3rd Street Arts keeps busy

The building is home to a variety of events, and more to come if the owners' dreams come true

by GRACE LORRAINE BOLOGNA

Luis Ray was not exactly accustomed to being naked in front of a room full of strangers. And being completely disrobed, it seemed only natural that he would be the center of attention.

But standing absolutely still, for 20 minutes at a time, seemed to be the real stretch.

photograph by Grace Lorraine

Dennis Liberty exhibit opening.

“I was as comfortable as I could be, given the circumstances,” Ray said, regarding the beginning of his career as a live, nude figure model at 3rd Street Arts in Albuquerque, during the summer of 2007.

“He is doing just great,” said Russ Riekeman, facilitator of the drawing group and owner of the building.

Thelma Straayer joined the 3rd Street Arts drawing group in early 2008, as an artist who draws, though the drawing group has existed in that space since 2006. She heard about it from some other artists while she was at a different drawing group.

“The first night I was here,” Straayer said, “everybody came up and introduced themselves. It was terrific. I didn’t feel like I was intruding on some little clique.”

Her experience is not uncommon; longtime attendees appreciate the special group.“I love this group,” Marian Berg said, “It’s very supportive, nurturing, positive.” She has been an artist for about 35 years, and said this is one group she really looks forward to attending. Also, she said, the price (six dollars) “is very reasonable.”

“This is where I learned how to paint,” Dennis Liberty said, despite having received official training from University of New Mexico. He said that the drawing group has taught him real-life application of art, working live from a figure model. He also said there are many discussions of technical issues.

photograph by Grace Lorraine

Marian Berg sorts her pastels after a night of drawing at 3rd Street Arts.

“There is so much that happens in three hours—people are turning out finished work,” Liberty said.

Pietro Palladini is a nationally acclaimed mural painter. His own studio, in Corrales, holds a drawing group workshop—structured to solve specific painting issues—every Saturday morning, even when he is working out of town. He occasionally also attends the drawing group at 711 Third Street.

“There’s good energy, good rapport,” he said on a break while painting during the April 17th group. “I like it here; it’s like a jam session.”
Aside from the twice-weekly drawing groups held at 3rd Street Arts, there are occasional “house concerts,” which are private parties featuring live music.

A stack of folding chairs comes out from the hallway and small rows of seats are arranged to face the east side of the building. There is no stage, but simply an area where the band will set up its gear for the concert.

Pat MacDonald, (previously in the rock band Timbuk3 and of “The Future’s So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades” fame), performed at 3rd Street Arts late last year. The setting allows fans to offer requests and talk with the musicians. Concert-goers talked to the singer/songwriter, even while he was “on stage,” fine-tuning his equipment.

Eric McFadden is another musician who has had concerts at 3rd Street Arts. Though he has played his guitar on stage with the famous George Clinton and P-Funk All Stars, McFadden has a history with Riekeman and “throws a party” at his friend’s art space sometimes when he is in town.

photograph by Grace Lorraine

Eric McFadden Trio plays at 3rd Street Arts.

The 3rd Street Arts family has many plans above and beyond its current offerings, as popular and successful as those have been.

“Painting the exterior like something you’d see in San Francisco,” Riekeman said, is a long-range plan for the art space in Barelas, just south of Coal Ave.

Russ Riekeman has papered the walls of the kitchen with hundreds of figure drawings donated by artists who created the works during the drawing groups held on Wednesday and Thursday nights. He has numerous other plans for the space, too.

“So people can park rationally,” he said, they will gravel and mark the small lot adjacent the building. They will landscape the whole place and, he said, “build and install stained glass windows in the transoms, all over the place.”

Robin Kemp-Riekeman, his wife, has already created and hung a large stained glass window on the north side of the building and is currently installing a backsplash behind the kitchen sink. It is a mural made of marbles and pieces of tiles.

As is their habit, the Riekemans are open to holding a variety of events at the 3rd Street Arts space. They host the drawing groups and house concerts on a fairly regular basis. On occasion, 711 3rd St. SW, Albuquerque, has been the location of art exhibits, writers workshops, meditation classes, belly dancing sessions and even a wedding.

“We’d like to have a yoga class,” Riekeman said, “I don’t want to teach it, but we’d like to have one. We’ve had meditation classes.”

“We are thinking about turning it into a non-profit community center,” Robin Kemp-Riekeman said, “and maybe even having art classes for kids.”

Written May 1, 2008

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