Hurley – Joseph and Karin Wade knew right away that the Old Hurley Store was a great space for a gallery. It was roomy and tall and had lots of high windows that poured in light.
“Immediately when I walked in, I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it,” says painter and printmaker Joseph Wade. It took a few months of tearing things apart and whacking nails, but the JW Art Gallery had its grand opening on April 8 this year. The place contains the gallery, a frame shop, a museum shop with a few local craftspeople represented, and a small museum. Print workshops are also offered.
The building is in a dramatic setting with two enormous smoke stacks and some rocky cliffs for a backdrop. Hurley is a small town steeped with the history of the Central Mining District, the largest producer of minerals in New Mexico, and the building was built in 1912 as the company store of the Kennecott Mining Company.
The adjoining buildings still have the industrial look of their past, with old board on the walls, a freight elevator operated by ropes, train tracks that still run a few feet away, and some of the original old-fashioned light fixtures.
Karin says they had looked all over the country via the internet, but discovered the store only when they were on vacation in Portal, Arizona, just over the border from New Mexico. One day the realtor told them that it was available, and “that night at 8:30 we signed the contract,” says Joseph.
The current exhibit, through December 31, is called “The Art of Printmaking: A Special Edition.” The high-caliber artists are mostly from the Grant County area or from Arizona, where the Wades lived before they moved to Hurley.
One artist, Gloria Maya of WNMU, was born in Silver City and her grandfather worked in the mines. Her semi-abstract mixed-media works are contemplations on the border. Other works include Wade’s Hardy Boy series (from the famed Hardy Boys books), Mesa artist David Manje’s Mexican motif prints in many print mediums, and the edgy, witty highway scenes on aquatints by Alexis Anderson, also from Mesa. The realistic bronze southwest sculptures of Hal Stewart of Scottsdale, and the ink contour drawings of Silver City artist Elvira Godfrey are also on display.
Joseph Wade is offering monotype classes in half-day or full-day classes, with scheduling to fit the learner. Monotypes involve painting directly onto a Plexiglas plate and transferring it onto a piece of paper.
Joseph says he likes monotypes because they involve “a versatility of tools. You can make tools out of paper, you can make a comb to make lines on the surface, you can use stencils,” he says. He also likes them because they generally cost the buyer less than other original fine art prints made by the artist. Call 505-537-0300 for information.
Unfortunately the giant smokestacks in Hurley are fated for destruction next spring or summer. It will be a momentous change for the town and whole area, where they’ve been landmarks for decades and a reminder of the industrial past.
By Marjorie Lilly
Steppin’ Out Regional Rep
© 2006 Marjorie Lilly - Permission To Reprint Granted
Hurley – Joseph and Karin Wade knew right away that the Old Hurley Store was a great space for a gallery. It was roomy and tall and had lots of high windows that poured in light.
“Immediately when I walked in, I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it,” says painter and printmaker Joseph Wade. It took a few months of tearing things apart and whacking nails, but the JW Art Gallery had its grand opening on April 8 this year. The place contains the gallery, a frame shop, a museum shop with a few local craftspeople represented, and a small museum. Print workshops are also offered.
<center><img src=http://sonewmex.com/images/Hurleystore.jpg align=center border=1></center>
The building is in a dramatic setting with two enormous smoke stacks and some rocky cliffs for a backdrop. Hurley is a small town steeped with the history of the Central Mining District, the largest producer of minerals in New Mexico, and the building was built in 1912 as the company store of the Kennecott Mining Company.
The adjoining buildings still have the industrial look of their past, with old board on the walls, a freight elevator operated by ropes, train tracks that still run a few feet away, and some of the original old-fashioned light fixtures.
Karin says they had looked all over the country via the internet, but discovered the store only when they were on vacation in Portal, Arizona, just over the border from New Mexico. One day the realtor told them that it was available, and “that night at 8:30 we signed the contract,” says Joseph.
The current exhibit, through December 31, is called “The Art of Printmaking: A Special Edition.” The high-caliber artists are mostly from the Grant County area or from Arizona, where the Wades lived before they moved to Hurley.
One artist, Gloria Maya of WNMU, was born in Silver City and her grandfather worked in the mines. Her semi-abstract mixed-media works are contemplations on the border. Other works include Wade’s Hardy Boy series (from the famed Hardy Boys books), Mesa artist David Manje’s Mexican motif prints in many print mediums, and the edgy, witty highway scenes on aquatints by Alexis Anderson, also from Mesa. The realistic bronze southwest sculptures of Hal Stewart of Scottsdale, and the ink contour drawings of Silver City artist Elvira Godfrey are also on display.
Joseph Wade is offering monotype classes in half-day or full-day classes, with scheduling to fit the learner. Monotypes involve painting directly onto a Plexiglas plate and transferring it onto a piece of paper.
Joseph says he likes monotypes because they involve “a versatility of tools. You can make tools out of paper, you can make a comb to make lines on the surface, you can use stencils,” he says. He also likes them because they generally cost the buyer less than other original fine art prints made by the artist. Call 505-537-0300 for information.
Unfortunately the giant smokestacks in Hurley are fated for destruction next spring or summer. It will be a momentous change for the town and whole area, where they’ve been landmarks for decades and a reminder of the industrial past.
99 Cortez Avenue, Hurley. Website: thetown.com Email:gallery@thetown.com