From the EditorInside Southwest ContemporaryNews
Announcing our 2021 Publication Schedule and SWC Memberships
Whether you've valued our content over the last 28 years, or the last 28 days, now is the time we need your help the most.
October 26, 2020
Lauren Tresp
Announcing the Field Guide 2020
The inaugural Field Guide—a guidebook to arts and culture across northern New Mexico —drops in print and online on July 31! To receive an issue delivered to your door, you can pre-order a copy now from our online store.
July 21, 2020
The Arts and the Black Lives Matter Movement
“It’s really brought home to me the way in which literature can connect us to each other and foster and express our shared humanity. Our experiences in this country might be specific, but through art we can interrogate universal truths about what it means to be human. This is why it’s so important for our arts, culture and society to be inclusive of everyone.”
June 24, 2020
From the Editor: The Future of Southwest Contemporary
After careful consideration, and much initial heartbreak, I have decided that Southwest Contemporary will publish one final print edition this year: our new Field Guide publication. We will suspend print publication of The Magazine for the remainder of 2020, with strong and sincere plans to return to print in 2021.
May 26, 2020
ReVisioning History to Imagine the Future: Architecture in Santa Fe
In an effort to bring multiple perspectives into conversation, Friends of Architecture Santa Fe has organized an in-depth series of public discussions termed “ReVisioning History” to take place May through December this year. Each installment of the ReVisioning History series will bring together a group of architects, planners, allied design professionals, and policymakers to make expert presentations, engage in panel discussions, hold Q&A sessions, and structured visioning exercises.
May 26, 2020
Navigating the Noise: Exhibitions Online
The current state of virtual exhibitions is rather disappointing, but there are a few promising gems out there in the cacophonous landscape of the net. In this essay, Lauren Tresp tries to make some sense of the noise of art online.
April 29, 2020
Support SWC + The Magazine
Southwest Contemporary will continue to serve our community by sharing information, resources, and connections, and supporting arts businesses, organizations, and artists as best we can during this time. However, we need you, our readers and community members, to help us weather this storm.
March 23, 2020
Letter: February-March 2020
Welcome to the Artists Issue, featuring 12 New Mexico Artists to Know Now, a readership survey, new features, and a new calendar.
February 02, 2020
FeatureNew Mexico Artists to Know Now
Announcing the 12 New Mexico Artists to Know Now 2020
All year long we share the stories of artists from across our state, but this special issue is our way of focusing on a sample of some of the premier talent continuously emerging from New Mexico. These are artists whose works are shaping the landscape of contemporary art in the Southwest.
January 28, 2020
Letter: December 2019-January 2020
This issue taps into contemporary craft. It wasn’t intentionally a choice informed by the season, but it feels right to contemplate our own crafts at the end of the year—a season of endings, reflections, and new opportunities. We approached this topic from many different angles, from traditional craft to craft and tech.
December 01, 2019
Have a Drink with Tom Leech of the Palace Press
Have coffee with Tom Leech, Curator at The Press at the Palace of the Governors.
October 01, 2019
Letter: October-November 2019
I love print. I love words on a physical page held in my hands. I love the texture of paper and the smell of old books. I love interesting editorial design that creates an experience greater than the sum of its parts. If you’ve ever been to Southwest Contemporary’s offices, you may have seen my collection of independent magazines from around the world, which is always growing (here’s an open invitation to come say hi and take a look!).
October 04, 2019
Letter: September 2019
This month we embrace our new name and traverse the southwest from Silver City, New Mexico, to Scottsdale, Arizona. In our features, we visit the studio of Santa Fe artist Ted Larsen, whose work we are honored to present as this issue’s cover art. Briana Olson takes us on a day tour of some of Albuquerque’s incredible murals. Rachel Preston Prinz gives us the lowdown on the art, architecture, and natural glories in and around Silver City, New Mexico. Maggie Grimason goes deep with artists Ginger Dunnill and Cannupa Hanska Luger at their Glorieta, New Mexico home, to talk about their individual and collaborative practices spanning art, life, community, and family.
August 28, 2019
Letter: August 2019
Welcome to the next chapter of The Magazine! In July, the beginning of The Magazine’s 28th year, I launched a new business: Southwest Contemporary. (If you missed this launch, sign up for our newsletter at the bottom of this page!) Southwest Contemporary is a new art media company that will serve as an umbrella over The Magazine while also carving out room for this company to evolve and grow.
July 29, 2019
Introducing Southwest Contemporary
The month of July introduces a season of sequels and new beginnings to The Magazine! On the cusp of The Magazine’s 28th year, I am excited to introduce you to […]
July 01, 2019
Have a drink with Stuart Ashman of the International Folk Art Market
"If there is a goal to sustain yourself as an artist, then innovation is a big part of that. Traditions have to change with the times, because artists are the chroniclers of our times."
June 26, 2019
Letter: July 2019
I am thrilled to usher The Magazine into its 28th year with this issue: Volume 28, Issue 1. I have some very exciting announcements that will be made in just a couple of weeks about the future of The Magazine and new offerings to look forward to, so please make sure you are signed up on our email list if you are not already!
June 26, 2019
Letters: June 2019
For a monthly magazine, it can be difficult to capture a theme throughout an entire issue. So much of our content is deliberately eclectic, covers a span of disciplines, and is a mix between in-depth and topical coverage. I’m delighted, therefore, that our “Landscapes” issue came together rather organically...
May 24, 2019
Have a drink with Kenneth Francis of Surroundings Studio
Tasting notes with: Kenneth Francis. Occupation: Landscape architect. Venue: Geronimo bar, Santa Fe. (Next stop: Paloma patio.) Drinking: Hendrix Martini.
May 24, 2019
Collectors Collect New Mexico I: Jugnet+Clairet, Christian Mayeur, Anne Poux
For the first panel-discussion Collectors Collect New Mexico I at The Magazine on May 9, 2019, we hosted collectors and gallerists Christian Mayeur and Anne Poux along with artists Anne-Marie […]
May 11, 2019
Tasting Notes: Elaine Ritchel of Santa Fe Art Tours
Have a drink with Elaine Ritchel of Santa Fe Art Tours.
April 26, 2019
Letters: May 2019
I can already tell from our overflowing calendar of events that the New Mexico arts season is soon upon us.
April 26, 2019
Letters: April 2019
Welcome to April. We have a great issue to present this month, but first, I want to introduce and welcome our newest team member, Rebecca Lynch!
March 26, 2019
Behind the Scenes: Printing the Magazine
Take a tour of the printing press where each issue of The Magazine comes to life! I know we make it look super slick and easy: content + design = printed […]
March 18, 2019
Studio Visit: James Drake
the micro- and the macrocosmic. Having recently opened the show Drawing, Reading, and Counting at Arthur Roger Gallery in New Orleans (May 7 – June 18, 2016), the Texas-born, Santa […]
June 01, 2016
Meet the Team: Lauren Tresp
Name: Lauren Tresp Location: Santa Fe, NM Writing for The since: 2013 1. Where are you from? Oshkosh, Wisconsin. 2. What is your favorite thing about New Mexico? It feels real. […]
February 12, 2019
New Mexico Artists to Know Now
Françoise Barnes: 12 New Mexico Artists to Know Now 2019
Francoise Barnes’s titles give the viewer a quick point of entry to her abstract, mixed-media paintings on canvas, panel, or paper.
January 30, 2019
New Mexico Artists to Know Now
Nicole Cudzilo: 12 New Mexico Artists to Know Now 2019
Nicole Cuzilo's photos contemplate the role of fashion and appearance as mechanisms that historically and continually both celebrate and constrain women.
January 30, 2019
New Mexico Artists to Know Now
Vanessa Gonzalez: 12 New Mexico Artists to Know Now 2019
Charming plushy animals walk the razor’s edge between life and lifelessness in Vanessa Gonzalez’s paintings. Each creature—a sloth, a jackalope, a flock of birds—has its limbs wrenched from its tiny body, with threads and fiberfill stuffing poking out of wounds.
January 30, 2019
New Mexico Artists to Know Now
Dorothy Melander-Dayton: 12 New Mexico Artists to Know Now 2019
Dorothy Melander-Dayton is an interdisciplinary artist working at the nexus of performance, theater, and installation, as well as works on paper and sculpture. The artist’s process is grounded in research into various subjects which span artistic influences, texts, material research, and experimentation.
January 30, 2019
