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It was a bit of serendipitous timing that brought art major Natalee Drissell to WNMU. Drissell moved from Iowa to New Mexico in 2022 after her father, WNMU Assistant Professor of Painting and Drawing Matt Drissell, accepted his position with the university. That same year, New Mexico created the Opportunity Scholarship, which allows in-state students to attend state-funded colleges and universities for free. But it was not just the prospect of a debt-free education that encouraged Drissell to stay close to home. “I like that WNMU is a small college,” she said, “I did not want to go to one of the larger state schools because I am interested in the personal interactions with professors, especially in art. I do not want to be in a huge studio class; I want to be in a class with, like, twelve people I get to know really well.” She also appreciates the diversity of WNMU. “It is impressive that we have students from so many different places,” she said, noting how WNMU...

Adult Education Services is not a well-known part of the educational offerings at WNMU, but Adult Education Services Director Colton Bjerke hopes to change that. Bjerke, who joined the university in 2022, is working to increase public awareness of the services offered, as well as to expand services in areas of southwest New Mexico that are underserved. Bjerke explained that his office provides three different programs. “The most well-known one is the high school equivalency, which is preparing students to succeed on the GED or HiSET,” he said, “The second program for us is the Adult Basic Education program, which helps students develop basic literacy skills and basic numeracy skills, so they can then be successful in the more challenging classes .” In both of these programs together, Adult Education Services has 72 students enrolled. The third program is English as a Second Language (ESL), which WNMU offers at both its Silver City and Deming locations. There are...

The campus community is invited to stop by the tropical greenhouse this week to view an endangered species of plant in bloom. Strongylodon macrobotrys, or jade vine, which is indigenous to the Philippines, has unusual turquoise blossoms. This is the first time the university’s specimen has ever bloomed, said WNMU Horticulture Coordinator Chala Werber. According to Werber, the university nearly lost the plant several years ago, when water to the greenhouse was cut off while she was on vacation. Nearly 70% of the jade vine died back at that point, she said, but it has since recovered and grown. The plant is rarely seen in North America, with most specimens held by botanical gardens. The tropical greenhouse will be open Monday, February 26 and Wednesday, February 28, 1-4...

The path toward a nursing degree has never been straightforward for nursing major Megan Custer (BAS ’22). “I never knew what I wanted to be when I grew up,” she said. What she did know was that she enjoyed playing volleyball. “I got into sports when I was really young and have always kept that going,” she said, “It is not something anyone pushed on me; it was an option and I always liked it.” When it came time to apply for college, the opportunity to keep playing was high on her priority list. “I wanted to find somewhere that would let me play in college because I knew it would be fun,” she said, “and I wanted the opportunity for a scholarship to help with my education.” She chose Western New Mexico University and soon decided that nursing was the major and career for her. Custer, though, was on the volleyball team and found balancing academics and athletics overwhelming. On top of that, the COVID-19 pandemic was affecting how she and her fellow...

Assistant Professor of Sculpture Erin Wheary was in Mompox, Colombia for several weeks this winter for an artist’s residency at Casa Taller El Boga, a not-for-profit foundation. El Boga’s mission is “to develop cultural, academic and artistic activities that foster dialogue and add value to the local community and visitors,” according the foundation’s website. “We promote cultural exchange, environmental sustainability, and the protection of Mompox's tangible and intangible heritage,” it says. Wheary said that the town of Mompox is itself artistically inspiring. “It is a really interesting town in that there are a lot of craftspeople there,” she said, “It is known for its silver filigree work, for wood carving, for weaving—there are people making nearly everywhere.” Most of the artists in Mompox come from families that have passed down their expertise generation-to-generation, she said. Just getting to Mompox took some effort on Wheary’s part. “I flew...

The editorial board of The Maverick literary and arts journal for undergraduate students is pleased to invite submissions for volume...

Western New Mexico University has recently been awarded a grant of $20,000 from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) to support ¡Fiesta Latina!, the university’s signature cultural event. This highly competitive grant is one of only twenty given to New Mexico art organizations during this most recent round of funding. Director of Cultural Affairs Alexandra Tager said that while ¡Fiesta Latina! has received NEA funding before, this is the largest grant received from the organization. ¡Fiesta Latina!, which this year is scheduled for June 6-9, is a celebration of New Mexico’s ties to Mexico. “The purpose of it is essentially to promote cross-cultural exchange,” said Tager. Each year, she and her team host dozens of folk artisans from Mexico who share their techniques and showcase their works. Some of the artisans will give demonstrations or lectures, and others will lead workshops in which they guide children and adults in their craft. The festival also includes...

Music and nursing may seem like very different disciplines to most people, but for WNMU student and Hurley native Keana Huerta, they are very much entwined. Her decision to pursue a career in nursing was influenced by her family’s experience. “When my grandmother was sick in the hospital,” said Huerta, “I came to see her, and I sang her a song. brings light to a part of someone’s health journey that they otherwise might not have had.” Music therapy has been part of healthcare for a long time, said Huerta. “When people are at a very vulnerable time, sometimes they just need that light,” she said, “and for me as for many other people, music is just that.” Music is such an important part of Huerta’s life that she has been working hard to develop time management strategies to juggle being both a full-time college student and a professional musician. “With school and with music, I really had to learn how to balance stuff,” she said. But finding time...

Across the country, museums are covering up their display cases and removing objects from exhibition. New York’s American Museum of Natural History has shut down two entire wings, and closer to home, the Western New Mexico University Museum has been moving a number of Mimbres cultural items into storage. These removals, however, are not the latest attempt to ban cultural materials; rather, they are designed to comply with recent changes to the rules governing the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA). NAGPRA, which originally passed in 1990, requires institutions that receive federal funding to repatriate Indigenous human remains, funerary objects, sacred objects and objects of cultural patrimony to lineal descendants or culturally affiliated tribes. “What the law is saying,” explained WNMU Museum Director Danielle Romero, “is that all cultural items cannot be accessed, researched or displayed without tribal permission funerary, anything that...