Archive for February, 2009

The 5th annual White Sands International Film Festival takes place April, 23-26, 2009. Now in it’s fifth year, the festival, has grown to include and offer a uniquely diverse program encompassing a wide range of cinema, educational panels, and workshops, hosted by well recognized and experienced Industry professionals.  This year the WSIFF again focuses on its goal of bringing eminent filmmakers to share their insights with audiences and heighten their appreciation of the art of cinema.

The Festival once more promises to attract numerous visitors from around the world. With a special focus on Latino and New Mexican filmmaking, the WSIFF screens both outstanding short and feature length documentaries and narratives from around the world.

Some of our noted past guests included the legendary Mexican filmmaker Arturo Ripstein, director of the award winning “Bella”,  Alejandro Monteverde, and actor Wes Studi, “Last of the Mohicans”.

The WSIFF is dedicated to bringing filmmakers and audiences together to better appreciate the art of cinema. The WSIFF screens outstanding short and feature length documentaries and narratives of all genres from around the world. With a special focus on Latino and New Mexican filmmaking we celebrate outstanding cinema in the amazing back drop of Southern New Mexico. We hope to see you at this very unique, intimate and fun festival in the Land of Enchantment!

In particular we are interested in…
• Films that deal with contemporary issues
• Films that celebrate the human spirit
• Particularly interested in Latino and or Hispanic World
• Films that have been made in New Mexico
• Good story telling, writing, acting , and direction

For a complete listing of events in Las Cruces, visit www.lascrucescvb.org.

Salman Rushdie, an award-winning author who survived a death threat for one of his works, will speak at New Mexico State University’s Pan American Center at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 10. The event is free and open to the public as part of the University Speaker Series.

“Sir Salman Rushdie is one of the most celebrated and controversial authors of our time,” said William Eamon, dean of the NMSU Honors College. “This is a rare opportunity for the students of NMSU and members of the community to listen to one of the greatest literary figures of our age.” 

Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, a previous leader of Iran, issued a death threat for Rushdie following his fourth novel, “The Satanic Verses.” The book was the center of protests for Muslims in several countries in the late 1980s. After the threat, Rushdie spent much of the next decade underground but continued to be outspoken against censorship.

Rushdie’s other novels include “The Moor’s Last Sigh,” “The Ground Beneath Her Feet” and last year’s “The Enchantress of Florence.” He won the prestigious Booker Prize for “Midnight’s Children.” Rushdie received a knighthood in 2007 for his services to literature.

“Rushdie is not only a brilliant provocateur, he’s a spellbinding lecturer who talks about the major themes that course through his writing, including freedom of expression, religion, pop culture, Muslim culture, East-West relations, and the role of the artist in shaping our understanding of the world,” Eamon said.

The University Speakers Series is sponsored by the Honors College, the Office of the President and the Office of the Provost. For more information, call (575) 646-2005.

For a complete listing of events in Las Cruces, visit www.lascrucescvb.org.

This March New Mexico State University will honor women dedicated to saving the planet with an art show and reception outside the Stras Research and Reading Room at the Branson Library on the university campus.

The event is collaboration between the NMSU library and the Women’s Studies Program and is free and open to the public. Scheduled from 3 p.m.-5 p.m. Monday March 2, it will highlight Interim President Waded Cruzado’s declaration of the Year of Sustainability at the university and feature screened prints of internationally known women environmentalists created by NMSU art students.

“In recent years the issue of the protection and even the survival of the planet has been called to the forefront of international consciousness,” Cruzado said when talking of the March event.  “But many people already have been working in the field to protect the earth’s ecosystem. We celebrate them during Women’s History Month and we join them in the effort.  As the state’s land-grant institution, New Mexico State University has a special responsibility in showing leadership in regard to sustainability efforts and accomplishments. That is why we declared this the Year of Sustainability at NMSU.”

Among the women who will be featured in the art show is Constance Falk, a professor in the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences at NMSU. Falk has been an outspoken activist on issues of sustainability and the environment. She has agreed to speak on the issue at the art show.  Art students will be present to discuss their works.

The NMSU library also will take center stage at the event as specialists Martha Andrews and Charles Stanford will discuss the library’s special collections on women. The Stras Research and Reading Room was dedicated in the name of Caroline E. Stras, and so is a fitting site for the show and reception.

This event kicks off NMSU’s participation in the nationwide Women’s History Month celebration themed “Women Taking the Lead to Save Our Planet.”  Other notable events for the month include:
-March 13: Readings from Korean feminist poets by Don Mee Choi, on campus, time and place  to be announced later
-March 14: A showing of the movie, “A Single Woman;” 1:30 p.m. at the Fountain Theater in Old  Mesilla
-March 17: Lecture by visiting scholar Dena Goodman “Freedom and Happiness: Rethinking  Love and Marriage in Eighteenth Century France;” 7 p.m. Science Hall 107, on campus
- March 18:  Concluding event, Coffee with the Dean, 8:30 a.m. – 9:45 a.m. at the Women’s  Studies offices, Room 289 in  Science Hall.

For more information see www.nmsu.edu~wstudies or call 575-646-3448.

For a complete listing of events in Las Cruces, visit www.lascrucescvb.org.

If a hearty breakfast is the best way to start the day, then the New Mexico Farm & Ranch Heritage Museum’s 10th annual Cowboy Days festival should get off to a good start.

Cowboy Days is scheduled for 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on March 14-15, and admission is $2 per person. For many, however, the fun begins at 8 a.m. with the Cowboy Breakfast. Chuckwagon cook Brent Bolton and his Dutchmasters from Albuquerque will create an authentic cowboy breakfast from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m., featuring Dutch oven favorites such as biscuits and gravy, and eggs and bacon. Bolton also will hold Dutch oven workshops during the weekend.

Tickets for the outdoor Cowboy Breakfast are $9 in advance and $10 on the day of the meal. Cowboy Days admission is included in the price of the breakfast tickets. There will be a limited number of breakfast tickets sold each day.

Cowboy Days will also mark the opening of an extensive new exhibit at the museum. “A Most Terrible Wonder: Firearms from 1600 to 1900” features dozens of guns from the museum’s collections. The exhibit opens with a reception and lecture from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on March 13. Firearms expert Tad Vanderhye of Lincoln County will talk about military firearms from 1855-1896 and will bring a variety of swords, rifles and handguns from that era. Admission to the lecture and opening is free.

Music always is a big part of Cowboy Days and two award-winning bands are the headliners. Performing on March 14 from 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. in the theater will be Syd Masters and Swing Riders.

The Western Music Association and The Academy of Western Artists have awarded or nominated Syd Masters and Swing Riders numerous times for Best Male Vocalist, Best Western Swing Band, Best Album, Best Song, Best Songwriter and Best Entertainer. Masters’ timeless melody, “Under New Mexico Skies,” was given the honorable title of Official Cowboy Song of the State of New Mexico. He is also the only two-time winner of the New Mexico Music Industry’s “Vocalist of the Year” honor.

On March 15, the headlining band will be Sons of the Rio Grande, performing in the theater from 1:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. The group, which includes Larry Ruebush, Rob Croft, Walen Mickey and Richard Twilley, combines tight harmonies and a strong acoustic sound. The title track of their debut album, “The Spirit & Beauty of the West,” won the New Mexico Music Industry Award for Best Folk Song in 2003.

Other musical performers will be Charlie Russell of El Paso and James Michael from Las Cruces. Russell takes the stage from 1:30 p.m. to 2:15 p.m. on March 14, and Michael performs from noon to 1 p.m. on March 15.

At noon on March 14, former Las Cruces Mayor and current Mayfield High School teacher Tommy Tomlin will have a presentation in the theater. A Western film expert, Tomlin will talk about “Hollywood’s Interpretation of the West.”

The schedule in the Museum’s theater begins each day with a Western movie starring Roy Rogers. “In Old Caliente” will be shown at 10:30 a.m. on March 14, and “Robin Hood of the Pecos” at 10:30 a.m. on March 15.

March 14 also marks the opening of Museum’s Greenhouse. A brief ceremony is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. on March 14, and Cowboy Days visitors will be able to buy many different types of plants during the weekend.

Also, for the first time this year, living history activities will be part of Cowboy Days. Museum staff members and volunteers will be dressed in period costumes and will interact with visitors at the Homestead Camp.

The annual Western Arts & Crafts Show will be held throughout the weekend, as well, at two venues on the 47-acre campus. Food booths, as well as the Eagle Ranch Mercantile and Snack Bar, offer several kinds of snack and lunch choices.

Six Guns & Shady Ladies return this year to provide gunfight re-enactments in front of the Bruce King Building and Pete Paulson’s stagecoach will be giving rides throughout the weekend. Children’s activities will take place in and around the Children’s Discovery Garden.

On the South 20, the fun includes charreada (Mexican-style rodeo) performances, horsemanship demonstrations, horseshoeing demonstrations, sheep and goat herding with dogs (Sunday only), and horseback rides. Other demonstrations include milking, blacksmithing, dowsing, sewing, weaving and quilting.

For more information, please call (575) 522-4100.  The musuem is located at 4100 Dripping Springs Road in Las Cruces.

Schedule of Events

Friday, March 13
6 p.m. to 8 p.m.: Opening of the exhibit: “A Most Terrible Wonder: Firearms from 1600-1900,” including lecture. Free.

Saturday, March 14

8a.m. to 10 a.m.: Cowboy Breakfast.
10 a.m. to 11 a.m.: Parade of Breeds in the Round Pen.
10:30 a.m.: Opening ceremony for Greenhouse.
10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.: Movie in the theater: In Old Caliente, starring Roy Rogers.
11 a.m. to 11:20 a.m.: Milking Demonstration in the Dairy Barn.
11:30 a.m. to 11:50 a.m.: Gunfight re-enactment in front of the Bruce King Building.
12 p.m. to 1 p.m.: Presentation by Western film expert Tommy Tomlin in the Theater.
12 p.m. to 3 p.m.: Living history at the Homesteaders Camp.
1 p.m. to 1:20 p.m.: Gunfight re-enactment in front of the Bruce King Building.
1 p.m. to 2 p.m.: Dutch Oven workshop on the South 20.
1:30 p.m. to 2:15 p.m.: Music by Charlie Russell in the Theater.
1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.: Horsemanship demonstration in the Round Pen.
2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.: Music by Syd Masters & Swing Riders in the Theater.
3 p.m. to 3:20 p.m.: Gunfight re-enactment in front of the Bruce King Building.
3 p.m. to 3:20 p.m.: Milking demonstration in the Skaggs Dairy Barn.
3 p.m. to 4 p.m.: Dutch Oven Workshop on the South 20.
3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.: Charreada (Mexican-style rodeo) demonstration in the Round Pen.

10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Stagecoach rides (in front of the King Building), horseback rides (South 20), demonstrations by the Back Country Horsemen (South 20), children’s activities (Courtyard and/or South 20), Western Arts & Crafts Sale (Courtyard and Beef Barn), horseshoeing demonstration (South 20), dowsing demonstration (near the windmill), blacksmithing demonstration (Blacksmith Shop), sewing, weaving and quilting demonstrations (King Building), food vendors.

Sunday, March 15

8 a.m. to 10 a.m.: Cowboy Breakfast.
10 a.m. to 11 a.m.: Parade of Breeds in the Round Pen.
10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.: Movie in the Theater: Robin Hood of the Pecos, starring Roy Rogers.
11 a.m. to 11:20 a.m.: Milking Demonstration in the
12 p.m. to 1 p.m.: Cowboy music by James Michael in the Theater.
12 p.m. to 3 p.m.: Living history at the Homesteaders Camp.
1 p.m. to 1:20 p.m.: Gunfight re-enactment in front of the Bruce King Building.
1 p.m. to 2 p.m.: Dutch Oven Workshop on the South 20.
1:30 p.m. to 4 p.m.: Cowboy music by Sons of the Rio Grande in the Theater.
1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.: Horsemanship demonstration in the Round Pen.
3 p.m. to 3:20 p.m.: Gunfight re-enactment in front of the Bruce King Building.
3 p.m. to 4 p.m.: Dutch Oven Workshop on the South 20.
3 p.m. to 3:20 p.m.: Milking demonstration at the Skaggs Dairy Barn.
3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.: Charreada (Mexican-style rodeo) demonstration in the Round Pen.

Continuous activities
10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Stagecoach rides (in front of the King Building), horseback rides (South 20), working dog demonstrations (Sunday only, at the Sheep & Goat Barn), demonstrations by the Back Country Horsemen (South 20), children’s activities (Courtyard and/or South 20), Western Arts & Crafts Sale (Courtyard and Beef Barn), horseshoeing demonstration (South 20), dowsing demonstration (near the windmill), blacksmithing demonstration (Blacksmith Shop), sewing, weaving and quilting demonstrations (King Building), food vendors.
Admission to Cowboy Days is $2 per person.

Tickets to the Cowboy Breakfast are $9 in advance and $10 on the day of the breakfast. Price includes admission to Cowboy Days.

For a complete listing of events in Las Cruces, visit www.lascrucescvb.org.

Enjoy an afternoon organ concert on Sunday, February 15, 2009 at First Presbyterian Church, 200 East Boutz Road. 

The 4:00 PM concert will be performed by guest Tom Trenney, a prize winning organist from Birmingham, Michigan.  There is no charge for the concert; however a free-will offering will be received. 

Mr. Trenney received awards for his improvisations and as part of the concert will use that talent to accompany the silent film “One Week,” staring Buster Keaton. 
Watch the newlyweds in the hilarious effort to build their home while the music augments the action.  In addition a choral group will sing “What Wondrous Love.”

While in Las Cruces Mr. Trenney is presenting a clinic for church choir members on their Leadership Roll in Worship.  He will be clinician for Pedals, Pipes and Pizza, a project of the American Guild of Organists, Las Cruces Chapter to acquaint young musicians with the marvels of organ playing.
 
You are cordially invited to hear this exclusive concert, which is underwritten in part by a grant from the Presbyterian Association of Musicians.

For a complete listing of events in Las Cruces, visit www.lascrucescvb.org.

When you are only four feet tall, you often feel like you live in a world that wasn’t made for you. That is what Matt Roloff says at the beginning of every episode of “Little People, Big World,” a TV show about him and his family on TLC (The Learning Channel). High school and middle school students from around New Mexico will have a chance to meet Roloff and show him their ideas for products to help little people during this year’s Innoventure competition sponsored by New Mexico State University and New Mexico MESA, Inc.

The competition will be held at NMSU on Feb. 20. Judging begins at 1 p.m. at the Corbett Center Ball Rooms with an awards dinner at 6 p.m. Tickets are limited and required to hear Roloff speak at 6:30 p.m. Student projects will be available for the public to view between 4:30 and 5:45 p.m.

Innoventure encourages students to use science, engineering and business skills to solve problems. This year’s theme is adaptive products, devices and other things used by little people to better adapt to a big world. Each student team will present projects and will be judged on various components, including general idea, feasibility and presentation. Previous themes have included alternative energy sources and toys for use in outer space.

“The student response to this year’s competition has been incredible,” said Marie Borchert, an education specialist for NMSU’s Arrowhead Center, which promotes entrepreneurship in New Mexico.

“They are all being very creative in working to solve the problems of everyday difficulties met by little people. The number of teams in this year’s competition is double that of last year,” she said.

This year, approximately 200 students from around New Mexico will compete. High schools in this year’s competition include Carlsbad, Cobre, Chaparral, Deming, Onate, Ruidoso, Santa Rosa, Socorro, Valencia and West Las Vegas. Middle schools competing this year are from Anton Chico, Cobre, Carlsbad, Deming, Ruidoso and Santa Rosa. Some schools are sending as many as six individual teams.

Borchert said the event helps students understand the process of developing technological products from the idea phase to production. It also gives them a foundation of understanding business concepts as they relate to developing a product and marketing it. The competition develops practical skills of problem solving, business writing, teamwork, meeting deadlines and communication.

For more information on the competition or to purchase tickets to hear Roloff, contact Borchert at (575) 646-7839 or mhaaland@nmsu.edu or Sara Pirayesh Sanders at (575) 646-7036 or npirayes@nmsu.edu.

Awaken your inner fiber artist and learn to weave a one-of-kind, triangular shawl during a four-day workshop at the Las Cruces Museum of Art, 491 N. Main Street. This “hands-on” technique requires no previous weaving experience.
 
Those interested will be able to weave with a minimal amount of yarn. Frame looms are provided & studio time is flexible. To learn more about this unique approach, see instructor Nancy Anderson demonstrate each Saturday morning at the Farmers and Crafts Market on the Downtown Mall.
 
The first session of the workshop will meet Tuesdays and Thursdays, February 10th- 19th, from 12:30 – 2:45 pm.  The second session is Tuesdays and Thursdays, April 14th – 23rd at the same times.  To see a complete schedule of our classes, please visit http://museums.las-cruces.org or call (575) 541-2137 for more information.
 
For more information contact Greg Phillipy, Education Curator at (575) 541-2217. The TTY number is (575) 541-2161.

For a complete listing of events in Las Cruces, visit www.lascrucescvb.org.

The City of Las Cruces has begun constructing the city’s first, official off-leash dog park. The park, located behind Meerschedit Recreation Center, 1600 E. Hadley St., is tentatively scheduled to open in May.

The park will have structured rules for use and etiquette, which the city of Las Cruces Parks and Recreation Advisory Board will discuss at their meeting scheduled for February 26th, 7:00 p.m. in the Dresp Room of Branigan Memorial Library, 200 E. Picacho Ave.

The Las Cruces Dog Park Coalition secured $150,000 in state legislative funding for phase one of the construction.

For more information, contact Udell Vigil, director of communications at (575) 541-2200. The TTY number is (575) 541-2182

For a complete listing of events in Las Cruces, visit www.lascrucescvb.org.

The Las Cruces Museum of Natural History invites you for a day trip to the Robledo Mountains Paleozoic Trackway Site on Saturday, February 21st. Participants will leave the museum at 9 a.m., caravan to the site and return by 3 p.m. A limited number of spaces are available for the trip. 

Accompany guides from the Paleozoic Trackways Foundation on a trek out to the Paleozoic Trackways site. The Paleozoic Trackways site lies within the Robledo Mountains immediately northwest of Las Cruces, with the southern portion of the range containing Picacho Peak and the Paleozoic Trackway site. The site is home to Permian Era tracks ranging from animals like pelycosaurs and prehistoric amphibians to various insects and arachnids; even fossilized plant-life can be found within the area. 

This trip is free and registration is required. Please call the museum at 522-3120 for more details and/or to pre-register for the trip. Participants are required to provide their own transportation. Minors must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.

For more information contact Chris Newsom, Naturalist at (575) 522-3120. The TTY number is (575) 541-2161.

For a complete listing of events in Las Cruces, visit www.lascrucescvb.org.