NHCC exhibition 'What We Bring to the Table' honors staff

As part of its 25-year anniversary celebration, the National Hispanic Cultural Center is hosting “What We Bring to the Table,” an exhibition featuring art by the center’s staff.

“It’s taking place in our Community Gallery, which is dedicated to New Mexican artists and engaging with themes that are pertinent to New Mexico. This time, the community that’s being focused on is the staff of the NHCC,” Jadira Gurulé, head curator for the center’s art museum, said.

“The NHCC turns 25 in October of this year. And as I am coming up on nine years of working at the center myself, I was really thinking about how frequent it is that the people who work at the NHCC are also artists in their own right and have creative practices of their own, outside of their work at the NHCC,” Gurulé said. “That creativity, that passion for the arts, is really part of what makes our team so knowledgeable, and so flexible and supportive of other artists’ visions. It’s like this unspoken thing that is informing why we do what we do.”

The 18 artists in “What We Bring to the Table” come from all departments of the NHCC.

“We have everyone, really,” Gurulé said. “We’ve got people from the museum. We have people from our history and literary arts program, people from our performing arts program, custodial staff, security and administration.”

Some are used to exhibiting their work in galleries and museums, while others have never shown their work in public.

“We have people who are putting a piece in a museum for the first time,” Gurulé said.

A wide range of media are represented, as well, including painting, drawing, photography, sculpture and textile art.

“The set and exhibit designer for the museum team, Adri De La Cruz, does scrimshaw,” Gurulé said. “They’ve got this amazing piece that is like a giant milagro, but with bones instead of metal.”

Milagros (Spanish for “miracles”) are religious folk charms popular throughout Mexico and Latin America, which are often used for healing. De La Cruz’s large-scale milagro, which they created from a cow skull and other animal bones, represents, in the artist’s words, “a devotional request for a significant milagro, the end of global conflict and genocide.”

Rosemary Castro-Gallegos, has worked as a wardrobe and costume designer for the NHCC’s performing arts center since 2004, the very first year the performing arts building opened. She is the longest-serving staff member in the show.

“She does amazing costuming,” Gurulé said. “She’s exhibiting a dress that she designed for one of the early zarzuela performances at the Roy E. Disney Performing Arts Center here at the NHCC.”

The dress was originally worn by Kirsten Chávez, the mezzo-soprano who played the title role in the zarzuela “Luisa Fernanda” in 2004. Zarzuelas, often compared to operettas, are a musical theater tradition dating to 17th century Spain, which the NHCC has helped to revive for the 21st century.

“It’s a long gown with a bustle in the back, very formal, and a polyester satin-type fabric that’s very pretty. I had it stored since 2004,” Castro-Gallegos said. “When Jadira mentioned the show, I said, ‘Hey, I have a dress from the very first show we ever did here.’ So, I brought it in. She goes, ‘Oh, we’re definitely going to use this.’ So, it came out of hiding.”

The inclusion of one of Castro-Gallegos’ costumes from over two decades ago lends a sense of history to the exhibition, in keeping with the 25th anniversary theme.

“I actually got in touch with Kirsten Chávez, the woman who wore it,” Castro-Gallegos said. “She’s up in Salt Lake City now, and I sent her photos and stuff. She goes, ‘Oh, my God, you still have it!’”

Robin Sanchez crocheted a textile piece for the exhibition based on the Mexican cut-paper craft known as papel picado.

“It’s huge, and it’s just really stunning,” Castro-Gallegos said.

In addition to working as the archivist and interim program manager for history and literary arts at the NHCC, Sanchez is an avid crocheter.

“This is one of the few times I’ve made something purely as an artistic piece,” Sanchez said. “I’m really proud of it.”

“The design is two doves facing inward, towards a flower,” Sanchez said. “That’s a pretty common (papel picado) motif, but I thought it would be interesting to make it out of a different medium. And I made it much larger.”

Sanchez has been impressed by the amount of talent on view in “What We Bring to the Table.”

“We’re all here because we’re into arts and culture. But actually seeing people’s work was really amazing,” Sanchez said. “It makes me realize what talented people I am working with every day.”

Castro-Gallegos agreed. “I think people are going to be surprised by all the talented people here,” she said.

In addition to full-time NHCC staff, there are two artists in the show who regularly assist at the center. Joe Stephenson, who helps paint the museum walls between shows, is a muralist and fine art painter. Kim Arthun, who does the vinyl lettering for the museum, is an artist and gallerist who runs the art space Exhibit/208.

“We invited them to be honorary staff members for this exhibition,” Gurulé said.

“The point of the show is to honor everyone who’s always hustling to keep the NHCC going,” Gurulé said. “This is an opportunity to really honor them and thank them for the work that they do, and to acknowledge the scope of what they’re bringing to the table.”

NHCC exhibition 'What We Bring to the Table' honors staff