PREVIOUS ISSUES : NEWS : Outtakes Last Updated: April 30, 2008 - 10:39 AM   There's Something About Bill: Political Canvases By Dave Maass Published: November 28, 2007   Email this article   Printer friendly page   NM artists brush up on Bill’s campaign. Question: Can 65 local artists be wrong about Bill? Answer: Not if they haven’t really made a decision yet. Bill’s campaign is throwing an art show on Nov. 29 at the Hilton Santa Fe, called—for lack of a better name—“The Great Art Event.” Tickets are $250 for two, and approximately 100 patrons will be guaranteed a random piece of art donated by 65 local artists. The gala will likely be a who’s who of the local art scene, including First Lady Barbara Richardson, who will be on hand to dole out the prizes personally. Calculated out, the event should raise at least $12,500 for Bill’s campaign. That really isn’t a whole lot, considering that, with the $2,300 maximum contribution limit, he could raise just as much chatting up half a dozen wealthy retirees. In the end, it looks as if it’s the art patrons who will be coming out on top. At $125 a pop, they’ll be getting a steal depending on whose art they win. For example, photographer Cathy Maier Callanan estimates her three donated works—including a portrait of the late local eccentric and artist Tommy Macione—are worth approximately $1,000 on the open art market. For the artists, donating work seems to be less an endorsement and more a thank you to the Richardsons, particularly Barbara, for supporting the arts. Michael Namingha, for example, who’s donating a 9-by-11 inkjet print of his word-art, says he hasn’t picked a candidate yet. However, Richardson is a friend of his father’s, Dan Namingha, who also is contributing art to the cause. Perhaps, pro-Bill artists aren’t unlike other pro-Bill fence sitters: They tend to like Bill, but they’re not willing to commit to him unless he can prove he’s a viable candidate. Considering that Bill’s narrowed the gap between himself and John Edwards in New Hampshire to within a point, that may not be too far off. SFR is covering the Richardson campaign every week in “There’s Something about Bill.” To read more SFR coverage of the governor’s presidential campaign, go to www.sfrblogsbill.blogspot.com. © Copyright 2000-2008 by the Santa Fe Reporter Save This Page to del.icio.us Top of Page