You might want to consider visiting the picnic area at La Buena Vida Park in Las Cruces. As the sun is setting, stop for a moment and look around. You’ll see a softly glowing spectacle, a cluster of sculptures called “Desert Kinship.”
The art project is the work of Kayla Blundell, who received her Bachelor of Fine Arts at New Mexico State University earlier this year. Blundell competed for and received the commission from the City Art Board, City Council and City of Las Cruces to create a free-standing outdoor sculpture for the Las Cruces Public Art Collection, which was installed this fall at La Buena Vida Park, 3000 Buena Vida Circle.
“I wanted to highlight the themes from the park, because we live in the desert, but people often overlook the vibrance and the beauty of the desert, so I wanted to put prickly pears in it. There are a lot of birds there, too, all different species. But when I was out there doing my research, I saw a family of quail, and I wanted to tell a story about both.”
She didn’t always know she’d be welding together massive metal sculptures. But one of her professors urged Blundell to take a course.
“When I did metal, it just clicked. I love working with metal. The welding clicked, and then Carissa (Samaniego, NMSU art professor) did the public art class, and I was like, I can do this.”
The process for the Las Cruces city project was arduous. It began in June with finalizing the designs. She spent months in her backyard cutting, then welding together the metal pieces – four prickly pear and four quail. By October, the pieces had transformed into a seamless story of nature in the desert. From quail to cactus and cactus to quail, so what you see depends on where you are standing. By November, the sculptures were installed. From one direction, you’ll see prickly pear cactus in four sizes. From the other direction, you’ll see a quail family looking like three babies following their mama into the park.
“I did everything by hand,” she said. “I traced down to a piece of plywood then I traced it onto the metal, and then I then plasma cut it out. I did the smallest one first, and then I worked my way up to the biggest one.”
The city budgeted $40,000 for the project in the popular Las Cruces neighborhood with walking trails that wind through the natural landscape of the park. A covered picnic area is conveniently located off a small parking lot and the xeriscape surrounding the picnic area provides the setting for Blundell’s sculptural art pieces.
“Everybody's been really positive,” Blundell said. “I’m just there, and people will start talking to me and they ask, ‘Are you the artist?’ and I’ll start talking about the sculptures and they really love it. One man said, ‘I like your brain – this is so clever’ and he brought some other people over to look at it.”
As a sculpture near a picnic area, Blundell’s work is meant to appeal to families – adults and children. Blundell’s children, ages 7 and 11, fell in love with her project.
“When they saw it in the park, they were just kind of like, ‘Wow.’ It was great to see their reactions,” Blundell said. “I know they’re biased, but they’re my biggest fans.”
Blundell has found her calling. Public art is where her heart is.
She took an entrepreneurship course at Studio G at NMSU’s Arrowhead Center and refined her business plan. Blundell is applying to other public art calls, but plans to have at least two sculptures available for sale while she is applying for new commissions. Her BFA exhibition piece was accepted into a temporary exhibition in Grand Junction, Colorado. It will be on display there for a year. It was also accepted into the New Mexico Arts Catalog, where it will be on sale.
“Public art isn’t like what’s in a museum where you might normally go,” Blundell said. “Here anyone can see it. Hopefully people will see ‘Desert Kinship’ and be able to sit and think about it and enjoy it. It’s more than just aesthetics, maybe it’s a conversation starter.”
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CUTLINE: “Desert Kinship,” a free-standing outdoor sculpture commissioned by the City Art Board, City Council and City of Las Cruces as part of the Las Cruces Public Art Collection. Kayla Blundell, a New Mexico State University art alumna, received the commission to create the sculptures and installed the project in November at La Buena Vida Park, 3000 Buena Vida Circle. (Photo by Kayla Blundell)
CUTLINE: From this perspective, the quail family in the “Desert Kinship” sculpture is visible in the solar light glow. (photo by Kayla Blundell)
CUTLINE: Kayla Blundell poses for a selfie with massive metal sculptures sitting at the installation site. They were carefully wrapped to protect the patina of the metal in transit. (Photo by Kayla Blundell)
CUTLINE: Kayla Blundell seen here welding pieces of steel together to create her public sculpture titled “Desert Kinship.” (Courtesy photo)
CUTLINE: Kayla Blundell uses a plasma cutter to form cacti from steel to create massive parts of the sculpture to be welded together. (Courtesy photo)
CUTLINE: Pieces of “Desert Kinship” in progress in Kayla Blundell’s backyard. The piece in the foreground shows the prickly pear cactus, and the piece in the background shows the quail outline. (Photo by Kayla Blundell)