A time for transformation

A summer gallery guide

Most years, as summer approaches, Santa Feans notice a bustling energy sweep through art districts across town. From Canyon Road and downtown to the Railyard, Baca Street, the Siler-Rufina district and beyond, anywhere bright landscapes pop against white walls or shadows creep through cracks of sculpture, visitors appear in droves.

Such was not the case in 2020, when COVID-19 regulations and health concerns caused galleries to shut their doors. But this season, while art spaces continue to make adjustments due to the pandemic, life is flowing back into the veins of Santa Fe’s art community. Some galleries are allowing a limited number of visitors while others are open only by appointment or invitation. And difficult times have led to innovations, with galleries offering online models and showing works in unconventional spaces.

CURRENTS 826 826 Canyon Road, 505-772-0953 currentsnewmedia.org

Fans of emergent media will be pleased at the return of the CURRENTS New Media Festival in June. Currents 826, the organization’s cutting-edge space on Canyon Road, is currently limiting its capacity to five visitors at a time. In conjunction with the festival’s main exhibition at CCA Santa Fe from June 18 to June 27, Currents 826 shows work from Tango Dance by Michelle Hessel and Mint Woraya, a series exploring the limits and potential of storytelling through 3D scans of moving subjects. Also on view are string theory-inspired glassworks by Reilly Donovan.

LEWALLEN GALLERIES 1613 Paseo de Peralta, 505-988-3250 lewallengalleries.com

A hallmark location at the Santa Fe Railyard, the spacious halls of Lewallen Galleries are split into two divisions: a contemporary sector, showing works from both well-known and rising living artists, and a modern division, which displays works from master American and European modernists. With 14,000 square feet of space, Lewallen is an ideal spot to see art in person while maintaining social distance. Lewallen has also increased its virtual content as of late. Notably, a panoramic, immersive digital space allows viewers to “walk through” an exhibit by plein air painter Jivan Lee by clicking and mouse dragging. Links to time-lapse videos and audio clips abound. The gallery plans something similar for Lee’s newest solo exhibition, opening July 23.

FOTO FORUM 1714 Paseo de Peralta, 505-470-2582 fotoforumsantafe.com

With a darkroom directly attached, nonprofit photography gallery Foto Forum couldn’t get much more local and in-the-moment. Friday openings will resume this summer, with occupancy limited to accommodate social distancing and with masks required. Borderland, a photographic series by Yemeni-bosnian-american multimedia artist Alia Ali, opens on June 4.

FRITZ + KOURI 505-820-1888, fritzkouri.com

What was once known as gallery FRITZ has rebranded as Fritz + Kouri, vacating its physical location in the Santa Fe Railyard and evolving into an entirely online model. Owner Deborah Fritz and managing partner Justin Kouri continue the gallery’s focus on emerging and mid-career artists

through a new digital-first initiative, with video interviews and digital viewing rooms found on the gallery’s website, social media and Artsy.net pages. The gallery, whose artists are more than 70 percent female, focuses on the young and diverse this summer. The spotlight is on new work from Albuquerque-based textile artist Jen Pack and Native American sculptor Raven Halfmoon (Caddo Nation). Multimedia painter Thomas Christopher Haag also shows work. Collectors and the curious are encouraged to reach out and schedule time for private in-person viewings.

KAY CONTEMPORARY 600 Canyon Road, 505-365-3992 kaycontemporaryart.com

Winterowd Fine Art has deep roots: it’s been a Canyon Road staple for more than 15 years. In December 2019, gallerist and curator Karla Winterowd took a jump and opened a second gallery — Kay Contemporary — a short walk down the street. Like its sister space, Kay Contemporary exhibits work from emerging, mid-career and established local artists. Much of the art evokes images of the natural world, both representative and abstracted. Tucked behind the gallery, art and nature dance even closer together, mingling in a serene, enclosed sculpture garden.

PHOTO-EYE 1300 Rufina Circle, Suite A3, 505-988-5152 photoeye.com

Around the corner from Meow Wolf is a space dedicated to deep-diving into photography.

Until further notice, photo-eye’s bookstore and exhibition space are open by appointment only.

The gallery has adapted to COVID restrictions through online exhibitions featuring in-depth virtual walk-throughs and interviews with featured artists. On view through the summer is My Childhood Reassembled, a nostalgic and contemplative show by photographer Richard Tuschman.

TURNER CARROLL GALLERY 725 Canyon Road, 505-986-9800 Turnercarrollgallery.com

Turner Carroll’s collection includes emerging and established museum-collected artists from all corners of the world, and the expansive Canyon Road gallery is currently open for public exploration. But the gallery’s 2020 happenings are also still accessible: virtual openings from the year, complete with profound conversations with artists and curators, are viewable on Turner Carroll’s Facebook page. Owners Tonya Turner Carroll and Michael Carroll also provide in-depth posts on art and the pandemic experience on the gallery’s blog.

VITAL SPACES 220 Otero St. and 1600 Saint Michael’s Drive vitalspaces.org

In a city packed with the arts, the space to create can be a hot commodity. In an attempt to support as varied and equitable an arts environment as possible, nonprofit Vital Spaces plugs artists into affordable, temporarily unused spaces: vacancies in buildings awaiting long-term tenants, redevelopments and new leases. Vital Spaces hosts exhibitions at both a downtown location (Otero Street) and a midtown annex (St. Michael’s Drive). In keeping with its transitory nature, this June and July the organization hosts a pandemic-friendly city-wide public art exhibition titled Intersections.

Across Santa Fe, visual art pops up everywhere — on yard signs, billboards, posters, windows, bumper stickers and buses. A treasure trove of art saturates the city, bringing together images, words and themes from varied artists.

TIERRA MAR GALLERY 225 Canyon Road, 505-372-7087 tierramargallery.com

Tierra Mar Gallery plays with the line between craft and fine art by presenting an assemblage of emerging to mid-career contemporary artists specializing in myriad media, from painting and

sculpture to weaving, metalwork, ceramics, wood, glass, textiles and more. In January, the gallery moved to a new exhibition space just a hop across the parking lot from its old one, giving it direct frontage on Canyon Road. In a show opening June 25, visitors can see work by painter Jono Tew, who incorporates aspects of art movements such as cubism, surrealism and abstract expressionism to create bright and experimental visions of the American West.

NEW MEXICO SCHOOL FOR THE ARTS 500 Montezuma Ave, 505-310-4194 nmschoolforthearts.org

Open to students from across the state, this four-year public high school offers intensive arts instruction to all who qualify though a blind, competitive audition and portfolio process. It is a true seedbed for New Mexico’s freshest developing artistic voices. While summer exhibitions will not be open to the public, the school’s robust online student exhibitions are worth viewing. In August, look for All for One, which melds individual projects into one large-scale collective drawing. Last year’s work measured more than 25 feet long and 8 feet high.