AMoCA News June - September
Tendai Mupita (RAiR 2024-25) speaks to an appreciative crowd during his artist talk at AMoCA.
Tendai Mupita’s (RAiR 2024-25) exhibition titled Nyamusawara Izvo Akasha Kufa Akafa Mangani? (The Die Is Cast) in the North Gallery at AMoCA.
Tendai Mupita (RAiR 2024-25) Artist Talk and Opening Reception
Tendai Mupita’s exhibition opened on September 19 with an artist talk, opening reception and public dinner all being held at the Anderson Museum of Contemporary Art. Tendai showed work from some of his earlier installation artworks and drawings and prints. As always, there was a lovely community dinner, and of course, cake.
Svongorongo (Python)
Custom art cakes are made by baker Debbie Lucas for our artist dinners.
Neo Trio Jazz Concert at AMoCa
James Emery, played the Anderson Museum with his Neo Trio on August 23rd. Co-founder of the pioneering chamber jazz ensemble The String Trio of New York, Emery is a virtuoso guitarist and composer who has received international recognition for his distinctive and highly original approach to both improvisation and composition. Emery has been very active as a performer and composer on the international jazz and contemporary music scene since 1975 with over two dozen CDs as a leader or co-leader and live performances in more than 25 countries worldwide.
Joining Emery were John Funkhouser on bass and Alex Murzyn on saxophone.
Emery has been touring and recording worldwide for 45 years, and relocated to Santa Fe in 2022.
Read the article previewing this concert in the Roswell Daily Record
Æmen Ededéen (Josh Hagler, RAiR 2017-18) and Maja Ruznic Artist Talk
Æmen Ededéen (Josh Hagler, RAiR 2017-18) and Maja Ruznic returned to Roswell to give a thoughtful, aesthetically engaging artist talk, cataloguing their last eight years in New Mexico, which began during Josh’s RAiR residency and continues as they have relocated to Placitas, NM. Josh has had solo exhibitions in the last few years in New York, Los Angeles, Dallas and London and has a book coming out soon titled Nihil: Joshua Hagler in New Mexico. Maja has had solo shows recently in Berlin, New York, Los Angeles and Taos, was in the 2024 Whitney Biennial and is currently showing in the Site Santa Fe International Once Within A Time.
Raúl Sisniega (RAiR 2024-25) Artist Talk and Opening Reception
Raul Sisniega (RAiR 2024-25), from Mexico City, gave an artist talk on July 25 to over 100 attendees at the Anderson Museum. Raúl spoke about his career to date, including a mural he painted on the full height of a 13-story building in Guadalajara, Mexico.
Raúl Sisniega (RAiR 2024-25) paints a mural on the wall in the North Gallery where his solo exhibtion was held.
Sisniega’s opening reception spilled out into the Northeast Gallery at AMoCA.
AMoCA Tours
U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich’s (D-NM) Washington DC staff were in Roswell and made a visit to the Anderson Museum where they were given a short presentation about the museum and the residency program. Artists-in-residence Laurie Fader (RAiR 2025-26) and Raúl Sisniega (RAiR 2024-25) also delivered remarks to the staff members.
Fourth-graders from the Roswell Independent School District Gifted Program sketch characters from a painting by Cristina Gonzalez (RAiR 1998-99). The students were some of the hundreds that visit the museum annually. Students are all given age-appropriate activity books to complete using art from the museum collection to engage with their creativity.
Update on NEA Funding for RAiR Foundation
The NEA Grant that RAiR applied for has come through. Please see original announcement below:
Roswell, NM — The RAiR Foundation is pleased to announce it has been approved by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) for a Grants for Arts Projects award of $ 45,000.
This grant will support the Roswell Artist-in-Residence Program by providing 12-month residencies for visual artists. The artists on the grant will receive direct benefit from the NEA via monthly stipends. The NEA will award 1,127 Grants for Arts Projects awards nationwide totaling more than $31.8 million as part of the recent announcement of fiscal year 2025 grants.
“The NEA is proud to continue our nearly 60 years of supporting the efforts of organizations and artists that help to shape our country’s vibrant arts sector and communities of all types across our nation,” said NEA Chair Maria Rosario Jackson, PhD. “It is inspiring to see the wide range of creative projects taking place, including the RAiR Foundation’s project.”
For more information on other projects included in the NEA’s grant announcement, visit
arts.gov/news.
