“I make things to find out what the ideas in my head look like in the physical world.” –David McPherson

Friday and Saturday night, from 5-9 PM, stop by 1800 Hopewell Street, at the corner of Hopewell and 2nd, to lay your eyes on the AV installation event Reflection Contraption: the brainchild of Meow Wolf member, David McPherson. If you don’t know the unique and scrappy genius of the Meow Wolf Creative Collective, you’re missing some of the freshest, most playful art in action.  Poke around their Facebook page and website for a foretaste of the group’s inventive imagination.

“It’s kind of a vintage garage sale where a bomb went off.” (from the Bobby Levin video documentary on Geodecadent)

Bobby Levin (Bobby XI) documents the elements and ideas of last year’s installation, Geodecadent, in a video worth viewing, but it’s a bit like seeing the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in still photos with voiceover.  Nothing can do justice to the experience of visiting a Meow Wolf piece itself.

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RSVP for the David Solomon’s Works on Paper Show, or just show up on Friday, from 5-8 PM, at the Jay Etkin Gallery, located in the Artyard behind Warehouse 21: 703 Camino de la Familia, #3103. The installation featured on his Facebook page had nice rhythm. Get a feel for David’s style on his website.

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Sam Haozous will be displaying his photographic work at the Open House Meet & Greet at Standing Buffalo Indian Art Gallery & Gifts on 1422 Second Street. Sam’s a down-to-earth genial guy from a renowned art family. We liked his work at the “Generations” exhibition held downtown at the Santa Fe Community Convention Center back in January of 2009 and look forward to seeing more.

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From 7-8 PM on Friday, head over to Little Wing at the Candyman Strings and Things, 851 St. Michael’s, for Invitational Exhibition Opening to see the work of some of Santa Fe’s finest emerging artists as selected by the SITE Santa Fe Young Curators. Artists include Jesse Salazar, Megan Toon, Kassie Marshall, Olivia Bonfiglio and Spencer Byrne-Seres.

Related posts:

1. This week on Santa Fe’s Creative Scene
2. This Week on Santa Fe’s Creative Scene–8/13/10
3. Santa Fe Art Scene: Substance over Style

Activationism Indoors is practiced at the New Central Nightclub in Provincetown, 1948

About six weeks ago, I found myself in a time trough between appointments, looking for shade and coffee in a part of town not known for its cafes. I stumbled upon Spectrum which won me over with its excellent coffee and commitment to community.  While doing a final fact check last week prior to giving them a plug in my blog, I called their number. Disconnected. Like some crazed EMT-wannabe doing CPR on a cold corpse, I redialed four times. Finally, I called neighboring Pizzeria Espiritu and learned from the friendly voice on the line that, in fact, the cafe had closed the day before.

I shouldn’t have been shocked.  When we spoke to Shalene Dailey, who co-owned Spectrum with her husband Nathan, we detected the ozone of exhaustion, centered on the challenge of finding professionally-minded staff.  But what heartened me was to hear Shalene frame this challenge as a big picture service to community.  She wanted her employees to learn life skills they could later apply to their own passions and to model the same for her own kids. She wanted the cafe to serve as a locus of community.

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Last week, at the urging of Red Cell, we met with Dan Werwath and Shannon Murphy who were collecting info for the next MIX Santa Fe from locals-in-the-know about Santa Fe nightlife. I’m hardly one to tap on that subject, but Changing Gallery–our endeavor to support emerging and independent artists–has made occasional contributions to the downtown night scene. So we talked about common ambitions and perennial problems. If you haven’t heard, MIX Santa Fe “is a public/private collaboration that [uses] creative micro-stimulus initiatives, job resources and regular networking to [attract] new ideas, business growth and energy to Santa Fe.” That’s the short version. Visit the Mix website for the full bio on this local effort to make Santa Fe a better, more economically-friendly home for the city’s young professionals. MIX even caught the camera-eye of CNN.

Every month, MIX poses a question with a prize for the winner. May’s “Mix Pays Revenge of a Question” was, “What, besides money, do you need to launch an entrepreneurial idea or business?”  The responses pointed up both the sandpits and fairways of launching new venture, including a rant about how the city is controlled by a small cabal of status quo players with longstanding ties (here termed a “gerontocracy.”) Positive suggestions included assembling a group of taste makers to vet and bless new ventures, and providing a gathering place for entrepreneurial folk to share ideas.

Member of an old Boston Family... expresses Activationist Joy

Whatever it doesn’t have, Santa Fe has no lack of talent.  The challenge is how to interlock that talent to make it go further.  I was going to propose that the wished for groups of tastemakers and entrepreneurs make Spectrum their meeting place, and that Spectrum tap the pool of young professionals for ideas and action to create a full scale entrepreneurial “factory,” but Spectrum didn’t make it.

So what HAVE we got? Changing Gallery uses on-market real estate to showcase the work of emerging and independent artists.  Sure, I’d love a large warehouse with walls into which Jennifer Joseph could hammer her gorgeous installations, where a day cafe could make way for a nighttime performance space for indie musicians.  But what I have are listings and artwork–both of which need to be seen in order to be sold. Through intersecting needs, everyone wins.

Last month’s Mix Pays winner was Rob DeWalt, who suggested “extending the Santa Fe Trails bus service to 3 a.m. on limited routes on the weekends for a 3-month trial period…. “In order for it to work, though, people will have to put their money where their mouth is and actually use this new public transportation option during the trial period.” (italics mine) “We’d like to try to put Rob’s idea in motion but we need your feedback…,” said Mix. “What would it take to get you and your friends to ride it? What routes would be most important? Leave it in the comments or show up at the next MIX event (every third Thursday) to tell us in person.”

As of this writing, there wasn’t a comment in the box.  This is what I’m calling “The Spectrum Syndrome”: the passive belief that somebody will give feedback; somebody will set up the program; that if it’s a good idea, it’ll happen. I know I’m guilty of this; Spectrum’s my witness. Are you?  Here’s hoping that those whom the talented creatives behind Mix are seeking to serve will offer what they can easily spare–opinions and support for a good idea–lest the fine potential that is Santa Fe Mix become just another case of Spectrum Syndrome.

**Answer August’s $200 MixPays Survey on the issue of public transportation in Santa Fe and earn a ticket toward a free drink and a chance to win $200 if your answer smokes the competition.

Related posts:

1. Mad Science Brewing in Downtown Santa Fe
2. Santa Fe Art Scene: Substance over Style
3. Thriving Arts = Thriving Cities: Towards a Santa Fe + Albuquerque Arts Link

Here’s something I love about my business.

In the course of checking out a house for a client, our paths intersected with Mike Koster, a Director of Southwest Roots Music (SWRM) and the founder and sustaining force behind the Thirsty Ear Festival. Most of us know them as the folks who’ve brought New Mexico the likes of Dr. John, Bo Diddley, Taj Mahal, The Wailers, and Odetta. But Southwest Roots Music is more than just a concert promoter. It’s a nonprofit 501c3 organization “dedicated to increasing awareness of New Mexico as a center for music, to promoting traditional music through educational programs and live performances by local and internationally renowned artists, and to helping strengthen New Mexico’s arts economy.” Click the links to read more on these worthy folks who add dimension to our musical scene.

Tomorrow night, August 3rd, I’m heading downtown for Southwest Roots Music night, featuring Boris and The Saltlicks followed by Po’ Girl.  Mike thought I might like Po’ Girl since I am a fan of Canadian Folk Duo The Be Good Tanyas. We’ll grab a loaf of Clafouti bread, some cheese and salad and make it an evening picnic.

Two years ago, I viewed the Santa Fe Bandstand as a hokey reminder that Santa Fe is, indeed, a small town.  But the city responded to complaints about quality and upped the caliber of featured acts. Right about then was the first year Southwest Roots Music got involved, along with the admirable not-for-profit Outside In Productions (Take a moment; click the link, and READ about their powerful mission.) The changes were so successful, 2010 readers of the Santa Fe Reporter awarded the Plaza Best Outdoor Public Space and the Bandstand concerts Best Community Event or Festival. No polls are perfect, but  Best of Santa Fe 2010 offers a pretty good insight into the tastes of Santa Fe denizens. Scan the calendar for upcoming events and take advantage of just one more offering that makes the City Different a remarkable place to call home.

As for Southwest Roots Music, they’re taking a couple of months off--for the first time in eleven years, but count on Mike to be back in the saddle by winter, bringing us fresh encounters with traditional music.

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For honest, fly-on-the-wall insight on the Santa Fe Art Scene, read Patricia Sauthoff’s piece, Seen in Santa Fe’s Scene: A Critical Look posted on the End of Being’s website.

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Mike Rohner wrote in to let us know he’d have a booth (#121) at the Girls Inc. Arts and Crafts Show on the plaza this weekend with new work.  Mike will be sharing space “with the talented brothers Gino and Viento Natchez” whose work can be seen at Four Winds Gallery. Swing by and support independent and emerging talents.

Related posts:

1. Santa Fe Art Scene: Substance over Style
2. This Week on Santa Fe’s Creative Scene–8/13/10
3. Earth Day in Santa Fe

On some nights, creative options spew like a leaking dike in Santa Fe.  However determined, I can’t catch them all.  Friday, July 30th is such a night.  One friend has an art opening  Another is playing music.  Meow Wolf is having a dance party. And then there’s the SushiNMTweetup.

Start your evening at Victoria Price Art & Design, 1512 Pacheco Street.  The Opening Reception for Alexandra Eldridge‘s Multi-media exhibition “We are Here So Lightly” kicks off at 5 PM. Come see how salvaged Chinese scrolls transform in the hands of this seasoned talent whose work is a record of layered journeys, both internal and worldly.

Emerging photographer, Carlo Armedariz, will be showing work at Femininity Art Show at Au Boudoir, 1005 St. Francis Drive, #115 from 6-8 PM.

Next, head over to Little Wing, the new performance space at the Candyman, for Electric Miles 2: Yesternow, starting at 8 PM. Musician, teacher and multifarious talent, Peter Breslin, passed over a few rain soaked miles to pull this one together. Bound to be excellent.

Cap your evening at the VFW where the creative forces behind Meow Wolf are hosting Super-Powered Dance Destroyer: the “best dance party in town.”  Starts at 9 PM.

Me? I’ll be in Albuquerque, braiding threads of connection into human bridges between two of the State’s leading creative centers. Or just eating sushi, and hoping I plugged the right hole in the dike.

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Real estate agents Malissa Kullberg and Joshua Maes, AKA Changing Gallery, use their listings, where appropriate, to showcase the art, photography, sculpture and other creations of emerging and independent talents.

Related posts:

1. This Week on Santa Fe’s Creative Scene, August 20th
2. This Week on Santa Fe’s Creative Scene–8/13/10
3. Santa Fe Art Scene: Substance over Style

Despite my passion for travel, curiosity about world cultures and love of art, I had never managed to make it to the world-renowned Santa Fe International Folk Market.  I’d always been working.  This year, I hit the ground running as a volunteer. Joshua Maes and I spent a few hours working the cashier’s station.  It was a high speed intro to market attendees and a fun opportunity to raise money for the Artists Travel Fund, which subsidizes travel expenses for first time artists.  Volunteering enabled us to get in free and even more, to be a part of the Great Dance.  I highly recommend the experience.

Check out the Market’s Facebook fan page to get a feel for the enthusiasm that fuels the event.   Read the Market Wrap Up, which reports on this year’s financial successes and encouraging firsts. “The Santa Fe International Folk Art Market is 501(c)3 organization that provides opportunities for folk artists to succeed in the global marketplace and can make a substantive difference in the life of a participating artist.”

Related posts:

1. Santa Fe Art Scene: Substance over Style
2. See and Be Scene
3. Santa Fe Artist’s Boot Camp + Art Scene Updates

Emerging and independent artists have a low cost opportunity to step up their game with the Artist’s Boot Camp series starting Thursday, May 6th at Bishop’s Lodge Ranch Resort and Spa.   Sponsored by the Santa Fe Small Business Development Center and Creative Santa Fe, the weekly workshops focus on issues central to successful sales.  The courses run from 8:15 to noon.  The $25 fee covers tuition and a continental breakfast, courtesy of the City of Santa Fe and Bishop’s Lodge. Register online, or call: 505. 428.1343

This week on the Emerging and Independent Art Scene….

Friday, May 7th is the LAST night to catch Brittany Linkenheimer’s installation, Class, at the MOV-iN Gallery, 1600 Saint Michael’s Drive
on the College of Santa Fe campus. Class, an interactive installation, “provides the viewer with an experience that goes beyond the visual realm to include tactile and auditory components…a world of uncertainty and attempted self-reassurance [where] the only comfort comes in the form of consistency and repetition.” Produced by Andrew Dawson. Call: 505.982.0389 for more info.

On May 8th, from 7:00-9:00 PM, The College of Santa Fe Art Department presents “¡OINK!” a collaborative event featuring the sculpture, performance art, light installation, video art, sound sculpture and site-specific installation art of 16 CSF students including the man we fan, Red Cell.  Look for  “installations/objects [that] can be probed by the public as well as performances both staged and interactive.” ¡OINK! takes place at the Thaw Art Building on the CSF campus, 1600 St. Michael’s Drive. Call 505.471.2554 for more info.

On Sunday, May 9th, head to The Screen to see Late Bloomer, Go Shibata’s award-winning cult horror hit. Late Bloomer, is the first film in The Asia Now Film Series, presented by The Process and Tidepoint Pictures. The series runs the Second Sunday of Each Month at The Screen, 1600 St. Michael’s Dr. Film begins at 8:00 PM.  Call 505.473.6494 for details. A short Q & A session follows the film.

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Last Saturday, we found ourselves shivering in the blustery winds blowing around the St. Francis Cathedral-Basilica near the Plaza in downtown Santa Fe.  May 1st was World Labyrinth Day . We were there to support independent musician, Michael Tait Tafoya, who froze his digits supplying the sonorous soundtrack for the labyrinth meditative walk. Read more about last weekend’s observation in the Santa Fe New Mexican piece Taos Celebrates World Labyrinth Day May 1 And check out Mike’s new, independently produced album, Beyond the Horizon, a multi-layered, all instrumental guitar album.  Mike’s both a terrific talent and a fine guy whose smile and pacific spirit run soul deep.

For a tangential, but very cool blogbit on Labyrinths in architecture, read this picture-rich post,  The Switching Labyrinth.

Related posts:

1. Santa Fe Art Scene: Substance over Style
2. Mad Science Brewing in Downtown Santa Fe
3. This Week on Santa Fe’s Creative Scene, August 20th

Salvia, garden of Allison Rani Moore

For a sustainability-minded community like Santa Fe, Earth Day is more a power surge of ongoing efforts than a shallow and short-lived kumbaya with Mother Nature.  Santa Fe is a recognized leader in sustainability initiatives, an early adopter of  the 2030 Challenge by architect Ed Mazria. Check out the city’s Residential Green Building Code and the Sustainable Santa Fe Plan at the city’s website.

For fun and community profit, take part in one of the many of the Earth Day events happening throughout the weekend. Start off at Warehouse 21 from 7-10 PM tonight where Earth Care’s Youth Allies present an Art and Social Change Show.  On Saturday, head over to the Community Farm at San Isidro Crossing for two major events:  The Earth Day Celebration and Day of Service kicks off at 10 am with service projects followed by a community picnic, demonstrations, a seed giveaway from Seeds of Change, live music and more. Then, from 1-3 PM, Sustainable Santa Fe will be honoring local heros of sustainability and best practices at its annual awards ceremony.  Details at the Earth Care International website.

Also happening this weekend, from 10-4, Saturday and Sunday, April 24-25, in downtown Santa Fe at the Hilton near the Plaza, a free Sustainability E

Chokecherry in garden of Allison Rani Moore

xpo with Free Sustainability Workshops and presentations by local businesses and not-for-profits. Topics include:

* Drip Irrigation
* Composting
* Solar Ovens
* Tree Planting
* Solar PV Systems
* What’s in Your Water and How to Remove Contaminants
* Using Grey Water to Make Your Garden Grow

Find more information at the Facebook Fan Page for Sustainable Santa Fe hosted by Taylor Selby Selby himself will be at the Positive Energy Booth at the Expo on Sunday.

Gardeners shouldn’t miss the 6th Annual Garden Fair this Saturday, 10-4 at the Santa Fe County Fairgrounds, as mentioned in my previous post, Controlling Chaos. Savor Allison Moore’s luscious landscape designs at her website Spirit of the Garden.  Read up on Xeriscape Council of New Mexico and other local landcrafters and learn how lush and beautiful a low water landscape can be.

Finally, for a more expanded look at Santa Fe’s environmental scene, read Earth Day A-Z by Laura Paskus at the Santa Fe Reporter.

Related posts:

1. Controlling Chaos: an Interview with Santa Fe Landscape Designer, Allison Moore
2. Santa Fe Art Scene: Substance over Style
3. Party on the Plaza: Southwest Roots Music at the Santa Fe Bandstand

Six Months in Santa Fe: Art by Ryan Helean

Most beings spring from other individuals; but there is a certain kind which reproduces itself. The Assyrians call it the Phoenix. –Ovid

A couple of weeks ago, I stumbled over an exchange on Facebook that dug into my mind like a splinter and stewed there, coalescing ideas until it pushed itself back to the surface.

“Thank You again, Santa Fe, for proving to be the hypocritical liittle provincial backwater that you are. Another great business may leave this town, a business that is trying to support “community” and you turn its nose at it because it won’t play into your pathetic alcoholic addictions and pretentious ideas about what a restaurant “should” be. Its becoming more and more clear that I need to get out of here.”

The venue in question was Café Phénix; the author of the post, Steve Brisk, a musician who’d been playing at the Cafe on Thursdays and was preparing for a big show on the 25th of this month. Sample Steve’s work as AudioBuddha at Soundcloud.

Café Phénix was a mighty little downtown dining spot that was muscling its way up to become an institution. More than just a restaurant, it was a community light.  It hit all the right notes: family owned and operated; an economic and social grounding to Santa Fe’s eclectic triangle district; a community space for local musicians, artists and even filmmakers to show their work.  Where possible, it used fresh, organic and local ingredients. And the food and coffee were good. The NY Times, the Albuquerque Journal, Pasatiempo and NM Gastronome blessed it with positive reviews.  Yet it closed in six months, dashing spirits and dreams.

Why it happened, I don’t know.  The backstory is someone else’s to tell.  What hooked me was that bitter eulogy which held perennial frustrations about being an artist, musician or entrepreneur in Santa Fe to the light.

Mike Tait Tafoya, a fellow musician and friend weighed in:

“Steve you should let go of what your preconcieved notions of what you think Santa Fe should be or how businesses should be supported by others.All you can do is help support it yourself and do what you can. I think you would be hard pressed to find a town this size that is so diverse culturally,politically,spiritualy etc. Bithching to Santa Feans on Fb, not gonna help anything!

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Tonight, Friday March 26th, Mark Frossard is unveiling a mural at Studio Nia, 851 West San Mateo  Opening reception for Mark and four other artists, 5-7 PM.

Also opening tonight at the Jay Etkin Gallery, Camino della Familia, #3103, behind Warehouse 21, is a solo show of new oil-on-aluminum paintings by  David Solomon, the force behind BANG! Gallery.

And at the Santa Fe Complex : The Art and Science of Systems Biology a two-day event that “celebrates the grand tradition of the visualization of research—powerful statements made not through words, but through visuals such as DaVinci’s diagrams or Rosalind Franklin’s x-rays.” Event begins Friday at 4:30 with a reception and  public lecture, for which registration is FREE but required.  Continues Saturday with workshops for kids and an exhibition of pieces that won the NSF-sponsored 2009 International Science & Engineering Visualization Challenge, closing with a second lecture on Saturday night.

Catch Ryan Helean’s exhibition of vibrant oil and acrylic paintings, still up at Java Joe’s on Rodeo Road through April 8th.

Related posts:

1. See and Be Scene
2. Santa Fe Art Scene: Substance over Style
3. Thriving Arts = Thriving Cities: Towards a Santa Fe + Albuquerque Arts Link

Never underestimate the power of a cheeseball.

Forty some years ago, my southern-born mama started making cheeseballs for The Sorry Muthas: a Minneapolis based folk band. Before the band went off on tour, mom would fill doubled up paper sacks from the local Red Owl grocery store with oranges, crackers and other substantive snacks.  Cheeseballs were her way of ensuring the band “got a little nutrition.”  Overtime, she and my father opened their hearts and home to support their musical family, hiring them to play at parties, spotting them cash, even offering the fiddler, Bill Hinkley, a home in our basement, and the harmonica player, Soupy Schindler, space in our Chicago attic after we moved to the Windy City. Whatever the Muthas got, they gave back with interest, enriching our lives with their skills, intelligence, humor, and of course, their music.

Mom passed away more than 20 years ago, but I do my best to hold the spirit of the cheeseball aloft.  For the past year, my business partner, Joshua Maes, and I have used our real estate listings in downtown Santa Fe to showcase the work of emerging and independent artists and musicians.  100% of the proceeds from any sale go to the artist. We’re happy to report at least 14 sales that took place at or following one of our Art Open Houses. I also use the forum of this blog to report on the people and events of Santa Fe’s alternative, independent and emerging arts scene, since, at this writing, there is no formal one-stop resource for such information.  (I do commend The Santa Fe Reporter for its community calendar.)  A couple of times, I’ve thrown in information on Albuquerque players, including photographer David Bram, Fraction Mag, and [AC]2

Up to now, I have been tucking alt arts info into the tail of my blogposts and rotating, somewhat awkwardly, between reviews of our openings, artists, local businesses and real estate, constantly worrying that if you came for one, you might not want to look at the other.

But here it is:  I am an art lover, an ad hoc mentor, an enthusiast for entrepreneurial energy, a proud citizen of Santa Fe, and a real estate agent. In me, all those passions are reconciled.  By offering emerging and independent artists and musicians a place to be seen and heard, I am attempting to support the people and activities that make my chosen home more interesting, vibrant and dimensional.  I am also hoping these efforts will help attract and retain young people who are a vital component of our  community. I support and showcase local businesses I know to be doing good work because I hope that you will use their goods and services and keep them in business.  And, yes, I do talk about real estate because that’s my day job of choice and something I care to see done well.

So, when you visit my blog, you may find some words on real estate, an update on an emerging artist, a restaurant review or interview with a business owner.  You can focus on just one subject using the tabs.  But my hope is that you will take a look at whatever befalls you. It’s just my cheeseball, but never discount the collective power of small acts; witness the enormous grassroots response to the quake in Haiti.  Hope to hear from you.

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Didn’t get word on much this week, but a shoutout to Alt Curator Red Cell  and The End of Being, a news magazine and Esoteric Guide to Difficult and Unusual Art, Music, Film, People and Ideas he cohosts with Patricia Sauthoff, former Arts and Entertainment editor of the Santa Fe Reporter. Good things starting in March through The Process, Red Cell’s alternative curatorial wing.

Related posts:

1. This week on Santa Fe’s Creative Scene
2. This Week on Santa Fe’s Creative Scene–8/13/10
3. Santa Fe Art Scene: Substance over Style

The cold was frightful.  Snow and ice covered much of the ground.  But those who braved Nature’s buffets for the annual Christmas Eve walk on Canyon Road in Santa Fe reaped the rewards of a sweet, community ritual that defines the winter holiday for many in the City Different. Tradition reports that luminarias, the little bonfires that dot the walking paths, were originally set out to guide people to Mass; farolitos, the small bags of sand and votive candles, lined the way for Christ’s arrival. Today, these symbols define a spectacle of light and fire that draws thousands of locals and tourists alike to the Santa Fe’s historic eastside.

Some galleries offer cider, hot chocolate and biscochitos.  In recent years, stands have sprung up selling hot drinks. Or for the price of a song, sidle up to the carolers clustered around a luminaria.  No matter the cold, I’ve never found a group to exclude a frosty newcomer.

If you missed this year’s ritual, mark your calendars for 2010.  The farolito walk is one of the many reasons why Santa Fe made Away.com’s Top Ten Destinations for Christmas Vacation

Related posts:

1. See and Be Scene