CONTACT: Karen Rossman, WNMU Museum Services Manager, 538-6386
DATE: August 24, 2005
RE: Ancient Motifs of the Mogollon: Photographs of Anthony Howell;Lecture
 

            Photographer Anthony Howell, whose exhibit Ancient Motifs of the Mogollon  is currently on display at Western New Mexico University Museum, will talk about what it is like to research, locate and document a multitude of Mogollon Rock Art sites. This slide-lecture will also cover site-to-site comparative studies and anomalies, different interpretive approaches, and actual photography techniques used for documentation.  The lecture titled “Seeking the Mogollon: Tales of a Rock Art Photographer,” is scheduled on Thursday, Sept. 1, at 6 p.m. at the Besse-Forward Global Resource Center Auditorium.

The Ancient Motifs of the Mogollon exhibit centers around the transition of commonly reoccurring symbols found within the petroglyphs and the pictographs of rock art sites in New Mexico. These rare southern New Mexico archaeological sites exist in a unique environment of wall-less museums. Some sites have been in existence for over 10,000 years. According to Howell, “Due to the fragile nature of the rock art and vast distances involved, viewing Ancient Motifs of the Mogollon is the most practical means of exploring this interesting and ancient realm.”

    Anthony Howell received a master of fine arts degree from Pratt Institute, New York, New York, in 1989. He taught in the Expressive Arts Department of Western New Mexico University and lives in Silver City, NM. For the past eight years, Howell has devoted much of his energies to photographing, documenting, and lecturing on the motifs of the prehistoric Mogollon cultural complex. Due to the current rate of human intervention and impact on these ancient sites many of Howell’s photographic prints will outlive the prehistoric rock art he documents. 

The WNMU Museum is open Monday through Friday 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and on Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. We invite everyone to visit the museum and view these images. The exhibit will close on Sept. 2.  Art prints of Anthony Howell’s photographs will be available for purchase in the WNMU Museum Gift Shop. If you have any questions, please feel free to call 505-538-6386 or e-mail museuminfo@wnmu.edu

This exhibition is made possible in part by the Associated Students of Western New Mexico University Student Activity Fees.

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