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.

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News Flash!

There are changes afoot at Chroma Studios. At the end of June we are giving up our lease at the Central location of Chroma Studios. The location will still be rented/used as artist studios, but someone else will be running it as a new business. Paula and Aaron have moved their studios home and will continue to run the Downtown location as band/music practice studios.

While we are a bit melancholy about leaving Central after 9 years, it was time to make a decision and the decision was that it was time to let it go. One of the conditions of leaving the lease was that the space would still be used as artist studios, because Albuquerque already has a shortage of space and we couldn’t bear the thought of closing it down completely after all these years. Paula is ready to work full time as an artist again and running the studios made that difficult.

Huge thanks to all the artists who made Chroma their studio home all these years! We appreciate you all! We like to look at it not as an ending, but as a new beginning. 🙂

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 Studios, the Music Perspective

We here at Chroma Studios are fans of music ourselves, owning a record collection with well over 8,000 records (if you want to count them come on over). It is through this that we have developed the philosophy that all music has something to offer. Instead of not listening to it and saying it sucks we decided to open ourselves up to the opportunity to listen to a different perspective. Which is all music is really. A different perspective due to a different upbringing. It seems to me that we all could use the reminder that this is one of our strengths. It does not matter what style it is there are only 12 notes, there is melody, there is harmony and form. There is rhythm syncopated and straight. The beauty of all of that is it’s an individual’s voice that makes those 12 notes, melody, harmony, form, and rhythm all come together.

Whenever I rent spaces to bands, they ask what the rules are and this is my response. My number one rule for the band studios is be supportive of your fellow musicians no matter what you do or what they do.  We currently rent 19 band studios and these bands will provide the majority of the music at ChromaFEST. We rent space to all different types of bands. There are some cover bands, original bands, trained musicians, untrained hip hop, rock and roll, metal, and bands I have never heard. Chroma used to house a performance space where Chroma developed a relationship with many Singer Songwriters and poets who will be a part of ChromaFEST in what we call Tweener acts. The Chroma community will provide a diverse set of music that is Albuquerque.

If you are up to listening to a bunch of different styles of music all in one place as part of your day, mark down April 8th and come to ChromaFEST in Albuquerque, NM. I can make you this promise, you won’t be disappointed. More info on ChromaFEST will be shared as we get closer to April, stay tuned…

 

Call for Artists!

We are in full planning mode for our upcoming ChromaFEST on Saturday, April 8th. What is ChromaFEST, you may ask? It’s a music/art festival and a fundraiser for Chroma Studios. We plan to make it an annual event, but this year is extra special. You may have seen our Big Announcement a couple of months ago. Now that 2017 is here, we are in full swing fundraising/planning mode. This year’s event will be at The Cell Theater in downtown Albuquerque. We will know more about times once we get the band/music lined up. There will be live music, food truck/s, a silent auction and of course, an art market!

We are looking for artists who would like to set up a booth to show/sell their work. The term artists is used in a broad sense here as we are open to any kind of creative handmade items. Fine Art, jewelry, photography, fiber arts, really ANYTHING handmade by YOU. This will be an outside show, so you may need a canopy for shade. You will need to bring your own set up; tables, chairs, easels, canopy, etc. Since this is a fundraiser show, we are asking each artist to donate a piece for the silent auction. In return, we will be eternally grateful to you!

What we need you to submit is 4-10 photos of your work, a bio/artist statement, and a $10 application fee. If you rent a studio from us, the fees are included in your rent. If you are not a Chroma Studios artist, the booth fee will be $25 in addition to the $10 application fee. This is a one day, Saturday show that may go as late as 10:00pm. Booth fees will be collected after you are accepted to the show. There is limited space, so unfortunately we can’t accept everyone. 😦 The deadline is February 15th and we will notify artists by March 1st.

Please send your submissions to chromastudios@comcast.net and pay your $10 application fee by paypal to plewis11@comcast.net or by check/money order mailed to Chroma Studios, 1606 Central Ave SE, Albuquerque, NM 87106.

Please email if you have any questions. We look forward to hearing from YOU!

Prime Artist Studio Available!

North facing windows. With the door hanging system taken down.

This is one of our prime studio spaces! It has been continuously occupied for the entire 8 1/2 years we have been here. The last time it was available was 6 years ago! The space is 10 x 20′, which is our largest room size. The windows wrap around 180 degrees and the majority of the windows are north facing.

West side of the room with the hanging doors up

One of the previous tenants made the cool door hanging system you see in front of the windows, for hanging art, since the windows take up lots of wall space. This space rents for $360 per month with a $360 deposit. Rent includes utitilities, wifi and reserved parking. Contact Paula at 505-259-6320 for more information or to schedule an appointment to see this great space! No doubt it will rent fast! 🙂

East side of room with doors hanging

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.

Art Studio available

Our premier, large, windowed art studio is NOW available! 10 x 20′ room with two large, tall windows. $375 per month, $375 deposit. Contact Paula at 505-259-6320 for more info or to schedule an appointment to see space.

North facing window