1 Enjoy the strange.

The Oddities & Curiosities Expo, the largest subculture and oddities fest in the world, comes to Expo New Mexico in Albuquerque this weekend. “If you’re into Halloween, you’re probably going to like this,” says Michelle Cozzaglio, who co-founded the expo with her husband, Tony, in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The show now travels to 45 cities in the U.S., does a monthlong tour in Australia, and visits a few locations in Canada. “I could never have dreamed it would become what it is now,” she says. “I like to say we are for lovers of the strange and unusual.”

Alongside vendors selling taxidermy, trinkets, and vintage wares, the expo offers classes on how to taxidermy a possum, create a scorpion habitat, or try your hand at pinning a moth. Sideshow performances, such as walking over broken glass, happen every half hour. “I try to curate it so there’s something for everyone,” Cozzaglio says. “Just give it a chance—there’s so much here.” The expo is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. 

Artist and jazz musician Asiah Thomas-Mandlman created the poster, set to be revealed on Friday, for the Las Cruces International Film Festival. Photograph courtesy of Asiah Thomas-Mandlman.

2 Get a taste of Hollywood.

The Las Cruces International Film Festival brings a little Hollywood sparkle to the New Mexico Farm & Ranch Heritage Museum for the annual Poster Reveal Party on Friday from 5:30 to 8 p.m. “This is the kickoff for the festival,” says founder and executive director Ross Marks. “Nobody sees the poster before the party. We keep it under wraps, so there’s a ton of enthusiasm and excitement.”

For 11 years, the festival has tapped a local artist to create the collectible poster, including this year’s by New Mexico State University alum Asiah Thomas-Mandlman. The original design’s 300 prints will be auctioned off during the party.  

The festival, which runs April 8–12, features more than 160 films from 30 countries showing in five theaters. “The theme for this year’s film festival is Bridging Borders,” Marks explains. “What Asiah has created is so powerful and cinematic. It really fits with what we’re trying to do.”

Entries into the annual Eddy County Recycled Art Show are full of fun and creativity. Photograph courtesy of the Artesia Clean and Beautiful.

3 View recycled artworks.

The Eddy County Recycled Art Show, hosted by Artesia Clean and Beautiful, opens Thursday at the Artesia Public Library. Local artists and community members craft pieces made from bits of old metal, repurposed cardboard boxes, refashioned containers, plastic bags, ping-pong balls, and more for the exhibition, which runs through March 28.

Folks bring entries to the library right up until showtime on Thursday. “I am throwing a party, and I don’t know who will attend,” explains Linda Stevens, executive director of Artesia Clean and Beautiful. A past highlight was a giant bulldog—Artesia’s school mascot—made from cardboard, ping-pong balls, and Walmart bags. “Everyone wanted their picture taken with it,” she says.

Geometric forms and natural materials are a focus in "Ulrich Niemeyer: Mostly Sculptures." Photograph courtesy of the Ray Drew Gallery.

4 See minimal works.

The Ray Drew Gallery at New Mexico Highlands University in Las Vegas hosts an opening reception for Ulrich Niemeyer: Mostly Sculptures on Thursday from 5 to 7 p.m. Born in Germany in 1936, Niemeyer had a long career in the arts in New York before moving to Santa Fe, where he still lives and works. As part of the university’s visiting artists series, Niemeyer will be on campus working with students during the week of the opening. He creates pieces in a minimalism tradition that focuses on materials and geometric shapes. 

The New Mexico Museum of Space History hosts a Women in Space event on Sunday.

5 Take off for girl power.

Celebrate International Women’s History Month in Alamogordo at the New Mexico Museum of Space History on Sunday from noon to 4 p.m. During the Women in Space event, attendees will learn about women who played integral roles in space exploration, like Katherine Johnson (1918–2020), a NASA mathematician whose calculations for things like trajectories and launch windows made space missions possible. Col. Kristen Torma, Holloman Air Force Base 49th maintenance group deputy commander and the first woman to hold the position, will present the keynote address at 2 p.m.

For more things to do, check out our online calendar of events.