Arts Profile
Carving Artist
Ace barber and woodworker is handy with a blade
You may recognize Joel Baca as the guy standing behind your head. He's cut hair Downtown at Ace Barbershop for the past two years. That's also where his A Collection of Works show is on display. The 33-year-old artist and barber was born and raised in Albuquerque. His father, the late Eddie Baca, and second cousin, Freddy Armijo, are well-known for wood carving. "I tried to pick up from them and learn a lot from them as a child and growing up in my teens," he says.

Photo courtesy of John Sandlin
Performance Review
Oedipus, Not So Complex
Duke City Rep’s noble undertaking riddled with monotony
More than a creepy story about a son murdering his father and marrying his mother, Oedipus is a tale about fate. In the Greek tragedy, King Oedipus is lauded among his citizens for one specific great feat of wisdom: answering a question posed by the tormenting Sphinx, who in response throws herself off a cliff. Yet the man who solved a riddle that had plagued a thousand men is terribly unaware of his own circumstances.