January 8, 2020: Santa Fe Reporter by Santa Fe Reporter

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BY M F R A AYA A R NCO O ROM NSON, TI ERO A N D N TA W I KA TRIS TA N I G Z I A B IH VA N CLEA ER, VE

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JANUARY 8-14, 2020 | Volume 47, Issue 2

NEWS OPINION 5 NEWS 7 DAYS, CLAYTOONZ AND THIS MODERN WORLD 6

I AM

AFTER-WORK PLANS 8 Abolishing a state tax on Social Security is but one of the reforms Think New Mexico hopes will improve retirement prospects in the state FORMER NEW MEXICAN EDITOR ROB DEAN DIES 10 The local journalism community takes lessons from his warmth towards others and his passion for the public’s right to information LESS RADIOACTIVE? 11 A Southside manufacturing plant that handled radioactive materials is one step closer to remediation COVER STORY 12 STATE OF THE ART Four student reporters with the New Mexico Fund for Public Interest Journalism profile Santa Fe’s wave-making curators

28 MURAL POLITICS

More me time. I don’t worry about my banking because it’s easy. Mobile, online or face-to-face, Century is there when and where I need them. Century is MY BANK.

As the fate of a downtown mural remains unclear, statements are made, conservation thoughts are explained and a clearer picture emerges.

Cover design by Anson Stevens-Bollen artdirector@sfreporter.com

EDITOR AND PUBLISHER JULIE ANN GRIMM ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER AND AD DIRECTOR ANNA MAGGIORE

CULTURE SFR PICKS 17 Folk yes, classical, snowshoes and resistance

CULTURE EDITOR ALEX DE VORE CONTRIBUTING EDITOR JEFF PROCTOR

MUSIC 21

SENIOR CORRESPONDENT JULIA GOLDBERG

IF YOU BUILD IT, WILL THEY COME? Online music bulletin board Muezbiz.com promises to shake up the publicity game ... maybe

MyCenturyBank.com 505.995.1200

ART DIRECTOR ANSON STEVENS-BOLLEN

THE CALENDAR 18

STAFF WRITERS LEAH CANTOR KATHERINE LEWIN

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A&C GET STONED 23 A Mexican-American artist strands himself in Santa Fe with his Indigenous-inspired jewelry MURAL POLITICS 28 What’s to become of that downtown mural?

EDITORIAL INTERN ALLISON SLOAN CONTRIBUTING WRITERS MAYA ARONSON AEDRA BURKE TINTAWI KAIGZIABIHER FRANCO ROMERO TRISTAN VAN CLEAVE ZIBBY WILDER DIGITAL SERVICES MANAGER BRIANNA KIRKLAND

3 QUESTIONS 25

PRINT PRODUCTION MANAGER AND GRAPHIC DESIGNER SUZANNE S KLAPMEIER

WITH PAINTER DANIEL SILVERMAN FOOD 29 AU NATURAL An increasing number of vintners are moving away from industrialized processing MOVIES 33

Phone: (505) 988-5541 Office: 132 E MARCY ST.

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JANUARY 8-14, 2020

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LETTERS Mail or deliver letters to 132 E Marcy St., Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501; or email them to editor@sfreporter.com. Letters (no more than 200 words) should refer to specific articles in the Reporter. Letters will be edited for space and clarity.

renew skin : renew life

FOOD, DEC. 18: “LOOKING FOR A BURRITO?”

____________________________________________________

PROTECT CORPORATIONS I am writing to register a complaint about the [fourth] paragraph… I am sure that if the writer had replaced the word “white” with black, brown, Asian, or Indian, you would not have published the review. Racism—with help and encouragement of the president—is poisoning this country and does no one any good. Secondly, when the writer asks “who are you supporting” at Chipotle, it is worth remembering that Chipotle is a publicly held company with millions of shares outstanding that benefit people from all walks of life, including the largest teachers’ pension funds. If Wikipedia is correct, Chipotle also employs 45,000 people. To be clear, I have no connection with Chipotle. I have never dined there and have no plans to do so. But in this era when journalism is under constant attack, I think it behooves newspapers to be fair.

HAL KAHN SANTA FE

MORNING WORD, DEC. 17: “SLOW DOWN”

DRIVE SENSIBLY I travel back and forth to Albuquerque, daily. I am shocked at the way people drive on I-25. The speed limit is 75 mph. Most people drive 80 or 85+ mph. They tailgate other cars aggressively and after passing, pull back in too closely. …Even in bad weather, snow, rain and high winds, people drive too fast and put all of us travelling these roads in danger!

It is the responsibility of the NM Department of Public Safety to safeguard public for the citizens of New Mexico. It is the responsibility of NM Secretary of Public Safety Mark Shea and NM State Police Chief Tim Johnson to see that the speeding and tailgating laws of this state are enforced. Gentlemen, do your jobs! Ticket speeders and ticket tailgaters. Ideally, the speed limit in New Mexico should be reduced to perhaps 65 mph. The requirements and training for prospective drivers should be enhanced and existing drivers should be re-trained before getting driver’s licenses. Drivers should be taught and required to drive safely and know how to drive in fog and other adverse weather conditions, or not be issued a New Mexico driver’s license. Modern cars are monstrosities of plastic and electronics, with no bumpers, fragile eggshells, yet so many people in our state are driving like maniacs in these machines! Something must be done.

JW ARMFIELD SANTA FE

CORRECTION: Editor’s Note: In last week’s music column (Transmissions from the Digital Age), quotes from Blackout Pictures members Jared Weiss and Jeff Jedowski were improperly attributed to one another. SFR regrets the error.

SFR will correct factual errors online and in print. Please let us know if we make a mistake: editor@sfreporter.com or 988-7530.

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SANTA FE EAVESDROPPER “I can start a fire with a gum wrapper and a mean look.” —Overheard at a downtown office

Send your Overheard in Santa Fe tidbits to: eavesdropper@sfreporter.com

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JANUARY 8-14, 2020

S FREP ORTER.COM / FUN

TV WEATHERMAN MARK RONCHETTI JOINS GOP SENATE RACE When it’s already your job to be wrong, why not go to Washington?

SEN. RICHARD MARTINEZ SENTENCED TO JAIL TIME FOR DWI The guy running against him also has a DWI on his record. No joke.

TWITTER DOESN’T SEEM BOTHERED THAT TRUMP IS USING IT TO THREATEN IRANIAN CULTURAL SITES For this is the new Thunderdome, and we’re all going straight to hell.

NAVAJO ARTIST PAINTS PRO-PALESTINIAN WORK ON LOCAL WALL And the homeowner is down with it, so you might say this is a pretty cool week so far.

SANTA FE IHOP ROBBED AT GUNPOINT Bro, seems like a lot of trouble for only OK pancakes.

MORE CHARGES FOR HARVEY WEINSTEIN, THESE ONES IN CALIFORNIA We were joking about hell before, but this guy’s definitely headed there.

MOVING COMPANY SAYS NEW MEXICO 10TH HIGHEST STATE FOR INBOUND MOVES Come for the no jobs, stay because you can’t afford to leave!

JANUARY 8-14, 2020

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SFREPORTER.COM

READ IT ON SFREPORTER.COM VLADEM CONTEMPORARY BACK ON TRACK With the destruction of a mural comes a whole new building. Our reporter went inside the H-board meeting where they gave their final approval to the project.

W E A R E WAY M O R E TH A N W E D N E S DAY H E R E A R E A CO UP LE O F O N LI N E E XC LUS I V E S :

HEAR THIS Catch Season 2: Episode 4 of SFR’s Reported podcast, in which house candidate Lyla June Johnston recites a poem and talks about the race.

Let us re-introduce ourselves. A Big Art Party & Fundraiser for The Life Link Saturday, January 18, 2020 5pm- 9pm At The Santa Fe Convention Center | $150 / Ticket

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This event will be fun for people with any level of (or no) art experience! Choose the artist you will work with when you buy your ticket.

Thank you to our generous sponsors!

To Sponsor this event call Elizabeth Carovillano (505) 438-0010 Ext. 047

The Life Link is committed to improving individual and community health through breaking cycles of chronic homelessness, mental illness, trauma, exploitation, and addiction.

For Tickets go to: www.thelifelink.org/pwp or call (505) 438-0010 Ext. 047

Clearing your path to a brighter future YOU MAY QUALIFY TO HAVE YOUR CONVICTIONS OR ARRESTS CLEARED New Mexico’s new Criminal Record Expungement Act will be effective January 1, 2020

Santa Fe Office (505) 988-8004

Albuquerque Office (505) 243-1443

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JANUARY 8-14, 2020

NEWS

After-Work Plans

BY JULIA GOLDBERG @votergirl

hink New Mexico, a nonprofit think tank that formed more than 20 years ago, has played a role in myriad significant state policies over the years (thinknewmexico.org.) These include full-day kindergarten, lottery reform and the food tax repeal. In 2019, the organization released a policy paper on recommended reforms to strengthen retirement security for New Mexicans. Its suggestions include removing a tax on Social Security benefits; refining a previous bill from AARP that would create the option of automatic payroll deductions for retirement to private-sector employees whose jobs don’t offer it; and increasing the qualifications for board members of the Public Employees Retirement Association [PERA]. These reforms come as the state is grappling with deficits both in PERA and the New Mexico Educational Retirement Board of approximately $12 billion. SFR talked with Think New Mexico founder and Executive Director Fred Nathan about these initiatives, for which the organization will be advocating in the 2020 Legislature, which begins on Jan. 21. The interview has been edited for clarity and space. How did the issue of retirement get on Think New Mexico’s radar? We came across this amazing statistic that was just astounding, which is that about 62% of New Mexicans have nothing saved for their retirement, and 80% have $10,000 or less. And we thought, ‘Wow, this is a huge crisis that no one seems to be addressing.’ It’s not just

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astonishing that we’re 49th in income [in the US] and yet we have the second highest tax on Social Security benefits.

COURTESY FRED NATHAN

Think New Mexico wants New Mexicans to think about retirement

here—of course, it’s worse here—there’s just this general misunderstanding among many Americans that ‘I don’t have to save for my retirement because that’s what Social Security does,’ and a failure to understand that program was just created to supplement your retirement. You still need to save for your retirement. You’re recommending a repeal of the state’s income tax on Social Security benefits, and your report notes we have the second heaviest tax on Social Security benefits in the country. How did that happen? Historically, it happened in 1990 when the Legislature had a $12 million budget deficit. They were passing a complicated tax bill and, on the second to last page, it was just a one-sentence amendment. My guess is someone stuck it in, many of the legislators didn’t know what was in the bill and what they were voting on and, once it’s in law, then it’s like, ‘we need this revenue.’ It makes no sense if you look back at why [President Franklin D Roosevelt] and Congress enacted Social Security. It was designed to supplement the income of senior citizens, 50% of whom back then were living in poverty; it was just designed to help them live out their lives in dignity. It was never taxed until the same thing happened at the federal level: There was a budget problem in the early 1980s, so they started to tax it, and then we followed in 1990. It’s

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Kiplinger Magazine ranked New Mexico low—39th—as a place for people to retire. Is that the main issue with this tax or is it about poverty among New Mexico’s elderly? First, it’s a fairness argument…it’s a double tax. People are taxed when they earn the money and it’s taken out of your paycheck and, since 1990, you’re taxed when you take it out. The average benefit in New Mexico is $13,900 annually so, if you run the numbers, it’s about $700 [in annual taxation], which is a lot of money to many New Mexicans. According to the federal Department of Labor, the typical senior citizen in the United States—not just New Mexico—needs about $28,000 [annually] for food, housing and health care over and above Medicare. If you have nothing saved, you’re trying to make it on $14,000, which is about half of what you need. Then, there’s the economic development argument. Every dollar of Social Security generates about $1.71, according to AARP, in economic output. Many of those people are low- and middle-income people who would get that benefit of not having their Social Security benefits taxed—that’s going to go right back into the economy. So, first of all it helps retirees already here and, secondarily, it would help to change our reputation nationally. Another reform you’re recommending [The New Mexico Works and Save Act, HB 44] would provide automatic deductions for retirement plans to everyone, even if an employer doesn’t offer that benefit. It’s targeted to those private sector employees whose employers don’t provide that, and that’s about 60% of private sector employees in New Mexico. It’s not great anywhere. The No. 1 state is Minnesota, where about 60% have it; we’re at about 40%. I was thinking about this over the weekend…About 55% of Americans, either through retirement or some way, are invested in the stock market. If you think about the wealth disparity in this country, I think it’s because the top half have access or are invested in the stock market, usually through a retirement account, and that’s compounding at 10% a year—this year at like 30%. Then you have the other half who are not

exposed to the stock market, usually because they don’t have a retirement account. This is a big deal in the sense that if we could get the other 60% of New Mexicans who are not invested into a private retirement account to supplement their Social Security, this crisis wouldn’t be a crisis. Do you have buy-in from the private sector businesses and/or from investment companies locally? AARP tried this last year and they didn’t have buy-in, principally because they wanted to mandate that businesses do this. We prevailed to make it a voluntary program, at least to start, because we think there will be more buy-in and, frankly, will reduce the opposition. The thing that makes it so sexy to a policy wonk is the statistics: People are 15 times more likely to save if they do it through automatic payroll deduction. One of the reasons there’s such low access in New Mexico is that most businesses are very small and they don’t have the bandwidth. This is designed to make it easy. Think New Mexico is recommending the state increase the qualifications for people who serve on the PERA board. What prompted this? Some researchers at Stanford did a fascinating study where they compared public pension boards across the country and they discovered that those funds that have qualified people on the board tend to have higher performance. Huh. It’s completely logical. No one on [the PERA] board is required to have any background in investments or finance. They do have a few people, but many don’t, and it’s a completely dysfunctional board. There’s a very funny quote [in our report] where state Sen. George K Muñoz [D-Gallup] says, ‘it’s a clown show over there.’ Last year, they had a fight over the quality of snacks they’re served. They literally spent seven minutes on this discussion…One board member talks about the level of service she’s receiving from staff, which she thinks is inadequate…It’s amazing these people are overseeing $16 billon of investments and they’re arguing about the snacks. In their last meeting, they were supposed to be meeting to discuss some recommendations by the Attorney General and the State Auditor about improving their policies

SOURCE: THINK NEW MEXICO

WHY NEW MEXICO WORKERS AREN’T SAVING FOR RETIREMENTS

5% 19%

55% 21%

CAN’T AFFORD TO SAVE

CHOOSE NOT TO SAVE FOR RETIREMENT

and procedures. Instead, the meeting deteriorated immediately when one board member [Loretta Naranjo Lopez] accused another board member [Trustee Stephen Neel] of stealing her iPhone…She walks out of the meeting and makes a big speech about how she’s leaving so they won’t have a quorum to update their policies and procedures and just get them up to code. Everyone who is on that board will tell you: It doesn’t work. So, we’re working with Sen. Muñoz, who has a bill already introduced [Senate Bill 60] that would require that these people have some background in finance and investments. Does that proposal have a common thread with Think New Mexico’s past work to increase qualifications for the Public Regulation Commission? Absolutely. We think it’s a good thing now that all the members of the PRC have to have work experience, qualifications and educational qualifications that make them qualified to do those

NOT ELIGIBLE TO PARTICIPATE IN PLAN OFFERED THROUGH JOB

JOB DOES NOT OFFER A RETIREMENT SAVINGS PLAN

jobs, and the same goes for the PERA board. Are you supportive of the PERA Solvency Task Force recommendations? By and large, yes. I’m not sure I would increase the contributions by the state and by the employees, but the [Cost of Living Adjustments] need to be addressed. Overall, I’m really impressed with the work of the task force on everything else. It sounds like state retirees are not as sanguine. Maybe our proposal on Social Security can be helpful there. All of the state retirees also collect Social Security, so while the COLA reforms are not being well received, maybe if we can repeal the tax on Social Security benefits, that will compensate those employees. That’s a lot of reform. Are you optimistic it will all get heard? Very optimistic.

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JANUARY 8-14, 2020

NEWS

COURTESY SANTA FE NEW MEXICAN

Former ‘New Mexican’ Editor Rob Dean Dies

Colleagues and readers remember a kind presence in an industry known for the gruff and surly

Rob Dean, pictured at a party for his 2013 retirement, ran the capital city’s daily paper for 21 years.

BY JULIE ANN GRIMM e d i t o r @ s f r e p o r t e r. c o m

emembrances of longtime Santa Fe New Mexican editor Rob Dean don’t use the word “legacy” lightly. News of his sudden death on Sunday, Jan. 5, shook New Mexico’s small journalism community. After more than two decades at the helm of The New Mexican and a recent renewed role in fundraising for journalism, now Dean wasn’t behind the headlines anymore; he was the headline. This matters to Reporter readers not because the former king of the competition has fallen, but because he made journalism in our city and state better, and he provided a fertile, supportive training ground for newsroom leaders still working in New Mexico today. Dean is the person who made sure my home of choice would be Santa Fe, and without him I probably wouldn’t be sitting in this chair at the paper next door. By 2003, my byline had led The New Mexican’s front page more than once as I banged away with both barrels from the Associated Press Albuquerque Bureau. And I’m lucky that Dean had his eye on me. He’d heard I was looking for a job. I had mailed out dozens of packets with copies of my favorite stories and letters to editors about how I wanted to land in their newsrooms. I was sure Dean had seen this masterful sales pitch.

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“No,” he told me, “But I’m familiar with your work.” I can’t think of more encouraging words. For the next 10 years, he was a supportive mentor and trusted ally as I covered Santa Fe County, then the city government more broadly. A few months after he left The New Mexican, I carried my desk plant down Marcy Street exactly one driveway to become the editor, and later publisher of SFR. I’m among the friends, colleagues and readers who remember Dean, 65, as a glowing, kind presence in an industry more known for the gruff and surly. His wife of 42 years, Toni Dean, tells SFR that part of his personality developed early. “He told me that his mom told him one time, she sat him down and said: ‘You know happiness is a choice and kindness to others will be returned,’’’ she says. “He always lived by that philosophy. It wasn’t a facade. It was just who he was…it served him well.” Dean shepherded The New Mexican newsroom through the big changes that hit journalism in the so-called modern era. After his retirement, he worked for a few years with Patina Gallery on Palace Avenue crafting promotional material. Then, he returned to journalism as executive director of Searchlight New Mexico, working to secure money for the nonprofit’s investigative reporting efforts. Billie Blair, who hired Dean in 1992

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and worked beside him as the newspaper’s publisher until 2001, says she always felt he was “the right person at the right time for Santa Fe.” “Rob understood the importance of covering both the everyday story and explaining to readers what was going on in the community and what that meant,” she tells SFR on Monday afternoon. “He had a phrase he used. He called it ‘connecting the dots.’” Though almost everyone who encountered Dean experienced his good nature, those who worked closely with him say there was one thing that made him hot under the collar: efforts to impede the public’s right to know how its government functioned. “I would get frustrated because he would almost never get mad,” says Geoff Grammer, a sports writer for The Albuquerque Journal who reported under Dean in Santa Fe during two separate stints. “He was so even-keeled. The times he would were when I think he really felt somebody was withholding from the public and the community their right to know something was going on.” Dean served on the board of directors for the New Mexico Foundation for Open Government for years, including as its president in 2007 after the sudden death of FOG co-founder Bob Johnson. “During that transition, Dean made certain FOG continued to field the public’s questions on achieving their right to

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know and set the organization on a new and steady path,” reads a statement from the organization. “Dean was unwavering in his support and mentoring of reporters who filed [Inspection of Public Records Act] requests…and always gave editors extra time to fight when local governments tried to shield information. He never accepted excuses that public officials made for secrecy, believing that secrecy only serves the insiders, not the public. ” Albuquerque attorney Kip Purcell, also a former FOG board member, tells SFR that Dean was “a marvelous president of FOG–patient and kind, but passionate about the public’s right to know.” Dean was known as something of a recruiting expert, and was a believer in making sure the newsroom demographically reflected the community with compassion. A landmark project he led on the scourge of drunken driving in New Mexico won a national award from Mothers Against Drunk Driving. That issue, in January of 2004, featured the names, stories, and in most cases, photos of every person who died the year before in the state in an alcohol-related crash. “I’ve yet to have an editor who hammered home the importance of personalizing stories the way Rob did,” Grammer says. “He was a guy who made everything personable. … He would say: ‘Remember we are writing about people and not just a DWI, and not just a law.” FOG gave Dean its Lifetime Achievement Award in 2013. Dean was originally from Harlowton, Montana, and he came to New Mexico from a job at the Tacoma, Washington, News-Tribune. He was an avid baseball fan who often vacationed in Phoenix with his wife and two sons to catch spring training. Toni Dean, a career nurse, says it appears Rob experienced some sort of catastrophic medical event Sunday morning, though the cause of his death has yet to be determined. He had been diagnosed with prostate cancer and had recently made a treatment plan with doctors and begun telling friends and family about an optimistic prognosis, she says. A police report says the two, who both were fighting off colds, watched the television news together at around 5 am Sunday; then Rob said he was going back to bed. She found him dead around 10:30 am. The family expects to release details later about a memorial service. “He always felt he led a charmed life and people had been so good to him,” Toni says. “He wanted to return the favor and believed that by informing people and giving them a voice, that helped society.”

S FR E P O RTE R .CO M / N E WS

NEWS

Less Radioactive? 5981 Airport Road

Former Southside Eberline manufacturing facility inches along in its clean-up and re-sale

B Y K AT H E R I N E L E W I N k a t h e r i n e @ s f r e p o r t e r. c o m

major biotech company finally has the beginnings of a timeline to clean up and maybe sell the Southside Santa Fe site where workers formerly manufactured radiation detection equipment. The site at 5981 Airport Road, a vacant brick building surrounded by schools and residences, was once a major employment center in Santa Fe run by Eberline Instruments. The company was purchased in 1979 by Thermo Electron Corporation, which would eventually combine with Fisher Scientific. Thermo Fisher Scientific shut down manufacturing there in 2007. The owner of the property is now listed as Thermo Eberline LLC. Thermo did not keep accurate records of toxic materials leaving and entering the site. And the company didn’t document how much radioactive material remained. But now, the state’s Radiation Control Bureau, a division of the Environment Department, confirms a timeline, albeit a tentative one, for when Santa Feans could see a “decommissioned,” or cleaned-up, lot.

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The department can’t say for sure how much or what types of contaminants could still be on the property. “As of right now, at this time, there may be residual radioactive material that may be present,” says Santiago Rodriguez, chief of the bureau. “We thus far have not found anything, but we don’t want to rule anything out. As a point of caution and assurance, we are taking this slowly and ensuring that they are testing on a regular basis and that if they find anything that they are notifying us of such data.” Bureau managers are in the initial phases of reviewing the Historical Site Assessment, a massive trove of documents detailing the property’s entire history. The state had concerns about the submitted assessment, particularly what contaminants have been on the property and the company’s “ability to analyze and quantify what potentially could remain after they start the cleanup process,” according to Rodriguez. Rodriguez tells SFR Thermo Fisher is working to address the state’s concerns, and the department expects the company to submit its plan for demolition of the building and cleanup of the site by March 1. The department writes in an email to SFR that Thermo is expected to decommission the site after demolishing the building by Oct. 1. Once the bureau approves Thermo’s decommissioning plan, the company must complete the work within two years, but Rodriguez tells SFR Thermo Fisher is “eager” to lower the levels of contamination on site and demolish the

Airport Roa

existing building in order to potentially prepare it for sale. Thermo Fisher did not answer questions SFR posed about the decommissioning by presstime. “Once the facility is formally decommissioned and they have done it to unrestricted parameters, then anything could be built there,” Rodriguez says. “[Thermo Fisher] would disclose that there was a facility there and what types of activities occurred there. But if the facility is clean to the appropriate standards, then there should be no issue with that.” “Unrestricted parameters” refers to levels of radioactivity that are below federal requirements. Rodriguez says the bureau asked Thermo Fisher to bring levels of radioactivity even lower than the maximum standard set by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Over the summer, Rodriguez told SFR transparency is important to the department and it would provide more infor-

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Thermo Eberline LLC expects to demolish the building and clean up the site by Oct. 1.

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mation to the public in that spirit. But so far, that hasn’t happened, and there are no plans for further public disclosure. That’s in order to avoid unnecessary alarm, Rodriguez says. “What we would do is we would draw attention to it and we’d get people spun up about something that isn’t ready to go as far as decommissioning is concerned,” Rodriguez says. Thermo takes regular samples of the air, soil and building on the lot. The state reviews reports of the sample to make sure the company is following the rules— but tells SFR the records are not retained because there’s no storage space available for the physical reports. According to the bureau, domestic wells in the area are tested by the City of Santa Fe and the NMED Drinking Water Bureau, but to date, “all radiation monitoring for potential contamination has not indicated levels above background levels.”

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JANUARY 8-14, 2020

State of the Art Student reporters explore four Santa Fe curators’ work and visions

t the end of December, journalists at Artnet surveyed the international art world to determine the last decade’s most influential curators. SFR undertook a slightly less vigorous process for this week’s cover story. We just asked around to find out which local curators others thought were bringing a unique vantage point to their work. From there, we assigned the four interns who were accepted into the fall training cohort for the New Mexico Fund for Public Interest Journalism, SFR’s nonprofit partner, to spend time with them and learn about what guided their work. The answers? Diversity, activism, collaboration and deep research, to start. This week, we include profiles of curators from the Museum of International Folk Art, Vital Spaces, SITE Santa Fe and form & concept gallery. They shared their art career journeys, as well as how they now hope to represent all types of artists in Santa Fe. Student journalists not only get on-thejob training, but they also get paid to learn and report. The Journo Fund will open for a new round of interns in the spring. Check nmjournalism.org for more information on this program or to make a donation to support it at nmjournalism.org.

— JULIA GOLDBERG, PRESIDENT, NEW MEXICO FUND FOR PUBLIC INTEREST JOURNALISM AND INTERN MENTOR

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COURTESY FELICIA KATZ-HARRIS

BY MAYA ARONSON, TINTAWI KAIGZIABIHER, FRANCO ROMERO AND TRISTAN VAN CLEAVE

Storytelling through Art Felicia Katz-Harris’ curiosity guides her curatorial work BY TINTAWI KAIGZIABIHER

Felicia Katz-Harris’ brown wavy hair grazes her shoulders as she sits behind her desk in the lower level of the Museum of International Folk Art on Santa Fe’s Musuem Hill. Small displays of Asian artwork are scattered throughout her softly lit office. An accordion book featuring Japanese monsters in the form of floppy disks and outdated computers accents the border of her desk. On the opposite side of the room, familial photographs sit among miniature Japanese monster figurines. The museum’s senior cura-

tor and curator of Asian and oceanic art, Katz-Harris has been at MOIFA for 14 years. Her younger years were spent absorbing images of textiles, dinosaurs, pottery, artifacts, religious items and animals from around the globe. She carries these early sights in her memory. Katz-Harris grew up an hour north of Manhattan, New York. Her father drove a taxi in New York City. Some days he would drop her off at museums where she would spend the entire day observing the exhibits. “Maybe one day you’ll be a curator,” she remembers he said to her. “At the time, I didn’t know what it meant to be a curator.” She remembers the spacious displays of both animals and humans at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, and how these trips to the museum broadened her awareness of the vast traditions that blanket the earth. As a junior at the University of New Mexico, Katz-Harris pondered which discipline she would pursue. While she ruled out art history, cultural anthropology drew her in with its capacity for storytelling through art and artifacts. Following her undergrad at UNM and graduate school at Arizona State University, she went on to study at the Universitas Gadjah Mada in Yogyakarta, Indonesia and VisvaBharati University in Santiniketan,

India. While abroad, she learned the importance of seeing people within their own cultural framework. In this way, Katz-Harris says she began to appreciate the values and traditions of her fellow humans through a new lens.

It begins with basic internet research. That usually leads to talking to people about the ideas, then one thing leads to another. —Felicia Katz-Harris

Tintawi Kaigziabiher is a writer, potter, doula and crochet designer. She migrated to New Mexico from the NYC Metro area seven years ago, is married to a scientist, and together they live in the high desert with their five children, five chickens, two doves, a kitten and a leopard gecko named Milo. As a woman of African descent, she writes to give a voice to the African presence and experience in the Diaspora. She is currently a Creative Writing Major/Ceramics Minor at Santa Fe Community College.

Japan, Edo Period Fabric, indigo and other natural pigments from the Yokai: Ghosts & Demons of Japan exhibit

FRANCO ROMERO

and bizarre sights stimulate the senses. By immersing herself in the culture and allowing the story to unfold, KatzHarris saw yokai in a variety of contexts from crocheted dolls to action figures, visiting places such as Yokai Street and the Manga Museum in Tokyo. The art collected for the exhibit is a thoughtfully selected blend of Edo Period yokai (1603 to 1868) and modern yokai, like the well-known Pokémon. For Katz-Harris, curating was the answer to her life-long inquisitiveness. Building bridges and making connections is the foundation of her work. “The process of discovery: meeting people, making friends, and the generous sharing of information,” create her multi-media, multi-layered exhibits. “I have never had so much fun,” she says.

COURTESY MUSEUM OF INTERNATIONAL FOLK ART

Now, at MOIFA, she has the freedom to create public viewings featuring the cultures in which she has immersed herself. “You have amazing experiences, like holding an old coffee pot and taking pleasure,” she says. Like the stories contained within the bellies of those pots, Katz-Harris also embodies a wealth of knowledge. “It begins with basic internet research. That usually leads to talking to people about the ideas, then one thing leads to another.” Katz-Harris’ most recent exhibit, Yokai: Ghosts & Demons of Japan, followed three years of studying and collecting, including three trips to Japan conducting field research; encountering and observing people; and understanding how they live and interact with their surroundings. For the exhibition, KatzHarris directed the narrative, while collaborating with others in academia for their perspectives, as well as staff and designers for the layout and temperature control of the glass cases housing the artifacts. “I admit I think I pushed the staff to their limits,” she says when considering the amount of work that went into producing the exhibit, which opened Dec. 8, 2019, and will run until Jan. 10, 2021. It features monster-like creatures and spirits, as well as a recreation of a traditional Japanese obake yashiki haunted house. Strange sounds, ghost stories

Giving Voice Amber-Dawn Bear Robe aims to ensure Indigenous artists are heard and seen BY FRANCO ROMERO

“My driving goal, my driving factor in this is to make sure the contemporary Indigenous voice is represented beyond just a market value,” Amber-Dawn Bear Robe says as she sits beside a window in her office on the north side of town that faces away from the Santa Fe Plaza. She speaks solemnly, clarifying her statements. “I want to see this. I want to see an artist-run culture center in Santa Fe with a strong Indigenous voice. And lots of times I’ll talk to people and they have no idea what that even means.” One of the ways Bear Robe works to support the Indigenous voice is through her work on the volunteer-run curatorial committee of the nonprofit art initiative Vital Spaces (vitalspaces.org). Bear Robe says she became involved with the organization right away because she saw Vital Spaces—which provides studios, exhibition spaces and workshop opportunities, among other benefits—as having the potential to establish itself as a major arts organization and wanted to make sure the Indigenous voice was represented from the start. Bear Robe says Santa Fe often provides people who are seeking a “native experience” with a market experience based on consumerism. While nothing is inherently wrong with this, she says, she feels this perspective is limited. “This is a native art bubble and some people never get out of that. They think that Santa Fe is what represents all of Indigenous arts in Canada and the United States,” she says. Bear Robe was previously the director and curator of Urban Shaman: Contemporary Aboriginal Art, the larg-

My driving factor in this is to make sure the contemporary Indigenous voice is represented beyond just a market value. —Amber-Dawn Bear Robe

est Indigenous, artist-run center in Canada. Bear Robe describes being a curator at an artist-run, not-for-profit center as “wearing many hats.” This included hosting events, working with the budget and even writing grants, as the center was primarily funded by the Canadian federal government. When she moved to Santa Fe, she envisioned bringing Urban Shaman to the area by setting up a satellite space for the center. Vital Spaces offered the opportunity. The organization provided two programs for Urban Shaman and, after taking a break for the winter months, will be doing so again in the spring through the summer of next year using one of its venues. “It really is encouraging a dialogue, not only with Canadian and American artists, but also with CanadianIndigenous artists with the Santa Fe arts community, with all of its diversities,” she says. While Vital Spaces is not an artist-run center like the ones in Canada, Bear Robe says she hopes it will support the types of communities those centers support. Her work with the volunteer-run curatorial committee is collaborative. The committee members meet as often as they can and review applications from artists for performance spaces, installations, studios and other amenities. Bear Robe says everyone on the commitCONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE

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Franco Romero graduated with a BFA in Creative Writing from the Santa Fe University of Art and Design in 2016. He aspires to write about issues such as class and ecology. He is also a published author of short fiction and poetry.

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Me and their most recent film, Mary K Pop. Caoba believes all artists run the risk of taking themselves too seriously. She’s found puppetry to be particularly freeing from conventional pressures. “When you’re building Jabba the Hutt, there are no directions. No one’s ever made one before. You don’t know how it works. You can’t really fail, so you keep trying,” she says. Because Caoba has found this kind of work so liberating, she encourages experimentation, courage and risk-taking in the artists she curates. “Visual language is easy for me…to understand and relate to,” she says. “I understand what the artist is asking for.” Because she understands the creative process, she loves coming up with “out-of-the-box ideas” for her artists and taking risks right alongside them. Especially at the beginning of a project, with a new artist who’s been commissioned to create a work that doesn’t yet exist, she finds it rewarding to say, “Hey. What do you want to make? I’m gonna help you.” Caoba says she has come to view the role of curator as one of privilege that comes with responsibility to give voice to the voiceless and tap into the human heart. She is determined to take advantage of her influential role and wants to do more than highlight beautiful or impressive works. She began at SITE in the first class of the SITE Scholars program in

Activism through Art Curator Brandee Caoba brings her life-long passion for art, activism and alternative perspectives to her work BY MAYA ARONSON

Brandee Caoba, assistant curator at SITE Santa Fe and an independent artist, strives to use the curatorial platform to provoke change, evoke feeling and promote dialogue in the local community. Her experimental nature, contagious confidence and activist leanings emanate through her personal art projects, as well as her impactful curations. Caoba received her bachelor of fine arts degree from the Institute of American Indian Arts in 2013. For years, she has experimented with a vast palette of mediums and methods, including collage, photography, sculpture, painting and printmaking. Her art boldly explores the intricacies of her own inner shadows, along with the shadows in society. Over the past six years, Caoba also has worked intensively with the collaborative puppet film group The Human Beast Box. Using recycled materials to create wild and elaborate puppets and sets has helped Caoba learn how to balance the more academic and research-based aspects of her work with something much more collaborative—what she calls “a wild anarchy with no authorship.” The Human Beast Box is responsible for the film series The Love That Will Not Die, which is comprised of three episodes, including A New Zombie Puppet Musical, Synthesize

ALEX LEVIN

Shortly after she moved to Santa Fe in 2012, she was contracted to produce a fashion show for the IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts. She says she saw this as an extension of her curatorial work and has produced a fashion show every year since then. She now also teaches the history of contemporary Indigenous fashion at the Institute of American Indian Arts. “In terms of my career, I really have married the two, integrated the two, in terms of Indigenous fashion and contemporary Indigenous art,” she says. Bear Robe says it has been made clear to the artists of Vital Spaces that they are responsible for the organization being “grassroots.” She specifies that it is the intention of the organization for artists to be the ones who are doing the programming and making events happen “from the inside-out.” When she is asked what people should know about Vital Spaces or her ongoing work on the organization’s curatorial committee, Bear Robe speaks slowly and pointedly. “It is meant to be a meeting place. It is meant to be a place for artists to feel free to explore their creativity and not to be limited to what people or galleries or buyers are expecting of them.” Bear Robe will be curating a show in 2022 for the IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts focusing on textiles and fashion and an exhibition for the San Diego Arts institute.

COURTESY BRANDEEE CAOBA

tee brings something different to the table. For her part, that’s two graduate degrees: one in American Indian studies focusing on contemporary Indigenous art, and a second one in art history. She says she felt it was important for her to know about art history outside of the “Indigenous bubble.” This background, she says, as a Native art historian and a curator focused on contemporary Indigenous art, is one of the strengths she brings to the curatorial committee. “Or at least I hope it’s one of the strengths I bring to the curatorial committee,” she says. “Just to make sure that Vital Spaces has a diversity of artists from diverse communities, including the Indigenous community.” In terms of her approach to curation, Bear Robe says it is site-specific, but calls it “a process of research” and mentions speaking with artists and visiting studios. Institutional support makes all the difference in curating an exhibition, she notes, as well as connections with artists and other people in the field. When it comes to curating for Indigenous artists, Bear Robe adds that people are paying more attention to contemporary Indigenous art, but change is happening very slowly in the United States in terms of supporting Indigenous voices not driven by a market value. “Some people will protest that,” she says, “and say that’s not true, but the support for Indigenous art in the United States is really lacking when you compare it to what’s happening in Canada.” In addition to her work with Vital Spaces, Bear Robe has organized the Annual Indigenous Fashion Show with the Southwestern Association for Indian Arts (SWAIA) since 2014.

Filmmaker Sylvia Johnson’s short Mermaids Against Plastic was part of SITE Santa Fe’s SITElab show Seeking Refuge.

Maya Aronson is a junior in The Masters Program at Santa Fe Community College. She has always had a deep passion for art, both learning about it and creating it. She is currently taking a History of Women Artists class after enjoying work with experimental artists at Currents New Media exhibition this summer and intends to explore different mediums in her own creative practice. She is excited to get to work with art professionals and learn more about her local art community. She is also a strong believer in art as activism and hopes to one day combine her two passions, art and social justice, to help people all around the world.

Challenging the Status Quo form & concept Director Jordan Eddy seeks to break traditional art narratives in favor of inclusion BY TRISTAN VAN CLEAVE

The form & concept gallery is bustling as artist Todd Ryan White and a team of others move prints and sculptures from sky-lit atrium to storage room. Director Jordan Eddy appraises the scene from the frosted glass staircase, arms crossed and an introspective palm under his chin. White’s first solo exhibition at form & concept, Rainbow Eater, debuted on Nov. 29 2019 and runs through Jan. 25, 2020. The exhibition, a stunning, mixed-media sensory-overload, challenges notions of material culture—as does Eddy. A trained journalist, Eddy began his career with marketing and arts writing (including for SFR). That work lead to a position at Matthews Gallery, where he curated a vernacular photography show. Shortly thereafter, Eddy would co-found Strangers Collective in 2014—a collaboration of emerging artists and writers. Among the many

hats he would wear for Strangers Collective, Eddy acted as curator and director of pop-up exhibitions all over Santa Fe. His talents took him to Zane Bennett Contemporary Art in 2016, where Eddy was approached to head a new gallery that would share a space with Zane Bennett: form & concept. The inspiration for form & concept gallery originated in the philosophy of intersectional feminism. Intersectional feminism widens the discussion of womanhood to encompass race, religion, orientation and class. The gallery similarly aims to widen the discussion of art. As Eddy explains, form & concept is concerned with “looking at hierarchies of material culture and challenging some of these intrenched narratives about how we’ve sorted objects and therefore people … the easiest entry point is … gender, when you talk about craft media, certain images pop up in certain people’s minds around that and how do you get someone to completely rethink that?” It’s no surprise that form & concept’s first exhibition of 2020 will be dedicated to just that, rethinking craft media. OBJECTS: REDUX—50 Years of Craft Revolution will debut on Jan. 31, 2020. OBJECTS: REDUX… is a tribute to and celebration of the 1969 Smithsonian American Art Museum’s OBJECTS: USA exhibit that revolutionized the discussion of material culture. Materials are associated with gender, class, and ethnicity among other facets of personal identity. Leather, for example, is a luxury material in the context of furniture and vehicle interiors and “luxury” as a designation

SHAYLA BLATCHFORD

2012. From there, she was hired in 2015 as a parttime curatorial assistant, and promoted to assistant curator in 2017. Caoba believes “activism through art” has the power to evoke emotions—and a kind of empathy—that other forms of activism don’t. “I think that artists have an ability to take current events or information that isn’t palatable, or is difficult for people to digest,” she says. “We’re all so saturated. It’s on our phones, it’s on the television, it’s on the internet. I think that people get so saturated that they detach emotionally.” This is why Caoba chooses to spotlight artists like Sylvia Johnson, who tell stories that “create empathy and tap into the emotional core of a human being.” Johnson’s exhibit Seeking Refuge, (which showed from Oct. 5 to Jan. 5 in the SITElab at SITE Santa Fe), intimately depicted the refugee crisis in the US and the way the privatized prison systems in New Mexico and across the country painfully impact people seeking asylum in the United States. With a strong belief in art’s ability to illuminate crucial yet under-represented issues, Caoba has always looked for ways to circumvent common limitations set by formal art institutions. In the early 2000s, she had her own nonprofit art space where she curated shows for activist artists such as Maureen Burdock. Through her work with nonprofits and at a museum like SITE, Caoba has learned that eliminating money from the agenda creates space for creativity, freedom and a deeper meaning for the artist and the curator. “We’re not collecting. We’re not selling. We’re just here to support artists and to bring dialogues and culture and new ideas into our community,” she says. Caoba co-curated, with SITE’s Phillips Director and Chief Curator Irene Hofmann, the upcoming show, Displaced: Contemporary Artists Confront the Global Refugee Crisis, opening to the public March 21, 2020. This catalytic show will feature 10 different artists and 11 different projects and will take up all of SITE’s gallery spaces. Caoba has gathered voices and stories from across the globe surrounding the topic of human displacement. “We’ve been working on this show for almost two years, so I’m very excited for it to manifest,” she says. Fortunately, Caoba is not about to stop doing her thing any time soon. “I think for all artists, we’ll never retire. We’re gonna make forever.”

SHAYLA BLATCHFORD

State of the Art

Todd Ryan White’s Rainbow Eater will exhibit through Jan. 25 at form & concept.

speaks to a certain economic class. Leather in the context of clothing can range from a practical material used for protective garb—prompting images of blue-collar men and motorcyclists— to a soft luxury suede associated more often with wealth and femininity. Just as the materials used to produce consumer goods (such as leather) elicit ideas about the consumer, the materials used to produce art elicit ideas about the artist. Challenging these ingrained ideas about material culture isn’t new to the contemporary art world, but that doesn’t make the task of reaching the uninitiated easier. Eddy seeks to combat the resistance to new narratives with audience inclusivity: “I think a big challenge is that not everyone is connected to the contemporary art scene, and sometimes people feel extremely alienated by that world, and so how do you welcome someone into a space and really get them to look at that in a way where they don’t feel attacked or lesser based around some of the conceptual ideas?” he says. “I think that art can do that, but you have to try to help a visitor have that experience where they come out of it and…they don’t immediately rule out their own experience.” form & concept is a space dedicated to challenging preconceptions. As the gallery challenges material culture, its director challenges what it means to be a leader and curator: “I became overwhelmed with this idea of a single curatorial voice and realized I had to split that open and interrogate that in various ways,” Eddy says. ”Now, as director, my real job might be to collaborate with a lot of different types of curators…I think, in so many ways right now, leadership in the arts is going to have to adapt to changing economic climates and ideas around power structures and how they can be subverted or broken apart in different ways. So, that might be my real job in this space, challenging that, if we’re truly going to do what we say we’re doing.” Tristan Van Cleave is a bit of a would-be this, a would-be that, and a think-he-can writer. When he’s not ‘writing,’ ‘playing the piano,’ studying creative writing at Santa Fe Community College, or playing the role of insufferable pseudo-philosopher, he can be found in his World Market armchair boring his loved ones in a number of other ways. Legend has it, he’s still derailing conversations with unwanted advice to this day.

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JANUARY 8-14, 2020

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COLLABORATIVE CULTURE Since its building redesign a few years back, contempo-cool art museum SITE Santa Fe has embraced a wider palette than ever when it comes to its cultural offerings. And though we wish we could go back in time and convince more people to see the concert from Los Angeles’ Princess, we’ll settle on letting everyone know about something they can still engage with—an exciting collaboration between SITE and another local institution, Serenata Santa Fe. The Serenata in SITE series finds a gaggle of musician types tackling compositions from various eras, and this week’s Riffs and Digressions features soprano vocalist Gail Springer and pianist Yi-heng Yang digging into works by Leslie Wildman, Conrad Cummings, Frederic Rzewski and Eve Beglarian. Go early to see everything else. (ADV)

COURTESY VONNIE KYLE

COURTESY SITE SANTA FE/ PHOTO BY COREY HAYES

MUSIC FRI/10

Serenata in Site: Riffs and Digressions: 5:30 pm Friday Jan. 10. $20-$30. SITE Santa Fe, 1606 Paseo de Peralta, 989-1199.

PUBLIC DOMAIN

EVENT SAT/11 DASHING THROUGH THE SNOW One of the Sangre de Cristo’s most high-octane, adrenaline-pumping races takes place next week. Courageous participants face a rugged 6-kilometer route behind Big Tesuque campground, and there’s a lot at stake: The winners qualify for national championships and take home awards. I’m not talking about strapping on skis or snowboards, or even snowmobiling—this is the 2020 Santa Fe Snowshoe Classic, and while I joke about the danger, it’s hard to exaggerate the fun. Even if you aren’t at the top of your shoe game, traipsing through the woods with hundreds of other people sounds like a lovely time, and everyone takes home a neck gaiter. Don’t drive individually, though: carpool or take the RTD blue bus Route 255 from Ft. Marcy Park. (Cole Rehbein) 2020 Santa Fe Snowshoe Classic: 9 am Saturday Jan. 11. $15-$25. Big Tesuque Campground, Hyde Park Road milepost 13. Preregistration encouraged at newmexicosportsonline.com.

ANSON STEVENS-BOLLEN

EVENT TUE/14 NO MORE YEARS! Surprise! Your local alt.weekly newspaper staffed with people who strongly believe in art and music and community is left-leaning (as fuck)—and we’re psyched to know the lion’s share of our city’s citizenry feels the same. Enter Santa Fe Indivisible, a grassroots organization that gathers to plan out actions and then figures out how to make those actions…actionable. Each week at the Center for Progress and Justice, SFI comes together to go over plans made previously, cook up new ones and welcome returning and new members into the fray. It’s like a microcosm of what works in America and, frankly, the kind of thing that might save us from four more years of you-know-who. In other words, if you wanna meet people who align with you and think we shouldn’t have a white supremacist in charge of the country, this group’s for you. (ADV) Santa Fe Indivisible Meeting: 9 am Tuesday Jan. 14. Free. Center for Progress and Justice, 1420 Cerrillos Road, 467-8514.

MUSIC THU/9

Free, Solo Singer-songwriter Vonnie Kyle goes it alone The rumors are true—local rock act Ten Ten Division has scattered to the winds, leaving its principal singer and songwriter Vonnie Kyle to her own devices in the form of a folky solo project. “Essentially, Vonnie Kyle and Ten Ten Division are the same thing, and I was trying to keep the two separate because I thought they were very different things,” Kyle tells SFR from the road, adding that with the sheer number of projects the band’s members were part of, the math just didn’t add up. “I needed to be able to put more time into the project than people could afford.” Not dissuaded, Kyle has doubled down on the solo act, touring more extensively in 2019 than ever before and attempting to write a song a week throughout the year. She made it to 33. “August hit, and I was like ‘Ohmygod! I have so much touring coming up, there’s no way!’” she says. Still, 33 songs in a year is nothing to sneeze at, and some are kick-ass good. Throwbacky song “Switchblade,” for example, showcases Kyle’s swingier takes on folk jams by way of Ani

DiFranco—Kyle says, also, that her newer work is leaning in the DiFranco direction—and the neo-blues-meetsfunk-meets-folk “Sorry When You’re Gone” proves an introspective maturation on Kyle’s part as a lyricist; she’s plumbing the depths of her own soul for material which, she says, has only helped her evolve as a songwriter. “The more time I spend writing, the more my playing changes,” Kyle explains. “It’s made me folkier and it’s been more fun to experiment with my guitar playing.” Up next is more touring, work on a new album to be recorded in Minnesota, Kyle’s homeland, and, of course, more writing. Santa Fe will remain her home base for now. “It’s a good hub for touring,” Kyle says. “Honestly, I love…spreading my music to different states and finding the areas that suit me best.” (Alex De Vore) VONNIE KYLE: 7 pm Thursday Jan. 9. Free. Tumbleroot Brewery & Distillery, 2731 Agua Fria St., 780-5730

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JANUARY 8-14, 2020

COURTESY OBSCURA GALLERY

THE CALENDAR Want to see your event here? Email all the relevant information to calendar@sfreporter.com. You can also enter your events yourself online at calendar.sfreporter.com (submission doesn’t guarantee inclusion). Need help?

Contact Cole 395-2906

WED/8 BOOKS/LECTURES DHARMA TALK Upaya Zen Center 1404 Cerro Gordo Road, 986-8518 This week's talk is presented by Wendy Johnson and entitled “A Beginner's Mind Practice for The New Year.” The evening begins with a 15-minute meditation; please arrive on time. A donation to the teacher is respectfully invited. 5:20-6:30 pm, free WORKSHOP OF DEMOCRACY: STATEHOOD AND WORLD WAR I IN NEW MEXICO New Mexico History Museum 113 Lincoln Ave., 476-5100 David V Holtby speaks on how the Territory of New Mexico was molded to fit the post-Civil War American Republic as part of the Friends of History Lecture Series. 12 pm, free

EVENTS GEEKS WHO DRINK Second Street Brewery (Railyard) 1607 Paseo de Peralta, 989-3278 Pub trivia with prizes. 8 pm, free NEW MEXICO PINBALL MEETUP The Alley 153 Paseo De Peralta The group for pinball enthusiasts. Bring cash for the machines. 6-11 pm, free

Paul Caponigro’s “Frosted Window, Ipswich, MA,” a gelatin silver print captured in 1957, is the earliest piece in Obscura Gallery’s upcoming retrospective of the artist’s decades-long career. He’s still putting out work, too; see page 19 for the opening details.

MUSIC BOXCAR KARAOKE Boxcar 530 S Guadalupe St., 988-7222 Your showerhead called: you’re ready to hit the big stage. 10 pm, free GREG SCHLOTTHAUER Fenix at Vanessie 427 W Water St., 982-9966 Pop, rock and piano standards with accompanying vocals. 6:30 pm, free

JOAQUIN GALLEGOS El Mesón 213 Washington Ave., 983-6756 Flamenco guitar. 7-9 pm, free KRIS SCHULTZ Cowgirl 319 S Guadalupe St., 982-2565 Americana. 7 pm, free MATTHEW ANDRAE Tesuque Casino 7 Tesuque Road, 984-8414 Covers and originals on guitalele. 6-9 pm, free

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PAT MALONE El Farol 808 Canyon Road, 983-9912 Jazz guitar. 6-8 pm, free TINY'S ELECTRIC JAM Tiny's Restaurant & Lounge 1005 S St. Francis Drive, 983-9817 Plug it in and rock out. Hosted by Nick Wimett and Albert Diaz. 8:30 pm, free

WORKSHOP GARDEN CONVERSATIONS: ORCHID CARE Stewart Udall Center 725 Camino Lejo, 983-6155 Share and learn about the care, feeding and hopefully blooming of orchids in our dry New Mexico environment with Michael Clark, nurseryman, landscape designer, teacher and horticulturalist. 5 pm, free

THU/9 BOOKS/LECTURES MFA CREATIVE WRITING WINTER READING SERIES Institute of American Indian Arts 83 Avan Nu Po Road, 424-2351 A series of readings to promote Indigenous intellectualism. Tonight, readings from Esther Belin (Diné) and author Tiffany Midge (Standing Rock Sioux). 6 pm, free

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EVENTS GEEKS WHO DRINK Santa Fe Brewing Company 35 Fire Place, 424-3333 Tough trivia to put you in your place. 7 pm, free LANL PUBLIC MEETING University of New Mexico Los Alamos Campus 4000 University Drive, 662-5919 A meeting with the New Mexico Environment Department to discuss issues related to scientific monitoring, environmental oversight and the 2016 Compliance Order on Consent governing remediation of weapons and waste. The meeting is held in building 6, room 631. 5:30-7 pm, free

MUSIC ALIEN SPACE KITCHEN; PRETTY VACANT; LUNA MUERTA Zephyr Community Art Studio 1520 Center Drive, Ste. 2 Raucous, cosmic rock. 8-11 pm, $10 DAVID GEIST Osteria D'Assisi 58 S Federal Place, 986-5858 Piano standards and Broadway faves. 6-9 pm, free GREG SCHLOTTHAUER Fenix at Vanessie 427 W Water St., 982-9966 Pop, rock and piano standards with accompanying vocals. 6:30 pm, free JESUS BAS Tesuque Casino 7 Tesuque Road, 984-8414 Amorous and romantic Spanish and flamenco guitar. 6-9 pm, free JOHN RANGEL'S DUET SERIES El Mesón 213 Washington Ave., 983-6756 Jazz piano maestro Rangel is joined by a special guest. 7 pm, free MARIO FEBRES El Farol 808 Canyon Road, 983-9912 Flamenco guitar. 6-8 pm, free SECOND THURSDAY RIDE Second Street Brewery (Railyard) 1607 Paseo de Peralta, 989-3278 Cycle 5-8 miles with a group of other enthusiasts with a raffle for Second Street gift cards. 7-9 pm, free SHANE WALLIN Cowgirl 319 S Guadalupe St., 982-2565 Americana and blues. 7 pm, free

THE CALENDAR

VONNIE KYLE Tumbleroot Brewery & Distillery 2791 Agua Fría St., 303-3808 The leader of now-defunct local indie rock outfit Ten Ten Division plays selections from her own solo material (see SFR Picks, page 17). 7 pm, free

FRI/10 ART OPENINGS CONTEMPORARY ABSTRACTS: AN UNNAMED MEDLEY Plan B Arts Studio & Gallery 1807 2nd Street Daniel Silverman, Stephen Robeck and Beth Schmohr show their abstracts on canvas and photography (see 3Qs, page 25). 4-7 pm, free ELLIOT NORQUIST: MAIL ROOM Charlotte Jackson Fine Art 554 S Guadalupe St., 989-8688 Metal sculptures that imitate common mail-room supplies. 5-7 pm, free PAUL CAPONIGRO: SIXTY YEARS Obscura Gallery 1405 Paseo De Peralta, 577-6708 A solo retrospective photographic exhibition of landscapes and still lifes by one of the most significant master photographers still working today. 5-7 pm, free

BOOKS/LECTURES MFA CREATIVE WRITING WINTER READING SERIES Institute of American Indian Arts 83 Avan Nu Po Road, 424-2351 A series of readings from visiting authors to promote Indigenous intellectualism and knowledge systems through the literary arts. Tonight, readings from queer writer and interdisciplinary artist Lehua M Taitano (Chamoru), screenwriter Brooke Swaney Pepion (Blackfeet & Salish) and screenwriter and author Migizi Pensoneau. 6 pm, free

DANCE FLAMENCO DINNER SHOW El Farol 808 Canyon Road, 983-9912 Make a dinner reservation for a show by the National Institute of Flamenco. 6:30-9 pm, $30

MUSIC CHAT NOIR CABARET Los Magueyes Mexican Restaurant 31 Burro Alley, 992-0304 Modeled after 19th-century Parisian cabarets, enjoy firstrate piano and vocals from Charles Tichenor and friends. 6 pm, free

Want to see your event listed here? We’d love to hear from you Send notices via email to calendar@sfreporter.com. Make sure you include all the pertinent details such as location, time, price and so forth. It helps us out greatly. Submissions don’t guarantee inclusion.

For help, call Cole: 395-2906.

CONTROLLED BURN El Farol 808 Canyon Road, 983-9912 Rock 'n' blues. 9-11 pm, $5 GALACTIC FRIDAYS Gravity Nightclub & Lounge 30 Buffalo Thunder Trail, 470-7467 VDJ Dany plays your regional favorites with DJ 12 Tribe in the Lounge spinning old school jams. 10 pm-3:30 am, $7 GREG SCHLOTTHAUER Fenix at Vanessie 427 W Water St., 982-9966 Pop, rock and piano standards with accompanying vocals. 7-10 pm, free HOTH BROTHERS WITH SARAH FERRELL Honeymoon Brewery Solana Center, 907 W Alameda St., Ste. B, 303-3139 Country-folk with a contemporary edge. 7-10 pm, free HALF BROKE HORSES Second Street Brewery (Original) 1814 Second St., 982-3030 Honky Tonk and Americana. 6-9 pm, free INVOKATOR Tumbleroot Brewery & Distillery 2791 Agua Fría St., 303-3808 Electronic worldbeat rhythms with traditional South American instruments. 7 pm, free MARIO FEBRES El Farol 808 Canyon Road, 983-9912 Flamenco guitar. 6-8 pm, free RACHEL AND TREY Mine Shaft Tavern 2846 Hwy. 14, Madrid, 473-0743 Singer/songwriters. 5 pm, free

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RON CROWDER BAND Cowgirl 319 S Guadalupe St., 982-2565 Original rock 'n' roll. 8 pm, free RONALD ROYBAL Hotel Santa Fe 1501 Paseo de Peralta, 982-1200 Native American flute and Spanish classical guitar by the six-time Native American Music Award nominee and two-time New Mexico Music Industry Award winner. 7 pm, free SERENATA IN SITE: RIFFS AND DIGRESSIONS SITE Santa Fe 1606 Paseo de Peralta, 989-1199 A program entitled "Barriers," featuring the compositions of Leslie Wildman, Conrad Cummings, Fred Rzewski and Eve Beglarian, performed by soprano Gail Springer and Yi-heng Yang on piano (see SFR Picks, page 17). 5:30 pm, $20-$30 SHANE WALLIN Tesuque Casino 7 Tesuque Road, 984-8414 Soulful blues. 6-10 pm, free TGIF CONCERT: ANYSSA NEUMANN AND RENA HARMS First Presbyterian Church 208 Grant Ave., 982-8544 Soprano Rena Harms and pianist Anyssa Neumann perform selections of Schoenberg and Vaughan Williams for your happy hour enjoyment. 5:30-6:30 pm, free THE AMAZING HONEYBOYS Mine Shaft Tavern 2846 Hwy. 14, Madrid, 473-0743 Swamp blues. 8 pm, free THE THREE FACES OF JAZZ El Mesón 213 Washington Ave., 983-6756 Swinging jazz. 7:30-10:30 pm, free VINCENT COPIA Inn and Spa at Loretto 211 Old Santa Fe Trail, 984-7997 Acoustic psych post-punk. 7-10 pm, free

GARDEN SPROUTS: PRE-K ACTIVITIES Santa Fe Botanical Garden 715 Camino Lejo, 471-9103 Listen to a book and participate in interactive nature and garden related activities. This program is designed for children aged 3-5, but all ages are welcome with an adult. When you arrive, please make your way to the Ojos y Manos: Eyes and Hands Garden across the red bridge. 10-11 am, free

ENTER EVENTS AT SFREPORTER.COM/CAL

SAT/11 BOOKS/LECTURES CHAUTAUQUA HISTORICAL REENACTMENT OF REVEREND THOMAS J. HARWOOD Santa Fe Public Library Southside 6599 Jaguar Drive, 955-2820 William Stiensiek performs the story of Harwood, an early Methodist missionary who lived and traveled in towns across New Mexico. 1:30-3 pm, free MFA CREATIVE WRITING WINTER READING SERIES Institute of American Indian Arts 83 Avan Nu Po Road, 424-2351 A series of readings from visiting authors to promote Indigenous intellectualism and knowledge systems through the literary arts. Tonight, readings from author Pam Houston and Brandon Hobson (Cherokee). 6 pm, free OPERA BREAKFAST SERIES: WOZZECK Collected Works Bookstore and Coffeehouse 202 Galisteo St., 988-4226 Mim Chapman and Mark Tiarks discuss the opera being shown at the Lensic at 11 am today. 9:30 am, free THE HOLOCAUST: THE PATH TO GENOCIDE Placitas Community Library 453 Hwy. 165, Placitas, 867-3355 Susan Bapty, director of education and volunteer programs at the Holocaust and Intolerance Museum in Albuquerque, examines the events of the Holocaust through the theme of collaboration, silence and indifference of why and how the Holocaust occurred. 2 pm, free

DANCE FLAMENCO DINNER SHOW El Farol 808 Canyon Road, 983-9912 Make a dinner reservation for a show by the National Institute of Flamenco. 6:30-9 pm, $30 SUPERNOVA SATURDAYS Gravity Nightclub & Lounge 30 Buffalo Thunder Trail, 470-7467 VDJ Dany spins cumbia, meringue, salsa, bachata and more with DJ Poetics spinning Top 40 and hip-hop. 10 pm-3:30 am, free

EVENTS EL MERCADO DE MUSEO El Museo Cultural de Santa Fe 555 Camino de la Familia, 992-0591 Over 60 vendors with art, jewelry, books, furniture, antiques, rugs and much more from around the corner and around the world. 8 am-4 pm, free

For help, call Cole: 395-2906.

SANTA FE SNOWSHOE CLASSIC Big Tesuque Campground Milepost 12, NM Hwy. 475 A 6-kilometer race through the snowy Sangre de Cristos, with winners qualifying for the US Snowshoe Racing National championships and everyone taking home a neck gaiter (see SFR Picks, page 17). 2 am, $15-$25

FOOD SANTA FE FARMERS MARKET Farmers Market Pavilion 1607 Paseo de Peralta, 983-7726 Serving more than 150 farmers and producers in 15 Northern New Mexico counties, the market brings fresh food, education and fun to our community and promotes small farms and sustainable agriculture in Northern New Mexico. All products sold by its vendors are always locally grown by the people selling them. 8 am-1 pm, free

MUSIC B SQUARED Second Street Brewery (Original) 1814 Second St., 982-3030 Folk. 6 pm, free CHAT NOIR CABARET Los Magueyes Mexican Restaurant 31 Burro Alley, 992-0304 Modeled after 19th-century Parisian cabarets, enjoy firstrate piano and vocals from Charles Tichenor and friends. 6 pm, free CHATTER SITE Santa Fe 1606 Paseo de Peralta, 989-1199 Chatter weaves together traditional and contemporary chamber music with poetry. This morning's poet is Miriam Sagan, with chamber selections from Bach performed by David Felberg on violin and James Holland on cello. 10:30 am, $5-$16 CONTINUED ON PAGE 22

S FR E P O RTE R .CO M /M US I C

MUSIC

If You Build it, Will They Come? TE NS VEN S-B OL LEN

e can’t help but have a love/ hate relationship with Facebook, can we? It’s often our first stop when looking for local shows (though sfreporter.com/cal is helpful, just saying), but we’ve been well aware of the drawbacks for some time. Still, we long for small dopamine hits in the form of likes and content; companies that suck up our precious bandwidth in favor of targeted advertising and musicians who are plainly better than Katy Perry or Ed Sheeran getting lost in the fracas for…Katy Perry. And Ed Sheeran. For musicians and fans of music, wouldn’t it be nice to opt out of that framework? To find some new way of promoting ourselves and finding music we love that isn’t reliant on someone else determining our fates? John Cole seems to think so. The retired graphic designer and Santa Fe-based musician has a plan in the form of his recently launched Muezbiz.com, a music promotions site he describes as “grassroots, on the ground—for musicians, by musicians.” Cole dreamed up the online bulletin board while working in a local bookstore. “Around 2012, Amazon created an app that allowed people to walk into a local bookstore, scan the barcode of a book, and buy it from Amazon,” he laments,

BY AEDRA BURKE a u t h o r @ s f r e p o r t e r. c o m

noting that, for the customer, it was about convenience. “People are busy,” Cole says. “We go to Amazon because it’s easy.” This gave him the idea to create an “umbrella alternative” in the music industry with hopes for “individuals to represent their ideas to their hometown.” But Muezbiz is about more than creating opportunities for independent artists—the site allows both musicians and fans to build fanbases for new and local bands and to curate their own larger picture of what makes up their scene. “It’s a social site,” says Cole. “You can ‘pin’ anything [music related] to a wall, much like a bulletin board.” This includes an events calendar, lessons and sales, bandmate searches, discussion topics and more. Muezbiz consists of social groups congregating around various genres and is meant to act as a direct-to-ear marketing approach that stands in opposition to the multi-million dollar corporations and puts the power into the hands of those who deserve it the most—the artists and fans themselves. For now, however, it’s not great. While Muezbiz might seem like a great idea, its user experience feels like a relic of the early aughts at worst, like it’s still in beta purgatory at best. A clunky interface (to which I was unable to log in for weeks while working on this piece) is the least of the site’s problems. It eschews the sleek, intuitive interface of more well-known sites like Bandcamp for a set of confusing navigation bars that don’t seem to work as intended. Further, Cole himself admits the site suffers

Santa Fe designer creates promising but fledgling online music bulletin board, Muezbiz.com

from a low membership count, hovering somewhere around 127 users at the time of our interview. In fairness, he says, the the site is a labor of love and operating on a shoestring budget, both in terms of time and money. “All music starts at home,” Cole tells SFR, also claming that Muezbiz is a first page result for Google searches in some cities, page two in others. “We’re on page two for New York City if you search for ‘music bulletin boards.’” I can only speak for Santa Fe’s Google results, but Muezbiz was a no-show on any page when I conducted a search with the same criteria. Still, before you start sharpening the guillotine, please note—though the site may be an incomplete idea, it’s a good one. “What makes us different is that you could represent music and actually make money for it,” says Cole, noting that users can allocate a certain intake percentage for different actions such as ticket or gear sales; payouts come after

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Muezbiz gets its 10%. Additionally, the site doesn’t focus itself on local markets only, and Cole says that by building and maintaining virtual clubs, users can “post your band’s video to a local page, but people in Chicago can also see the post.” Yes, it’s a good thing for people to be searching for music outside of the mainstream sites. Yes, I want to see a local create the next big thing. Yes, most musicians probably want to be removed from the constant need to pump money into online promotions, wasting thousands of dollars only to be oneupped by lesser talents. But the next big thing has to be created for a user base that is given good reason to return, and right now, Muezbiz simply does not have that. Maybe in another year or two (and with a drastic site overhaul), it can become something more than what it is now. As it stands, I’ll be crossing my fingers for Cole and wishing him well as he toils against the tough realities of the music game in 2020.

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DANA SMITH Upper Crust Pizza 329 Old Santa Fe Trail, 982-0000 Original country-tinged folk songs. 6 pm, free DAVE PAYNE AND SALT CEDAR Mine Shaft Tavern 2846 Hwy. 14, Madrid, 473-0743 Honky-tonk and rock 'n' roll. 8 pm, free GARY GORENCE Tesuque Casino 7 Tesuque Road, 984-8414 Classic rock and singer-songwriter jams. 6-10 pm, free GREG SCHLOTTHAUER Fenix at Vanessie 427 W Water St., 982-9966 Pop, rock and piano standards with accompanying vocals. 7-10 pm, free GROOVY PANDA Honeymoon Brewery Solana Center, 907 W Alameda St., Ste. B, 303-3139 A funky concoction of therapeutic sound mixed with elements of soul, blues, beatboxing and transcendental journeying. 8 pm, free JOHN KURZWEG BAND El Farol 808 Canyon Road, 983-9912 Rock 'n' roll. 9-11 pm, $5 JOHN RANGEL QUARTET El Mesón 213 Washington Ave., 983-6756 Four Santa Fe jazz musicians team up for a piano-led quartet. 7:30 pm, free JOHN SHERDON Totemoff’s at Ski Santa Fe 1477 Hwy. 475, 982-4429 Live selectin' from a local DJ. 11 am-3 pm, free JOHNNY LLOYD, LUKE AYERS AND CACTUS SLIM Beer Creek Brewing Company 3810 Hwy. 14, 471-9271 Country and western. 5-7 pm, free KARAOKE SATURDAY NIGHT Golden Cantina Lounge 10-B Cities of Gold Road, Pojoaque, 455-3313 Presented by Santa Fe Stages & DraZtiK Entertainment, 21+ 9 pm-1 am, free ODD DOG Mine Shaft Tavern 2846 Hwy. 14, Madrid, 473-0743 Jam band. 2 pm, free PAUL WAGNER AND ROBBY ROTHSCHILD Ghost 2899 Trades West Road, 87507 Mellow singer-songwriter. 6:30-10 pm, $5

ENTER EVENTS AT SFREPORTER.COM/CAL

PIGMENT Tumbleroot Brewery & Distillery 2791 Agua Fría St., 303-3808 Santa Fe-based eclectic improvisational rock. 8 pm, free ROADHOUSE PROPHETS Cowgirl 319 S Guadalupe St., 982-2565 Americana. 1 pm, free RON ROUGEAU The Dragon Room 406 Old Santa Fe Trail, 983-7712 Acoustic songs from the '60s, '70s and beyond. 5:30 pm, free RONALD ROYBAL Hotel Santa Fe 1501 Paseo de Peralta, 982-1200 Native American flute and Spanish classical guitar by the six-time Native American Music Award nominee and two-time New Mexico Music Industry Award winner. 7 pm, free SMOOTH Boxcar 530 S Guadalupe St., 988-7222 Santana tribute band. 10 pm-1:30 am, free SUSAN GABRIEL Osteria D'Assisi 58 S Federal Place, 986-5858 Singer/songwriter on multiple instruments including lute, ukulele and percussion. 7-9 pm, free THE HOLLYHOCKS Cowgirl 319 S Guadalupe St., 982-2565 Alt.country and desert rock. 8 pm, free TOMMY EYLICIO & POWER DRIVE USA Turquoise Trail Bar at Buffalo Thunder 30 Buffalo Thunder Trail, 877-848-6337 Rock 'n' roll. 9:30 pm-1:30 am, free

For help, call Cole: 395-2906.

WINDSWEPT St. John's United Methodist Church 1200 Old Pecos Trail, 982-5397 A woodwind trio performs a repertoire of classical and contemporary pieces. 7 pm, $5-$20

THEATER THE MET LIVE IN HD: WOZZECK Lensic Performing Arts Center 211 W San Francisco St., 988-1234 The Metropolitan Opera of New Yrok presents South African artist William Kentridge's interpretation of Berg's famous opera. 11 am, $15-$28

SUN/12 ART OPENINGS CAROL ORDOGNE: THE PANTHEON OF COLORS Wild Hearts Gallery 221 B Highway 165, Placitas, 867-2450 Abstract wildlife oil paintings. 1 pm, free FROM COMBAT TO CARPET Museum of International Folk Art 706 Camino Lejo, 476-1200 A traveling exhibition featuring more than 40 handwoven Afghan rugs with war-related iconography. The opening reception features a talk by curator Annemarie Sawkins, hands-on weaving demonstrations and light refreshments. 1-4 pm, free

BOOKS/LECTURES JEFF HOOD: MUSK OX POEMS op.cit Books DeVargas Center, 157 Paseo de Peralta, 428-0321 A local poet reads from his latest collection. 2 pm, free WHAT TO EXPECT IN THE 2020 LEGISLATIVE SESSION Collected Works Bookstore and Coffeehouse 202 Galisteo St., 988-4226 JourneySantaFe presents NM Senate Majority Leader Peter Wirth to discuss the future of state policies. 11 am, free

DANCE TARDEADAS DOMINGUERAS Golden Cantina Lounge 10-B Cities of Gold Road, Pojoaque, 455-3313 Domingo es para bailar de cachetito. Cumbias, norteñas, Huapangos, reggaeton y más. 9 pm-2 am, free

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Artist-inresidence Fernando Gutierrez decked out in his own collection of pre-Columbian style handcarved stone jewelry at World of Bohemia.

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s is common in Santa Fe, jewelry designer Fernando Gutierrez didn’t intend to stay when he came to visit—but six months later, here he is. On a friend’s recommendation, Gutierrez visited in July to check out the International Folk Art Market. He was quickly swept up by the vortex. Today, Gutierrez spends much of his time at World of Bohemia (73 W Marcy St., 646-510-2882), an eclectic boutique where he sells his pieces. This is how we met recently, and during my visit I was immediately drawn to his table covered in gigantic jaguar heads and Mayan masks carved from stone and hanging on thick beaded ropes; his hefty rings made of

Jaguars and Eagles and Sun Gods, Oh My!

tiger’s eye, blue jade sun gods and eagles carved in golden obsidian. It was like a miniature, tactile vision quest. Gutierrez was born in Los Angeles but spent much of his childhood in Colima, Mexico. His father’s family is from Michoacán and his mother’s is from Jalisco. Colima is nestled in the middle. “My dad wanted us to have a clear notion of our background so he took us to Mexico for school,” Gutierrez says. “When I went back to [Los Angeles] for high school and people asked where I was from and what was my background, I understood our dad had taken us there so we would know ourselves and be present in the fact that we are Mexican and be part of our heritage.” Gutierrez’s family in Mexico are primarily ranchers and often, while

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he mined himself in Simojovel and Chenalhó, Chiapas, Mexico between 2011 and 2013. Pedernal loomed each day in the background. “It’s even better than the view from Georgia O’Keeffe’s ranch,” Gutierrez says of the trip. “I felt so privileged to have that space where I could work and be inspired without cell phone reception. It was just me and nature.” On the eighth day, Gutierrez rested and named his brand with help from Lajeskie: Eye of the Jaguar. “I had met a shaman in Oaxaca years before who had given me an Aztec calendar reading and told me that the lizard and the jaguar are the animals that represent me,” he tells SFR. Back in Santa Fe, he says, people have been so receptive to his work that his original two-week pop-up at World of Bohemia has turned into a six-month artist residency. Part of it, he says, could be in how he crafts his work with an eye toward both the past and present. “It’s a very well-defined collection because it speaks about my heritage and the history of my ancestors—pre-Columbian and Mesoamerican cultures,” he says. “A lot of the carvings are related to the Mayans, Aztecs, Zapotecs and Mixtecs. I tend to use the traditional stones that were used in pre-Columbian times and make more contemporary designs by adding stones I think they would have used back then. So my work is a combination of the pre-Columbian aesthetic and the newer fascination with crystals and their healing properties.” Gutierrez’ latest large-scale piece is a representation of Tlaloc, the Aztec god of earthly fertility and of water. “I wanted to make something for the new year that would represent the flourishing of things to come,” Gutierrez says. “It’s usually represented in blue stone but since we are in Santa Fe where it snows, I made it white.”

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working the land, they’d find artifacts from the period of history before the arrival of Europeans. When he was 9, Gutierrez says, his father gave him his first pre-Columbian piece, and thus began his lifelong passion. In 2010, Gutierrez joined the San Diego Mineral & Gem Society and began learning the basics of stonework. At the same time, he volunteered for a nonprofit that found him traveling across Mexico and developing friendships with the master stone carvers with which he collaborates today. “They were working with the preColumbian aesthetic I loved,” Gutierrez explains. “I started improvising with that aesthetic, and little by little, it became part of my style. I was just making them for myself, but people started asking me where they could get it.” Cut back to last year’s International Folk Art Market and Gutierrez walking into World of Bohemia by chance. Owner Kris Lajeskie immediately fell in love with the designs he was wearing and asked if he could make a jewelry line for her to carry in the shop. “Fernando visited the store several times late last summer and I was captivated by the Mayan-inspired jewelry and stones he was wearing,” Lajeskie tells SFR. “I learned his dream was to launch his own line, and and that’s exactly what we did.” Considering the nature of the designs—Aztec and Mayan gods, Quetzalcoatls, Mayan eagles and jaguars—it’s fitting the creation process takes on a somewhat mythic quality. “My process of creation is very spiritual and tantric,” Gutierrez explains. “I surrender to the experience to be in the moment.” Summer also found Gutierrez visiting Abiquiu to work on his collection. He spent eight sleepless and secluded days working on pieces of amber and jade

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CALENDAR OF EVENTS

Events are free unless otherwise noted. Empower Students, Strengthen Community. Empoderar a los Estudiantes, Fortalecer a la Comunidad.

21 22

TUES

Spring Semester Credit Classes Begin Register now at sfcc.edu 505-428-1270

WED

Info Session: Southern Italy Trip, May 2020 5:30 p.m., Room 711 505-428-1676 SFCC Governing Board Meeting — Public welcome. 5:30 p.m., Board Room, Room 223 505-428-1148

THURS

Continuing Education Open House 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., Room 131 505-428-1676 Find out about CE offerings, and much more, to help you prepare for new stages of your life.

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COURTESY CHARLOTTE JACKSON FINE ART

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GERALD CLAY MEMORIAL BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT Saturday, April 4 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Sunday, April 5 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

SFCC William C. Witter Fitness Education Center Bring a check or cash to the front desk of the Fitness Education Center to register.

Learn more: miquela.martinez@sfcc.edu or 505-428-1615

CONTESTS, AWARDS & PRIZES

To volunteer, call 505-428-1508. PLUS ...

SFCC is closed for Winter Break through Sunday, Jan. 5. Monday, Jan. 20 — SFCC closed for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Prepare for the High School Equivalency/GED tests. Orientation Sessions will be held Jan. 13-16, daytimes and evenings. Classes begin Jan. 21 in Spanish and English in Room 503B. There is a $25 registration fee. 505-428-1356 ESL Orientation Sessions 505-428-1356, Room 503B Attend only one — $25 registration fee: Tuesday, Jan. 14; Wednesday, Jan. 15; Tuesday, Jan. 21; Wednesday, Jan. 22, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. or 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. REGISTER FOR COURSES, FIND MORE EVENTS & DETAILS AT SFCC.EDU Individuals who need special accommodations should call the phone number listed for each event.

LEARN MORE. 505-428-1000 | sfcc.edu 24

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At 48 x 24 inches, Elliot Norquist’s “Shipping Tag” (painted coated steel) is odd yet familiar, as are the rest of the pieces in his new exhibit, Mail Room. See page 19.

EVENTS

FILM

MUSIC

EL MERCADO DE MUSEO El Museo Cultural de Santa Fe 555 Camino de la Familia, 992-0591 Over 60 vendors with art, books, antiques, rugs and more from around the world. 10 am-4 pm, free GEEKS WHO DRINK Desert Dogs Brewery and Cidery 112 W San Francisco St., Ste. 307, 983-0134 Stellar quiz results can win you drink tickets for next time. 7 pm, free

REMEMBER BAGHDAD Center for Contemporary Arts 1050 Old Pecos Trail, 982-1338 Jewish people once made up one-third of the Iraqi capital's population, but today there are virtually none. This film, presented by the Santa Fe Jewish Film Festival, follows the loss of Jewish society in Iraq that began after WWII. Tickets are currently sold out, but call 216-0672 to check for returned tickets. 11 am, $15

AND THEN CAME HUMANS Second Street Brewery (Rufina Taproom) 2920 Rufina St., 87507, 954-1068 Indie jazz-rock funk experimental duo. 7:30-9 pm, free BARD EDRINGTON V Cowgirl 319 S Guadalupe St., 982-2565 An energetic blend of Mississippi Delta blues and Appalachian folk music. 12 pm, free

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JAY HENEGHAN PROJECT Tesuque Casino 7 Tesuque Road, 984-8414 Jazzy blues. 11:30 am-3 pm, free NEIL JOHNSON Cowgirl 319 S Guadalupe St., 982-2565 Americana. 7 pm, free PACIFICA STRING QUARTET St. Francis Auditorium 107 W Palace Ave., 476-5072 Originally from Southern California, the Pacifica Quartet is currently on faculty at Indiana University and Resident Performing Artists at the University of Chicago. Tonight’s program includes selections from Shostakovich, Shulamit Ran and Beethoven, with a free open rehearsal at 10 am. 3-5 pm, $20-$100 ROADHOUSE KARMA Mine Shaft Tavern 2846 Hwy. 14, Madrid, 473-0743 Americana on the deck. 2 pm, free RON ROUGEAU The Dragon Room 406 Old Santa Fe Trail, 983-7712 Acoustic songs from the '60s, '70s and beyond. 5:30 pm, free SANTA FE ANIMAL SHELTER FUNDRAISER Tumbleroot Brewery & Distillery 2791 Agua Fría St., 303-3808 Dana Cooper and Stephanie Hatfield play their original acoustic music alongside a pop-up market of local artists. 6 pm, $10

MON/13 BOOKS/LECTURES LONNIE VIGIL (NAMBÉ) ARTIST TALK Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian 704 Camino Lejo, 982-4636 Lonnie Vigil is a name synonymous with micaceous pottery. He creates vessels from micaceous clay near his home in Nambé Pueblo. Lonnie has won “Best of Show” at Santa Fe Indian Market for his large vessels and is among the most sought after of the traditionalist Pueblo potters. RSVP online at wheelwright.org. 2 pm, $10 POETRY READING AND OPEN MIC Santa Fe Community Convention Center 201 W Marcy St., 955-6590 Poets Debbi Brody and Mary McGinnis read from their work to celebrate their receipt of the inaugural Margaret Randall Poetry Prize, followed by an open mic. 5:30-8 pm, free

THE CALENDAR with Daniel Silverman

COURTESY DANNY SILVERMAN

Daniel Silverman spent the majority of his career as a physician, psychiatrist and psychoanalyst at Harvard Medical school. After becoming disillusioned with the healthcare system—a term he says is an oxymoron “because there’s nothing systematic about the way we provide healthcare in this country,” he went back to school and became an executive leadership coach for healthcare professionals. Now he lives in Santa Fe year-round and divides his time between leadership coaching and painting giant works of abstract expressionism which will be on display this weekend at Plan B Arts Gallery (4 pm Friday Jan. 10. Free. 1807 Second Street, Ste. 41). SFR spoke with Silverman about his life as a healthcare professional and artist. (Allison Sloan) Your biography says you “divide your time” between healthcare consulting and coaching and creating abstract paintings. How did this divide begin? I came to Santa Fe to visit some friends, and I came out of the elevator at the Loretto hotel and there was this stunning woman artist putting on a painting demonstration. We eventually became involved and she moved back east with me and then brought me back to Santa Fe with her. She was a great abstract expressionist and a teacher and she said, ‘You know, I can teach you to paint,’ and I said, ‘I don’t think so.’ She and I were together for several years and she gave me the basic foundation for doing abstract expressionist art. I’ve become fascinated with it and it’s a good thing for a psychiatrist to get outside of his head sometimes.

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For more information about licensing, call our Admissions Desk at 505-983-4309 x1606, or visit our website at sfhumanesociety.org. 100 Caja del Rio Rd • Santa Fe, NM 87507 •

Do you ever imagine combining these two paths? Maybe something like art therapy? It’s certainly therapeutic for me. A lot of my clients come to Santa Fe to do face-to-face coaching with me and they’ve seen my work and it provokes great conversations. I encourage them to get outside of themselves and use other parts of their creative thinking for their leadership work. I think I unconsciously already combine what I’m doing with the coaching work and encourage them to think outside the box and think about big relationships. If you can see in my paintings they’re really about the relationship between color and lines and boundaries. What is your creative process? My works are on very large canvases. I don’t title them because I don’t want to suggest to anyone viewing the paintings what they should see or feel. My hope is that they evoke very strong emotions and memories and recollections. I want the viewers to create their own meanings. When I approach the canvas I don’t have a plan in mind—it’s very spontaneous. I view the paintings as the history of a very physical way of doing it. I use large tools and brushes so it becomes the record of what my emotional side and creative side were doing in the moment. I’m beginning to notice that my color palette is taking on the color palette of New Mexico, like all the turquoise. There’s just something about the light here. The sunset has certainly influenced me a lot, as well as the sky and the cloud formations.

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SCIENCE ON TAP WITH HISATO YAMAGUCHI ProjectY cowork Los Alamos 150 Central Park Square, Los Alamos, 667-4444 Yamaguchi, LANL scientist, discusses initial corrosion processes in the creation of “atomic armor,” atomically thin, two-dimensional protection crystals used in the Finishing Manufacturing Science group at LANL. 5:30-7 pm, free THE CODED LANGUAGE OF COLOR Santa Fe Public Library Main Branch 145 Washington Ave., 955-6780 Introductory talk with enjoyable practical demonstrations of the electromagnetic basis of color and its profound effect on human life and the planetary theatre. Presented by The Living Theatre. 6:30-7:45 pm, free TWIN HEROES OF THE PLAINS Hotel Santa Fe 1501 Paseo de Peralta, 982-1200 Lawrence Larry Loendorf, anthropologist, archaeologist and president of Sacred Sites Research, Inc. discusses the cultural landscape of the Plains. 6 pm, $15 VIVACE OPERA BOOKCLUB: BARBER OF SEVILLE AND MARRIAGE OF FIGARO Collected Works Bookstore and Coffeehouse 202 Galisteo St., 988-4226 A discussion of two plays by Beaumarchais. 6 pm, free

DANCE

A SANTA FE REPORTER PODCAST A new episode is produced

every week that digs into the stories the newspaper knows you’ve READ but wants you to HEAR.

Produced and hosted by Katherine Lewin. REPORTED is available on Spotify and iTunes. Each week the episode is posted at sfreporter.com and on our social media.

MONDAY NIGHT SWING Odd Fellows Hall 1125 Cerrillos Road, 470-7077 Arrive at 7 pm for a lesson if you desire, then get dancin' to DJ'ed music. Singles are just as welcome as partners, all ages are invited—and if you'd just like to sit, watch and listen, there are also chairs for spectators (and they won't think it's weird!). 7 pm, $3-$8

EVENTS THE SANTA FE HARMONIZERS REHEARSAL Zia United Methodist Church 3368 Governor Miles Road, 471-0997 The barbershop chorus is looking for men and women who can carry a tune; join in on any of the four-part harmony parts (tenor, lead, baritone or bass). Directed by Maurice Sheppard. For more information, call Marv (699-6922) or Bill (424-9042). 6:30 pm, free

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MUSIC CAREY MURDOCK Tesuque Casino 7 Tesuque Road, 984-8414 Rock n' roll. 6-9 pm, free COWGIRL KARAOKE Cowgirl 319 S Guadalupe St., 982-2565 Michèle Leidig hosts Santa Fe's most famous night of karaoke. 8 pm, free

TUE/14 BOOKS/LECTURES BROWN BAG TALK: LEARNING FROM MISTAKES Center for New Mexico Archaeology 7 Old Cochiti Road, 476-4404 In the 6th century AD, a family’s home south of Quemado, New Mexico, was consumed by fire, preserving much of the moment as a carbonized snapshot of daily life. Mollie Toll and Pam McBride speak on archaeological efforts to turn an ancient catastrophe into a modern teaching moment. 2 pm, $10

DANCE ARGENTINE TANGO MILONGA El Mesón 213 Washington Ave., 983-6756 Put on your best tango shoes and join in (or just watch). 7:30 pm, $5 FAMILY (FUN) DANCE New Mexico School for the Arts 500 Montezuma Avenue, Suite 200, 310-4194 No experience needed, all levels welcome. Open to families, community, students to come in and learn some easy, short, fun dances to get the heart pumping and the face smiling! 6-7 pm, free

EVENTS MESSAGES FROM THE ANGELS Healing the Scars 439 C W San Francisco St., 575-770 1228 The Angels answer your questions and offer their guidance. Raphael Weisman provides a clear channel for their wisdom, guidance and healing. 7-9 pm, $20 SANTA FE INDIVISIBLE MEETING Center for Progress and Justice 1420 Cerrillos Road, 467-8514 Join the politically progressive group to divide and conquer! Newcomers are always welcome, so go fight the good fight (see SFR Picks, page 17). 9 am, free

For help, call Cole: 395-2906.

THE PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY OF SANTA FE St. John’s United Methodist Church 1200 Old Pecos Trail, 982-5397 Local photographer Jerry Courvoisier speaks on drone photography. Attendees are invited to bring an image or two, print or digital, for peer review. 6:30 pm, free

MUSIC CANYON ROAD BLUES JAM El Farol 808 Canyon Road, 983-9912 Sign up to sing or play if you desire, but be forewarned— this ain't amateur hour. 8-11 pm, $5 GARY GORENCE Cowgirl 319 S Guadalupe St., 982-2565 Classic rock. 7 pm, free RICK MENA Tesuque Casino 7 Tesuque Road, 984-8414 Styles ranging from bluegrass, Cajun, blues and rock. 6-9 pm, free

WORKSHOP BOTANICAL BOOK CLUB: THE BOTANY OF DESIRE Stewart Udall Center 725 Camino Lejo, 983-6155 Join botanical book enthusiasts over tea, cookies, and great conversation about our book of the month, The Botany of Desire: A Plant's-eye View of the World by Michael Pollan. 1-2:30 pm, free

MISC. CHAT NOIR ESSAY COMPETITION Local maître-artiste Charles Tichenor of Chat Noir Cabaret requests essays written on the topic, “A Person Who Broke The Mold And Created Their Own Path Through Their Passion, Vision And Uniqueness In The Arts.” 1000 word minimum, due to ctpiano@gmail.com by Jan. 16. Three winners receive cash prizes, among other delights. CONTINUED ON PAGE 31

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Harry’s Roadhouse Each of the rooms in Harry’s Roadhouse has its own personality. There’s the formica and silver of the entryway to the kitchen, the fireplace nicho in the front of the bar with intimate two-tops, the family style dining room and the narrow window ledges of the back hall that pour onto the rear patio. And now, the front patio that faces I-25, the road part of the roadhouse, is also enclosed. Diners hit up Harry’s no matter their mood, as the restaurant is serving up three meals a day with from-scratch favorites all week. On a health kick? No problem, we applaud you for leaving that last piece of banana cream pie ($5.95) for us. The menu’s standards have lots of vegetable forward dishes. Once we had a special seasonal beet Neapolitan with goat cheese and herbs that blew us away with its artistry and flavor. The transplanted writer of this review can attest to the general authenticity and goodness of both Harry’s smoky St. Louis-style ribs ($15.95) and his scrapple, a homemade version of a Pennsylvania Dutch sausage with cornmeal (order it at breakfast a la cart for $3.75). Don’t miss legendary bloody marys that we hear tell have come from the same recipe for nearly 20 years ($8). They’re loaded with horseradish and Marie Sharp’s hot sauce. But don’t forget the pie. (Julie Ann Grimm)

Having just celebrated its 10th year in business, famed Afro-Caribbean fusion eatery Jambo is riding high. Same goes for owner/chef Ahmed Obo, a mainstay in SFR’s Best of Santa Fe issue over the last decade and, as pretty much everyone agrees, as talented and creative a chef as can be. Jambo’s menu is tight and focused, but still somehow it runneth over with enticing combinations to sample each time you visit. Looking for curry? Try the coconut organic tofu curry with tomatoes and basmati rice ($13.95). Goat? Jambo’s Caribbean goat stew ($13.95) with carrots, potatoes and island curry drops jaws on the regular. Ditto the island spiced coconut peanut stew ($13.95), a dish that a dining companion once told us they had been “dreaming about.” Then there are the appetizers, sandwiches, salads and desserts—from which we cannot recommend enough items like cinnamon dusted plantains ($5.95) and the banana coconut cream pie ($6.95). This is only just the beginning, of course, and other dishes beckon, be they kebabs, other stews or shrimp served with a sauce of East African coconut and tomato hot spice. Just do yourselves a favor and make sure to order the mixed fries ($5.95)—a tempting combination of cumin-dusted and sweet potato fries. (Alex De Vore)

Adopt Me! You can adopt Arroyo de Los Pinos by calling:

(505) 820-1696

See what other arroyos are up for adoption by visiting:

Arroyo de Los Pinos is a delightful little arroyo that loves being a part of the Santa Fe Community. A bit temperamental when it rains, Arroyo de Los Pinos just needs some TLC from humans that love her.

This small space on the outskirts of the Plaza dishes up New Mexican favorites, and some of Santa Fe’s finest spicy chile, along with time-tested ‘merican diner classics. Being one of the few restaurants open for service early, beginning at 7:30am, Palacio Cafe’s breakfast burritos ($8-9) are among the best, and biggest. Breakfast tacos are a good option if you are eating in ($9) as are American breakfast standards, including waffles ($8), eggs Benedict ($9.50) and even French toast ($8.50). The long list of options—both New Mexican and American comfort food—extends to the lunch menu. Daily specials can include tamales and a spot-on Frito pie, while regular menu items range from a veggie enchilada plate and a smothered chicharron and bean burrito (both $10.50) to deli-style sandwiches, such as a straight-up classic tuna salad sandwich on wheat bread ($9), and large salads including an oft-ordered pear salad piled high with candied pecans and crumbled blue cheese ($9). Palacio Cafe’s homemade foods play to the needs of all who are hungry: locals and visitors, adults and kids, those who can take the heat, and those who can’t; all of which are reasons why you’ll frequently find a line out the door that’s most definitely worth waiting in. (Zibby Wilder) 209 E Palace Ave., 989-3505 227 Don Gaspar Ave., 820-7888 Breakfast and lunch Wednesday-Monday; closed Tuesday, palaciosantafe.com

JOY GODFREY

2010 Cerrillos Road, 473-1269 Lunch and dinner Monday-Saturday Jambocafe.net

96 B Old Las Vegas Highway, 989-4629 Breakfast, lunch and dinner daily harrysroadhousesantafe.com

Palacio Cafe

These restaurants also appear in SFR’s recent 2019/20 Restaurant Guide. Find pickup locations at SFReporter.com/pickup.

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Gilberto Guzman holds up a representation of his mural MultiCultural in his Midtown home.

Mural Politics Artist Gilberto Guzman breaks his silence on his Guadalupe Street mural BY ALEX DE VORE a l e x @ s f r e p o r t e r. c o m

t 88, Los Angeles-born artist Gilberto Guzman can’t recall the name of the Santa Fe arts collective he joined when he first came to town in the 1970s, but he does remember that it was because he followed a woman here. His lady love worked as a nurse by day and wrote by night; Guzman painted and fell in with a collective of like-minded artists. With the help of those artists, he put up murals across town, some of which still stand on Canyon Road and Guadalupe Street—for now. Indeed, as the much-ballyhooed Vladem Contemporary satellite branch of the New Mexico Museum of Art closes in on groundbreaking, Guzman’s mural on the corner of Guadalupe Street and Montezuma Avenue, Multi-Cultural— painted in collaboration with artists Frederico Vigil, Zara Kriegstein and others in the ’80s and ’90s on the side of the

JANUARY 8-14, 2020

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Halpin Building and meant to portray Santa Fe’s wide swath of inhabitants—has become an oft-discussed point of derision for Santa Feans. A cursory glance on Facebook, the SFR archives and national arts website Hyperallergic provides varying viewpoints on ancillary topics such as gentrification, respect of art and the realities of an aging mural on an aging building. After several rounds of public comment and a recent redesign, the city’s Historic Districts Review Board on Jan. 2 approved the most recent iteration by architect Devendra Contractor, and it appears Guzman’s mural and its crumbling stucco will come down. Until now, Guzman has remained silent, but in a two-page statement provided to SFR, he’s finally airing some of his concerns. “It is evident the Department of Cultural Affairs has not honorably disclosed the recent communications or the financial and community support to keep the mural…most importantly, they have not disclosed that the muralist has an existing state contract to redo the mural,” the statement reads. According to that contract obtained by SFR, on May 12, 1980, the New Mexico Department of Finance and Administration’s Property Control Division (the state entity that owned the building before DCA) and Guzman entered into an agreement with the understanding that both parties would have certain rights and responsibilities,

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including that the property owner would own the mural while Guzman would have access to it for the entirety of “its natural life.” Guzman says he conducted some upkeep over the years, even repainting the mural in the early ’90s, but experts who weighed in at the recent H-board hearing, including Mark MacKenzie, the museum’s chief conservator, have said that at this point, it’s simply not feasible to save the mural for the long term. “The New Mexico light and environment is really beautiful and has drawn artists here for centuries, and it’s also really hard on outdoor artwork,” says Michelle Gallagher Roberts, the acting executive director of the New Mexico Museum of Art. “The museum has really attempted in good faith to reach a meaningful engagement with Gilberto and the community on this mural.” The question remains whether MultiCultural has reached the end of its “natural life.” The H-board thinks so, as does the DCA, which has offered to compromise with Guzman in a variety of ways, including digitally printing the mural on panels or a digital projection, both of which would be shown inside the museum and, according to Gallagher Roberts, would be more readily preservable. Any new mural painted on the outside of the building, she says, would also be temporary. “Ultimately, the issue is that all it would be doing is creating another problem down the road,” she explains. “Even in

1980, it was understood that there’s a finite lifetime for murals. Murals reach a point where there is no upkeep that can be done to prolong their life.” What many Santa Feans might not know is that in 2018, the Legislature approved an earmark from Sen. Gerald Ortiz y Pino, D-Albuquerque, for roughly $50,000 in capital outlay funds to address the future of the mural. “We met with [the Department of Cultural Affairs], and they very patiently explained that their solution was to digitize it and…that it wouldn’t work on the building as designed,” Ortiz y Pino tells SFR. “What I was told was that to preserve it as it is, paint on a plaster surface, would be prohibitively expensive. The idea is, how do we preserve it in some fashion? They could do that for the $50,000 using digitized images.” Ortiz y Pino and Gallagher Roberts both say the allocation is still available—it’s just a matter of coming to an agreement on how to use it. For its part, Gallagher Roberts says, the museum is still willing to discuss potential outcomes with Guzman who, by the way, says he’ll take whatever happens next in stride. In a perfect world, he notes, some version of the mural could be preserved, but should Multi-Cultural come down, he’ll stay pretty Zen about it. “I came to the conclusion not too long ago: I’m retired, that’s it,” he says. “I am retired, whatever happens to it, I don’t care. I did it once and twice, and I enjoyed the hell out of it.”

S FR E P O RTE R .CO M / FO O D

Quinto Quarto 2018 Bianco Sivi by Franco Terpin, Italy. Available at Kokoman Fine Wines & Spirits, 34 Cities of Gold Road, Pojoaque, 455-2219.

raving the holiday crowds at Trader Joe’s, I came across an end cap display of “natural” wines. Not wanting to play bumper carts for too long, I made a mental note to find out a little bit more about such wines, as I’ve been seeing and hearing a lot about them lately. My goal was to include them in my list of 2020 food trends from last week, but it turns out natural wine is a complicated thing. “Well, first-off, I want to make clear that I do not see this movement as a ‘trend’ or a ‘fad,’” says natural wine expert Paul Greenhaw. “As winemaker Hank Beckmeyer, of La Clarine Farm, has said, we need to start calling these types of wines ‘traditional’ wines, not ‘natural’ wines. Hank likes the term ‘traditional’ because it implies a time before the industrialization of winemaking—before reverse-osmosis entered the process, before micro-oxygenation, before copper-sulfate was used to fix reduction, before all the various ‘improvements’ that the modern wine-world utilizes.” Greenhaw and his wife, Martha Aguilar, are the owners of Taos-based PM Wine Distribution, which has a singular mission of seeking out wines from small producers that are made with minimal intervention. These are wines that are “unapologetic for their ‘imperfections,’” according to PM Wine Distribution’s mission. “In addition to the strong connection to terroir, these ‘flaws’ show the unique fingerprint of the winemaker … we believe the manner in which the grapes are grown and how the

land is farmed is the primary factor in making a wine with vitality, wines that have not been ‘corrected’ by chemistry.” So what exactly is natural wine, then? For starters, it’s less a product and more the product of a movement. The movement began in the Beaujolais region of France in the 1960s, when a group of winemakers known as The Gang of Four sought a return to the styles of wine typified by their grandparents. These wines, created before pesticides and chemicals became de rigueur, contained native yeasts and fewer additives. They called it “vin nature” which, in French, has a bit of a different meaning than simply natural wine. It’s more “plain wine,” reflecting the idea that nothing—or very little—has been added to the wine. That said, the term is ambiguous and there are different interpretations as to what, exactly, is natural wine. At its most basic, it’s made from organically grown grapes using only wild or indigenous yeasts. The Oxford Companion to Wine provides a little more detail, adding that grapes are typically grown by smaller, independent producers, are hand picked and, in production, no additives such as yeast nutrients or sulfites are added. What people do agree on, though, is the taste. While there are some fruity, clear

Champagne, but enough that one can sense a spritzy sizzle.” Another assumption is that natural wines are better for you than the more commonplace vintages. Well, it’s just wine, so if you drink too much of it, you’re still going to suffer the consequences. Contrary to popular belief, sulfites do not cause headaches, so lesser amounts of sulfites won’t help you there. The native yeasts in these wines can produce biogenic amines including tyramine, an amino acid that affects blood pressure, which has been proven to cause headaches. So, there you go. Asked about recommendations for natural wines readers can get their hands on, Greenhaw and Aguilar re-emphasize that just because grapes were farmed organically, that doesn’t make a natural wine. “It is a start, but what happens afterwards in the cellar is where things become more defined,” Greenhaw explains. “I think many wine sellers in New Mexico are not too aware of this difference.” The easiest way to know if you’re buying a natural wine is to look for those imported by Louis/Dressner Imports (the W Y BB ZI most important importer you can find in the state, according to Greenhaw), Jenny and Francois Selections, Critical Mass Selections and, of course, PM Wine Distribution. Recommended domestic producers include Lo-Fi Cellars, La Clarine Farm, Broc Cellars, Harrington Wines, and Populis/Les Lunes. Many natural wines are available locally by the glass at restaurant bars like Tonic, Arroyo Vino, La Boca, and Joseph’s. Kokoman Fine Wines & Spirits in Pojoaque also carries a broad selection.

that could just as easily be called wild, I think, and that truly reflect the terroir from whence they come. “People often ask how a natural wine tastes different than a conventionally made wine, and there are solid, empirical aspects of natural wine that are different,” Greenhaw tells SFR. “Quite often, there is a small amount of datable CO2, not enough to warrant a muselet, like on

JANUARY FREE LIVE MUSIC AT THE ORIGINAL SECOND STREET

Friday

BY ZIBBY WILDER a u t h o r @ s f r e p o r t e r. c o m

natural wines, most are less fruity and more yeasty, with a sour smell and cloudy appearance. Many people describe their flavor as having “the funk” associated with brettanomyces, a type of yeast known for its bready or “barnyard” aromas. The cloudiness comes from the fact that natural wines, being left plain, are unfiltered and unfined, leaving proteins and microbes in the bottle. These are wines

10 HALF BROKE HORSES

Saturday

Au Natural

Exploring the complexities of natural wine

FOOD

11 B SQUARED

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Folk, 6 - 9 PM / FREE

1814 Second Street ∙ Santa Fe, New Mexico 87505 SFREPORTER.COM

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THE CALENDAR

COURTESY NEW MEXICO DEPT. OF CULTURAL AFFAIRS

MUSEUMS

A collection of Afghan rugs created during wartime opens to the public this weekend at the Museum of International Folk Art, portraying the effects of years of foreign involvement in Afghanistan and the Middle East. CENTER FOR CONTEMPORARY ARTS 1050 Old Pecos Trail, 982-1338 Scott Johnson: Fissure Through Feb. 2, 2020. GEORGIA O’KEEFFE MUSEUM 217 Johnson St., 946-1000 Contemporary Voices: Jo Whaley. Through Feb. 24. HARWOOD MUSEUM OF ART 238 Ledoux St., Taos, 575-758-9826 Dolichovespula Maculata: Works of Paper by Dianne Frost. Through Jan. 2020. IAIA MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY NATIVE ARTS 108 Cathedral Place, 9838900 Wayne Nez Gaussoin: Adobobot. Through Nov. 30. Reconciliation. Through Jan. 19. Heidi K Brandow: Unit of Measure. Through Jan. 31. Sámi Intervention/Dáidda Gázada. Through Feb. 16. MUSEUM OF ENCAUSTIC ART 632 Agua Fría St., 989-3283 Artworks in wax. MUSEUM OF INDIAN ARTS & CULTURE 710 Camino Lejo, 476-1250

Diego Romero vs The End of Art. Through April 2020. MUSEUM OF INT’L FOLK ART 706 Camino Lejo, 476-1200 Girard’s Modern Folk. Through Jan. 26. Gallery of Conscience: Community Through Making from Peru to New Mexico. Through Jan. 5. Música Buena: Hispano Folk Music of New Mexico. Through March 7, 20201. Yokai: Ghosts and Demons of Japan. Through Jan. 2021. From Combat to Carpet: The Art of Afghan War Rugs. Through Aug. 30. MUSEUM OF SPANISH COLONIAL ART 750 Camino Lejo, 982-2226 NM HISTORY MUSEUM 113 Lincoln Ave., 476-5019 Working on the Railroad. Through 2021. The Massacre of Don Pedro Villasur. Through Feb. 21. Atomic Histories. Through Feb. 28. We the Rosies: Women at Work. Through March 1. NM MUSEUM OF ART 107 W Palace Ave., 476-5072 Alcoves 2020 #1 #2. Through August 2020. Social and Sublime. Through Nov. 17. Agnes Pelton: Desert Transcendentalist. Through

Jan. 5, 2020. Picturing Passion: Artists Reinterpret the Penitente Brotherhood. PALACE OF THE GOVERNORS 105 W Palace Ave., 476-5100 Closed for renovations. POEH CULTURAL CENTER 78 Cities of Gold Road, Pojoaque, 455-3334 Di Wae Powa. EL RANCHO DE LAS GOLONDRINAS 334 Los Pinos Road, 471-2261 Living history. SANTA FE BOTANICAL GARDEN 715 Camino Lejo, 471-9103 Human Nature: Explorations in Bronze. Through May 10, 2020. SITE SANTA FE 1606 Paseo de Peralta, 989-1199 Bel Canto: Contemporary Artists Explore Opera. Through Jan. 5, 2020. WHEELWRIGHT MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN 704 Camino Lejo, 982-4636 Laughter and Resilience: Humor in Native American Art. Through Oct. 4, 2020.

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63 Up Review The 7-year itch

BY ALEX DE VORE a l e x @ s f r e p o r t e r. c o m

n the ongoing documentary series/social experiment known as Up, award-winning director Michael Apted checks in with a gaggle of British subjects about whom documentary vignettes have been made every seven years since they were 7. Previous installments have covered the subjects at ages 14, 28, 35, 42, 49 and 56, and Apted has been at the helm since the 1960s when the series originally began. It’s a fascinating bit of content wherein Apted tackles one subject at a time, comparing control questions, spur-of-the-moment ones and ultimately uncovering something about how the best laid plans of mice and men do often something-something. Interwoven footage from previous iterations show us whether the subjects did or didn’t follow their plans throughout their lives and, at its core, 63 Up can be both heartbreaking and comforting. From the one-time jockey hopeful who wound up driving a cab and then dabbling in acting to the single mother whose longtime engagement seems to work wonders outside of

+ A TRULY

INCREDIBLE PROJECT; FUN TO WATCH - A TAD STERILE; A TAD LONG

whatever society dictates it must; we catch up with a lawyer reflecting on how he should have worked less, a scientist grappling with throat cancer and his impending death and a late bloomer musician struggling to come to terms with the recent death of his mother and his own mortality. Death, actually, plays a central and looming figure in 63 Up, as do politics (Brexit, of course), family and a sort of skewed yet universal lens through which we all see ourselves. Perhaps the most intriguing element is the funny way in which humans’ need to plan and fret almost always seems to be for naught. Even those who wound up doing exactly what they had hoped wind up feeling wistful and melancholy once in their 60s, and while this can be taken as an infuriating example of how the things we do

don’t matter, the lesson, as it were, seems to be that whatever will be will be. And really, that’s only if one needs to glean a lesson from the film. The reality is, some of these people did better or worse than their 7-year-old selves would have thought, and that is delightfully human and reassuring. The happiest of them seem to be the ones who went with the flow—almost like nonstop work and owning things don’t automatically equate to happiness. Embrace art, don’t be so hard on yourselves, do your best and lean on family and loved ones. Everything else is simply of little consequence. 63 UP Directed by Apted Center for Contemporary Arts, NR, 138 min.

QUICKY REVIEWS

LITTLE WOMEN

A HIDDEN LIFE

BOMBSHELL

UNCUT GEMS

LITTLE WOMEN

Little Women: This is what happens when a bird sings blithely on a budding bough.

+ MERYL STREEP AS MEAN AUNT MARCH

- NOT ENOUGH STREEP

It is a truth universally acknowledged that women in the 19th century didn’t have a plethora of options (nor did they in the 18th century, which is when another famous novel about sisters was written from which this review’s opening lines are cribbed). Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women tells the story of four sisters: Meg, Jo, Amy and Beth March (Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson, Florence Pugh and Eliza Scanlen), growing up poor in New England during the Civil War. Despite having little, the sisters have spunk and dreams. Particularly Jo who, like Alcott, is the writer in the family. Little Women was a huge hit when it was published in 1868-69, and it has never been out of print since then. And yet, at the same time, it’s a problematic text if you don’t like stories about women getting married. Director Greta Gerwig is not the first filmmaker to grapple with contemporary readers’ dissatisfaction with the marriage plot of Little Women. But she is the first to navigate it in a satisfying way. While the film captures cinematically the domestic warmth of the story—the March home is cozy and the sisters

STAR WARS EPISODE IX: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER

bedecked in costumes for the plays they put on for one another and the frocks they wear to parties—it also breaks a domestic story wide open. Gerwig accomplishes this with a narrative sliceand-dice of the original story’s timeline, and an imagined amplification of Jo’s career as a writer. Ronan acts winningly as Jo, a surrogate for Alcott, who hoped her heroine could end up a literary spinster. “I’m sick of people saying that love is all a woman is fit for,” Jo says to her mother Marmee (Laura Dern). Alcott also was sick of it. She was involved in the women’s suffrage movement, and the first women to register to vote in Concord, Massachusetts. Little Women doesn’t just pass the Bechdel test; it pays tribute to a woman writer who pushed at the constraints of her time. (Julia Goldberg)

Regal Santa Fe, Violet Crown, PG, 135 minutes

A HIDDEN LIFE

+ MEDITATIVE PERFORMANCES - FEELS CONVENTIONAL, NOTHING REVELATORY

True to form, director Terrence Malick (The Thin Red Line, The Tree of Life) deals with the loftier spiritual and existential matters of life in his mournful new film, A Hidden Life. Taken from a George Eliot passage about those who silently sacrifice their lives for the good of others, CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE

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Malick based the film on the true story of Franz Jägerstätter (August Diehl) and his wife Fani (Valerie Pachner). The two live in the idyllic farm village of Radegund in Austria with their daughters. They spend their days bouncing around lush green hills, tilling fields, picking wildflowers and harvesting wheat—all the while stealing loving glances and childlike smiles reminiscent of Bill and Abby, the love struck sharecroppers from Malick’s 1978 film Days of Heaven. “How simple life was then. It seemed no trouble could reach our valley,” Franz says. But the trouble does reach their valley in 1940 as their pastoral bliss is shattered when Franz is summoned into the Army. At this point in the war, every Austrian soldier called for active duty had to swear loyalty to Hitler. Franz doesn’t agree with the Nazi agenda and becomes a conscientious objector by refusing to swear the oath, getting himself imprisoned in Berlin. While he remains steadfast in his beliefs— not even able to swear the oath with metaphorically crossed fingers—the townspeople, who have lost countless loved ones to the cause Franz rebukes, begin to ostracize Fani and her children, forcing her to do all the strenuous farm labor with only the help of her equally petite sister (Maria Simon) and Franz’ stern mother Rosalia (Karin Neuhäuser). A Hidden Life thus becomes one big “Pfui Hitler!” to the Nazi officers who continually try

to convince Franz his defiance isn’t doing anyone any good, least of all himself and his family. “You think it will change the course of things?” one officer asks him. And later another says, “No one will be changed. The worlds will go on as before.” It’s hard not to wish Franz would just give up already, especially as we watch Fani and her family suffer the hardships of life without their beloved around. But with all the heavy-handed Christ allegories being drawn—cue Bach’s St. Matthew Passion—we pretty much know that isn’t going to happen. Malick’s decision to get political is a timely one, and it’s impossible not to draw the

A Hidden Life: Terrence Malick’s new movie is sooooo Malick-y. You know what we mean.

comparisons between 1940s Austria and 2020 America. Unfortunately, the comparison isn’t hugely revelatory and neither is the message; A Hidden Life film is as slow and plodding as a pair of Austrian clogs, but the subtle acting, poetic cinematography (Jörg Widmer) and staggering mountain backdrops make it worthwhile. (Allison Sloan)

Violet Crown, R, 174 min.

BOMBSHELL

Bombshell gets into the whole Roger Ailes thing, which is super gross.

+ FIERCE FEMALE CAST - SEXISM ISN’T OVER

It’s easy to write off the long-legged, thick-eyelashed and Spanx-bedecked female personalities of Fox News as the Anchor Barbies they strive to be. And to be sure, that right-wing, regressive stance doesn’t engender sympathy for their characters. But it would be a mistake to discount the power of their story—and how their actions helped shove off a movement that took down some gross dudes who heretofore seemed untouchable. Bombshell is hands-down one of the best choices on the big screen this blockbuster holiday season. The eye-catching trio of blondes who make up its core cast is almost an intergenerational look. With Nicole Kidman as Gretchen Carlson, Charlize Theron as Megyn Kelly, and Margot Robbie as a fictional catch-all for the new set, Kayla Pospisil, they represent decades of women journalists fighting their way through through corporate television media, its pervasive sexism and worse. Carlson’s post-termination lawsuit against network executive Roger Ailes for sexual harassment was the precipitating event for story, yet

it’s Kelly’s decision about whether to stick her neck out as a second high-profile woman making similar allegations that makes up the central plot tension in the retelling. Theron, also a producer, nails Kelly from the voice and posture to the tips of her pointy shoes—with big props to facial prosthetics and a crack makeup team the New York Times is already naming on the Oscar shortlist. Makeup and prosthetics also transform John Lithgow into the corpulent, predatory Ailes— utterly unlikeable and smarmy. In one scene with Robbie, the isolated sounds of their breathing and his fidgeting in the chair are enough to tell a long, terrorizing story. The tone of the whole production leaves room for the audience to cheer for the obvious heroines and hiss at the blatant villains, even get in a few chuckles and maybe a tear or two. How those lines are blurred—even in who is labeled as winner and loser—also factors into what makes this one a hit. (Julie Ann Grimm)

Violet Crown, Regal 14, R, 109 min.

UNCUT GEMS

+ SANDLER, THE MUSIC, THE CINEMATOGRAPHY

- TOTAL AND UNRELENTING CHAOS

Uncut Gems, the new film by the Safdie Brothers (Good Time, Heaven Knows What) sits somewhere between the realm of magical realism and hyper reality. Much like Good Time, the Safdies’ high-stress crime thriller from 2017, Uncut Gems is unrelenting, frenetic and not for the faint of heart. The film follows Howard “Howie Bling” Ratner (Adam Sandler), a fast-talking, leather jacket-clad, down on his luck diamond dealer

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and hustler as he desperately tries to pay back his huge gambling debts by placing bigger and riskier bets. He was once at the top (fancy house, fancy car), but has gotten himself into a hole thanks to too many unlucky deals and a diminishing interest in the diamond-encrusted Furby necklaces he sells at his shop. His wife Dinah (Idina Menzel) can’t stand the sight of his “stupid face” anymore, his daughter hates him, his assistant Demany (Atlanta‘s Lakeith Stanfield) thinks he’s a joke. Only his mistress, Julia (Julia Fox) continues to believe in him and comforts him as he cries, “Everything I do is not going right!” Howard is both schlimazel and schlemiel (Yiddish for unlucky and foolish) in every sense but we can’t help but love him. It’s Sandler in diamond earrings! What’s not to love? The Safdies have a knack for capturing Howard’s sliver of New York—from the non-stop dialogue to the cacophony of cars honking on the street to the sound of the incessant buzzing of the double-bulletproof entrance to his shop. It’s a completely immersive experience that you sort of can’t wait to get out of. At the heart of all this chaos is Howard’s biggest gamble yet, a giant Ethiopian black opal he’s planning to put up for auction at a hugely inflated price. “You can see the whole universe in opals,” Howard explains to Boston Celtics star Kevin Garnett (playing himself), who then insists on using the opal as a talisman for his upcoming game. The opal brings a sense of mysticism to Howard’s seedy world. Daniel Lopatin’s ethereal soundtrack, part sci-fi, part outer-space and part yoga class, adds another layer of depth, elevating Uncut Gems from the excruciatingly real streets of New York to the cosmos. An absolute must-see for those who could handle 48 hours in Midtown Manhattan. (AS)

Violet Crown, R, 135 min.

MOVIES the filmmakers painted themselves into a corner by not working together on an actually unified story—but part of it is the unrealistic pressures put on a series that may borrow from mythology, but is ultimately about lasers in space and hairy beasts shrieking “Ruggggghhhhhhh!” at humans and droids who somehow understand them (and vice-versa). Anyway, in Rise of Skywalker, Han Solo’s dead, Luke’s dead, Leia’s barely hanging on and the upstart young rebellion folk are busy trying to dismantle the empire. But ruh-roh, turns out Snoke (the big baddie from the first two new movies) was a clone the whole time, and Emperor Palpatine (the big bad from the other six movies) is totally still alive somehow, and he’s trying to pull the strings from his totally bitchin’ and evil Sith compound on some far-flung planet no one can find. But find it they will, so long as actors like Keri Russell show up to have a few lines that work like stand-ins for actual story and character development. Space lasers are shot, lost planets are found, harrowing backstories are revealed and oh-so-many sequel possibilities are set up. All the while drama unfolds while John Williams music swells. But no one really acts in these movies so much as they deliver ham-fisted rhetoric about fate and destiny and space lasers. They’re kinda like monologues that provide the same information over and over again. Then there are the crammed-in love stories, the abandoned love stories and the whole mire of unanswered questions raised by Abrams and crew; they all lead to an ending that’ll make you think things like “OK, that coulda been worse,” or “I will defend this to the death because liking Star Wars defines me as a person!” Either way, the movie’s fine if you don’t take it too seriously—kind of like all Star Wars movies. (ADV)

Violet Crown, Regal (both locations), PG-13, 142 min.

WED - THURS, JANUARY 8 - 9 1:15p Fantastic Fungi 1:45p Pain And Glory* 3:00p Fantastic Fungi 4:15p Midnight Family* 4:45p The Two Popes 6:00p Fantastic Fungi* 7:15p Pain And Glory 7:45p Fantastic Fungi* FRI - SAT, JANUARY 10 - 11 11:00a The Two Popes* 11:15a Fantastic Fungi 1:00p 63 Up 1:45p Pain And Glory* 4:15p Pain And Glory* 4:30p Fantastic Fungi 6:15p Fantastic Fungi 6:45p Pain And Glory* 8:00p Fantastic Fungi SUNDAY, JANUARY 12 11:00a Remember Baghdad presented by SFJFF 11:15a Remember Baghdad presented by SFJFF* 1:00p 63 Up 1:45p Pain And Glory* 4:15p Pain And Glory* 4:30p Fantastic Fungi 6:15p Fantastic Fungi 6:45p Pain And Glory* 8:00p Fantastic Fungi MONDAY - TUES, JAN 13 - 14 12:00p 63 Up 12:45p Fantastic Fungi* 2:30p Pain And Glory* 3:30p Fantastic Fungi 5:00p Pain And Glory* 5:15p Fantastic Fungi 7:00p Pain And Glory 7:30p Fantastic Fungi*

STAR WARS EPISODE IX: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER

+ SPACE LASERS! - WHO CAN EVEN GIVE A SHIT ANYMORE?

It would seem there are two types of contemporary Star Wars fans at this point— those who embraced director/writer Rian Johnson’s vision in the previous mainline series entry, The Last Jedi, and those who don’t. Last time out, we learned how lightside Rey (Daisy Ridley) and dark-side Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) share some kind of bond through The Force. We learned that Leia (Carrie Fisher) could survive in the cold vacuum of space for some reason. How Luke (Mark Hamill) could project a hologram across the galaxy that could choose whether or not to physically touch people and things. Meanwhile, the rest of the gang (John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Kelly Marie Tran and them droids) flew all over the place visiting space casinos, freeing space horses, learning space secrets and doing space stuff. Well, JJ Abrams is back at the helm now, and he’s undoing or re-kajiggering as much of Johnson’s stuff as is humanly possible. Part of this is fan service (there is perhaps no more toxically vocal fanbase than the Star Wars set), part of this is trying to wrap up a Disney-fied version of George Lucas’ original vision—and say what you want, he did it his way the whole time without concerning himself over corporate interests (see the documentary Empire of Dreams for more on that). Part of it is how obviously

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Pres t

47 51

58 62

ACROSS

50 Kind of base or reserve 52 Ukraine capital, locally 53 He presided over the O.J. trial 54 At the location 55 “Open 24 hours” sign material 57 Turns used materials into something better 59 Missing comment? 62 Garment edges 63 Skincare company with a Hydro Boost line 64 Affirmative votes 65 First-person action-adventure game with a “Death of the Outsider” sequel 66 He worked with Branford Marsalis

11 Rapper with the Grammynominated album “Based on a 1 Spill it T.R.U. Story” 5 Catchphrase from Barbara 12 Medium-dry Spanish sherry Walters heard a lot recently 13 Bad hour for a car alarm to go off 15 Ceremonial observance 14 “We Are Number ___” 16 RZA’s group (song meme from “LazyTown”) 17 During 20 Far from meaningful 18 Nearly done with the 24 Use a SodaStream on, say return trip 26 Area 51 sighting 19 Uninterrupted sequences 27 Letters in some personal ads 21 Russian ruler of the 1800s 29 Mark often used for metal? 22 Messy Halloween prank 35 Concluding with 23 Former Rocket Ming 37 2019 Max Porter novel 25 Paper promises about a whimsical boy 28 2014 drama with David 38 Part of AMA Oyelowo and Common 39 Johnson’s predecessor 29 Company whose founder 40 Menacing recently left its board 41 Important interval in jazz music 30 “Watch somewhere else” 43 Old Faithful, e.g. letters DOWN 45 Easter-related 31 “I feel ___” 46 Glare 1 Prepares (for impact) 32 Like mortals? 47 Sentries at entries 2 French city known for its porcelain 33 Go fast 51 Not as much 34 Protein for some sushi rolls 3 Feeling all excited 54 Pack of hot dog buns, often 4 Occasion for storytelling 36 Communication where K 56 Oaxacan “other” and V differ only by a thumb 5 Nashville sound 58 Cone dropper 38 “Silent All These Years” 6 “Pen15” streaming service 59 AFC South team, on scoresinger Tori 7 “Possibly” boards 42 Thomas who drew Santa Claus 8 ___ Tome and Principe 60 Opus ___ (“The Da Vinci 44 Knock down ___ (African island nation) Code” group) 48 Unvaried 9 Available for purchase 61 I, to Claudius 49 Sucker 10 Some P.D. officers

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PEACHES was living outside and rescued on Christmas Eve, just as snow started to fall. She is a beautiful, outgoing, affectionate cat who gets along with other cats. She and NOELLE would make an adorable pair if you are looking for two. PEACHES is a Turkish Van mix based on her white coat with matching color points on her ears and tail. She is approximately 1.5 years old.

NOELLE was spotted sitting outside in someone’s yard but she ran away. A few days later, another homeowner reported a small cat was sleeping in her portal. Thankfully we were able to trap her and bring her safely inside. NOELLE is a little shy at first, but quickly warms up and purrs when cuddled. She likes the company of other cats and would benefit from a cat companion. NOELLE is a Turkish Van mix with brown tabby ears and tail. She is approximately 3 months old.

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UPAYA ZEN CENTER: START THE NEW YEAR ESTABLISHING A ZEN MEDITATION PRACTICE Come get acquainted with Upaya and experience a full day of meditation practice at a ZAZENKAI on January 11 or January 18 from 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. The day includes sitting and walking meditation, a Dharma Talk, one hour of work practice, rest periods, and 3 vegetarian meals. Meditation instruction is offered. Register at upaya.org/programs, registrar@upaya.org, or 505-986-8518. 1404 Cerro Gordo, SFNM.

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ADOPTEE SUPPORT GROUP For those of us who are adoptees, we live our lives filled with questions of loss, grief and trust every day. The Zory’s Place Adoptee Support Group provides a safe space where we can explore our feelings with others who understand and share similar experiences. 2nd Wednesday of every month, 7 - 8:30 pm 1600 C Lena St, Conference Room, Santa Fe Facilitator: Amy Winn, MA LMHC-CMH0184591, Adoptee 505-967-9286

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Weatherby

MEET WEATHERBY! He is a handsome 3 years old pooch who currently weighs about 61 pounds and is underweight. He needs to pack on about 10 or more pounds. He came to the shelter because his owner could no longer care for them and he is now ready for a new family. An ideal day for Weatherby would include a lovely long walk with his favorite person and lots of treats! Here at the shelter Weatherby has done well with other dogs. As always, if you have another dog at home you’re more than welcome to bring them in for a Meet n’ Greet.

Chloe

CHLOE IS A BEAUTIFUL ONE YEAR OLD DOMESTIC SHORT HAIRED KITTY. She found her way to the animal shelter from her foster and is now ready for a family of her own! She weighs about 8 pounds currently, which seems healthy! We are still getting to know Chloe – so far she has been a little bashful but sweet. Come meet her today!

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