NARROWS

Santa Fe Community Gallery
201 W. Marcy Street
May 20-June 10, 2016

Opening Reception: Friday, May 20, 5-8 pm
Zine Workshop: Saturday, May 28, 1-4 pm
Artist Talks with Santa Fe Art Tours: Wednesday, June 1, 6-8 pm

Santa Fe, NM— There’s revolution in the air in Santa Fe this spring, as emerging and alternative art projects by young creatives take the spotlight. New art districts are forming on Baca Street, Hickox Road and Siler Road, fostering experimental art spaces and collectives. In May, Strangers Collective will stage a daring takeover of Santa Fe’s downtown arts district. Narrows, an exhibition of 35 local emerging artists and writers, opens at Santa Fe Community Gallery on Friday, May 20 from 5-8 pm. 

“We’ve seen a significant shift in the community since the collective formed, and it has emboldened us,” says Strangers co-founder Jordan Eddy. The art group started in fall 2014 as a grassroots effort to build a supportive network of emerging artists and writers. Living room salons quickly grew into full-fledged exhibitions, with showings at ART.i.factory Gallery and Wheelhouse Art in 2015 and events at Caldera and David Richard Gallery this year. “Santa Fe is waking up to the fact that young artists are ushering in a radical new era of contemporary art here,” says Eddy. “We’re carving out space in this scene, and there’s no going back.” 

Narrows is Strangers Collective’s fourth public exhibition, featuring visual art in diverse mediums by 17 artists, and zines by 16 writers. The show’s title is a reference to the small apartments and studio spaces where the artwork takes shape, and the process of ferrying emerging art into the public sphere. Narrows is an examination of this invigorating and at times perilous voyage. During the three-week run of the show, Strangers will host a zine workshop on Saturday, May 28 and artist talks with Elaine Ritchel of Santa Fe Art Tours on Wednesday, June 1. 

“It’s such a diverse group,” says co-founder Kyle Farrell. “We have artists who grew up here, and people who came from all across the country. One thing that unites us is the battle to be heard. We’re moving from private spaces onto much larger stages, and it’s invigorating.” Featured artists include A. Jason Coleman, Kyle Farrell, Alex Gill, Julia Haywood, Erikka James, Shannon Latham, Katherine Lee, Drew Mc, David O'Brien, Sarah Palmeri, Leah Devine Pokrasso, Stephanie Thompson, Ben Putnam, Dion Valdez, Emmanuelle John, MaryEllen Whitmoyer, Marcus Zuniga and Rebecca Waldron. Participating writers include Daniel Bohnhorst, Jordan Eddy, Austin Eichelberger, Juro Gagne, Kendyll Gross, Elliot Jackson, Ariana Lombardi, Chris Quintana, Elaine Ritchel, Bucket Siler, Kelly Skeen, Rachel Miller-Howard, Maxwell Lucas, Sarah Weisberg, Emmaly Wiederholt, Mariah Romero, Darnell Thomas, and contributors to Genghis Culture and 1905 Magazine.

CABIN FEVER

A Strangers Collective Pop-Up
Caldera
411 West Water Street
Santa Fe, NM
March 4 - 13, 2016

Shack up with Strangers Collective and SCUBA at Caldera Gallery for this three night pop-up. Artwork by Sarah Darlene Palmeri, Marcus Zuniga, David O'Brien, Dion Valdez, Leah Devine Pokrasso, Shannon Latham, A. Jason Coleman, MaryEllen Whitmoyer, Kyle Farrell and more. Craft by Mod Tribe Design. Zines by  Julia Haywood, Jordan Eddy, Austin Eichelberger, Juro Gagne, Daniel Bohnhorst, Elliot Jackson, Elaine Ritchel, Rachel Miller-Howard, Bucket Siler, Chris Quintana, and Kelly Skeen. Opening Friday, March 4th from 5 to 7pm.

Weekend events: 

Saturday, 3/5, 5-7 pm- Readings by Strangers. Featuring Max Walukas, Austin Eichelberger, Bucket Siler, Stephanie Thompson and Juro Gagne. 

Sunday, 3/6, 5-7 pm- Closing reception. Banjo performance by Sam Armstrong-Zickefoose, 5-5:30 pm.

NO LAND

Wheelhouse Art
418 Montezuma Avenue
October 16-28, 2015

Opening reception:
Friday, October 16, 5-9 pm

This autumn, local art collective Strangers will take part in the final chapter of a beloved Santa Fe gallery. Wheelhouse Art, known for its trailblazing exhibitions of conceptual and experimental artwork, will host the group for a provocative show before closing its doors. Strangers Collective’s NO LAND exhibition runs October 16-28, and rallies Santa Fe’s emerging art community to fight for new territory in a competitive market. 

“Wheelhouse stood by artists who went against the grain in Santa Fe, and that’s a huge risk,” says Strangers co-founder and sculptor Kyle Farrell. “For the last show, we wanted to honor that ethos by asking some big questions about our community’s future.” 

A group of friends started Strangers in 2014, mounting a series of private exhibitions in a Santa Fe living room. The collective threw its first public art and zine show this summer at ART.i.factory Gallery on Baca Street, creating a new platform for young creatives with powerful perspectives to share. NO LAND is the group’s largest exhibition yet, with 13 visual artists—including painters, filmmakers, sculptors and collage artists— and more than a dozen writers involved. 

“The ‘NO LAND’ title is a reference to that feeling of isolation young artists can get in this very established scene,” says Strangers co-founder and writer Jordan Eddy. “So many artists have already planted their flags here. How do we carve out our own niche and tell some new stories?”

The visual artists featured in NO LAND include A. Jason Coleman, Dion Valdez, Freedom Hopkins, Alex Gill, Ben Putnam, Stephanie Thompson, Drew Mc, Erikka James, MaryEllen Whitmoyer, Freyr A Marie, Julia Haywood, Kyle Farrell, Shannon Latham and Leah Devine Pokrasso. Participating writers include Andrea Vaca, Annie Siegel, Ariana Lombardi, Kelly Skeen, Austin Eichelberger, Bucket Siler, Chris Quintana, Elaine Richtel, Elliot Jackson, Jordan Eddy, Juro Gagne, Rachel Miller-Howard and a number of Knack Magazine contributors. 

STRANGERS

ART.i.factory
930 Baca Street
July 18- August 31, 2015

Opening Reception:
Saturday, July 18th, 5:00- 9:00 pm

The Strangers art collective started in a Santa Fe living room. A small group of artists and writers, all without representation, came together for a secret pop-up show. Ten months and two exhibitions later, the collective will expand out of residences and into the Art.i.fact consignment shop in the Baca District south of the Railyard, debuting a powerful new vision for Santa Fe's art scene. The STRANGERS pop-up art and zine exhibition opens in the ART.i.factory gallery on Saturday, July 18th from 5:00-9:00 pm, during the inaugural Baca Street Bash.   

“We had two big revelations: that Santa Fe’s most dynamic young artists were one link away from us, and that they weren't exhibiting anywhere," says Strangers co-founder Jordan Eddy. “We were living in a town of like-minded strangers, and we had to bring them together.” In October 2014, Eddy teamed up with local artists Kyle Farrell and Erikka James to throw the first of several private art exhibitions. What began as a salon-style gathering of friends grew into a full-fledged collective with over 20 dynamic young artists and writers. 

Not long after STRANGERS united, Art.i.fact co-owners Jennifer Rowland and Michael Gullberg launched their own creative endeavor. They built the ART.i.factory gallery in the back of their consignment shop in winter 2014, and began searching for guest curators to populate its walls with thought-provoking artwork. 

The exhibition, also titled Strangers, will introduce young artists and writers working in a wide range of media. Visual artists Alex Gill, Dion Valdez, Kyle Farrell, Tailinh Agoyo and Drew Mc utilize everything from photographs to encaustics to oil and acrylic paints. Writers Ariana Lombardi, Jordan Eddy, Austin Eichelberger, Rachel Miller-Howard and Kelly Skeen pen meditations on contemporary life, art, identity, poetry, language, grief and joy. 

The artwork of the Strangers Collective is diverse, but it all possesses an underlyingcurrent of passionate rebellion. “The art scene goes to bed at 7 o’clock," says Farrell. “It's time to start talking about serious art after dark, and the Baca Street Bash is where that conversation begins.” The Baca Street Bash, an evening of art, music and food, is a collaboration between numerous Baca Street businesses. It will coincide with the Strangers opening on July 18th.