This weekend the brand new art building on campus held their grand opening, opening the finished building to the public for the first time. The opening consisted of the openings of the galleries and an open house for guests to wander about and check out the wonderful things art students are working on. The ribbon cutting ceremony started at 6:30pm on Friday, February 28th, 2020 with an excited crowd around the front of the building. Everyone was dressed nicely and we were able to enjoy music, food and some amazing art.
The front of the building was adorned with a white ribbon suspended between bronze stands sitting upon a red carpet. As well as artwork in the hallways from the students and a gallery full of artwork from the featured artists for “Labor: Motherhood & Art in 2020” featuring 22 artists and is full of work that I found caused me to reminisce about my childhood.
The Department head Julia M. Barello gave a speech thanking everyone for their hard work in the development of the building and the hard working people who made a fast paced move into the new building. As an art student, I was one of the people who put up the shenanigans from last semesters unorganized and premature move into the building. The shenanigans constantly disrupted classes and our ability to function properly as a student body known for being in their building all the time. We powered through, and the ribbon cutting ceremony reflects that. The ceremony continued with a speech from our Chancellor, Dan Arvizu, and finished with a word from the person who the building is named from, Ammu and her husband Rama Devasthali. Afterwards a group of people, including all three of the people who gave speeches performed the ribbon cutting itself.
The following day the building was once again open to the public for people to participate in workshops where people could create something to bring home. The workshops included a live model in the drawing studio, relief printing on tote bags, stamps in metals, ceramic mugs and more. Each thing included something for families and friends to come, make something and have a memory to take home with them. I spent most of the day volunteering in the printing lab helping families and children print images of Devasthali Hall onto tote bags. It was a quick hands on experience to promote the class that even students want more of. The print lab printed over 90 prints, 75 on tote bags, the remainder on paper and items that people brought in, including T-shirts.
Overall the event was a wonderful experience that many people from the community enjoyed. Seeing an art opening this big has given me hope and it is extremely exciting for me as a student in the department. If you did not make it to the event, keep your eyes peeled for an announcement for the next show being featured in the art gallery. You can also come to the gallery itself, it is still open and will have the “Labor: Motherhood & Art in 2020” until May 28th. The gallery is open Tuesday through Sunday 10-4.
Check out this short clip from the event on one of our local news stations. https://www.ktsm.com/local/las-cruces-news/nmsu-cuts-the-ribbon-on-new-art-building/