Portales native serving as art commissioner

Angela Peacock

Peggy Usrey said moving to Ruidoso and owning an art gallery is the closest she has ever come to living in paradise.

A 1954 Portales High graduate, Usrey was recently elected as a commissioner to the Ruidoso Art Commission, which oversees all art and cultural projects for the village, ranging from visual arts to performing arts.

The commission is funded by the city but has recently applied to become a non-profit organization.

She said becoming a commissioner is quite an honor.

“I’m a hard worker and have been very involved (with the arts) since we’ve been up here, but it was a little bit of a surprise that I was elected since we’ve only been here since August,” she said. “This will give me a great opportunity to have more of a voice and become more involved with the arts for Ruidoso.”

Peggy and her husband, Wayne Usrey, who both grew up in Portales, owned an art gallery in El Paso, Texas, for 13 years, but Wayne said nothing beats the joy he gets out of doing business in Ruidoso.

“Owning a gallery is more of an act of providence than a job,” Wayne said. “I began as a one man frame shop so owning a gallery just sort of grew from that.”

Wayne, a 1951 Rogers High grad, is pleased at Peggy’s recent accomplishment, and said now that his wife is a village commissioner, together hopefully they will some positive input towards the growth of the art community in Ruidoso.

The artwork at Studio W features 60 regionally and nationally known artists with a blend of Anglo, Hispanic and Indian traditions in a full range of options including graphics and limited edition prints.