‘Meet The Neighbors’ Exhibit Runs At Village Arts Through Jan. 6, 2024

Artwork from the exhibit ‘Meet the Neighbors’ on display through the holidays at Village Arts at 216 DP Road. Courtesy/Village Arts

BY KEN NEBEL
Owner
Village Arts

Stop by your friendly neighborhood framing store and check out the new exhibit, “Meet the Neighbors”, on display through the Holidays! With 50 pieces of artwork ranging in subject matter from our ancient neighbors to the flora and fauna that live by out sides today, this show is sure to be a crowd pleaser, and it presents artwork made by your neighbors about the neighborhood!

Artists take viewers on a journey around the block to meet the new neighbors like Seth Dustin’s “Frenemies” and into their gardens with beautiful floral batiks by Gloria Sharp, collages of butterflies and birds by Sue Ellen Hains, and watercolor lilacs by Cindy Boone. Natural vegetation features with a ponderosa inspired knitted vest from Melissa Alexander and close up photography by Stephen Ledoux. Backyard visitors abound with mosaic acorn woodpeckers busy in the aspens, soaring watercolor vultures, inquisitive bears, sleepy foxes, and songbirds of all varieties. Of course, no show featuring backyard visitors would be complete without a deer or two, as in Kathi Geoffrion Parker’s oil painting “Hello Neighbor”, Paulette Woodall’s quilted “View From My Deck” and Jeannie Gibson’s “Out the Window”.

A trip through the stables is where we meet neighbors like Melissa Montoya’s pen and ink goat portrait, Phyllis Hamrick’s pastel horse, and Bonnie Dickman’s “Stable Singer” and “Cato vs. Toro” oil paintings. A broader appreciation of the area is captured in photography by Terrance Haanen, scratchboard by Frederick Jones, and beaded petroglyphs and vistas by Ann Greene.

Village Arts owner, Ken Nebel, is particularly excited about this show, saying “We are so blessed in Los Alamos to have such walkable neighborhoods and access to nature right outside the door. The artists captured that feeling so well! This exhibit is a perfect way for the staff at Village Arts to make an extra special effort to support all of our amazing artists throughout the year.”

Village Arts also plans to give a portion of all cash proceeds to the Pajarito Environmental Education Center on Small Business Saturday.

“The Center does such an amazing job of introducing us to our wild neighbors and supporting them makes perfect sense, especially with our current theme!” Nebel said. “As always, Village Arts invites viewers to vote on their favorite piece to put an artist in the running for a gift certificate to feed their artistic compulsion!”

Village Arts has a history of nearly two years of themed shows and a wonderful line up scheduled for 2024! All artists are welcome to show and sell their work and artwork is currently being accepted for “Catch of the Day” which will start 2024 off by prompting artists to celebrate recent achievements and bring in favorite creations both finished or in progress.

Every day is a beautiful day in the neighborhood at Village Arts, so stop on in to Meet the Neighbors from now through Jan. 6!

Village Arts is open 9 a.m.to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays and after hours by appointment. For more information or to check out what’s happening at Village Arts, come on down to 216 DP Road in Los Alamos, find Village Arts on Facebook and Instagram, or visit www.villageartsframing.com.