At first glance, painter Melissa Morgan's Enter Anthropocene embraces an ethereal, flower-childlike bond between humans and nature. But that's where Cassidy Watt—owner of Metallo Gallery (2863 Hwy. 14, Madrid)—says Morgan shows her sleight of hand for subtle metaphor. "There is a celebration in the paintings because they're very beautiful and pretty," says Watt, "but I think there's also a warning there."

Regardless of how adept your street art skills are, if you decide to go guerilla and throw up a piece in a prominent public location, chances are it'll get buffed pretty quick. Murals and sculpture are some of the most aesthetically alluring components to this city's streets. But government grants notwithstanding, it’s hard to manufacture public art in a way that’ll have a widely recognized, lasting effect.

With the cold winds of winter a fleeting memory and the summer sun looming, an art jaunt along I-25 seems like a weekend well spent. Start in the hills of Santa Fe, where the Eldorado Studio Tour opens Friday night with a reception from 5 to 7 p.m. at La Tienda Center (7 Caliente Road). Mingle with artists, snack on hors d’oeuvres and groove to the tunes of David Wescott Yard and Doug Frantz.

But that’s just the warm-up act. Things really kick off Saturday morning as 69 Eldorado-area studios featuring more than 100 artists open their doors. Works in just about every medium abound, and the show runs from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. both Saturday and Sunday.

It is time once again for me to bid you, my fair reader, adieu.

I am moving back to Oklahoma, a state apparently bent on my destruction. I had some great tornado jokes lined up for this column—real grade-A material.

Alas, I woke up the other morning and the damn things had laid waste to most of Alabama. Severe weather humor is horribly inappropriate at this particular juncture.

So we’ll skip the tornado jokes.

Just in time for Gathering of Nations, Native American artists Jaque Fragua and Ryan Singer present their joint effort, Vision Quest.

To paraphrase Jimmy, the drunken misanthrope from the film Art School Confidential, I've been postponing suicide on the off chance I’ll witness some glorious plague inflict unfathomable suffering on my hateful species.

Monday, April 11, marked four years since the passing of the greatest American ever to pick up a pen and write down his thoughts— Mr. Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

Baseball wasn't always played by steroid-addled freaks. Babe Ruth hit more than 700 home runs and was drunk, smoking a cigar, eating a hot dog and cavorting with underage prostitutes the whole time. And that was just on the field. Lots of people say it’s boring, but they’re wrong. It’s a game of anticipation.

Virginia Maria Romero designed the first conservation stamp aimed at the wolf. Wolves are dog-like creatures that ranchers like to shoot. Romero will be on hand at Bookworks (4022 Rio Grande NW) on Thursday, March 31, at 7 p.m. to sign special copies of the stamp for $20. The same night, Craig Chapman from the New Mexico Wilderness Alliance will discuss service opportunities found in the 2011 Wild Guide, a book that features information on guided hikes in remote places in New Mexico. The book can help you find environmental volunteer work, be it restoring trout habitats or planting native vegetation. It’s nice to live in such a beautiful state. Help keep it that way.

The window to submit photos for the eighth annual Alibi Photo Contest closes on Thursday, March 17, at 5 p.m. Thank you to everyone who sent in their pics—be sure to check out the March 31 issue of the Alibi to see who won. In the meantime, photo-buffs can hear a talk on Edwin Land by MIT’s Dr. Victor McElheny at the Albuquerque Museum (2000 Mountain NW) on Sunday, March 20, at 1 p.m. Land was a businessman, war contractor, follower of the arts and an inventor. He worked on early smart bombs and one of his inventions led to swirly lights inside jukeboxes. He also invented the Polaroid camera. They make everything look like it’s 1974. It is important to note that while Land invented the Polaroid, he wasn’t the one who instructed you to shake it like one. That was Outkast. The talk is in conjunction with the ongoing exhibit A Passionate Light: Polaroids by H. Joe Waldrum. For more information, go to cabq.gov/museum.

The economy is in bad shape. Collective bargaining is under attack. Unemployment is high. The country appears to be headed for another Great Depression.

We all know Alan Arkin as the profane, heroin-snorting grandpa in Little Miss Sunshine. But he was also Ernie Lazarro in The Jerky Boys (worth seeing if only for Tom Jones singing “Are You Gonna Go My Way” by Lenny Kravitz) and Bean in Freebie and the Bean. It’s worth mentioning that he voiced Schmendrick in the classic The Last Unicorn and played the lily-livered George Aaronow in Glengarry Glen Ross. He’s been a part of your life.