LEAP brings Drawing Box A5 Touring Exhibition to Questa!

Update: Show dates extended for another month! Exhibition us up through September 28th! Thank you Questa Public Library!

LEAP is honored to be collaborating with Questa Library to bring this show to our village!
Come see this wonderful show of over three hundred works by artists from around the world, including LEAP’s founder/director, Claire Coté.

See full press release below.

Sneak preview can be found here – a film created as part of the Virtual Drawing Box A5 Exhibition hosted by Galway Art Centre:

Artists from Around the World Show Work
at Questa Library in “Drawing Box Exhibition”
Exhibition Dates: August 7 – 28, 2021

For Immediate Release:

What: Drawing Box A5 Exhibition – International Artists

Where: Questa Public Library

When: August 7 – September 28, Open Hours: Monday – Saturday, 12 – 5 pm

Who: All welcome!
Cost: Free

Event Contact: Claire Coté (LEAP) – emailforleap@gmail.com (575) 224-9066, LEAPsite.org

OVER SIXTY ARTISTS from around the world are presenting drawings created in a variety of mediums during the Covid-19 pandemic in The Drawing Box A5 Exhibition, on view at the Questa Public Library, August 7 – 28. All artists in the show are part of the international Drawing Box collective; each submitted five works on A5 sized paper (5-7/8 x 8-¼ inches). All works are unframed and for sale. The Drawing Box exhibition at the Questa Library is organized in partnership with LEAP (Land, Experience and Art of Place), an arts, education and community program of the Questa-based nonprofit, Localogy.

The Drawing Box A5 show is a touring exhibition of over 300 unframed works, curated by Diane Henshaw, artist and curator in Northern Ireland. The tour kicked off in Fermanagh, Northern Ireland in December 2020 and then as an online exhibition at the Galway Arts Centre. The works then began their international tour in 2021 to Paphos and Cyprus. Now the works arrive in Questa, New Mexico, the tour’s only stop in the United States and also the homeplace of participating artist and LEAP founder/director, Claire Coté. After this showing, the works continue their international exhibition journey by mail to Australia, Greece, Nètherlands, Scotland, Ireland and India.

Exhibition Background
Claire Coté met Diane Henshaw in 2011 while participating in a collaborative artist residency in Fermanagh, Northern Ireland and Cavan County, Ireland. The Drawing Box Facebook group was created soon afterward in 2012 by John Crabtree, Andrew Crane, Patil Rajendra, and Diane Henshaw, with the idea of linking Irish and International artists interested in contemporary drawing and global networking. After a significant touring exhibition in its first years, the group lapsed into inactivity, but was rekindled in March 2020 by Diane Henshaw. Throughout 2020 and 2021, the reactivated Drawing Box collective has helped give participating artists unique opportunities to be profiled internationally through new networks and shared programming, such as “meet the artist” online studio visits and international exhibitions like this one.

Exhibition curator and Drawing Box co-founder Diane Henshaw reflects:
“A key focus of the events and programming has been to visually nurture members and their interests by sharing information, creating connections, and in general being there for each other.There are many negative impacts the pandemic visited upon the world; the art world too. The generosity of spirit and the courage to reach across…differences, the initiative of each of our host artists and host venues in some way define our ways out of the paralysis of Covid-19. The Drawing Box group feels privileged to connect with host communities around the world.”

When Claire Coté decided to submit her work to be a part of the touring show, she also offered to host a stop on the tour in Questa through LEAP. LEAP is an experimental, place-based art and education initiative creating fertile ground for collaboration in Northern New Mexico communities and beyond. Construction of the new addition for the Questa Library was in full swing as Claire negotiated the details of the Drawing Box show in NM. When Claire heard that art display space had been figured into the design of the new Library addition, she felt almost certain this was the place for the show. Sharon Nicholson, Questa Librarian, graciously welcomed the exhibit.

Claire says, “I am honored to be a Drawing Box collective member. It’s a rare treat to have contemporary art from around the globe in Questa. We are grateful to the Questa Public Library for working with us to show this collection of works in their beautiful new space. This community hub is a perfect place to host this unique show, and gives Northern New Mexicans and visitors access to this unique touring exhibition.”

For more information call Claire Coté (575) 224-9066 or visit LEAPsite.org.