New Mexico Veterans Richard Riekenberg, left, and Upton Ethelbah chat at the opening reception for ‘The Way of Art – New Mexico Veterans Create’ now showing in Step Up Gallery at Mesa Public Library. Courtesy photo
STEP UP GALLERY News:
Judges and viewers alike are wowed by the artwork in “The Way of Art – New Mexico Veterans Create”, now showing in Step Up Gallery at Mesa Public Library.
More than 50 artists who are veterans of military service are showing their art through Nov. 28. Artwork by former paratroopers, helicopter pilots, deep sea divers and submariners, along with combat veterans from the Cold War, Vietnam War, Gulf War and peacetime is on display. There is diversity in the media represented as well, with oil paintings, drawings, carvings, sculptures, pottery and fiber.
Many of the artists only began to embrace artmaking after their military service – while others were on the path to becoming working artists before they ever started military service. Greyshoes, the pseudonym of Upton Ethelbah, was born into an artistic family. His sculpture “Little Deer Returns to the Mesa II” was the grand award winner in the exhibit. This is the most recent honor in his storied career, which includes multiple 1st place awards from such prestigious shows as the Santa Fe Indian Market, Heard Museum Indian Fair and Market, Autry Museum Masters of the American West, and the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture’s Native Treasures Art Market.
Richard Riekenberg served much of his military duty in a submarine and found himself craving nature and wide-open landscapes upon his return to dry land. He is showing his photography in “The Way of Art”. Riekenberg has also created a video in which he asks fellow veteran artists why they create. The video is available on Riekenberg’s YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgaqJT4cHKw.
The next show to be featured in Step Up Gallery will be the 2025 Los Alamos County Employee Art Showcase. Current and retired Los Alamos County employees still have time to enter the show until Nov. 21. The Call for Art and application are available at https://stepupgallery.org/call-for-art/.
About Step Up Gallery:
Step Up Gallery (https://stepupgallery.org) is on the upper level of Mesa Public Library, 2400 Central Ave., Los Alamos. The gallery is open during regular library hours: 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Monday through Thursday; 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Friday; 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday and 1-5 p.m., Sunday.
