balcony art

 

If you go to Carrizozo on a Wednesday, this (and painted burros) may be all the art you see.  Plan your visit for a first Friday or the annual Art Fest.

 

Carrizozo, New Mexico

8.5.2015

del sol

 

The sun no longer shines so brightly on the Del Sol Motel.  What once must have been a great motor court with Spanish style has been reduced to apartment "rooms to rent" but with only one or two with parked cars (and BBQ grills and lawn chairs!)  The Del Sol's location was once great -- right downtown with the action-- but today's passing tourists, if they stay in Carrizozo, choose one the four more modern (relatively) motels on Highway 54. Convenience usually trumps character!

 

501 12th Street

Carrizozo, New Mexico

8.5.2015

 



no matinee today

The sign on the Lyric Theater appears to have regained its glow -- thanks to photoshop magic -- but the only life there is the pigeon perched atop it. Cinema Treasures had this to say:  The  “Lyric Theatre” in Carrizozo was built in 1916 as an Opera House; in 1918 the name changed to "Crystal Theatre”and began to show silent movies. When sound movies came along, it reopened with sound on June 13th,1931 and re-named “Lyric Theatre”.  It remained open until 1979 when it closed due to some rating dispute over the Exorcist .  I don't know about demons but the place surely has ghosts!

Lyric Theatre
Carrizozo, New Mexico
8.4.2015

Carrizozo cowboy

 

The sign welcomes you to eat and drink in Carrizozo but the place is closed -- literally shut down and boarded up! If I had "do-overs" for this photo, which shows 12th Street Historic two blocks in Carrizozo, I sit on the ground and shoot up, silhouetting the cut-out against the sky.  However, these days shooting from low angles is easier said than done!

 

Carrizozo, New Mexico

8.4.2015

moon and stars

 

I like screen doors and many buildings on 12th Street in Carrizozo have one.  This one, appropriately adorned with a crescent moon and stars, opens into the Dreamspace Gallery in Carrizozo.  The town is described as a quirky art community but schedule your visit during an event like the festival next weekend.  Otherwise everything on 12th Street was closed but the coffee shop.  Window shopping only.

 

Dreamspace

Carrizozo, New Mexico

8.5.2015

painted burro

 

The Painted Burros started as an annual fund-raiser auction.  Today some of these colorful, life-sized figures can be found atop roofs overlooking the art district in Carrizozo.  If you stand carefully on a bench, then you can see this painted burro reflected in the second-story window across the street. Unfortunately, on a this Wednesday morning, it was just me and burros in the historic district.

 

12 Street Historic District

Carrizozo, New Mexico