Emmett Di Mauro - The Daily Lobo

Culture

Museum STEM night lets adults express their inner child

Emmett Di Mauro and Elijah Ritch | April 14

On Friday, April 11, the National Museum of Nuclear Science & History hosted an adult STEM night called “Discovery After Dark.” The event invited people 21 years and older to experience the museum’s “thought-provoking and engaging exhibits while participating in hands-on science, technology, engineering, art, and math fun,” according to Visit Albuquerque. Attendees were catered to by local vendors, such as food trucks and the nearby Bombs Away Beer Company. Among the exhibits was a booth where Gabriel Nemiroff, the museum’s director of education, gave lessons on folding origami cranes. The origami cranes were part of a project called Peace Cranes, related to a large hanging art installation above the exhibit.

Culture

Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Sonia Nazario speaks at Albuquerque Museum

Emmett Di Mauro and Elijah Ritch | March 24

On March 14, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Sonia Nazario gave an author talk and signing for her book “Enrique’s Journey” at the Albuquerque Museum. Her talk was framed by recent cuts on museum funding, and celebrations of cultural diversity. “Not a lot of museums take on these topics, so congratulations to the Albuquerque Museum,” Nazario said. Nazario’s writing focuses on several of America’s “most intractable problems,” including hunger, drug addiction and immigration, according to her website.

Culture

Robots dance with DJs and lasers for Albuquerque City Brights celebration

Emmett Di Mauro | March 23

On Feb. 28, the Cafe Entropy in downtown Albuquerque hosted a robot laser show as part of the City Brights and Albuquerque Art Walk events. The event took place through March 7. During this particular night, artist Jordan MacHardy was on hand to discuss the robots and the experiential art exhibit. “We’re building out an experiential art museum here in this whole space,” MacHardy said.

Culture

Water, writing and the wild: Bookworks hosts talk with author Zak Podmore

Emmett Di Mauro | March 23

On Feb. 11, Bookworks hosted author Zak Podmore to talk about and sign his recent book “Life After Dead Pool: Lake Powell’s Last Days and the Rebirth of the Colorado River.” Bookseller and partner in Bookworks, D.J. Green, said the event was part of the Writing in the Wild program, which is in partnership with the Leopold Writing Program. The Leopold Writing Program’s website reads that a percentage of proceeds go to the program, in support of its “mission to inspire an ethic of caring for our planet by cultivating diverse voices through the spoken and written word.”

Culture

UNM visiting artist Larry Madrigal gives talk at Albuquerque Museum

Emmett Di Mauro and Elijah Ritch | February 24

On Thursday, Feb. 20, the Albuquerque Museum hosted painter Larry Madrigal to talk about his work as part of the University of New Mexico Frederick Hammersley Visiting Artist program. After the talk, Madrigal hosted a Q&A session with audience members. “The program invites prominent contemporary painters from around the world to come live and work in Albuquerque,” according to the UNM Department of Art website. Madrigal is from Phoenix. His first solo show was in Los Angeles in 2020, he said, and he has since had shows in Paris, New York and Bucharest.

Culture

Candelaria Nature Preserve celebrates four years of restoration

Emmett Di Mauro and Elijah Ritch | February 7

On Jan. 31, the Candelaria Nature Preserve in Albuquerque hosted a tour of its ongoing rewilding project. The public tours are given on the last Friday of every month from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. and cover the preserve’s efforts to restore the 90 acres of former farmland in the North Valley, according to the Ciudad Soil & Water Conservation District website. Partnering with the City of Albuquerque Open Space Division, the Ciudad Soil & Water Conservation District provides an annual report on some goals for the Candelaria Nature Preserve, including plans for soil health. The project is in the fourth year of its 20-year span. The 2023 report can be found on its website.

Culture

Snapdragon fundraiser brings awareness to local animal shelter

Emmett Di Mauro and Elijah Ritch | January 27

On Saturday, Jan. 25, Snapdragon Tea, located in the Brick Light District near the University of New Mexico, held a fundraiser for the Roots Animal Sanctuary. This was the second and last weekend the event was held. The Roots Animal Sanctuary, located in Tijeras, is a nonprofit that “provides a safe and loving forever home for those who have come from a difficult background,” according to its website. The fundraiser was done in the style of Snapdragon’s frequent tea parties, where patrons can indulge in a three-course meal that is specially curated for the specific event. Reservations had to be made online in advance for the full tea party menu, and 10% of the proceeds from the tea party sales and any of Snapdragon’s vegan sandwiches purchased during the fundraiser went to Roots.

Culture

Sci-Fi and Sci-Fact exhibition explores how science fiction has shaped our world

Emmett Di Mauro and Elijah Ritch | January 20

The New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science in Albuquerque is presenting the Sci-Fi & Sci-Fact exhibition until June. The exhibit “explores the ways that science fiction and scientific fact overlap and help create our modern world,” according to the museum’s website. The exhibit is on loan from the New Mexico Museum of Space History in Alamogordo, where it initially debuted in December 2023. The exhibit explores the relationship between science fiction, scientific inventions and the future via displays that include memorabilia and props from books, films and television shows. Information plaques on the walls throughout the exhibit provide additional context on how science fiction has shaped reality and opened “doors for tomorrow’s creators.”

Culture

Albuquerque’s art community comes together at Lost Cultures Tea Bar

Emmett Di Mauro | January 13

On Tuesday, Jan. 7, Lost Cultures Tea Bar in Albuquerque hosted another Open Art Night: an evening occurrence from 6 p.m. through 10 p.m. every Tuesday. On these evenings, local art is combined with the social atmosphere of the tea bar. Open Art Night is a community-based art event. Anyone may stop by Lost Cultures Tea Bar and bring their own art projects from home or begin a new one. The tea bar website describes the event as a place to “connect and grow the local art scene over some pots of tea or non alcoholic beverages.”