2016 Local Treasures
For the ninth year, the Albuquerque Art Business Association is honoring area artists who not only excel in the arts, but who have given back to their communities. By sharing their time, talent and passion, they help give birth to the next generation of art lovers and artists and sustain the hope that New Mexico will continue to be home to thousands of working artists for many years to come.
This year we honor these nine exceptional artists as Local Treasures. The awards ceremony will be held at the Albuquerque Museum of Art and History, Sunday, September 4, 1-3pm. In addition, there will be receptions for the artists at sponsoring galleries throughout the fall. The awards ceremony is free and open to the public. Keynote speaker will be Manuel Gonzalez, Albuquerque Poet Laureate.
Joan Fenicle:
Joan is an accomplished photographer and oil painter and has been a volunteer for many causes in and around Albuquerque. She was on the Board of Directors for the AABA for many years, serving as Treasurer for the organization and assisting in the coordination of the annual “Local Treasures” program. Most recently, Joan has volunteered with the Las Placitas Association in the planning and development of the local radio station (KUPR 99.9 FM) in Placitas which has been on the air since February of 2015. Her artistic endeavors are inspired by travelling the caminos and callejones of New Mexico and Colorado for over 40 years, documenting villages and vistas. Her passion is in the stories behind the images. She was nominated by Framing Concepts Gallery where there will be an opening reception First Friday, September 2.
Lyla Garcia:
Phil Hulebak:
Lifetime Albuquerque resident, Phil started his painting career and education in 1969 at Highland High School with his first art teacher, Frank McCulloch. Phil went on to study at UNM with Garo Antreasian, Mickey McConnell, Bryn Manley and Harry Nadler. Since his UNM days, Phil has continued his studies and for more than 40 years has been painting the New Mexico landscape. Primarily an oil painter, his impressionistic landscapes are in many private and public collections. A long-time believer that it is important to give back to the community that supports you, he has donated his work to The NM Diabetes Foundation, UNM Alumni Association, NM Cancer Center and both Lovelace and Presbyterian Hospitals. His work is represented in Albuquerque at The Sumner & Dene Gallery where there will be an artists’ reception honoring him First Friday, September 2.
Carol Maestas:
A native of Albuquerque, Carol traces her family to some of the earlty Spanish settlers in NM. She has been an artist all her life – painting, ceramics, jewelry making, paper work and, as of five years ago, watercolor. As Carol tells it, “I had a very serious mountain biking accident and could barely walk for a year or so. I decided rather than allow depression and frustration to set in, i would learn to paint, a long long dream. I found I had a hidden talent, a natural extension of who I am.” Throughout her time in Albuquerque, Carol has been active in both the New Mexico Art League and the Watercolor Society. She began selling her work to help raise awareness of Rett syndrome, a rare disease affecting nearly ever aspect of primarily girls’ lives: their ability to speak, walk, eat and even breathe easily.. One hundred percent of Carol’s art proceeds go to Rett Syndrome Research or helping families on behalf of her granddaughter who was diagnosed with the disease in March of 2015. Her work can be seen at Amapola Gallery in Old Town where there will be an artist’s reception First Friday, September 2.
CarolMaestasArt.com
Pat Marsello:
Pat is a long time Albuquerque resident contributing to many community programs and fundraisers. She has been a professional potter and brushwork painter since 1993, working primarily with stoneware and porcelain but combining other materials such as wood, metal and paper into her pieces. Her training began in New Hampshire and continued in China under the master painter, Ning Yeh. She teaches brushwork and clay to students and has done workshops at the Georgia O’Keefe Museum, Ghost Ranch and the Maxwell Museum as well as for ex-prisoners and elementary school children. She has won numerous awards including 1st place at the Santa Fe Challenge Fair, Grand Prize at the NM Arts and Crafts Fair and has been featured in an article in Ceramics Monthly. Her work can be seen at The Next Best Thing to BEING THERE!, a new gallery on Mountain Road, where there will be an artist’s reception for her Frist Friday, September 2.
Lee McVey:
Lee paints landscapes people feel they can walk right into. Her love of nature began as a young girl walking in the woods with her grandparents. She is a distinguished pastelist in the Pastel Society of New Mexico and a signature member of Pastel Society of America, Plein Air Painters of New Mexico, Plein Air Artists of Colorado, Pastel Painter’s Society of Cape Cod and Sierra Pastel Society. She has been featured in Pastel Journal, American Artist, International Artist, Professional Artist magazine and the books 100 Ways to Paint the Landscape and Plein Air New Mexico. For many years she taught elementary and middle school art and adult pastel classes. For several years, Lee and Marilyn Drake coordinated invitational and juried shows at Open Space Visitor Center in Albuquerque, bringing public awareness to the many Open Space lands of the City. Her work can be seen at Purple Sage Gallery in Old Town where there will be a First Friday reception for her First Friday, August 5.
Marcia Sednek:
Marcia is an accomplished repurposed materials artist exhibiting locally and nationally. For more than a decade she has supported emerging artists in her role as Studio Manager at OFFCenter Community Arts Project in Albuquerque, a free and open access arts studio. Prior to OFFCenter, she worked as a studio assistant at ArtStreet, an art therapy program within Albuquerque’s Healthcare for the Homeless. She is self-taught, fashioning found and familiar materials such as kitchen tins, cake pans and window screens into wearable art and metal dress sculptures. At OFFCenter, Marcia develops and recruits artists, manages display and sales in OFFCenter’s shop and gallery, and helps coordinate economic development initiatives for OFFCenter artists including the selection of art vendors for the annual “We Art the People” Folk Art Festival. There will be a reception for Marcia at OFFCenter Community Art Project First Friday, September 2.
Jorge Tristani:
Jorge has been a member of New Grounds Print Workshop since 2005. His specialty is multiplate gravure printmaking, recording places of Paradise – as well as Paradise lost – from all over the world. He also enjoys working with the figure. The grandson of legendary US Senator Dennis Chaves, Jorge was born in Puerto Rico and has been a school teacher at St. Pius for most of his life. He teaches math, Spanish, architecture, art history and coaches golf and soccer. In his spare time, Jorge has introduced his students to dancing salsa, regularly invites them to New Grounds on weekends to introduce them to printmaking and to collecting art. He organizes printing sessions for students and takes them across the world to introduce them to other cultures. He is a wonderful artist, family man, father to his adopted son, teacher, coach and art collector. His work can be seen at New Grounds Print Workshop where he will be honored with a reception Saturday, October 8, 4-6 pm
Alice Webb:
Alice arrived in Taos in 1973 at age 20 where she designed jewelry, studied tapestry weaving, created fiber sculpture and honed her drawing skills. Although she now has a Bachelors of Fine Art and a Masters of Art Education from UNM, it was by studying the Taos founders and painting in the very spots they frequented that she truly learned to paint. While creating and exhibiting her paintings nationally and internationally, she has been teaching at Washington Middle School, an at risk school near downtown Albuquerque. It is the oldest middle school in the state populated by economically and language challenged students. The list of other places she has taught art is long, including the Art Education Dept. at UNM, Harwood Art Center and Explora. This summer she is teaching art for the THINK Academy Summer Program at Albuquerque Academy. In 2015 she was one of 19 teachers in New Mexico to be named a Golden Apple Distinguished Teacher. Her work can be seen at Weyrich Gallery where she will be given a reception First Friday, September 2.