The unveiling of my piece Pan American Unity took place at the National Hispanic Cultural Center as one hundred people gathered around! One of them was Representative Deb Haaland ( included in my piece). She gave a wonderful tribute to artists, my work, and the suffragettes across the Americas! It was quite a celebration! So happy to have had my hard work honored. It will remain on view for six months.
Pan American Unity, woodblock mural by Julianna Kirwin
In 1940, Diego Rivera explained, “My mural…is about the marriage of artistic expression of the North and South of the continent….” With this theme in mind, I used his composition to depict some of my favorite artists and activists from across the Americas honoring a diversity of women and men whose lives have reached across boundaries. Each figure represents a particular region and contribution.
This one day Workshop is open to anyone who would like to learn to carve and print a woodblock. All materials provided. Hours: 10-5 on Sept. 27th. Cost $120, pre-registration required. For more info and to register contact juliannakirwin@gmail.com
Please join me for my Studio Open House featuring my recent LIFE SIZED woodblock prints of corn. In a recent trip to Oaxaca I learned how to carve large sheets of MDF (medium density fiber board). You’ll see the black and white ones attached to my outside wall, and the colorful layered ones inside the studio. Parking is on the street at 1201 8th St NW-the corner of 8th and Mountain Road in Albuquerque’s Art Corridor!
Interested in learning to carve the MDF? Join me for a workshop on July 22, 10am-5pm All materials provided. Cost $120. Preregistration required.
So happy to have my “Mariachi Story” in the collection at the NHCC! It tells the story of how the guitar family of instruments arrived in Mexico from Spain by way of the Moors. The instrument evolved into what is pictured here-a vihuela played by the Mariachis in the fiestas of rural Mexico. Down below you can see the marriage couple-how the Mariachis got their name from Maximillian, the French Monarch who ruled Mexico briefly and named them from the French word “mariage” because they often played at weddings.
Thanks to Morgan Aguilar and KOB TV Channel 4 for great coverage on the Mountain Road Banner Project: History of the Neighborhood Through the Eyes of Contemporary Artists! Please view the story here:
A big THANK YOU to our sponsors for the Mountain Road Banner Project:
Golden Crown Bakery
Mountain Road Fine Furniture
MGP Mechanical
Brent Lomako
Wells Park Neighborhood Association
The Next Best Think to Being There
Isaac Benton, Councilman for District 2
WIRED
If you are thinking of submitting a piece for the Banners for Mountain Road Project, here you will find a document that contains pictures of some of the oldest buildings in the Sawmill-Wells Park neighborhood. It tells the history of the area too. I enclosed a photo of the old gas station now a coffee shop at 8th and Mountain. Submissions: friendsofmountainroad@gmail.com
Wow! I was contacted by Brittany Bade of Channel 13 News for an interview about the Mountain Road Banner Project. It aired on the 10pm KRQE News on Monday, February 19th.
Check out the video:
New art project aims to make Mountain Road the next Nob Hill
One of my favorite poets, Garcia Lorca, has entered the public domain. In my design you can see his his home near Granada, Spain, in the background. Living during one of its darkest times, he is now considered Spain’s greatest 20th century poet. He was executed by a firing squad in 1936. Alongside Garcia Lorca, I have my Pan Dulce bag. I’ve always been fascinated by the history of the French pastries that have such unusual names in Mexico such as “mustache,” “underpants” or “foot of the mule.” In each bag, I have written the story that goes with the design.
