLPs are deficient in endocannabinoids in the areas of the brain that allows for change, Bush being a prime example. BLPs look backwards and therefore tend to agree with each other. Through this consensus BLPs gain power. In contrast, FLPs look to the future with optimism because they are wired to embrace change. They have no unity of thought, other than cooperative acceptance of diverse opinions. They therefore historically tend not to gain power.

Mankind's survival may depend on FLPs taking control before environmental change
causes the extinction of Homo sapiens. In this rapidly changing world, we need to be
responsive as new information becomes available. Mankind cannot make the
evolutionary shift quick enough. Therefore, we need to increase the cannabinoid activity
of the population by external means. More wisely motivated cannabis consumption may
be necessary to save the species.

There are additional benefits that may occur if this path develops. One hundred years ago
people in the US were predominantly dying from infectious diseases. Since cannabinoids
reduce the inflammatory arm of the immune system, relatively lower levels could have
been beneficial. However, today the main causes of death in the United States and many
other so called advanced countries are age related illnesses. In animal models of diseases, the onset and severity of illnesses such as diabetes, arthritis, Crohn's disease,
Alzheimer's disease, arteriosclerosis, etc, are helped by cannabinoids.

Leaders who are BLPs cannot lead. Think of the insanity. BLPs have outlawed the use of an anti-aging plant. They incarcerate good human beings for defying stupidity. FLPs
have a fundamental moral obligation to participate in, and improve our society. We need
a revolution of consciousness that will manifest itself in a new world. We must embrace
positive change in all aspects of our lives especially in the voting booths. We must
demand that political candidates address marijuana prohibition. We must all work
together to bring about the necessary changes that will end the current insanity that
characterizes our relationship with mother earth.

Dr. Robert Melamede
Associate Professor and Biology Chairman (ret)
Biology Department
University of Colorado
1420 Austin Bluffs Parkway
Colorado Springs, CO 80918

Art

WHO: SHELLEY HORTON-TRIPPE
WHAT: “AFTER Blumenschein, After D.H. Lawrence� an Exhibition of NEW PAINTINGS
WHEN: Sunday, August 12 1-4 pm
WHERE: The Blumenschein Museum 222 Ledoux Street, Taos, New Mexico

On Sunday, August 12, The Blumenschein Museum in Taos, New Mexico hosts an Opening of New Paintings by Santa Fe artist, Shelley Horton-Trippe, from 1 to 4 pm.

The exhibition titled “AFTER…Blumenschein, After D.H. Lawrence� is an homage to historical artworks studied by the artist while in Taos in the Harwood Museum of Art's Artist-Residency Program. For the last two months, Horton-Trippe has been painting in Bert Harwood's original studio and studying at the Taos Research Center adjacent to the museum.

These new abstract paintings are influenced by Mary Greene Blumenschein and Ernest Blumenschein, one of the original Taos Founders, as well as, the pseudo-pornographic paintings of D.H. Lawrence, which are housed at the Taos La Fonda Hotel.

The paintings are exhibited as a site-specific installation in the old adobe which was once the home and studios of the Blumenschein family. .

“The paintings stand on their own, but having such a rich opportunity to include the work in this site-specific way extends the paintings beyond their surface or motive and allows them to participate like actors in a play� says the artist.

Shelley has been working with the notion of combining her painting and installation work for many years.