46. MATRIX FINE ART
City: Albuquerque, NM
Category: Shopping
Telephone: (505) 268-8952
Description: A Nob Hill gallery featuring established and emerging New Mexico artists working in painting, ceramic, glass, and sculpture. The 2,000-square-foot contemporary gallery mounts 12 exhibitions each year. The gallery represents artists that include Frank McCulloch, Mark Beck, Marilyn Dillard, and Sara D’Alessandro. Closed Monday.
47. OPEN MIND SPACE
City: Albuquerque, NM
Category: Shopping
Telephone: (505) 259-3566
Description: The Open Mind Space combines a gallery of fine art, a yoga studio, and a meeting place for the creatively inclined. Artist exhibits change monthly and usually showcase the work of one guest artist, although there are group shows, too. Most but not all are New Mexico artists, working in a variety of media from painting and photography to outdoor sculpture and photographic quilts. Featured artists have included Larry Bell, Douglas Kent Hall, Charles Strong, and Kitty Alice Snead. The gallery offers a contemplative atmosphere for the appreciation of art, culture, and spirituality. The Old Town gallery is open to visitors on afternoons only, Wednesday through Sunday. There are also yoga classes on Thursday and Sunday mornings.
48. Rio Grande Gallery
City: Albuquerque, NM
Category: Shopping
Telephone: (505) 242 8008, (800) 388-2787
Address: 303 Romero Street NW
Description: Recently relocated to a light and spacious gallery upstairs in Old Town’s Plaza Don Luis, the Rio Grande Gallery is a great stop to see some excellent examples of Southwestern paintings and sculpture, including the works of R. C. Gorman; the gallery has represented Gorman and his estate for twenty-five years. Other artists include Frank Howell, Ben Wright, C. J. Wells, and Taos painter Miguel Martinez. Smaller pieces by Pablo Antonio Milan are surprisingly affordable for those starting out a collection. Open seven days.
City: Albuquerque, NM
Category: Shopping
Address: 2500 Central Avenue SE (from mid-2010—se
50. WEEMS ART GALLERY
City: Albuquerque, NM
Category: Shopping
Telephone: (505) 293-6133
Address: 7200 Montgomery Boulevard NE
Description: This is a popular gallery among locals, in business since 1981. Weems Art Gallery shows work by a couple of hundred artists, in a wide range of forms and styles and an equally broad price range. There are plenty of pieces that are suitable for gifts, and Weems offers a wedding registry service. The gallery sells traditional, Southwestern, and contemporary paintings, prints, sculpture, glass, pottery, jewelry, mixed media, and general home decor objects. The gallery owner, Mary Ann Weems, sponsors the annual Weems International Artfest in Albuquerque in November. Weems Art Gallery is in two locations: The Louisiana Plaza gallery is closed Sunday. The Old Town gallery is open seven days.
City: Albuquerque, NM
Category: Shopping
52. WOODEN COW GALLERY AND ART SPACE
City: Albuquerque, NM
Category: Shopping
Telephone: (505) 999-1280
Address: 7400 Montgomery Boulevard NE
Description: This young gallery opened in 2008 and quickly drew favorable reviews from the community, including a best art gallery slot in the weekly Alibi newspaper’s Best of Burque 2009. A cooperative of local artists, it presents an eclectic array of media and styles. You might see more unusual pieces like gourd art, stoneware fountains, metal weaving, assemblage and mosaic, silk painting, raku ceramics, and handturned pens, plus paintings, sculpture, pottery, jewelry, photography, woodcut prints, and mixed media. Open Wednesday through Sunday.
53. Antique Specialty Mall
City: Albuquerque, NM
Category: Shopping
Telephone: (505) 268-8080
Address: 4516 Central Avenue SE
Description: Fifty traders in this 18,000-square-foot mall sell antiques and collectibles from no later than the 1950s, and you won’t find any reproductions here. There’s a little bit of everything in this treasure trove, from furniture to glass and even pre-Columbian Indian pieces. Open seven days.
54. ANTIQUES & THINGS
City: Albuquerque, NM
Category: Shopping
Telephone: (505) 268-1313
Address: 4710 Central Avenue SE
Description: The 15,000-square-foot Antiques & Things used to be a McClellan’s Five & Dime Store, and some of the original display cases are now used for antiques and mid-century vintage pieces, from toys and dolls to tools and pianos, plus cameras, books, furniture, clothing, and textiles. Home decorators looking for quirky vintage statement pieces might pick up a bargain here. There’s also some contemporary jewelry. The price range from the 82 vendors is broad, with plenty of low-budget items. Closed Sunday and Monday.
55. Cowboys & Indians Antiques
City: Albuquerque, NM
Category: Shopping
Telephone: (505) 255-4054
Address: 4000 Central Avenue SE
Description: Representing 15 national antiques dealers, Cowboys & Indians sells Western, Indian, and Hispanic art and antiques. The early southwestern pieces here primarily date back to the 1950s and earlier and include Native American pottery, baskets, rugs, jewelry, kachinas, and fetishes and Spanish religious art. There is also a diverse collection of Old West American memorabilia, cowboy gear, and art. The gallery also organizes the Great Southwestern Antique Show every August at EXPO New Mexico, Home of the New Mexico State Fair, and in 2009 also launched a smaller May edition of the show. Cowboys & Indians is open seven days.
56. Gertrude Zachary Antiques
City: Albuquerque, NM
Category: Shopping
Telephone: (505) 244-1320
Description: Gertrude Zachary’s antiques showroom on 2nd Street is only open on Friday and Saturday, but it has an impressive selection of American, European, and Asian antiques from the 18th and 19th centuries, including furniture, religious items, and architectural pieces such as doors and pillars. The showroom is also strong on vintage chandeliers.The Central Avenue store at Nob Hill carries both antiques and contemporary and pawn southwestern jewelry and is open seven days.
57. Morningside Antiques
City: Albuquerque, NM
Category: Shopping
Telephone: (505) 268-0188
Address: 4001 Central Avenue NE
Description: Antiques aficionados will find a wealth of temptation in the fine-quality specimens in this Nob Hill store, ranging from the Colonial era to the mid-century modern era. The stock is pretty much evenly split between European and American pieces, including porcelain, silver, glass, furniture, jewelry, bronzes, and paintings. There are no reproduction items. Prices are from the low-mid range to high end. Open seven days.
58. Vintage & More
City: Albuquerque, NM
Category: Shopping
Telephone: (505) 344-7300
Description: Nine dealers display in the rooms of this old adobe house on Albuquerque’s Antique Mile (see sidebar). Shop for mainly American antique furniture, decorative items, and a good selection of textiles, including quilts, linens, and vintage clothing, plus jewelry and accessories. Some contemporary pieces are sold here, too. Prices range from about $10 to four figures. Closed Sunday and Monday.
59. Barnes & Noble
City: Albuquerque, NM
Category: Shopping
Telephone: (505) 792-4234
Description: Both of these stores hold regular story times and book clubs for teens. The stylish Coronado Mall Barnes & Noble, with its distinctive round tower over the entrance, also presents author events. Open every day.
60. Bookworks
City: Albuquerque, NM
Category: Shopping
Telephone: (505) 344-8139
Address: 4022 Rio Grande Boulevard NW
Description: A popular North Valley independent bookstore for over 25 years and a great supporter of the literary arts, Bookworks hosts frequent readings by regional and nationally acclaimed authors. It also keeps a supply of autographed books from visiting writers, including the celebrated New Mexico author Rudolfo Anaya. There’s a great collection of titles across all subjects and genres in this comfortably inviting store, and it’s worth browsing the artsy and book-related selection of gifts. Bookworks is right next door to the Flying Star Cafe, so you can drop in to buy a book, then head next door to eat. Open seven days.