A smaller scale: 'Craft in America' hosts screening, panel discussion about episode filmed at NM Museum of Art, MOIFA

Art comes in different scales and mediums.

The award-winning series, “Craft in America” features both the New Mexico Museum of Art and the Museum of International Folk Art in its upcoming episode “Miniatures.”

MOIFA will host the national premiere screening of the newest episode, followed by a panel discussion.

The screening and panel discussion will take place in the museum’s Vernick Auditorium from 2-4 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 9.

Free museum admission all day, including the screening and panel discussion, is sponsored by “Craft in America.”

“We had a wonderful time filming the episode in Santa Fe,” says Patricia Bischetti, executive producer and director. “The world of miniatures is so intricate.”

The episode explores the world of tiny objects and the artists who make them.

From folk art to marionettes to tiny furniture, the artists reveal what motivates them to work at a scale that demands a masterful attention to detail.

New Mexico artists and organizations figure prominently in the episode includes segments on Alexander Girard’s spectacular invented world housed in the Museum of International Folk Art’s Girard Wing; New Mexico artist Gustave Baumann’s marionettes from the collection of the New Mexico Museum of Art; and International Folk Art Market artists who work at a diminutive scale, including Cuban artist Leandro Gómez Quintero, who creates small-scale, painstakingly detailed re-creations of vehicles using found materials.

The panel discussion will feature Laura Addison of the Museum of International Folk Art; Stuart Ashman of Artes de Cuba Gallery; Nadia Hamid of the International Folk Art Market; Thomas Leech, retired, New Mexico History Museum; and Maureen Russell, New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs and Bischetti.

“We’ve been to New Mexico a few times for other episodes,” Bischetti says. “This is a place we’ve always wanted to be to tell stories.”