¡ENCANTADA! 2026 Annual Juried Exhibition

Expo New Mexico • Hispanic Arts Gallery
300 San Pedro Drive NE, (Gate 3 Entrance), Albuquerque, NM 87108

Exhibition Open to the Public: Saturday, November 7 – Sunday, November 29, 10:00 am – 5:00 pm
Exhibition Closed: Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thanksgiving

Opening Reception and Awards Ceremony: Friday November 6, 5:30 – 7:30 pm

Deadline for entry submission is September 11, 5 pm.

¡ENCANTADA! is an annual juried exhibition promoting the sale of original paintings, drawings, artisan prints (e.g., lithographs, etchings, engravings, silkscreens, monotypes), collage, sculpture, metalwork, woodwork, ceramics, batik, weaving, jewelry, or other 2D or 3D artwork. ¡ENCANTADA! is sponsored by the Rio Grande Art Association (RGAA), which is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the education and promotion of fine art in New Mexico. Our focus is on creativity and originality. All styles are welcome from traditional, representational, and abstract to non-traditional, contemporary, and avantgarde. 

Awards

Standard 2D Artwork Category: $1000 first place; $700 second place; and $500 third place
Small 2D Artwork Category:  $500 first place; $325 second place; and $275 third place
3D Artwork Category: $500 first place; $325 second place; and $275 third place
Several cash merit awards will also be given in all categories.

¡Encantada! 2026 Prospectus

RGAA Jurying and Judging Best Practices

Judge and Jurors

Workshops

For questions, contact the Show Chair at showchair@rgaanm.org.

Lee McVey

Lee paints landscapes which evoke a feeling of being there in the moment. Her love of nature began when she was a young girl while walking in the woods with her grandparents. Those experiences have inspired Lee to focus on studio and plein air landscape painting in either oil or pastel. In 2003, Lee retired from teaching elementary art to devote more time to her art career. 

She is a Master Signature member of Plein Air Painters of New Mexico, Master Circle member of International Association of Pastel Societies, Distinguished Pastelist of Pastel Society of New Mexico, Signature member of Pastel Society of America, Plein Air Artists Colorado, and Pastel Painter’s Society of Cape Cod. Her pastels have been featured in articles in the magazines Southwest Art, Pastel Journal, American Artist, and International Artist. Lee’s work has also been featured in the books 100 Ways to Paint the Landscape and Plein Air New Mexico. Her work has been in numerous juried national shows and has garnered awards at local and national levels. Her pastels won an honorable mention in Pastel Journal magazine’s Pastel 100 competition in 2019 and 2012 and her work was a finalist in The Artist Magazine’s competition in 2010. WEBSITE

Kim Arthun

Kim Arthun is an Albuquerque-based contemporary artist, gallerist, and community leader who has spent over four decades shaping the cultural landscape of New Mexico. After graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of New Mexico in 1976, he embarked on a dual career as both a dedicated studio artist and an entrepreneur, founding the custom sign business Vital Signs, which he operated for nearly 40 years.

Arthun is most widely recognized for his profound impact on the local art community as the director and co-founder of EXHIBIT/208. Established in 1999, the downtown gallery has served as a premier venue for contemporary New Mexican artists. Expanding his vision of communal spaces, he also co-founded Thirsty Eye Brewing Co. right next door, seamlessly blending craft beer with local visual art. Known for his multi-medium artwork and his fierce advocacy for local creators, Arthun was honored with the UNM Distinguished Alumni Award in Fine Arts for his enduring contributions to the Southwest art scene. WEBSITE 
 

Janet Bothne

Janet Bothne has been a professional artist for nearly three decades. Her focus on the paint itself being the subject matter has taken this former realist into a new practice that balances gut vs. brain and chaos vs. organization, resulting in works that often straddle the familiar and the enigmatic. “My goal is to create something uplifting and connect with my viewers through common associations, like color, movement and energy,” she explains. 
  
She relocated to New Mexico from Los Angeles in 2013 and opened Studio J in Los Ranchos where she taught abstract painting and mentored many local artists for over five years. The Covid outbreak compelled her to end classes in 2020 and shift focus toward creating more of her own work.  
  
She has exhibited throughout the U.S., most notably at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Santa Monica Art Museum, and her work has been collected world-wide. WEBSITE
 

Barbara Coleman

Barbara Coleman is an award-winning fine artist and educator based in New Mexico. She has Signature memberships in Oil Painters of America, American Impressionist Society, Pastel Society of America, Plein Air Painters of New Mexico (PAPNM), and is an Associate in Women Artists of the West (WAOW).

Painting is not just a pastime for Barbara. It is a necessity. In her work, she looks to minimize the obvious and maximize the essential and strives for the wisdom to know the difference. One of her biggest joys in life is designing a painting. And studying great paintings. She loves to paint plein air to gather ideas and make color studies and photographs for reference. Using this information, plus memories and feelings about a place, she designs her composition and color palette for each unique painting. Her other passions include teaching drawing and painting workshops, hiking, gardening, exploring, reading, writing, learning Spanish, travel, precious time with family, friends and children…and going on long walks with her husband and three pups. WEBSITE

Carol Mell: Encaustic Painting Workshop

November 10, 11, and 12,  9 am to 4 pm
RGAA Members $350 | Non-members $385
Supply Fee: $50 paid in cash or check to the instructor at the first class

EXPO NM Hispanic Arts Gallery
300 San Pedro Dr NE (Gate 3)
Albuquerque, NM 87108

REGISTER NOW

Cancellation Policy
Full refund will be given if cancellation notice is received by November 3, 2026 at 6 pm and workshop registration is full; a $50 administrative fee will be retained if the cancelled space cannot be filled. No refund will be given if cancellation notice is received after 6 pm November 3, 2026, extenuating circumstances considered.

Please contact Sally Harris, Workshop Coordinator, at workshopchair@rgaanm.org for questions or to be added to the wait list if workshop registration is full.

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Overview
The process of painting with melted beeswax and resin can produce a rich alchemy of color and texture to create something new and often unexpected. Whether you paint landscapes, figures or abstracts, in this three-day workshop we will learn the basic application and fusing techniques with molten encaustic medium, as well as additional ways to apply texture, color, marks and ephemera for a rich and layered painting. 

Each student will be provided with small painting panels for practice and one larger panel for a finished work. We will focus on how to use encaustic and other companionable pigments and supplies to suit your painting interests. This workshop is designed for painters of all levels and all materials will be provided. Proper tools, studio methods and safety procedures will be discussed. All levels welcome. 

What to Bring

• Wear comfortable, closed shoes you don’t mind getting dirty. We don’t want any burned toes.
• Bring a work apron or old clothes. Wax does not come out in the wash.
• Bring a notebook for all the information I’ll be sharing.
• Bring laser or toner images on plain paper that you might want to transfer. Sketches and high-contrast images work well for this. Don’t forget that the image will be reversed when you transfer.
• Bring interesting papers, leaves, flowers, stencils, metal bits, discarded kitchen utensils or other items you might want to embed or use as a pattern in wax. They must be completely dry and not melt at high temperature.
• Bring your favorite watercolors, crayons, charcoal, pencils, etc. if you want to sketch out your painting before applying wax. (I will also have these on hand.) Just about anything works though water-soluble mediums may smear when wax is applied. No acrylic paint—wax and acrylic don’t mix.
• Come with a spirit of exploration and play. Encaustic is often not predictable and has a mind of its own, especially under heat. Be ready to stand back and watch what happens.

About Carol Mell
I grew up in wild Oregon, descended from 49ers, schoolteachers, engineers, painters and photographers. My summers were spent by the ocean and in a gold mining ghost town where trees, sturgeon, squirrels, and whales all spoke to me about belonging and connection. 

I still like to play and paint outside where nature finds its way into my paintings. Working in encaustic is exciting for its molten unpredictability. It has presence, can be touched and smelled and shaped. It’s a physical practice, full of scraping, layering, hiding and revealing, always in search of the place where spirit and nature meet.

My paintings, with and without photographs, have been exhibited nationally. 

I have sojourned for decades in the Southwest as my creative path wandered through choreography, writing, and photography before settling into painting — though I think of them all as the same conversation, just spoken in different languages with a touch of humor for spice.  

www.carolmell.com

Paul Murray: The Emotion Impact of Composition using Color, Value, and Subject Matter Workshop

November 17, 18, and 19,  9 am to 4 pm
RGAA Members $295 | Non-members $330

EXPO NM Hispanic Arts Gallery
300 San Pedro Dr NE (Gate 3)
Albuquerque, NM 87108

REGISTER NOW

Cancellation Policy
Full refund will be given if cancellation notice is received by November 12, 2026 at 6 pm and workshop registration is full; a $50 administrative fee will be retained if the cancelled space cannot be filled. No refund will be given if cancellation notice is received after 6 pm November 12, 2026, extenuating circumstances considered.

Please contact Sally Harris, Workshop Coordinator, at workshopchair@rgaanm.org for questions or to be added to the wait list if workshop registration is full.

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Overview
Our workshop will focus on composition. This includes color, value, and, oddly, subject matter. We’ll explore the emotional impact of composition, one of Paul’s main concerns in painting, and also talk about unusual compositions and risk-taking in painting. We will also spend some time learning about what could only be called, cheap tricks.

While Paul is primarily a “representational” painter, we’ll spend a lot of time talking and producing art that pushes the boundaries of this style of painting. While the ability to draw is fundamental to representational painting, our main objective will be how to create innovative compositions and encourage risk-taking and taking chances. Finally, the workshop will start with several experimental exercises which will be the foundation for the rest of the classes.

Materials List

• Four to nine panels to paint with. They should be in the 12 x 12” to 11 x 14” range. I encourage square panels since they are compositionally “odd” but a really interesting size for exploring composition. Bring several (4 to 8) thick cards like mat board that are 6” square. A 9 x 12 or similar size pad of tracing paper.
• Brushes: Your favorites. I want you to be comfortable in this area. I will be working with  Palette knives so bring a selection if you have them. I prefer knives that have a small point, not square or rounded.
• Paint, Oil or Acrylic. If you are using oils, please use odorless thinners. M Graham makes a Walnut Alkyd Dryer, which is relatively odor-free. Something like Gamson Galkyd will also work, just keep the cap on and only put out a little at a time. For Acrylics also bring some gloss medium so we can do some glazing.
• Basic set: Alizarin Crimson, Cadmium Red, Cadmium Orange and Yellow. Cobalt Blue, Titanium White, and Ultramarine Blue. Feel free to substitute the cadmium colors since they’re so expensive. I’m not obsessed with color names, but this is the minimum number of colors to paint with. We will spend some time about the emotional power of color mixing.
• Additional colors (optional): Dioxazine Purple, Burnt Umber, Yellow Ochre and Thalo Green.

About Paul Murray
Paul has been making art since age 19, first as an illustrator and graphic designer and, in the last 28 years, as a fine artist. Most of his income comes from art sales, but he does manage to teach one or two workshops every year.

He has won several international and national awards; the most notable are the Prix d’Pastel at the International Association of Pastel Societies international show in 2001 and the Prix d’Pastel at the Pastel Journal Top 100 in 2005, also an international award. In 2022, he won best of show at Masterworks of New Mexico with an acrylic painting titled Trains and Plains.

Paul paints in oils, acrylics, pastel, and pen and Ink, his favorite illustration medium before the digital age.
www.gpmurray.com