Local artists are giving new meaning to the phrase “raining cats and dogs” with a colorful exhibition that opens this weekend at the Placitas Community Library.
The “Raining Cats & Dogs” exhibit in the library’s Gracie Lee Community Room features work by more than a dozen artists from Placitas and surrounding areas, challenging them to create realistic or fanciful images incorporating cats and dogs. The exhibition runs July 19 through Aug. 14, with an artists’ reception scheduled for Aug. 8 from 5 to 6:30 p.m.
The diverse collection includes jewelry, sculpture, fiber art, photography, paintings and collage — all celebrating the furry companions that have inspired artists for centuries.
“The idiom ‘raining cats and dogs’ usually denotes a fierce rain, buckets of water pouring down,” according to the exhibition materials from the Placitas Community Library Art Committee. “This colorful, old-fashioned phrase may have come from the Greek expression cata doxa, which means ‘contrary to experience or belief.'”
The phrase itself sparked the creative challenge: “It is certainly beyond belief to conjure thousands of our furry friends falling like rain drops from the sky. On the other hand, it is kind of fun to imagine what that might look like,” the committee said in a release.
The exhibition continues Placitas’ longstanding tradition of community art programming. The library, which operates with approximately 90 volunteers, regularly hosts rotating art exhibitions that showcase local talent while supporting the institution’s operations.
All artwork will be available for purchase, with a percentage of sales benefiting the library.
The Placitas community has developed a reputation as an arts destination, with over 50 artist studios participating in the annual Mother’s Day Studio Tour and numerous galleries throughout the area. The library’s monthly art exhibitions have become a fixture in the community’s cultural calendar.
Visitors can view the exhibition during library hours: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday from 1 to 4 p.m. The library is located at 453 Highway 165 in Placitas.
For additional information or images, contact Exhibit Coordinator Sandy Johnson at chuckandsandyjohnson@comcast.net.