Listing Category: Dona Ana Arts Council

Each month in 2021 – The Year of the Artist, a different arts category will be highlighted with an artist in that field being celebrated as the Artist of the Month.

 The Arts Council is celebrating Film and Stage and has selected actor and writer Mike Cook as Artist of the Month for March. “We have many superbly talented professionals and amateurs in our community in both film and stage,” said Greg Smith, executive director of Doña Ana Arts Council. “We believe that, in choosing Mike, we have honored all of those individuals because not only is one of them, but he is also dedicated to writing about the theatre and film arts, as well as the other arts thriving in our community.”

Cook’s involvement with theatre in Las Cruces started with “Beyond Therapy” at the Black Box Theatre in 2001. In the two decades since then, he has done shows at Las Cruces Community Theatre, NMSU, Boba Cabaret, Lo-Fi Productions, and Scaffolding Theatre Company. Not content to perform on stage, Cook has also written a couple of short plays. “Collectively, they are the most rewarding experiences of my life,” Cook said about his ventures in theatre, onstage and off. “In fact, my circle of close friends is comprised almost entirely of the most talented actors, singers, dancers, performers and creators you can imagine.”

In recent years, Cook’s role as a reporter for the Las Cruces Bulletin has allowed him to review plays and musicals at many local venues. He is continuously in awe of the theater talent in this community and “incredibly grateful for the opportunities it has afforded him. “There are certainly more talented actors in Las Cruces than I am, but there is no one more fortunate,” he added.

Smith said, “We would be hard pressed to claim to know who is most talented, but we freely claim our own good fortune here in having Mike Cook sharing his many talents with us!”