A color postcard featuring minimalistic art of a person and a potted plant to announce the opening of the Subway Gallery and the Stardust Video Theater. The postcard was sent with a 12.5 cent bulk rate 1880s Pushcart stamp. The message printed on the back reads: “Subway Gallery-Stardust Video Theatre- 34b brewery gulch. Bisbee, Arizona 85603 – Opening 7:00 – 10:00 feb 6 – Boyd Nicholl photographs, Laurie Kintzele drawings, and works by Sara Nicholl. - PERFORMANCE TIMES 8:00 and 9:30 pm.” Betsy Thornton collection.

The Subway Gallery is an artist collective that formed in the mid 1980’s, the gallery’s grand opening was on December 6th, 1986 at 7 P.M. The gallery’s first location was at 45 Main Street with the opening hours from noon to 4 P.M. on Tuesday through Saturday. The artists and their work featured in the gallery included Betsy Breault with oil paintings, Thomas Enriquez with sculpture, Kathleen Mae Pearson with mixed-media sculptures and paintings, Toni Sodersten with sculpture and ceramics, Manny Martinez with paintings, drawings, lithographs, and ceramics, and Laurie Kintzele with charcoal and pastel drawings. Other artists whose work was displayed at the Subway include Carol Anderson, Todd Bogatay, Kaucyila Brooke, Daniel Buckley, Michael Cajero, Tory Conn, Phillip Estrada, Melissa Kaspar, Curtis Kiwak, Dan Lenihan, Roger Pack , Celia Reed, Kris Sonderegger, Rita Verri, Danielle Winter , James White R. and Craid Zingg. One special show in the gallery’s early years was “Nam and the ‘60s: A Personal American View”. It was a display of photographs taken in America during the Vietnam War. The collection was curated by retired U.S. Army Sargent Dick Amerault and a conscientious objector Boyd Nicholl. The show was in the Subway Gallery from June 20 through July 9th 1987. The Subway Gallery had an exchange show with Tucson’s Central Arts Collective called “Escape to Bisbee. At the opening reception, composer Craid Zingg shared his music accompanied by Tim Pankratz. In January 1988, the Subway Gallery changed locations from 45 Main Street to Brewery Gulch 34B nest to the Saint Elmo’s Bar after merging with the Stardust Video Theater. The Stardust Theater Trope would often put on performances. The Subway Gallery courted controversy in November 1997 by displaying a piece by Nicholas DeVore III called “The All-Dog Art Show” which included a body of a stillborn puppy encased in resin on a plate with vegetables. It sparked debate and in the letter to the Editor to the Arizona Daily Star by Paul Bouvee explained that they didn’t want censorship to ruin artist voice or creativity. The petrified pooch was eventually removed and given a proper burial, its final resting place somewhere between Bisbee and the San Pedro River. It might be noted that the artist worked as a photographer for the Nation Geographic magazine and all the time in nature gave him quite a different perspective on life and death. As of 2022, the artists include Manny Martinez, Danielle Martinez, Monte Surratt, Gene Elliston, Margo Macartney, Peggy Scanion, Carole Beauchamp, Paul and Steeve Bovee, Dick Hyman and Deborah Chambers . The Subway Gallery remains the longest continuously operating galley in Bisbee.

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