Santa Fe, NM
Canyon Road, October 20-21
This story was featured in the October 2017 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Get the Southwest Art October 2017 print issue or digital download now–then subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss another story.
As autumn’s brilliant hues deepen in the surrounding Sangre de Cristo Mountains, the Canyon Road Merchants Association presents its 10th annual Historic Canyon Road Paint and Sculpt Out in the heart of Santa Fe’s world-renowned arts district. The main event happens on Saturday, October 21, along historic Canyon Road, but the festivities commence the day before, when visitors can view artists’ demonstrations as they stroll down the shady half-mile lane lined with galleries, boutiques, and world-class restaurants. That evening, many artists are on hand to mingle with the public at opening receptions for new art exhibitions.
On Saturday at 10 a.m., more than 100 artists set up their tools along Canyon Road to celebrate its century-old tradition of painting and sculpting en plein air. “What people really enjoy is that they get to meet the artists and watch them work,” says Gary Sievert, vice president of CRMA and owner of Sage Creek Gallery. “It’s a tribute to the artist community that helped put Canyon Road on the map, when artists would sell paintings and sculptures to passers-by on the streets.”
Among the group this year is plein-air artist Bill Gallen, still-life painter Wendy Higgins, and various local sculptors, but potters, weavers, glass artists, photographers, and jewelry designers also showcase their talents. The public is encouraged to step inside the sculpture gardens and old adobe galleries, where they can also find artists demonstrating their creative processes. Figurative painters Michelle Dunaway and Linda Kyser Smith, for example, paint a live model in Sage Creek Gallery. Nearby, Barbara Meikle brings four-legged and feathered creatures to life on her canvases just outside her eponymous gallery on Delgado Street. “Barbara will probably have a burro there,” notes Sievert, “and she also works with a local wildlife shelter that brings in different birds, so people get to see the animals and then watch her paint them.”
A parade with marching bands from Santa Fe Public Schools fills the street with music at noon, and from 1 to 3 p.m., student musicians perform in choirs and string ensembles alongside the artists, who continue working until 4 p.m. —Kim Agricola
contact information
www.visitcanyonroad.com
This story was featured in the October 2017 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Get the Southwest Art October 2017 print issue or digital download now–then subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss another story.
MORE RESOURCES FOR ART COLLECTORS & ENTHUSIASTS
• Subscribe to Southwest Art magazine
• Learn how to paint & how to draw with downloads, books, videos & more from North Light Shop
• Sign up for your Southwest Art email newsletter & download a FREE ebook