Chroma is Expanding!

Chroma Studios is expanding! We now have three locations, two with band studios and one with artist studios.

Our Band studios are located downtown on the NE corner of 1st street and Roma and near Nob Hill at 210 Manzano NE. There are a variety of spaces and rents(ranging from $200-600), totally secure with 24/7 access, central heat and air. We rent to all types of musicians and bands, and have a great community atmosphere. Availability of studios varies. We are usually full and have a waiting list, though with the new location, openings happen more frequently.

Contact Paula at 505-259-6320 for more info or to be put on our waiting list, or email me at paula@paulamanninglewis.com.

Chroma Studios was named the “Best New Business” in downtown Albuquerque at the annual 2009 LOOK awards. We are now in our 13th year of operation.

February at Chroma Studios

First off, I’m happy to announce that we are at 100% capacity. We have started a new waiting list, so if you are looking for a band or art studio, please contact us to be put on the list. Work continues on our plans for purchasing a building for Chroma Studios to expand into and if all keeps going as planned, we should have a new space and more studios to fill by May/June!

ChromaFEST is coming up soon! If you are an artist who would like to participate, remember, our submission deadline is February 15th. For more info, see THIS POST. It’s looking like there will be room for everyone so far! Get those submissions in as soon as you can, we have to start promoting the show in March, so I can’t take late submissions.

Our crowdfunding campaign is getting close to launching. We hope you will be able and willing to help us spread the word! There will be lots of great rewards for your donations, including tickets to our ChromaFEST show on April 8th.

Saturday, February 18th is this month’s Open Studio event at our Central Art Studios location. We have changed the times to 4-7pm to make it easier for everyone to make it. We look forward to showing you around the space and the art. Please stop in and say hi!

 

January Open Studios

This Saturday from 4-7pm at our Central Studios, 1606 Central SE, suite 201. We have a couple new artists this month. We look forward to showing you around and showing you our art work! 

This is a short post today, my husband and I are currently at the hospital waiting for our first grandson to be born! Needless to say, I’m having a hard time concentrating on anything else right now. Come see me this Saturday and I will probably have photos to share! Have a great rest of the week!

Chroma Open Studios: Saturday, Sept. 17, noon-5pm

Reception area at Chroma Studios

This Saturday from noon to 5pm I will be opening my studio to the public. Not just my studio, but 3-4 other artists in my building will also be here to show their work! It’s been years since we opened Chroma Studios to the public and I am so excited to share all the color and energy with you all! We have 11 studios in all, though not everyone is able to be open this time around.

We have 2 studios that are currently being moved out of, so we also have 2 studios opening up for new artists at the beginning of October. If you are looking for an art studio, stop by and see what we have available! We are always happy to welcome new artists into the Chroma Studios fold. 🙂

Mixed Media by Dee Alexandria

I recently moved into a new studio that I’m sharing with another artist. Dee Alexandria has been a friend since we first met selling our art at the New Mexico State Fair almost 10 years ago! We decided to share a studio because neither of us needed a big studio to ourselves. Plus, it’s nice to have company in the studio. So often, artists are isolated from their peers. That is one of the things about Chroma Studios that makes it so nice! We have a community of artists here that help each other out. Mine and Dee’s work compliments each other perfectly as we both love color, flowers and spirals!

Landscape painting by Cynthia Zeedyk

Cynthia Zeedyck is another artist who will have her studio open this Saturday. She is a lifelong artist with 45 years of training and experience in the arts, including: Fine Arts, Appalachian Arts, Poetry, many styles of Dance, Wildcrafting Herbs, and Poetry. Cynthia was awarded with an Apprenticeship Grant from Ohio Arts for Traditional Heritage Basket Making. Her works sold both nationally and internationally. She was the largest female producer of Heritage Berry Baskets in the world. Her designs and creations include landscape paintings, floral and contemporary. Newest works in Scrimshaw. Cynthia has been a Chroma Artist since 2014.

Mixed Media by Robert Medina Cook

Robert Medina Cook has been a Chroma Studios artist off and on for at least 5 years. He began his journey in the creative arts over forty years ago in Santa Fe, New Mexico. A native New Mexican whose local family roots go back centuries in Northern New Mexico, in 2012 Robert was one of 7 artists honored for their excellence in the arts by being proclaimed a “Local Treasure” by the Albuquerque Art Business Association. Featured in several publications, his artworks have won numerous awards and can be found in corporate, museum, public art and private collections throughout the US and abroad.

Mixed Media by Phillip Vigil

Phillip Vigil (Jemez Pueblo/Chiricahua Apache) is a fourth-generation artist residing in Jemez Pueblo. He is new to Chroma Studios. He is a self-taught artist and has been working seriously on his art now for several years. He always had a love of art since he realized at a young age that the paintings on the walls were done by members of his family. He is highly influenced by the abstract modernists of the early and late 20th century. He works a lot on paper with oil pastels, oil sticks, oil paint sticks, spray paint, oil and acrylic paint as well.

Open Studios Event!

Starting in September, we will have a monthly open studios event at our Central Ave. location. This is the place where we have our art studios. There are 11 studios with 8 artists, at least 4 of us will be opening our doors to the public on the 3rd Saturday of the month, from 12 noon to 5:00pm. We are located at 1606 Central Ave SE, Suite 201, very close to UNM, about a block west of University Ave.

The first open studios is happening on September 17th, hope to see you there! 🙂

Music Studios available!

It’s one of those rare months at Chroma Studios downtown! We have several band studios opening up at the end of June. We currently have one studio available NOW and 4 more opening up soon! Although there are 5 spaces available, they do and will go fast!

Studio #18: 10.5 x 11.5′ room, $225 per month, $225 deposit. This is a medium sized room, works for a 3-5 piece band. Available NOW!

Studio #1: 10 x 10′ room, $200 per month, $200 deposit. This is a small sized room, works for 2-4 piece band. Available end of June.

Studio #9: 11 x 13.5′ room, $250 per month, $250 deposit. This is a medium sized room, works for up to 6 piece band. Available end of June.

Studio #12: 13.5 x 13.5′ room, $315 per month, $315 deposit. This is a large sized room, works for up to 7 piece band. Available end of June.

Studio #14: 11.5 x 16′ room, $315 per month, $315 deposit. This is a large sized room, works for up to 7 piece band. Available end of June.

Call Aaron at 505-908-1392 for more information or to schedule an appointment to see the spaces.

Chroma FEST! May 4th and 5th!

We are extremely happy to announce our next event! April 2012 marks our FOURTH anniversary in business and we want to celebrate with all of our friends, past and present! This is a two day event that we are calling “ChromaFest”.

May 4th, 5 – 9pm, Friday evening; is our open studio/artist reception at our Central location (1606 Central SE ste 201). Stop by and meet some of our studio artists and some of the artists who showed with Chroma gallery in the past; Cate Clark, Karl Horodowich, Karl Eschenbach, Samuel Kochansky, Jen Montano, Victoria Bryers, Robert Medina Cook, Gina Marselle, Jacqui Colozzi, te’ Zins, Katie Rooke, Paula Manning-Lewis, Bryan Beck and more.

May 5th, 1 – 10pm, Saturday; is an all day event! LIVE music from several of the bands that practice at the Roma location (600 1st street NW). We are closing down the street in front of the building (corner of 1st and Roma) and setting up a stage. Food vendor, band merchandise, and lots of local LIVE music!

The band list is currently;

Aaron Lewis
The Haptics
Jazz quartet
Psykick Monkey
Famous Blues Number
Wormhole
Shiva
Crash Habbit

AND…. MiM: Music is Medicine  will be present to raise money for Family Promise, a non-profit organization that supports homeless and low-income families.

So come one, come all! Check out the 1st annual Chroma Fest! Bring your friends and family!

Thank you for your continued interest in Chroma Studios! We hope to see you soon!

Artist of the Week: Mickey Bond

Mickey’s Bio:

My paintings reflect my daily response to nature’s beauty, her dynamic forces and the mystery of creation. I work in two styles: abstract landscape paintings and mixed media abstracts. Though both derive from the same plein air experience, the landscapes evoke a sense of place and mood whereas the abstracts explore an essential aspect of nature such as the sea, sky and land.

My mixed media abstract series “Bottom of An Ancient Sea,” suggests sea life as it might have existed in a mythic, primordial state, when New Mexico was underwater perhaps. I’ve imagined a place of glittering light and motion where life forms are inchoate and elusive. I know that my imagery was deeply influenced by a swim last summer over coral encrusted rocks in Hawaii, where a sea turtle led the way. I’ve layered translucent handmade paper from Thailand and Japan featuring banana, mango and unryu (mulberry) fibers with casein, acrylic paint and acrylic mediums, to form diaphanous layers and passages where forms float and seem to sway.

An abstract expressionist, I prize mark making highly and allow my compositions to grow out of direct contact with my painting media. I do use brushes but mainly non-traditional such as scrapers, cloths, sponges, knives and primarily my hands. Painting outdoors, I think of nature as my collaborator deeply affecting me and the mediums I use, sometimes with surprising results. Last winter, I discovered by accident how to make ice crystal prints on the surface of clayboards. A technique known to watercolorists but new to me, learning how to capture these delicate patterns felt like a secret bestowed by nature. My current plein air series “Trees Listening for Winter” explores the use of translucent colored crystal prints as underpainting.

I was born in Israel to parents from Poland & Bulgaria and later raised in west suburban Boston. After attending Colgate University as an undergraduate , I spent some years in Ann Arbor where I received my MA in American Literature from the University of Michigan. I have lived in Santa Fe since 1994. In New Mexico, I am represented by Matrix Arts Santa Fe located at 429 Sandoval & Chroma Studios Gallery  600 1^st Street NW, Albuquerque. You may also see my work in Arizona at Straw House Gallery (520-869-8626), located in the historic Amado Territory Ranch, 3001 E. Frontage Road, Amado.

See more of Mickey’s work at http://www.mickeybond.com

Artist of the Week: Justin Thor Simenson

JUSTIN’S BIO:

I have always been drawn to photos. The idea that you an capture a moment in time that will never happen again has inspired me to become a photographer.

I used a Nikon Coolpix 4300 for two and a half years. I was pretty happy with it for its convenience, but wanted more. I currently use a Canon Digital Rebel XT. I am really happy with this camera. I have 4 lenses a Canon 15-55mm, Canon 75-300mm, Cannon 50mm 1.8, and a Lensbaby 2.0. I also have a Canon AE-1 film camera with several lenses included a 50mm and 75-200mm.

My goal as a photographer is to share the beauty of the places I have been with others. I print my photography on a customer by customer basis. This is to insure that each customer receives exactly what fits their own personality and budget. I also like to get to know each person that has one of my photographs.

See more of Justin’s amazing photography at http://www.iminphotos.com

November First Friday: November 5, 2010, 6-10 pm

This month we are having a silent auction for charity. Unlike many silent auctions that focus on one charity, this auction will benefit several charities. Those placing the winning bid on a piece will choose the charity for the proceeds on that particular piece. 50% of the sales will go to charity and 50% will go back …to the artists. There are many local charities doing great work right here in Albuquerque.  Just a few to mention are the Roadrunner Food Bank, the Boys and Girls Club, Habitat for Humanity, the Wilderness Project, and Roberta’s Place.

The November First Friday Show will also be the beginning of our annual Holiday Art Sale. This show is always festive and fun with lots of fine art to choose from. Most of the pieces will be priced $250 and under! The holiday show will run through December 18th.  In addition, please be sure to visit our friends upstairs at Better Body & Beyond. Visit the link to find more information on their grand opening.