LAURIE BETH ZUCKERMAN'S PHOTO OF SORROWFUL MADONNA AT RINCONADA CEMETERY NEAR TAOS, NEW MEXICO

Laurie Beth Zuckerman's photo of a Madonna in

Rinconada cemetery, Northern New Mexico near Taos

Laurie Beth Zuckerman's photo of the Madonna
and Jesus in the Rinconada cemetery 

Laurie Beth Zuckerman photographed this roadside shrine and cemetery near Taos several years ago. I have never seen such a majestic backdrop to a simple Camposanto cemetery.

This is my Day 7 entry for "A Virgin a Day." To witness all the other wonderful contributions by artists around the country, log onto Rebecca Brooks site: http://www.corazon.typepad.com/

LAURIE BETH ZUCKERMAN'S PHOTO OF MADONNA AT VIEJO SAN ACACIO CHURCH, CO

Laurie Beth Zuckerman's photo of Madonna at the
Viejo San Acacio Church in Southern Colorado

Laurie Beth Zuckerman's photo of Madonnas in the

window of the adobe Viejo San Acacio Church 

Laurie Beth Zuckerman's photo of Madonna and Child
stands by the altar of the Viejo San Acacio Mission

Laurie Beth Zuckerman's photo of the altar reredo screen
painted by Marie Romero Cash at the Viejo San Acacio Mission

Laurie Beth Zuckerman's photo of the Viejo San Acacio Mission, Colorado

Laurie Beth Zuckerman photographed a touching image of the Madonna and Child in the window of the old church in San Acacio, is the oldest adobe mission church in Southern Colorado, built in the early 1860s. It appears that each of the religious window designs was a gift from members of the church community. Inside the church has been well-restored and contains a beautiful statue of the Madonna and Child. The reredo altar screen was painted by New Mexican artist, Marie Romero Cash. It is in the style of the reredos seen in so many of the famous mission churches in Northern New Mexico. To read more about Marie Romero Cash, click on this website: http://sacredartpilgrim.com/collection/view/47

This is my combined Day 5 and 6 entry for "A Virgin a Day." To witness all the other wonderful contributions by artists around the country, log onto Rebecca Brooks' site: http://www.corazon.typepad.com/

LAURIE BETH ZUCKERMAN'S MOTHER OF SORROWS ALTAR TO BLANCHE ZUCKERMAN

Laurie Beth Zuckerman's Mother of Sorrows altar to her mother, Blanche (at right)

Laurie Beth Zuckerman's Mother of Sorrows altar to her mother, Blanche

Laurie Beth Zuckerman home ancestor altar to her mother Blanche Kleid Zuckerman began in 2001 just weeks after Blanche's death from ovarian cancer. Today would be my mother's 89th birthday had she survived. A special birthday wish to you, Mom!! Can't express how much I miss you and how much you have inspired depth in my altarmaking over these past ten years.

These altar photos were taken in my home just before this Mother of Sorrows altar was exhibited in my 2009 solo retrospective at the Loveland Museum/Gallery in Northern Colorado.

LAURIE BETH ZUCKERMAN'S PHOTO OF MADONNA STATUE AT SANTUARIO DE CHIMAYO

Laurie Beth Zuckerman's Madonna photo from the world famous Sanctuario de Chimayo 

Laurie Beth Zuckerman photographs Madonnas and Christs in every church and sanctuary she visits in the Southwest and Latin America. This beautiful Madonna statue is still one of my most favorite images I have found on my travels to document spirituality. This is today's pick for Day 4 of "A Virgin a Day" hosted by artist, Rebecca Brooks at: http://corazon.typepad.com/recuerda_mi_corazon/

El Santuario de Chimayo is known locally as the "Lourdes of America" lures over 300,000 people to visit every year. The Prayer Room, which is located in the sacristy of the church (next to El Posito, the "sacred sand pit"), is filled with discarded crutches, braces, and scary, handmade shrines.

To view more of my earlier spiritual photos from New Mexico, click on:

http://lauriezuckerman.blogspot.com/2011/01/laurie-zuckermans-spiritual-photos-from.html

LAURIE BETH ZUCKERMAN'S PHOTOGRAPHS MADONNA AT SANCTUARIO DE CHIMAYO, NORTHERN NEW MEXICO

Laurie Beth Zuckerman's photo of Madonna
at the Sanctuario de Chimayo, Northern New Mexico

Laurie Beth Zuckerman's photo of Madonna

at the Sanctuario de Chimayo, Northern New Mexico

Laurie Beth Zuckerman's photo of Madonna

in the window of the Sanctuario de Chimayo

Laurie Beth Zuckerman's has photographed the famous Sanctuario de Chimayo many times over the years since the early 1990s. Hopefully this life-size bust of the Madonna is still resident to the chapel. She's a true beauty!! She is my pick for Day 3 of "A Virgin a Day" a collective of artists impressions of the Madonna, located at the following website for the first 12 days of December: http://corazon.typepad.com/recuerda_mi_corazon/

El Santuario de Chimayo is known locally as the "Lourdes of America" lures over 300,000 people to visit every year. The Prayer Room, which is located in the sacristy of the church (next to El Posito, the "sacred sand pit"), is filled with discarded crutches, braces, and scary, handmade shrines.

LAURIE BETH ZUCKERMAN'S PHOTOGRAPHS MADONNA AT ROADSIDE WALSENBURG SANCTUARIO, SOUTHERN COLORADO

Laurie Beth Zuckerman photographs a long-standing Madonna
at the Walsenburg Sanctuario in Southern Colorado.

Laurie Beth Zuckerman's photo of the Virgin Mary is always changing every time I visit her. This picture is before the big cleanup at the grotto. She is my pick for Day 2 of "A Virgin a Day" located at the following website:

http://corazon.typepad.com/recuerda_mi_corazon/

LAURIE BETH ZUCKERMAN'S PHOTOGRAPHS MADONNA FROM HER HOME IN FORT COLLINS

Laurie Beth Zuckerman's concrete garden Madonna

Laurie Beth Zuckerman collected this concrete Madonna years ago at a flea market in Fort Collins. The statue apparently came out of Santa Fe yard and has a lovely "chippy" patina. She is the guardian of my turtle pond. This Madonna is my photo pick for "Day 1: A Virgin a Day" located at the following website:

http://corazon.typepad.com/recuerda_mi_corazon/

LAURIE ZUCKERMAN'S ALTAR INSTALLATION AT DENVER'S STUDIO 12 GALLERY'S DIA DE LOS MUERTOS CELEBRATION: October-November

Laurie Beth Zuckerman created a new Día de los Muertos of the Dead altar installation at the Studio 12 Gallery in Denver's Santa Fe Arts District for this October/November. I was in great company, too!! Santeros Jerry Vigil and Rob Yancey, Carlos Fresquez, George Rivera, and other invited guest artists headlined this juried competition. Last year I created another altar for Studio 12 Gallery's annual show. What a great gallery. Very hip! Thanks to artist/owner, Sean Brown.

Entitled "Madre Dolorosa," my black Victorian-style altar contains old mourning paraphenalia, photo tintypes, and plenty of black Oaxacan pottery skulls and angels from San Bartolo de Coyotepec. I also had photography from Mexican Day of the Dead celebrations for sale at the gallery.

Click on http://BLOG.STUDIO12GALLERY.COM/ Studio 12 Gallery's blog to see what they posted about my altar: "We also invited noted installation artist, Laurie Zuckerman to create a one-of-a-kind piece for the gallery. Laurie is a true collector and painstakingly constructed a wonderfully elaborate altar of found objects in the gallery. If you missed the piece she created last year, you won't want to miss this one she created this year. You can also see her whole room installation at the Longmont Museum."

LAURIE BETH ZUCKERMAN'S DIA DE LOS MUERTOS ALTAR INSTALLATION AT LONGMONT MUSEUM'S FAMILY DAY CELEBRATION

Laurie Beth Zuckerman's "Homage to Old Mexico" Dia de los Muertos altar installation at Longmont Museum's Day of the Dead Festival October 29, 2011 becomes a favorite backdrop for photos of families in costume.

Laurie Beth Zuckerman shares her photos of people enjoying her "Homage to Old Mexico" Day of the Dead altar installation at the Longmont Museum and Cultural Center's 11th Annual Día de los los Muertos Exhibition. This is the largest and most popular Day of the Dead festival in Colorado. The Family Day Celebration on October 29, 2011 drew a crowd of 2178 people appropriately dressed.

Seemed like everyone wanted to take pictures of my altar as well as take pictures of their children and spouses in front of my altar. I joined in on the fun by asking people if I could take their pictures, too. Here are some of the wonderful people I spoke to. I enjoyed meeting all of you!! 

Thank you for all your compliments: "Your altar is truly a feast for the eyes!" "Your altar is amazing!" "Absolutely stunning!" "Your artworks have brought so much joy to peoples lives!"

LAURIE BETH ZUCKERMAN'S "HOMAGE TO OLD MEXICO" ALTAR AT LONGMONT MUSEUM'S DIA DE LOS MUERTOS EXHIBITION APPEARS ON "AROUND TOWN: THE LONGMONT CHANNEL"

Laurie Beth Zuckerman's Homage to Old Mexico altar 

at The Longmont Museum and Cultural Center, 2011

Laurie Beth Zuckerman's new "Homage to Old Mexico" Día de los Muertos altar at the Longmont Museum's Day of the Dead exhibition 
is profiled in a video interview with education curator, Jill Overlie. Ms. Overlie discusses both my altar and my involvement with their annual Day of the Dead festival of altars. This video appears on "Around Town" The Longmont Channel in conjunction with the Museum's popular community exhibition that runs from October 1 through November 6, 2011. 


The Museum is receiving lots of lovely comments from visitors about the altars and the exhibit. So far, they have had approximately 800 people from school groups and some adult groups visiting the Day of the Dead exhibit on self-guided tours. This does not include the regular visitation for this exhibit, which is free to the public. The upcoming festive Family Day Celebration on October 29 from 10am–5pm will host thousands of visitors. I will be at the museum all day to talk with families and share the meaning of my own altar.


Around Town - The Longmont Channel
http://www.longmontchannel.com/Around-Town-e243.html

LAURIE BETH ZUCKERMAN'S EXPERIMENTS WITH ENCAUSTIC PAINTING IN DC KELLY'S WORKSHOP

Laurie Beth Zuckerman's Encaustic of Western Meadowlark #3;
works better when the background is painted first

Laurie Beth Zuckerman's Encaustic of Painted Redstart #2;
lots of layers of paper and silver leaf

Laurie Beth Zuckerman's Encaustic of Painted Bunting #1;

would not use found metal objects and coins again

Laurie Beth Zuckerman joined DC Kelly's encaustic painting workshop hosted by the Studio 12 Gallery in Denver. What a great group of talented artists from the Denver and Fort Collins area! And what an exciting medium to experiment with. To keep it simple I decided to practice by painting a few birds just to see how detailed I could get with the hot wax paint. The control of the brushstrokes is much more difficult than with oil paint. Scratching back into the surface of the wax with dental tools and pencils was the most satisfying technique, along with adding layers of encaustic with bits of paper, silver leaf, and foil. Thank you DC Kelly and Sean and Stacey Brown for hosting this workshop yesterday!

The Studio 12 Gallery is currently hosting their Third Annual Day of the Dead exhibit and my new "Madre Dolorosa" altar is still on display through November 6th. Next opening is First Friday, November 4th. I'll be there with the other artists in this wonderful and diverse show.

LAURIE BETH ZUCKERMAN CREATES DAY OF THE DEAD ALTAR FOR LONGMONT MUSEUM'S 11TH ANNUAL DIA DE LOS MUERTOS EXHIBITION

Laurie Beth Zuckerman's  DOD altar at the Longmont Museum after Day 1 of installation

Laurie Beth Zuckerman's DOD altar at the Longmont Museum after Day 2 of installation

Laurie Beth Zuckerman's DOD altar at the Longmont Museum after Day 3 of installation

Laurie Beth Zuckerman's DOD altar at the Longmont Museum after Day 4 of finishing her "Homage to Old Mexico" Day of the Dead installation

Laurie Beth Zuckerman began her stint as Altarmaker-in-Residence at the Longmont Museum's Día de los Muertos Exhibition on October 1. This gorgeous show of Day of the Dead altars and folk art will continue from October 1- November 6. 

Monday, September 26, I trucked ALL the stuff to the museum and got the furniture arranged during the afternoon and took the DAY 1 shot shown above. There were still hundreds of items to go on this "Homage to Old Mexico" installation, honoring Mexico's vintage popular arts. The museum had its opening reception on September 30, so I wanted to have enough of the altar's structure to give a sense of what was to come. People actually thought the altar was finished, but you can see from my subsequent photos that I was far, far, far from being done.

Saturday, October 1, I posted my DAY 2 shot of what I accomplished on my first full day of altarmaking for the public. 

Sunday, October 2, I returned to the Longmont Museum and later posted my DAY 3 shot.

Finally on Friday, October 7, I returned yet again to complete this 14.5' x 10' x 8' installation and am posting my final DAY 4 photo. Hope you enjoyed following this transition of my newest Día de los Muertos altar.

Please join me on the evening of October 12 at the Longmont Museum for my public gallery talk at 7 pm. Admission is $5 for non-members of the museum.

LAURIE BETH ZUCKERMAN'S "HOMAGE TO OLD MEXICO" ALTAR AT LONGMONT MUSEUM'S DIA DE LOS MUERTOS EXHIBITION APPEARS ON MEXICAN CONSULTATE GENERAL'S WEBPAGE

Laurie Beth Zuckerman's Day of the Dead altar installation at the Longmont Museum appears on the Mexican Consultate General's website: http://portal.sre.gob.mx/Denver/

This is a photo of my incomplete altar from the grand opening reception on September 30 that featured the Cónsul General, Andrés Chao along with the mayor of Longmont, Brian Baum. I finished my installation, "Homage to Old Mexico," on October 7, 2011, and my public lecture is tonight, October 12 at 7 pm.

LAURIE BETH ZUCKERMAN'S TALK ON ALTAR "HOMAGE TO OLD MEXICO" AT LONGMONT MUSEUM'S DIA DE LOS MUERTOS EXHIBITION OCTOBER 12, 2011 7-8 PM

Photo of Laurie Beth Zuckerman, Altarmaker-in-Residence, appears in Longmont Times Call article about Longmont Museum and Cultural Center's Día de los Muertos Exhibition. I will be speaking to the public Wednesday, October 12, 2011 at 7 pm. For more details, click on the article pictured above.

Longmont Museum and Cultural Center, Colorado