The year 2024 offered a large variety of entertainment featured in the Roswell Daily Record’s entertainment section, “Vision.”
Events
A new fundraising event took place on Feb. 17, benefitting various local charities. Community leaders contributed original miniature paintings that were auctioned off. It was also a social event where artists, community leaders, and the public could meet and talk.
The First Church of The Nazarene celebrated 100 years in Roswell on May 18 and 19. They invited the public to a dinner and a concert with the gospel group Adams Voice.
A new event, Roswell Towel Day, took place at various locations on May 24 and 25, including the Roswell Public Library and the main location at the Roswell Convention Center. Local authors, vendors and cosplayers attended the event. Towel Day celebrates Douglas Adams’ “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” book series.
This year’s UFO Festival drew a large crowd from all over the U.S. and overseas. Music, entertainment and lectures by serious scientists about UFOs entertained tourists and locals alike. A highlight for those who grew up in Roswell was seeing the lighting of the newly installed rocket sculpture during the festival on July 5. The sculpture was created by metal artist Josh Berry out of the old Peppermint Park rocket slide.
A popular annual event was the Dragonfly Festival at Bitter Lake National Wildlife Refuge in September when dragonflies are in abundance at the lake. Kids and adults can participate in tours, art projects and fishing, organized by various organizations. One of the highlights is the release of the endangered monarch butterflies.
Music
The first songwriter contest took place at The Liberty Inc. club in January. With the contest limited to eight slots per four Mondays, the ultimate winner was Tyler Jones. Jones was awarded with gigs not only in Roswell but also in Santa Fe, as well as recording studio time at Ruidoso’s Montrose Recording Studio, $300 cash and a custom-made guitar strap. The second-place winner was Delaney Davis ($200 prize), and third place was awarded to Alice Velasquez ($100). The event was so successful that the contest will be happening in 2025 again, according to Josh Ragsdale of The Liberty Inc.
Another musical highlight took place at the Liberty in March, when Red Dirt music icon Cody Canada and The Departed returned for a concert. A full house was guaranteed with the Texas band.
Roswell Community Little Theatre opened its doors for a unique Johnny Cash tribute show that benefitted the theater and a local cancer patient, L.M. Swarengin, who unfortunately succumbed to the illness on July 19.
Grace Community Church joined in becoming a music venue with a free concert featuring Chuck Crain of the Presley’s Country Jubilee Show in Branson, Missouri.
A first for Roswell happened on April 13, when the local popular band Johnny and the Crashers joined New Mexico Military Institute’s horn section and cadet vocalists for a rock concert at the institute’s Pearson Auditorium.
Theater
The year kicked off with a comedy that embraced friendship and family: “The Savannah Sipping Society” at the Roswell Community Little Theatre (RCLT) in January. Four actors, Deona Anderson, Amber Chum, Jessica Melendez and Edrice Tozier, showed that mature women of the South can spice up their lives — with the right incentive.
The next play of RCLT took the audience on a trip around the world, right here in Roswell. “Around the World in 80 Days” was a full success thanks to the five actors who played a mind-boggling 39 roles.
The first musical of the season by Way Way Off-Broadway Theatre Company (WWOB) was “Hello, Dolly” in March. Star of the show was the theater’s veteran performer, Lafonda Humphreys, who was cast as the iconic turn-of-the-century matchmaker, Dolly Gallagher Levi.
WWOB celebrated its 25th main stage musical in July with the performance of Disney’s “The Little Mermaid.” Cast as Ariel, the young mermaid, was Rebekah Baggerly. Cast as the wonderfully evil sea witch Ursula was Jasmine Sahd, who studied at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. The musicals of WWOB are sold-out performances, and “The Little Mermaid” was no exception.
The arts
The year 2024 was an active year, including exhibits by the Roswell Artist-in-Resident (RAiR) program grantees, such as by multimedia artist “ann haeyoung” in January. Haeyoung’s work for her exhibit “terra nullius” was heavily influenced by the nature and character of the high desert. The artist included technology as well, inspired by the Very Large Array near Magdalena.
Three art spaces offered a variety of free activities for the Sixth Annual Triple the Love art event: Bone Springs Art Space, the Miniatures and Curious Collection Museum and the Roswell Museum. The art event takes place around Valentine’s Day.
2024 marked the 10th anniversary of The Gallery’s move from its old location on 107 E. Fifth St. to 223 N. Main St.
The flood that hit Roswell in October damaged an incredible amount of art, including the building of the Roswell Museum. One of the victims of the flood was Roswell Artist-in-Residence Nina Robinson. Her exhibit “Spirit Room” was destroyed; all that remains are photos taken by the Vision editor, an interview that never got published and a short film, which was shared with the artist.
The flood forced the doors of the Roswell Museum closed, while artists from the RAiR program and specialists in restorations and museums throughout the nation, including employees of The Conservation Center of Chicago, a disaster relief conservation laboratory, came to the aid of the museum. The city itself signed a contract for $850,000 to place damaged paintings of the museum into a refrigerated truck and transport them for preservation and restoration. It will take a long time for the museum to recover. All future RAiR exhibits will take place in the Anderson Museum of Contemporary Art until further notice.
