Juarros Sculpture Exhibit Reception November 5 in Ray Drew Gallery

Local sculptor and Highlands University 2010 distinguished alumnus Aaron Juarros’ exhibit, â€˜from here,’ begins with an artist’s reception Nov. 5 from 4:30 — 7:30 p.m. at the university’s Ray Drew Gallery. The exhibit continues through Dec. 10.
 

The Ray Drew Gallery is in the university’s Donnelly Library at 802 National Ave.

Juarros’ quest to develop as an artist began at Highlands University where he earned a BFA cum laude and continued to Scotland where he earned his MFA in sculpture at the prestigious Edinburgh College of Art in 2009.

 

Juarros, 35, has exhibited his sculptures at venues such as the Embassy Gallery Members Exhibition in Edinburgh and the Royal Scottish Academy in Edinburgh. He has completed numerous commissioned works spanning two continents.

 

Since 2007, Juarros directed the cast iron foundry at the Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop. In May, he returned with his family to New Mexico and he is teaching this fall in the Department of Fine Arts at Highlands. He is also the master sculpture for the private Manzanares Creek Chapel.

 

“I always knew I was an artist, ever since I helped my grandfather reshape steel for tractor parts in the forge at our family ranch,” said Juarros, who grew up near Montezuma and graduated from Robertson High School in Las Vegas.

 

“I met David Lobdell at a college information table and he invited me to join the fine arts program at Highlands. David is my most influential mentor in art foundry practice. I had the opportunity to learn how foundries worked when I was his work study student for four years,” Juarros said. 

 

Lobdell heads the university’s Department of Fine Arts.

 

After Highlands, Juarros cofounded Pine River Pewter in Durango, Colo., in 1998, and founded the Schoolhouse Iron & Bronze Foundry in Chaplin, Conn., in 2003.

 

In 2007, Juarros was one of only eight artists accepted into the MFA program at Edinburgh College of Art from 300 applicants.

 

 “Edinburgh College of Arts was an internationally recognized hot sport for the rise of a new era of contemporary art,” Juarros said. “My MFA program was an amazing experience, a well-rounded, full bodied consideration of why one makes art. It’s a challenge to take what I’ve learned and balance it with an instinctive, uninhibited creativity.”

 

Juarros said ‘from here’ explores current environmental pressures, including plastic’s effect on the landscape.

 

“Currently I am using man-made, non-biodegradable materials to portray the antithesis of nature, juxtaposed with natural raw materials in order to create an awareness of the problems faced by our struggling environment,” Juarros said.