Meet Ira Lujan while he creates his fine art glassworks.

Ira Lujan of Taos/Onkay Owingeh Pueblo incorporates native themes and influences along with ancient techniques to form his glass blown creations. By incorporating everyday Pueblo utilitarian objects and scenes in contemporary Native America, Ira finds freedom of expression through his manipulation of the hot and malleable glass. Although this is a relatively new media to Pueblo people, he is determined to provide contemporary interpretations of traditionally based themes through his chosen medium of glass sculpture.

Ira was first introduced to glass blowing in the summer of 2000 in Taos, NM where he apprenticed with foremost glass artist Tony Jojola of Isleta Pueblo, who brought forth the possibilities of incorporating native themes. Lujan also studied under native glass artist Preston Singletary of Tlingit tribe at Pilchuch Glass School.

Upon receiving the 2007 Southwestern Association for Indian Arts (SWAIA) Fellowship award, Ira designed and built a mobile glass blowing unit, which he wants to transport to different locations throughout the United States to promote both the art of glass sculpture and his personal style of art. Ira is fascinated by the movement of hot glass and the way it captures light, and is excited to be creating Native American Art with this new medium.

Gabriel will greet the public and demonstrate his techniques in clay. A must see for all.

Born in the Oak Valley Clan of the Jemez Pueblo, New Mexico, potter Gabriel G. Gonzales is the son of Presingula Gonzales and the Grandson of Anacita Chinana. Gabriel is proud of his family, many of whom are also involved in the arts. Two acclaimed Jemez Pueblo potters taught Gabriel art of pottery, his mother, Persingula, and uncle, Donald Chinana.

Gabriel has received numerous awards for his work including the Santa Fe Indian Market and the Heard Museum.

Monty Singer, Navajo, will be exhibiting his most recent plein air paintings at Gallery Chaco. This is an exciting collection featuring the light and shadows of the New Mexico landscape. We look forward to seeing you there!

Join Gallery Chaco as three generations of immensely talented clay and bronze artists showcase their artistic legacy. Mother Linda Cain, daughters Autumn Borts-Medlock and Tammy Garcia, and Autumn’s daughter, Rochelle Medlock exemplify the powerful traditions of their lineage. The family has a strong connection to the clay, as renowned Tewa potters Mary Cain, Christina Naranjo, and Sara Fina Tafoya came before them. Come and witness these brilliant women whose artistic legacy reaches back more than seven generations.

Join Gallery Chaco for an inspirational weekend as six artists give us the opportunity to see the intimate work they put into their creations. Gallery Chaco’s artists will be present for a meet and greet on Friday, April 6th from 5-8 PM and showcasing their processes on Saturday, April 7th from 11 AM-4 PM. Watch Karen Clarkson create mixed media pieces, Tammy Garcia work with clay, Ira Lujan hand blow glass, Rhett Lynch and Mateo Romero paint, Penny Singer create Native inspired garments, and Adrian Wall sculpt a piece.

Join Gallery Chaco for an inspirational weekend as six artists give us the opportunity to see the intimate work they put into their creations. Gallery Chaco’s artists will be present for a meet and greet on Friday, April 6th from 5-8 PM and showcasing their processes on Saturday, April 7th from 11 AM-4 PM. Watch Karen Clarkson create mixed media pieces, Tammy Garcia work with clay, Ira Lujan hand blow glass, Rhett Lynch and Mateo Romero paint, Penny Singer create Native inspired garments, and Adrian Wall sculpt a piece.

Join Gallery Chaco for an exhibition of passion to kick off the season of affection. Twelve major artists have created visual interpretations of the many facets of love and will be present for the show. Using different styles, mediums, and ideas, these talented individuals have dug deep to construct inspirational and absorbing pieces. From intoxicating to agonizing, every piece of art is deeply infused with intense emotion. The creators include Autumn Borts-Medlock, Heidi Brandow, Althea Cajero, Joe Cajero, Tammy Garcia, Gregory Lomayesva, Michelle Lowden, Ira Lujan, Rhett Lynch, Patricia Michaels, Abraham Mojica, Mateo Romero, Penny Singer, and Adrian Wall.

View Twelve Loves Exhibition Online

Join Gallery Chaco in celebrating its first holiday season with the talented indigenous artists of the Southwest. Spend the evening immersed in the stories, creative processes, and inspirations of the artists as you absorb their creations. Discover small works that make the perfect gift or edition to your own collection as you enjoy appetizers, holiday treats, warm drinks, and champagne. Share in the power of indigenous art at our first annual Small Works Reception. 

Please consider bringing a canned good donation for our pyramid to be donated to the Roadrunner Food Bank during this season of giving.

Artist Ira Lujan will demonstrate the techniques of glassblowing right outside of Gallery Chaco. Watch the process of shaping, sculpting, and molding molten glass from the beginning stages to finished pieces. Hailing from Taos and Onkay Owingeh Pueblos, Ira uses glassblowing as a medium to provide contemporary interpretations of traditionally based native themes. Ira will bring the mobile glass blowing unit he created after receiving the 2007 Southwestern Association for Indian Arts (SWAIA) Fellowship award. 

Meet the artists for a live T-Shirt printing with original designs from Autumn Borts-Medlock, Tammy Garcia, Rhett Lynch, and Patricia Michaels. 

Meet rising star Jodie Herrera.

Meet renowned sculptor Adrian Wall of Jemez Pueblo. While his primary medium is stone, he works with many materials, including clay, bronze, and glass. Adrian’s work can be found in museums and private collections across the United States. The subjects of Adrian’s sculptures most often relate to his Puebloan heritage. Stylistically, he is well known for blending figurative detail with abstract forms. Adrian’s most recent sculptural explorations involve interpreting pueblo pottery designs and symbols in three-dimensional forms. Adrian is interested in combining materials to create sculptures that reflect his aesthetics. He sees his work as a reflection of his existence as an aboriginal person experiencing the world in the Twenty-First Century.  Through his educational pursuits, he has reinvigorated his approach to art including conceptual sculpture that brings light to issues that center around identity, inter-human relationships, and the environment, which manifest themselves in his sculpture.

Meet contemporary Pueblo painter Mateo Romero, who has roots connecting to the Southern Keresan Cochiti people. Mateo’s paintings reflect a pattern of evolution and change. The images are powerful and imposing, juxtaposed with swirling gestural paint marks and drips. Timeless, archaic elements of Pueblo culture are juxtaposed with contemporary abstract expressionist palette knife and brush work. Overall, the paintings develop a rhythmic, hypnotic, trancelike feeling which is referential to the metaphysical space of the Pueblo and the dance itself.  He is currently a Dubin Fellow in painting at the School of American Research in Santa Fe, NM, and paints in his studio also located in Santa Fe.

Meet artists Joe and Althea Cajero. Joe Cajero, Jr. of Jemez Pueblo is a renowned bronze and clay sculptor who has been creating clay originals and limited edition bronze sculptures for more than 17 years now. Joe enjoys working with commercial clay and traditional Jemez clays, as well as the process of selecting the patinas (colors), which are used in the finish of bronze sculptures. Joe is also creating a line of jewelry castings inspired by images taken from his bronze sculptures. He is excited about the creative possibilities that each medium has to offer. Althea Cajero of Santo Domingo and Acoma Pueblos uses sterling silver, 14K gold, and 18K gold in her jewelry and also integrates natural materials including turquoise, coral, pearls, jaspers, and agates. Althea is fascinated with the beautiful texture of cuttlefish bone castings, which she incorporates into a majority of her designs through the use of hand fabrication. The married couple were named Living Treasures by the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture. This is a great honor for any artist, but especially poignant for a husband and wife. 

Meet Jodie Herrera who works as an illustrator, muralist, a mixed-media artist, and curator all while predominantly focusing on oil painting. Jodie’s complete career in painting has been an homage to the female experience. Her oil paintings are semi-photorealistic figurative works, portraying women that are going through, or have persevered through, traumas including addiction, sexual abuse, and cancer. Jodie takes great care with each story. She meets with every model one on one in order to understand and better render their person, building a personal and supportive relationship with each of her participants. She then narrates their experiences using symbolism relevant to their interests and heritage, and incorporates this symbolism into their paintings. Jodie hopes to give back a source of power that may have once been taken from her subjects. She strives to serve and celebrate the beauty and resilience of all women.

Meet clay and bronze artist Autumn Borts-Medlock of Santa Clara Pueblo. Drawing from the spiritual symbolism and nature-oriented design aesthetics of native culture, Autumn is tied to a long line of potters from generations past. She was first introduced to the art form as a child, making her first formal attempts at claywork under the guidance of her mother and grandmother. These lessons during her early years solidified Autumn's own connection to the clay, and gave her the skills she needed to move into coil work. Pottery ties Autumn both to an ancient tradition and her ancestors. "Knowing that a thousand grandmothers did this before me is amazing... to have been born into this is a gift," says Autumn. 

Artist Ira Lujan will demonstrate the techniques of glassblowing right outside of Gallery Chaco. Watch the process of shaping, sculpting, and molding molten glass from the beginning stages to finished pieces. Hailing from Taos and Onkay Owingeh Pueblos, Ira uses glassblowing as a medium to provide contemporary interpretations of traditionally based native themes. Ira will bring the mobile glass blowing unit he created after receiving the 2007 Southwestern Association for Indian Arts (SWAIA) Fellowship award. 

Meet the artists for a live T-Shirt printing with original designs from Autumn Borts-Medlock, Tammy Garcia, Rhett Lynch, and Patricia Michaels. 
 

Champagne Reception - Meet the legendary gallery artists Arland Ben, Autumn Borts-Medlock, Heidi Brandow, Althea Cajero, Joe Cajero, Melissa Cody, Tammy Garcia, Jodie Herrera, Gregory Lomayesva, Gary Lujan, Ira Lujan, Rhett Lynch, Patricia Michaels, Mateo Romero, Roxanne Swentzell and Adrian Wall!

Live Printing of designs created by Autumn Borts-Medlock, Tammy Garcia, Rhett Lynch, and Patricia Michaels onto T-Shirt printed by Navajo Printmaker Adam Billie. 
 

A Night to Remember

Joe and Althea Cajero were presented the 2014 Living Treasure award for the Native Treasures art show. They are indeed considered living treasures by all who know them. This is your opportunity to become part of the Cajero experience. Please mark your calendar for September 1, 2017, Friday evening to join us at Gallery Chaco. This is the first in the series, "An Evening With a Master."

Althea Cajero - Pueblo Native American Jewelry Artist

"I am in love with the texture of cuttlefish bone castings.  I learned this process while watching a classmate in my jewelry class cast a bracelet from cuttlefish bone and tufa stone using sterling silver.  I said, “WOW!!” THAT is what I want to do!” I consider myself a contemporary jewelry artist and what makes my work unique is that I incorporate cuttlefish bone cast silver and/or gold in my designs.  Cuttlefish bone casting is one of the oldest forms of casting, it has been around since the 1500’s! My jewelry designs are cuttlefish bone cast and hand-fabricated using sterling silver, fine silver, 18K gold, and are integrated with natural stones, shells and pearls. The creative process for me begins when I’m looking at stones, playing and sketching and playing some more. Some of my designs, concepts come through dreams, and meditation." ~ Althea Cajero

Joe Cajero - Pueblo Native American Sculptor

“My creative energy is often spiritual in nature. Each of my sculptures invariably represent some aspect of praise and appreciation for life’s beauty. Since my Pueblo religion restricts the realistic unveiling of ceremonial life, the challenge is to use abstract art to represent the sacred; images that specifically capture a reflection of my spirituality and expressions of my intercession with the Creator.”   ~ Joe Cajero

General Admission $10 - Demonstration, story telling, conversation, and group laughter. Space is limited. 5 pm - 7 pm

VIP Talk & Dinner $100 - Includes front row reserved seats for the evenings presentation, a nifty gift bag, and a seat at the table with Joe & Althea for fine dining at lvl5, Hotel Chaco's rooftop restaurant that everyone is talking about. Only Eight Seats Are Available. 7:30 pm

Purchase Your Tickets Now!

August 5th, 2017

Gallery Chaco

2000 Bellamah Ave NW

Albuquerque, NM 87104

2-5PM Private Consultation

5-7PM Open to the General Public

Reserve a 15 minute one on one consultation with Patricia Michaels with a $100 deposit towards any PM Waterlily item.  

Proceeds fund the latest Patricia Michaels Collection premiering at World Fashion Week, Louvre Museum; Paris, France.

To schedule your private consultation please contact by phone or email: 

Gallery Chaco

505-234-6261

gallery@gallerychaco.com