As many know, the art world is filled with spookiness of all sorts, and this Halloween highlighted just that. On Oct. 29, CAV Gallery in Las Cruces held its first Spooktacular art show, featuring Las Cruces artists and the spooky artwork they created. Event host and gallery founder Marcus Chormicle, created the event to be casual and involve the Las Cruces art community, especially after the pause of the pandemic. A total of 18 local artists displayed numerous spooky examples of their photography, paintings, and sculptural pieces. There were also live poetry performances, costume contest, and some new merchandise by Barricade Culture Shop.

The Spooktacular hosted four local poets, including Liz Liano, who was super excited to see how engaged everyone was with the art and show.

“Poetry shows seem to be a bit more special since the person is speaking and there’s nothing else filling the space,” says Liano, “people really want to listen.”

Poetry is Liano’s favorite creative outlet, as it allows her to say exactly what she is feeling and gain a sense of independence from the things that pain her. She quotes writer Sandra Cisneros:

“When you write out the ghosts then they do not hurt so much.”

“To look the devil in the face, and not be so afraid of what’s inside of you and ask it to come out. JFK also said ‘there is nothing to fear but fear itself’”

To Liano, poetry is a magical way to face the things inside you and acknowledge them. Liano is also a painter, photographer, and singer but finds that poetry speaks the most to her.

The costume contest featured many of the artists who participated in the gallery, and did nothing short of highlighting how the spooky season inspires creation, as many of the costumes were designed and made by the artists wearing them.

The gallery is a dedication to Chormicle’s late cousin, Christian Anthony Vallejo, who passed away early last year.

“My whole idea behind my art is family, since they’ve had a great influence on me. When my cousin passed, it felt natural to dedicate my gallery to him.”

Since the grand opening show, Tú Eres Tú (You are You), on Sept. 3, Chormicle has begun conversations about what it means to honor loved ones. During the opening week, he invited visitors to place an image or relic of someone who passed around the base of an ocotillo bush. As the week went on, the ocotillo became a memorial for those we loved. The piece, titled Ocotillo Ancestor, became a symbol of knowing where your’e from and honoring the families you’re given through blood and the ones you create. According to Chormicle’s website,

“The act of celebration in the face of death and loss is meant to be a radical act of love for family and defiance against the systems that took them away and many others too early.”

In 2017, Chormicle began The Cruces Collective, as a way to connect local photographers to showcase projects, promote businesses, and create a community of photographers that can help each other. To Chormicle, photography can be a tool to look inwards and provide personal insight, which has allowed him to reconnect to the love he had looking through family photo albums as a child.

Barricade Culture Shop and it’s creators/artists, SABA and Logan Howard, also brought products and artwork for the gallery. Barricade Culture Shop provides New Mexico grown products, art galleries, classes, and even a paint yard to let it all out. SABA has his own connection to the idea of celebrating loss, being indigenous and struggling to find his traditional way of life; hoping to find it through his art and help younger generations do the same.

The Barricade Culture Shop is also the birth place of the Fine Arts Flea Market, a monthly flea market held the first Friday of every month, is a place where artists and creatives can come together and sell their goods. The Fine Arts Flea Market is another product of the 2020 pandemic, when artists struggled to build their community.