Wandering in Open Spaces

A painter, a photographer, and an invitation to meditate

Top left: Alice Webb’s “Balance Beam” (oil and silver leaf on canvas), photo courtesy of the artist. Photos of “Aimless Wandering” exhibit by Karie Luidens

Imagine viewing a photo of trees on your computer.

Now imagine actually finding your way to a riverbank and meandering among the cottonwoods, breathing the scent of damp earth and noticing the sun’s warmth on your skin as it filters through fresh leaves.

There’s no comparison, right?

That same contrast exists in the world of art: A screen’s worth of pixels cannot replicate the experience of actually moving through a gallery, where canvas stretches like skin and light glints off paint and gold leaf.

At Bernalillo County’s Open Space Visitor Center, you can experience it all. Outside, open-air trails wind through fields with a sweeping view of the Sandia Mountains. Inside, a gallery hosts rotating shows by local artists.

“I think this is one of the most beautiful venues in the city, honestly,” says artist Alice Webb.

The center’s latest show features Webb’s paintings opposite photography by her friend Margot Geist in a two-person exhibit titled Aimless Wandering.

In the two years they worked to create this show, Webb and Geist each took meditative walks along the region’s riverside woodlands, known to locals as the Bosque. Geist had…