The American landscape is William Hook’s inspiration. Large skies, low horizons, distant mountains, and textured foregrounds are expressed in his paintings with broad brushstrokes of vivid color. His work is distinctive and stands out from the crowd of today’s genre of landscape painters. The magazines Southwest Art, Art of the West, U.S. Art, American Artist, and Focus Santa Fe have featured Hook’s work in cover articles that proclaim his importance as a leading landscape painter. The book, Leading the West by Donald Hagerty, features William Hook as one of the notable influence on the western art scene. In addition, publishers Harper-Collins and North Light have included his work in numerous books written about the contemporary art process in Europe and America.

William Hook’s background in art began at home. It was through the influence of his father and grandmother, a professional photographer and architect respectively, that art became second nature to him. Other family members were art historian Bainbridge Bunting, prominent Italian painters Gino and Bertha Venanzi, as well as Pulitzer Prize winning author, Willa Cather. When the discussion of art arose at the Hook household, there was never a lack of opinions and interests. “I was always encourage to try new media, and that is one reason why I still paint in acrylic. My grandmother would find materials in art stores or would have read about a newly developed medium and I would be the art quinea pigâ€.

After having attended classes at the Kansas Art Institute, Hook left his hometown of Kansas City to continue his study of fine art at the University of New Mexico. Hook went on to complete his formal education at the Universita Per Straniere (Perugia, Italy) and the Art Center College of Design (Los Angeles, CA). It was his time spent in New Mexico where the scenery made an indelible impression on the aspiring artist, so much so, that he returned to make it his home and frequent subject. “I have painted all over the United States and Europe and continue to find New Mexico at the center of my workâ€.

Mr. Hook’s paintings can be found in the permanent collections of the Denver Art Museum, the Tucson Art Museum, the University of New Mexico, the FORBES Museum, NYC, and the Genesee Museum, NY. In addition, Hook’s work is featured in prints for the New Mexico Symphony, Music from Angel Fire, and the Santa Fe Opera.

Meyer Gallery in Santa Fe is proud to have represented William Hook’s work in ten solo exhibitions since 1988. We feel that this artist is a very important contributor to our gallery and has helped establish us as one of Santa Fe’s leading galleries.

The close date for this show is August 20th, 2009

For more New Mexico information visit: www.new-mexico-visitor.com

In 2012, Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) will turn 50, and leading up to that date, each decade since the Institute’s founding will be celebrated at an annual gala event. This year “The ‘70s: The Revolution Continues†kicks off at 5:00 p.m., Wednesday, August 19 at the historic La Fonda hotel in Santa Fe. Tickets start at $125 per person and table sponsorships are also available. Call 505.424.2310 to reserve a spot now as last year’s event sold out three weeks early! All proceeds will benefit Native American student scholarships.

A “Wednesday Night Fever†atmosphere will conjure up memories of polyester and platforms, balancing disco-esque fun with more serious perspectives from a decade known for Native American activism. The NAMMY Award-winning musical group Walela, featuring singers Rita Coolidge, Priscilla Coolidge and Laura Satterfield, will perform for the event, reuniting to celebrate a critical era in Native American self-determination.

New Mexico’s Governor Bill Richardson and First Lady Barbara Richardson are serving as honorary co-chairs for the evening, and KOAT Action 7 News Anchor Royale Dá and actor Raoul Trujillo (Apocalypto, HBO’s True Blood) will co-emcee the event. Accepting IAIA’s Lifetime Achievement Award is Chuck Dailey, museum studies professor emeritus who has devoted more than 35 years of his life to IAIA. His late wife, Carol, will be honored with him.

Wendy Ponca, ‘70s alumna and former faculty member, will serve as the event’s honorary advisory committee chair, while community volunteers Jill Momaday Gray and Melissa Coleman are enlisting friends new and old to support the gala’s goal: scholarships for IAIA’s College of Contemporary Native Arts students. Momaday Gray and Coleman said, “We are deeply committed to this event because all proceeds will support scholarships and educational opportunities for Native students. We passionately support IAIA for its legacy of creating the first and only educational institution for contemporary Native Arts and for its profound impact on Native People to express themselves in their own voice.â€

Guests will have the opportunity to bid on works by renowned Native American artists such as Victoria Adams, Cody Sanderson, Lonnie Vigil, Tony Abetya, Jody Naranjo and many, many more.

For more New Mexico information visit: www.new-mexico-visitor.com

Who: Las Cruces Museum of Art
What: Lecture on European and American Art Collectors
When: Saturday, June 20, 2009
Where: Rio Grande Theatre is located at 211 N. Downtown Mall
Contact: (575) 541-2215

On Saturday, June 20th Debbie Rindge and Mireille Dohmen will present their joint lecture “Collecting Art: Europe and the United States, a Cross-Cultural Perspective†at the Rio Grande Theatre, beginning at 12:30 pm.  Presented in conjunction with the “Las Cruces Collects†exhibit currently on display at the Las Cruces Museum of Art, the lecture will discuss the similarities and differences between European and American collecting sensibilities.  A short history of collecting (on both sides of the Atlantic), images of collectible works of art, stories about well-known collectors and the legacies they left behind will be included.

Debbie Rindge is an art historian and the owner of Mirari Fine Art Consulting in Las Cruces. She received her Ph.D. in American Art History from the University of Maryland, College Park. Her publications include catalogues of the collections of American art in the Columbus Museum of Art in Ohio and the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.

Mireille Dohmen worked as a kindergarten teacher for over 20 years.  After marrying surrealist Leo Dohmen (1929-1999), she managed the Gallery Den Tijd and organized exhibitions of contemporary art.  For the past ten years, she has been working on a retrospective of her late husband’s work for the Museum of Photography in Charleroi, Belgium.

 The Rio Grande Theatre is located at 211 N. Downtown Mall in Las Cruces.  Exhibition hours for “Las Cruces Collects†are Monday-Friday, 10AM – 4PM, and Saturday, 9AM – 1PM. Admission is free. Funded by the City of Las Cruces, the Las Cruces Museum of Art is located at 491 North Main Street, at the north end of the Downtown Mall. Call 541-2137, or visit http://museums.las-cruces.org, for more information on museum exhibits and Studio Program art classes.

For more New Mexico information visit www.new-mexico-visitor.com