November 2017 Green Fire Times

News & Views

from the

Sustainable Southwest

JOURNEY to EL NORTE The Hidden Faces of Northern New Mexico

RENEWABLE ENERGY and ENERGY EFFICIENCY November 2017

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Vol. 9 No. 11

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Vol. 9, No. 11 • November 2017 Issue No. 103 PUBLISHER

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Barbara E. Brown

News & Views

from the

Sustainable Southwest

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Karen Shepherd CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Mark Chalom, Tammy Fiebelkorn, Alejandro López, Jessica Molla, Estevan Rael-Gálvez, Levi Romero, Seth Roffman, Ana Malinalli X Gutiérrez Sisneros, Beata Tsosie-Peña, Don J. Usner, Sylvia Ernestina Vergara CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS Mark Chalom, Leland Chapin, Alejandro López, Jessica Molla, Seth Roffman, Brooks Saucedo, Tamara Spagnola, Beata Tsosie-Peña, Don J. Usner, Gary Vaughn, Sylvia Ernestina Vergara PUBLISHER’S ASSISTANTS Cisco Whitson-Brown, Steve Jinks, Gay Rathman ADVERTISING SALES Call: 505.471.5177 Email: Info@GreenFireTimes.com John M. Nye 505.699.3492 John@GreenFireTimes.com Skip Whitson 505.471.5177 Skip@GreenFireTimes.com Anna C. Hansen 505.982.0155 DakiniDesign@newmexico.com Steve Jinks 505-303-0501 SteveJ@GreenFireTimes.com DISTRIBUTION

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CONTENTS OP-ED: Raising Consciousness and Imagining Reconciliation ­— Estevan Rael-Gálvez. . . 7 Tewa Women United’s 21st Gathering for Mother Earth Waters and an Update on the Española Healing Foods Oasis — Beata Tsosie-Peña . . .. . .. . .. 9 A New Mural on the Española Valley Fiber Arts Center — Ana Malinalli X Gutiérrez Sisneros . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. 11 Española Lowrider Museum in the Works — Don J. Usner . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .14 Eran en los Días de los Héroes — Levi Romero. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . 16 Moving Arts Española Healthy Meals Program. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . 18 Book Review: The Working Life of an Hispano Patriarch — Alejandro López . . .. . .. 19 The Sun Shines in Denver — Mark Chalom . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. 25 New Mexico Ranks in the Bottom Third Nationally in Energy Efficiency — Tammy Fiebelkorn . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . 31 Arboles (The Cottonwoods) — Sylvia Ernestina Vergara. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . 32 Newsbites . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . 37 What’s Going On. . .. . .. . .. . . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . 38

ON THE COVER

Mural by Nani Chacon, Española Valley Fiber Arts Center, Española, NM, 2017 (See pg. 11) Photo © Leland Chapin, Northern Río Grande National Heritage Area

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OP-ED: Estevan Rael-Gálvez, Ph.D.

W

RAISING CONSCIOUSNESS and IMAGINING RECONCILIATION

Americans in which people are depicted as people that are static and frozen in time. These offensive portrayals erase entire cultures, collapse others and fail to account for the ethnic mixtures resulting from indigenous, European and African cultural convergence in New Mexico history. The people who lived in that moment at the edge of the 18th century would continue to evolve, their communities and individual lives continually intersecting, sometimes violently, sometimes lovingly.

Contextualizing Contemporary Fiesta To understand the significance of the controversies associated with Fiesta, it is necessary to look closely at how the historical narrative of the Santa Fe Fiesta has developed over time. Contrary to what many may believe, like any festival, contemporary Fiesta has evolved over time, reflecting less accurately the period of history it aims to depict and more the period in which it is invented. Thus, while the original 1712 proclamation called for an annual commemoration “with vespers, mass, sermon and procession through the Main Plaza,” the current Fiesta bears little resemblance to the 18th-century observation.

© Seth Roffman (2)

hile the annual Santa Fe Fiesta has now passed, the dust it always raises never fully settles. As I witnessed the growing voices that gathered in protest over the past few years, particularly around the ritual of the entrada that depicts a very particular version of the late 17th-century “reconquest” of the region by Spanish authorities, following the 1680 Pueblo Revolt, I recognized both the challenge and opportunity before us.

Being proud of a cultural and ethnic background is not dependent upon a story of domination. For the Hispanos of New Mexico, there is a wealth of legacy from which to draw that includes great beauty and profound wisdom reflected in centuries of art, literature, agriculture, philosophy and architecture. The imperative before us requires a commitment to recover and transform the colonizing views of these histories, revisiting them, story-by-story, site-by-site and event-by-event. We all have the responsibility to create spaces for Santa Fe’s residents to begin to remember — to pull back the layers and to put ourselves back together again, whole.

Today’s Fiesta was invented in 1911, reflecting the then-growing Several issues are definitive as we work toward a collective vision for national trend of costumed historical vignettes and pageants, and Top: Performers take a bow after the entrada future portrayals of history: Certain interpretations of the past are also was driven by the desire to increase tourism to the city. The idea re-enactment, Santa Fe Fiesta, 2016 not defensible and cannot withstand to depict the “reconquest” was the brainchild of Episcopal minister Above: Entrada protest, Santa Fe Plaza, 2017 any standard of historical credibility; James Mythen. It evolved under the leadership of the founder of colonialism was not a positive good for anyone, including the Museum of New Mexico, Edgar Hewett, and others who, upon arriving in Santa both Hispanos and indigenous people and their heirs; and Fe, began a gradual reimagining that idealized a mythic past, place and its people at the the representation of these people, including the deeply expense of the actual and profound complexity of the population and their experiences. flawed “tri-cultural” framework that has long defined the The introduction of the “Spanish Court” into the Fiesta, including a queen, followed populations of New Mexico, obscures the complexity and in subsequent decades, and the establishment of its present-day parameters paralleled diversity of these historic and contemporary identities. national methodologies used to teach about the past across the nation, in house museums and textbooks, all of which conflated and simplified history.

Charting a Path Forward Leading the development of the city’s cultural plan, The Challenge Culture Connects Santa Fe – A Cultural Cartography, last At the heart of the protest around Fiesta is the story and how it is being told. The portrayal year revealed that Santa Feans live in a place where of a “bloodless” reconquest set in a moment of purported peace, however, fails to recognize joy and pain co-exist, where fractures are so endemic everything that led to that moment in 1692, as well as everything that followed. Further, that we seem to accept them as normal. One recommendation that like many pageants, the entrada has been justified in the name of tradition, though it is surfaced was “to address tensions that arise from historic trauma and ongoing inequities,” not actually grounded in the full history and wisdom of the people it allegedly represents. such as those that are reflected in some of the components of the annual Fiesta. Doing Today’s interpretations must be challenged and reexamined, for they obscure and erase, and so will require first acknowledgment and then redress, which may come in the form of harm even those who witness or participate in them, not contributing in any meaningful a retelling. way to deeper historical understanding.

Part of the dissent of Fiesta also revolves around the vocabulary used — celebration, bloodless, reconquest — language that fails to accurately recognize the contours of colonialism and its effects. Equally as troubling is the stereotypical representation of both Hispanic and Native

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Santa Fe has exceedingly difficult challenges ahead—and resolving the tensions around Fiesta is but one—though I choose to see opportunities that acknowledge the community’s

CONTINUED ON PAGE 8

Green Fire Times • November 2017

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Raising Consciousness and Imagining Reconciliation continued from page

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contested past and propel us toward a more positive future. Our community’s work will require stamina because this type of work can take generations to navigate and foster. If a “tradition” can be invented in 1911 that celebrates “reconquest,” I am confident we have the creative capacity in our community to reimagine Fiesta to strengthen, rather than divide, us. This work will require an understanding that no single event or discussion will be able to address the challenge. This work requires a dedication to process and a framework or platform for meaningful discussions about the past, including how intricately connected people are, in spite of perceived and real fractures.

In the spirit of imagining reconciliation, I propose the following ideas for consideration:

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• Establish the Fiesta Reconciliation Committee: Historical trauma is not unique to Santa Fe. Some contemporary communities across the world have worked diligently to identify these harms and transcend them.

Places like South Africa, or closer to home, Greensboro, N.C., have created Truth and Reconciliation Commissions comprised of a dedicated group of people who believe that healing is necessary.

• Resolanas de Fiesta: H i s p a n i c communities throughout northern New Mexico shared information and addressed internal and often longstanding tensions through Resolanas.

This is a potential model for open and transparent dialogue in Santa Fe. • Gathering Stories: While there were many points in Santa Fe’s history punctuated by violence and conflict, over the past 300 years, there have also been times of positive convergence and unity reflected in cross cultural marriages, inter-kin networks (comadrazgo and compadrazgo) and friendships. Gathering and disseminating these historic and contemporary testimonies is a process that is continually necessary in a community.

• Tracing the Degrees of Connection: It is said that there are only six degrees of separation between people, though in spite of the divisions, I believe there are even fewer degrees in a community of our size. The goal of this project would be to chart that connectivity.

• Accentuating Ancestry: In spite of

more than a century of accentuating false notions that Native American a n d H i s p a n o c om mu n i t i e s a re homogenous, they actually share some common ancestors. Revealing this genetic connectivity through a community-wide family-tree project would function to create new openings for understanding the past.

• Envisioning A Future: Invite the public to participate in writing a letter from the future. Envisioning themselves as members of the Fiesta Council in 2021, four years from now, writers can reveal how reconciliation led to a Fiesta that brought the community together.

Because of years of loss and displacement for Hispanic communities in Santa Fe, there is a perception that by changing the “tradition” of the entrada and its focus on the reconquest, they will once again lose something.

Understanding this will be imperative to addressing transformation, likely necessitating a facilitator to work with stakeholders to identify core stories and issues that are inclusive, support building pride, and yet still identify a counter narrative that is accurate.

Being proud of a cultural and ethnic background is not dependent upon a story of domination.

In many way s the imperative before us reminds us of our responsibility to each other in the community. More than ever, we need to identify and create countless acts that reflect the collective and transformational power in our communities and that recognize that reconciliation is possible.

While we have not even begun to measure the depths of the cultural wounds in our community, mine is a fugitive faith grounded in the strength of Santa Fe, and confident that healing is possible. ■ A native son of New Mexico with both Hispano and indigenous ancestral connections, Dr. RaelGálvez is currently a writer, creative st rategist and the founding principal of Creative Strategies 360°, which supports transformative work within communities, governments, universities and cultural-based organizations. Prior to this, he was senior vice president of Historic Sites at the National Trust for Historic Preservation; executive director of the National Hispanic Cultural Center; and State Historian of New Mexico.

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TWU’S 21ST GATHERING for MOTHER EARTH WATERS and an UPDATE on the ESPAÑOLA HEALING FOODS OASIS Beata Tsosie-Peña

R

© Beata Tsosie-Peña

eawakening and growing within the fertile Río Grande Valley is a consciousness that is spreading like the seeds and land we continue to care for. The spiritual, physical and mindful connection that northern New Mexico communities nurture in relationship to plants, soil, air, water and each other is one that can ensure a return to our continued, sustainable existence in this place. Diversity is one of our greatest strengths when it is recognized that we all hold a responsibility to the Native and land-based peoples to live here in respect, honor, support and solidarity for the roles we share in helping to act as caretakers of this sacred place. How can we reclaim how to live and coexist in a culture of peace with each other and with our Mother Earth?

One way is through continued education and awareness, nurturing our spiritual connections and coming together in our strengths, sharing solutions and creating space for ceremony in order to face head-on the issues that threaten our cultural ways of life and food traditions.

Water blessing participants at the Pilar campground listen to Louie Hena after a water blessing along the Río Grande.

Diversity is one of our greatest strengths.

These organizations, along with TWU’s Tsaya In’/Circ le of Grandmothers collaborated in support of a unified gathering, which took form in the 21st Annual G4ME Waters, over the course of four days in September 2017. In 2016 Eight Northern Indian Pueblos Council adopted a resolution in support of the event.

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Española Healing Foods Oasis amaranth harvest, in collaboration with The Garden’s Edge of Albuquerque and Quachuu Aloom/ Mother Earth Association from Guatemala

© Brooks Saucedo (2)

This year the Mother Earth Ecological Wellness Collaborative, made up of Tewa Women United (TWU), Traditional Native American Farmers Association, Four Bridges Traveling Permaculture Institute, Red Willow Center and Farm, New Mexico Acequia Association, Local Collaborative 18, and Honor Our Pueblo Existence, again sponsored the Gathering for Mother Earth (G4ME). Another sponsor was the Communities for Clean Water coalition (ccwnewmexico.org). This collaboration aims to combine resources and networks to continue education and foster awareness of the many issues we face regarding our food and seed sovereignty, environmental violence, protection of sacred sites, protection and restoration of our air, lands, animals, plants and waters, and the need for continued knowledge sharing in a culturally relevant way within our communities.

Participants at the September harvest. Beata Tsosie-Peña (wearing sunglasses, turquoise dress) is in the center.

This year’s G4ME was a series of water blessings, linking communities that live within a sacred convergence of rivers;

communities that help care for natural springs in mountains and canyons, honoring the energies that feed life. Day one was hosted by the Northern Youth

Project Garden in Abiquiú, where there was story-sharing, tamales, music, art and a harvest to thank the youth for their CONTINUED ON PAGE 10

Green Fire Times • November 2017

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Gathering for Mother Earth Waters 9

hard work in the fields and to honor the water source, the pueblo’s sacred spring.

e Helped Want

Day two was hosted by Red Willow Center and Farms of Taos Pueblo,and took place along the Río Grande at the Pilar campgrounds.

Elder grandmothers gave blessings, and Louie Henna of Tesuque Pueblo shared teachings from his life experience on the river. The evening event took place at the YMCA Teen Center in Española, where collaboration with TWU’s A’gin program and Complex Movements from Detroit provided an impressive multimedia display of water stories from our region.

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Day Three took place in the beautiful Nambé Falls campgrounds. It was sponsored by the Nambé Pueblo community, which served a bountiful meal that culminated in a familyfriendly evening of dances and culture sharing at Pojoaque Pueblo’s Poeh Museum.

Day Four, along the Pojoaque River, started at sunrise at the Pojoaque Pow-wow grounds where the gathering is held annually. Waters from all the locations were joined in ceremony, in a renewal of our shared commitment to life in our special home. Andrew Kimbrell, from the Center for Food Safety led a community discussion. Lunch was prepared by the Four Bridges Tr a ve l i n g Pe r m ac u l t u re Institute’s Agri-Kidz program.

The four days ended in blessings of rain and rainbows.

It is through nurturing our relationship to water that we can become open to the potential we all hold for creating beloved community in the healing context of our love of place. In this spirit of community and respect for water, TWU’s Environmental Health and Justice program, along with many community collaborators, volunteers and sponsors, has been leading the creation of the Española Healing Foods Oasis, in Valdez Park. This demonstration garden, a model for rainwater harvesting in an urban setting, provides an outdoor educational space to teach indigenous agriculture, reconnect with our native seeds, plants and their uses, promote language and cultural knowledge, increase access to healthy food and invoke our ability as landbased peoples to adapt to climate change.

The garden, which broke ground in the spring of 2016, is currently in Phase III. Recently, the hardscape, which includes

handrails for stone staircases, curvilinear bancos and a shade pergola at the base of the slope, was completed. In early September, the site hosted the second annual Regeneration Festival Española.

The community came together and planted more fruit trees. There will be many more tree plantings, as well as more seeding of native grasses and wildflower gardens to encourage pollinator and wildlife habitats and further land restoration.

There is now a sponsorship sign for existing and potential sponsors. More signage and multi-lingual plant labels will be installed in the coming season. Plant knowledge talking circles are in the works.

There has been an outpouring of support in the form of hundreds of intergenerational

© Brooks Saucedo

continued from page

Española Healing Foods Oasis amaranth harvester

volunteers, grants, sponsors and a continued partnership with the City of Española. Teaching and learning together, we are already harvesting and distributing plant medicines and holding planting and harvesting workshops on traditional foods such as amaranth.

The garden’s participants also include community artists, weavers, permaculture practitioners, herbalists, healers, educators, seed savers and farmers. If you would like to get involved, donate, or volunteer, contact maia@tewawomenunited.org or beata@tewawomenunited.org. ■ Beata Tsosie-Peña is of mixed ancestry from Santa Clara Pueblo and El Rito, N.M. She is a poet, farmer, early childhood specialist and program coordinator of Tewa Women United’s Environmental Justice Program. http://tewawomenunited.org

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A NEW MURAL on the ESPAÑOLA VALLEY FIBER ARTS CENTER

The Artist: Nani Chacón

© Leland Chapin, Northern Río Grande National Heritage Area

A na M alinalli X Gutiérrez Sisneros

Techniques unique to different parts of New Mexico’s Río Grande Valley can be seen in the mural.

The River Flows Through It is the name of Chacón’s new mural at EVFAC. It bears a unique feminine beauty. Two women are depicted spinning beautiful flowers into a magic thread that drops out of sight, towards the earth. “La ebra de la vida, the thread of life,” pensé yo.

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I asked Ms. Chacón what the mural represents to her. She said that it speaks to the unique and creative efforts of fiber artists of the Española and the Río Grande valleys of northern New Mexico who have a long history there. As a part of this work, with support from the EVFAC, she presented a mural apprentice workshop to five Española youth.

Three different techniques unique to different parts of New Mexico’s Río Grande Valley can be seen in the mural.

The motif around the windows is indicative of Navajo and Río Grande rugs, as well as common patterns used throughout the Southwest. The stripes reflect manta embroidery, specific to Pueblo tribes of the region and the Pueblo influence on Spanish embroidery. The flower motif that flows throughout the mural is colcha embroidery, a technique handed down through generations. In northern New Mexico, colcha embroidery patterns took on a regional aesthetic, incorporating stylized motifs of local flowers and birds.

Butterflies and the cochineal bug, used for natural dye, are depicted. Chacón said that the two women in the mural pay homage to an artist who transforms fiber into a vision.

© Tamara Spagnola

I

met Nani Chacón in 2014, when she was the official artist for the national Mujeres Activas en Letras y Cambio Social conference, hosted by Northern New Mexico College in El Rito, Nuevo México.

In 2015, I noticed a dramatic mural of Doña Maclovia Zamora she had painted on a drugstore wall in the Barelas neighborhood of Albuquerque. In the summer of 2017, I saw a woman painting on an exterior wall of the Española Valley Fiber Arts Center (EVFAC) in Española’s Mainstreet neighborhood. It was Chacón, the NavajoXicana artist from New Mexico.

One has the gift of youth, the other the gift of experience. They are in the beginning stages of fiber art creation, processing the fiber into thread or yarn. This act is the essence that connects the artist to the landscape, history and community. It is a representation that ties historical traditions to the future.

Nani Chacón is the third woman I have seen painting a mural or murals in

Nani Chacón painting the mural at the Española Valley Fiber Arts Center

Española in the almost 35 years I have lived there. Patricia Rodríguez was the first, in the 1990s, during Mainstreet endeavors, when director Carol Guzmán commissioned her. One of Rodríguez’s works is the train mural on the west wall of CONTINUED ON PAGE 12

Green Fire Times • November 2017

11

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the Mainstreet Theatre. Rodríguez was one of the founders of Las Mujeres Muralistas, in the Mission District of San Francisco, California. It is relevant to note that the Chicano Mural Movement began in the 1960s, when artists in the Southwest began painting buildings, schools, churches and other public areas in Mexican-American barrios, or neighborhoods. They were mostly male artists, who richly conveyed social justice issues relevant to Mexican and Latino-Americans. The perspectives of women artists remained unrepresented.

Chacón produces celebrations of womanhood.

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Enter Las Mujeres Muralistas, an allwomen art collective founded by Patricia Rodríguez, Graciela Carrillo, Consuela Méndez and Irene Pérez in the early 1970s.

Their mural art celebrated the culture and contributions of Mexican-American and Latina women, acclaiming womanhood, plus the sociopolitical issues of the day.

In the footsteps of these gran mujeres, our fore-mothers of arte femenina, Nani

Chacón has come into her own, painting in many different locations, as you can see at her website (www.naniChacón.com). The paintings and murals that Chacón produces are indeed celebrations of womanhood.

Her new mural in Española was dedicated in September 2017. This east wall, this resolana, is a sacred place, as the east is where, every morning, we greet jóhonaaéí, the sun, the closest star to our planet. May the grace of that sun that gives us four things—light, warmth, life and love—shine upon beautiful Nani Chacón and the loved ones who surround her. ■ Ana Malinalli X Gutiérrez Sisneros, an Advanced Practice Psychiatric Nurse, has practiced rural nursing for 35 years. She is Associate Professor of Nursing at Northern New Mexico College and owns a business, MalinalCo Nursing Consultants. Sisneros has done research with recovering heroin addicts in Río Arriba County, and recently completed a qualitative study exploring ethnic identity as a mediator of mental health amongst the genízaro.

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Green Fire Times • November 2017

13

ESPAÑOLA LOWRIDER MUSEUM in the WORKS

Photos and A rticle by Don J. Usner

A

palpable buzz about lowrider cars and culture has been stirring ever since the New Mexico History Museum and New Mexico Museum of Art mounted twin exhibits on lowrider cars and culture in the summer of 2016. These shows and the “Lowrider Summer” events that the City of Santa Fe sponsored—including a spectacular car show on the Santa Fe Plaza that drew 130 cars and thousands of people—rekindled a passion for these cars that had been simmering for a long time.

Further celebrating the importance of lowriders to the history and culture of New Mexico, the Museum of New Mexico Press put together a book about them, Órale Lowrider: Made in New Mexico. The new book showcases lowriders through photographs and revisits in two essays their history and contributions to the legacy of New Mexico folk art traditions.

All this activity and recognition stands in stark contrast to the reputation that

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Lowriders have earned a place as vital contributors to New Mexico’s cultural heritage.

once haunted lowrider culture. For many years, they were regarded as an unsavory and unruly element of Mexican American culture, often associated with gang activity. In the burgeoning epicenter of lowrider car culture in East LA during the 1960s and 70s, to the streets of Albuquerque and Española, law enforcement sought to restrict lowrider activity and to keep the cars and their owners from congregating in public spaces. And the concern was not all unfounded; the lowrider scene has at times attracted violent elements that have instigated disorder.

The response to the events and the book demonstrated that all that has changed.

Even though these iconic cars no longer cruise the streets of Northern New Mexico in the numbers they once did, they are

Green Fire Times • November 2017

nevertheless all around, with many passionate devotees who cherish them. I was closely involved with the museum exhibits, for which I provided some photographs, and the b o ok , f o r w h i c h I offered photographs and an essay. I knew some lowriders, had written previously about them, and had attended several car shows in Española.

I learned first-hand that the mainstream lowriding no longer deserves the dark reputation of the past. As I mingled with families, watching kids crawl over the meticulously restored cars, and as I visited home garages, with evidence of hard work and creativity at every side, it became obvious to me that the culture had moved on from the days of association with decadent behavior. So it was with great enthusiasm that I have championed the people and the cars, which many

Chris Martínez with his 1953 Cadillac, Plaza de Española, 2012

people now recognize as an art form that is profoundly expressive of Northern New Mexico culture.

Throughout my experience with lowriders, I noted time and again that admirers of the glimmering cars, on the street and in the elegant halls of the museums, repeated the comment that “there should be a lowrider museum in Northern New Mexico.” Most of the time, those words were followed with, “It’s got to be in Española.” It seemed to be universally agreed that Española represents the home of the quintessential lowrider, or MTV once quipped, Española is “the lowrider capital of the world.”

Many would quibble with the MTV statement, but nonetheless it became amply clear that a lot of people, from Española and elsewhere, would love to see a lowrider museum in Española. Española’s

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lowrider community, along with civic leaders from the City of Española, business people from the region, and economic development advocates from county and state government, pushed for the creation of an organization to champion the cause.

I joined this eclectic group to map out a plan for a lowrider museum, which, its turned out, had been on the minds of lowriders for a long time. After several gatherings, in the summer of 2017 we formed the Española Lowrider Museum Coalition. Our board and advisory group includes longtime lowriders from the Española Valley; representatives from state, county and city government, and leaders of nonprofit economic development foundations. The City of Española, Río Arriba County, the Northern Río Grande National Heritage Area and the Regional Development Corporation have all committed to purposefully support the coalition.

Realizing that the Española Lowrider Museum cannot thrive in isolation, the board has reached out to work with other organizations in the region. Although in time the museum may have its own building, the board plans to start out as part of “The Station,” a $3,500,000 container park development planned for historic downtown Española along Oñate Drive. Chicanos Por La Causa (CPLC), a community development corporation established in 1969, will manage this development under a 30-year operating lease. CPLC has a successful track record with commercial developments in Arizona that create local entrepreneurial opportunity and jobs for underserved communities.

For the museum’s initial incarnation, Lowrider Coalition envisions building a small museum in a container or two near to the restaurant and sports bar that will anchor the development. Recognizing the iconic stature of lowriders to the character of Northern New Mexico, plans currently call for the park to promote a “lowrider” theme that will hopefully set the venue apart as a unique and attention-grabbing destination. The coalition also intends to launch a richly interactive website that will keep the museum accessible to a wide audience of supporters throughout New Mexico and beyond.

Top: Donald Manzanares three-wheeling in his 1985 Buick Regal, Española, 2016

Middle: Donald Manzanares’s 1985 Buick Regal, Española, 2016

Left: Eppie Martínez “clowning” with his Ford Ranger, Chimayó, 2012

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To launch these efforts The Española Lowrider Coalition will seek support from nonprofit organizations, the City of Española and Rio Arriba County Lodger’s Tax grants and the state Departments of Tourism and Economic Development. CPLC has committed substantial matching funding towards the project, and would like to include the lowrider museum in its marketing plans for The Station.

Lowriders have come a long way from their early days as a loose affiliation of car enthusiasts cruising the streets of New Mexico towns on Saturday nights. The cars have grown in sophistication and technical abilities and style. Lowriders, once shunned as unsavory elements of a rebellious subculture, have earned a place as vital contributors to New Mexico’s cultural heritage. A lowrider museum is a natural next step in giving the cars and their owners the recognition they deserve. It just might also give a strong shot in the arm to the struggling economy of Rio Arriba County. ■ Don J. Usner was born in Embudo, NM. He has written and provided photos for books including Sabino’s Map: Life in Chimayó’s Old Plaza; Benigna’s Chimayó: Cuentos from the Old Plaza; Valles Caldera: A Vision for New Mexico’s National Preserve (winner of a Southwest Book Award); and Chasing Dichos through Chimayó (finalist for a 2015 New Mexico– Arizona Book Award.

Green Fire Times • November 2017

15

ERAN en los DÍAS de los HÉROES Levi Romero

T

he lowrider has always been a representation of individual expression and identity, with connotations of a rebellious and non-conforming nature. The vato loco archetype became the model for the lowrider, and it was that paragon of social deviance that formed the alluring quality that sometimes attracted a young Chicano feeling the need to affirm his individuality and social status. In my contemplations regarding the lowrider lifestyle, as I have witnessed it and lived it, as I have loved it and have attempted to outgrow my attraction to it, with no success—I have come to recognize that the lowrider bore not only the burden of his own individual identification, but also sustained the cultural traditions of language, religion, spirituality, allegiance to community, proclaiming proudly, even arrogantly, his existence in the reality of a social status smirked at by the status quo. I can recall as a young boy seeing these individuals parked in their lowered rides under the shade down by the river, or alongside turn-arounds, or cruising slowly through some dirt road weaving through the village; their slow rides bouncing rhythmically to the grooves spilling out from their car radios.

Los Héroes los watchávamos cuando pasaban echando jumito azul en sus ranflas aplanadas como ranas de ojelata eran en los días de los héroes cuando había héroes turriqueando en lengua mocha y riza torcida Q-volé

poetry rides the wings of a ’59 Impala yes, it does and it points chrome antennae towards

and I guess it also rides on muddy Subarus tuned into new-age radio on the frigid road to Taos on weekend ski trips

bendición benedictión es estar content Señor, gracias por…

Gracias por todo

16

how can I tell you baby, oh honey, you’ll never know the ride the ride of a lowered Chevy slithering through the blue dotted night along Riverside Drive Española

‘Burque stations rocking oldies Van Morrison brown eyed girls Creedence and a bad moon rising over Chimayó

ahora nomás pasan los recuerdos uno tras del otro y mi Corazón baila

yes, baby you and I are two kinds of wheels on the same road © Don Usner

Levi Romero, an author and New Mexico Centennial Poet, is from the Embudo Valley.

He has taught creative writing, Chicano Studies and cultural landscape studies at the University of New Mexico. His language is immersed in the regional manito dialect of northern NM.

Wheels

Cinco de Mayo Car Show, Española, 2015

Green Fire Times • November 2017

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MOVING ARTS ESPAÑOLA HEALTHY MEALS PROGRAM

Y

oung actor and circus artist Shanti Khalsa loves the Moving Arts Española Healthy Meals Program.

“Laura’s food is so good. It makes me happy and it helps me focus,” she said. Shanti is one of approximately 150 children who receive farm-to-table, vegetarian afterschool meals prepaared by chef Laura Cox at the facility north of Española, New Mexico on the Pueblo of Ohkay Owingeh.

25 percent of New Mexico K-12 students are living in “food-insecure” households.

The USDA, which funds the Moving Arts program through a grant managed by Help New Mexico, defines food insecurity as “the limited or uncertain availability of nutritionally adequate and safe foods or limited or uncertain ability to acquire acceptable foods in socially acceptable ways” (USDA Economic Research Service, 2017).

Healthy meals are an integral part of Moving Arts Española’s after-school care program, which also features free academic tutorial support and affordable, highquality instruction in circus arts, dance, drama, fashion design, gymnastics, music and visual arts. Meals and tutoring are free for registered students, and scholarships are available to cover the minimal class fees.

“The Healthy Meals Program was a direct response to the needs of hungry kids,” said Artistic Director Roger Montoya. “We started in spring of 2016 with a couple of slow cookers filled with beans and posole.

Last year, we served over 9,000 complete meals to hungry kids, their family members and caregivers. It’s been an amazing success and the community loves it.” Program Director Jessica Molla said, “Folks contact us all the time to ask if they can help serve the kids meals or donate funds and supplies. We are so grateful for the community’s interest and support.”

According to the Feeding America report, Map the Meal Gap (2017), New Mexico ranks third in the nation for highest rate of childhood food insecurity. Approximately

© Jessica Molla

Free Farm-to-Table Meals for Kids and Their Families

Chef Laura Cox serves a meal to a happy child during Moving Arts Española’s after-school program.

The meals are prepared and served fresh daily Monday through Thursday between 3:30 and 6:00 p.m. by Moving Arts’ own inhouse chef, Laura Cox. The meals are fully USDA compliant, and feature seasonal fruits and vegetables sourced from local farms in the Española Valley and other nearby rural communities.

Menus range from familiar options like healthy burritos and whole grain pizza to more exotic dishes like ratatouille and curried stews. Ms. Cox, who has a background in early childhood education and has worked with Cooking with Kids, says she loves coming up with meals that are familiar but just a bit challenging. “We are very fortunate to live in this fertile valley and have access to fresh farm produce,” Cox says. “I love to prepare meals that use readily available ingredients with the hope that it will inspire families to use more fresh

produce at home.” Most kids are willing to try something new and different, and many come back for seconds.”

A parent survey reports that 85 percent of the children who participate in the meal program have exhibited greater focus while studying and greater general physical wellness.

In addition to the USDA funding, the Frost Foundation and Siete del Norte CDC have supported the program with startup funding and a donation of commercial grade serving equipment. ■ Moving Arts is located at 368 Eagle Drive, Ohkay Owingeh (just north of the Ohkay Casino off of Highway 68). For more information or to help support the Healthy Meals Program, call 505.577.6629 or visit movingartsespanola.org

TUESDAY & SATURDAY EAT FRESH BUY LOCAL

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Green Fire Times • November 2017

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BOOK REVIEW:

THE WORKING LIFE of an HISPANO PATRIARCH

A Rare and Unusual Account by Apolonio Martínez y Ortiz, 1890–1976 A lejandro López

T

he book, The Working Life of an Hispano Patriarch, 1890–1976, by Apolonio Martínez y Ortiz, is a rare glimpse into the life of a courageous human being who, in his long life, confronted every manner of calamity and personal challenge without flinching. Quite the opposite, this native rural New Mexican from Chimayó transcended his difficulties with grace and aplomb. Not only did he manage to create a beautiful life for himself and for his family; he eventually became a revered community member and celebrated artist, as well as a successful cultivator of Chimayo’s most famous crop—chile.

About 10 years before he passed away, Martínez y Ortiz, a humble, predominantlly Spanish-speaking man, sat down to write his life story in a journal. The story was written entirely in longhand with

boldness, simple honesty and sincerity.

His life spanned the end of New Mexico’s Territorial period and the first several decades of statehood, a time of immense change in northern New Mexico.

At age seven, he began to journey out from his farming community of Chimayó into the illimitable spaces of the American Southwest in an effort to earn a living in a society progressively driven by the cash economy of the United States. In one of his earliest trips he copes with the loss of his father, who is brought back to Chimayó from a distant and arduous fruit-selling trek on the back of a horse-drawn wagon, only to die a few days later on the family farm.

While still a teenager, he and a few friends walk more than a hundred miles across a mountain range to the great plains of

AN EXCERPT FROM THE BOOK “WORKING LIFE OF AN HISPANO PATRIARCH, 1890–1976”

In 1920, I didn’t go out until June, and that was with an extra gang in La Veta. They had written to me to go work there and I went even though I wasn’t feeling very good. The boss got to take a liking to me, so later on I would work a little while and then he would ask me to go places with him. We would get in the car and go to wherever he had to go, then return just before quitting time. I was still sick and getting worse all the time. It got to the point where I couldn’t work anymore, so I came home. All this time I had been going to different doctors and none of them could cure me. I wanted to die because all I was doing was giving money to the doctor. I had a garden but my wife had to take care of it when she had time.

Around September or October, Celestina and my mother decided to take me to a médica in Tesuque. Her name was Doña Feliciana and she was famous for her healing powers. I didn’t want to go because the doctors had already told me that there was no cure for me. I told them that I would die on the road, but they insisted and they took me. My brother Atanacio hitched the horses to the wagon and we took off for Tesuque. It took us a whole day to get there. When we got there, my wife told Doña Feliciana why we were there and then I in turn, told her my story. I told her about the doctors that I had gone to and what they had told me. She told me, you finally got tired of giving your money to the doctors, so you came to me. I told her that hopes or wishes are the last to go and besides all I wanted to do was die, but I was brought here. So now you can examine me and tell me if you can cure me and if not, I won’t be surprised.

She told me to lie down and then she put her hands on my stomach. She kept her hands there for a long time, while she talked to the rest of the people that were there. At last she told me to get up and I was all anxious to hear what she had to say. You are not as ill as you think you are, and you don’t have anything that your doctors said that you had, she said. What you have is an inflammation in your stomach. I asked her if she could cure me and she said yes, if you stay here for two weeks. My wife, Vences, and I stayed; Atanacio took the wagon back home. Our other two boys had stayed with my mother.

Doña Feliciana would put me in a hot tub of water every day and she would cover me with blankets. My head was the only part of my body that would be uncovered.

She would fix tea from herbs for me to drink and she would massage my stomach.

She did this for nine days and then she said I could go home.

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Apolonio Martínez y Ortiz, ca. 1915

New Mexico, where they sell their labor to a company laying railroad tracks across the West. Working 10-hour days hauling timbers that weighed as much or more than he did, he grows physically stronger, mentally sharper and morally more uncompromising.

When he ventures into Colorado to work at a mill loading lumber onto boxcars, he brilliantly defends himself in an attack by thugs intent on proving their superiority over “the Mexicano.” He similarly emerges triumphant from another episode in which he is falsely accused of stealing a watch and thrown into jail. His strength and endurance are further tested when, working for a powerful and notorious builder of

public works in the San Luís Valley of Colorado, the team of horses he is driving is struck by lightning and some killed.

A survivor at heart, Martínez y Ortiz successfully weathers a period of being lost on foot in a vast forested area in southern Arizona where, predictably, he is looking for work, as the size of his family back home increases. As luck would have it, he is picked up by a group of men in a car who are just as lost, but who lack the map that he is carrying in his back pocket. They save him and he saves them.

Over the years, Martínez y Ortiz travels

CONTINUED ON PAGE 23

Green Fire Times • November 2017

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Green Fire Times • November 2017

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James H. Auerbach, MD and Staff support Green Fire Times in its efforts to bring about a better world by focusing on the people, enterprises and initiatives that are transforming New Mexico into a diverse and sustainable economy.

SoMe oF THe TopicS GreeN Fire TiMeS SHowcASeS: Green: Building, products, Services, entrepreneurship, investing and Jobs; renewable energy, Sustainable Agriculture, regional cuisine, ecotourism, climate Adaptation, Natural resource Stewardship, Arts & culture, Health & wellness, regional History, community Development, educational opportunities James H. Auerbach, MD provides dermatology services in Santa Fe, NM (Sorry, we are no longer accepting new clients.)

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To join the Law Center’s Green Business Partner program, please contact Elizabeth Lee at 505-989-9022, ext 118 or elee@nmelc.org

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Green Fire Times • November 2017

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The Working Life of an Hispano Patriarch continued from page

19

less, due to his ability to do many things—farm, build houses and sculpt. He becomes economically more secure as his farm prospers and demand for his chile crop grows. Together with his wife, Celestina, he is able to devote more of his time to his family, farm and community. In his latter working years, he supplements his livelihood with employment at the nearby New Mexico State Capitol and at Los Alamos Scientific Laboratories.

A memoir of endurance, ingenuity and profound humanity

He rounds out a life that could only be described as “blessed” when, during his final years, he is able to devote himself exclusively to carving Catholic religious icons called “santos,” play the harmonica and write out the inspiring story of his life.

Top: Creede, Colorado, 1911 (Courtesy, Creede Historical Society)

This memoir of endurance, ingenuity and profound humanity is a fitting tribute to this country’s oldest ethnic group after the Native Americans. Recognizing its importance, Ascensión Martínez, Apolonio’s son, now in his 90s, had been haunted for several years by the difficult challenge of rendering the fragile facsimile of his father’s memoir into the more enduring form of an actual book, which his descendants can hold in their hands, read and learn from.

Left: Apolonio Martínez y Ortiz cutting wheat in Chimayó with sons Ascensión and Roberto, 1946

Bottom:Creede, Colorado, 1911 (Courtesy, Creede Historical Society)

Ascensión Martínez first translated the manuscript into English and then made his dream known to his four adult children, Alex, Byron, Elizabeth and Victoria.

Together, one day in the spring of 2016, they set off on a journey of careful editing that would take them to the fulfillment of their father’s dream.

They were joined by first cousins, Benita, Richard, Robert and Berlina, as well as by Tío Arsenio, another of Apolonio’s sons, in writing forewords and Ascensión Jaramillo Martínez, introductions, devising Apolonio’s son chapters and chapter headings, choosing photographs to accompany the text and in deciding on venues for publication. It was an exciting process and it brought the family together every month for a four-hour marathon that included a homemade meal, reading out loud, dialogue, decision making and step-by-step planning.

Sixteen months later, the book, replete with an English text, more than 60 handwritten facsimile pages and numerous photographs, is being prepared for publication by Outskirts Press. It will be available close to Christmas at the Trujillo Weaving Shop in Chimayó. For more information, email Alex Martínez: amartinez@serjfp.org ■ Alejandro López is a native New Mexican writer, educator and photographer.

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Green Fire Times • November 2017

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THE SUN SHINES in DENVER

The American Solar Energy Society’s 46th Annual National Conference and the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon M ark Chalom

I

New Mexicans Bruce Davis, Gary Vaughn, Mark Chalom and Rob Althouse stand with Doug Simmers (green apron), who designed the solar oven that produces temperatures over 1,000 degrees.

Renewable energy is becoming a norm, replacing smokestacks and scared lands.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 27

www.GreenFireTimes.com

© Mark Chalom

© Mark Chalom

ASES advocates sustainable living and RE to cultivate community. This year’s conference allowed for much interaction and networking among presenters and participants. Various tracks dealing with technology, policy, markets and community involvement, presented the pieces needed to bring us to 100 percent renewables.

There were sessions and workshops on NetZero Buildings, Bio-Climatic Architecture, Community Solar, Material Technology and PV Installations. It was clear that we are well on our way to an RE future and

Mark Chalom and Lucy Stolzenburg, executive director of the Texas Solar Energy Society, examine a Vanguard satellite. They were both 7 years old when these satellites were launched. This was the first time solar panels were sent into space. The panels cost $500 per watt. Fifty years later, the price is 32 cents a watt.

Washington University built its home with precast, insulated concrete panels. The vertical columns are canales that allow rainwater to drain through vertical gardens.

Creative food production was highlighted in many homes.

© Mark Chalom

New Mexico was well represented with 11 registered, including four presidents of the New Mexico Solar Energy Association NMSEA, http://nmsolar.org/. I drove to Denver with Gary Vaughn, one of NMSEA’s former presidents. On the way we passed large fields of solar photovoltaic (PV ) panels and multiple large, threebladed wind generators—all generating electricity and adding to the renewable energy (RE) portfolio. We talked about this now becoming a norm, replacing smokestacks and scarred lands.

© Gary Vaughn

The ASES conference has been held annually since 1954. This year’s theme was Building a 100% Renewable Energy Community. It was fascinating listening to technical papers with an interdisciplinary and multi-directional approach. The DOE’s Solar Decathlon is a competition amongst colleges from around the country and two European schools. The goal is to explore the latest technologies to design and build a sustainable, net-zero energy home that generates its own power to take care of all energy needs, including an electric car. Both events demonstrated that a carbon-neutral society is achievable and can support a comfortable lifestyle.

© Gary Vaughn

n October 2017, two important, exciting events—the American Solar Energy Society’s annual conference and the Department of the Energy’s Solar Decathlon—were held at the same time in Denver, Colorado.

Photovoltaic (PV)covered parking lots and electric charging stations welcomed guests to the Solar Decathlon.

Built by students at the University of Maryland, the author’s favorite demonstration home was designed for a Native American family in Denver. The form was inspired by an image of an eagle.

Flexible, movable furniture combinations allow for traditional gatherings. The entry core is a solar greenhouse for growing food.

Green Fire Times • November 2017

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Green Fire Times • November 2017

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The Sun Shines in Denver continued from page

25

that there will be no stopping it or turning back, despite bumps in the road.

about the impact these panels will have on buildings.

Solar Cooking is not just chocolate chip cookies anymore. I attended a presentation by Solar Cookers International, www.solarcookers.org, a worldwide, nonprofit established to bring hope and empowerment to Third World families by eliminating the need for wood fires. Executive Director Julie Green explained solar cooking’s potential impact. The cookers can boil and pasteurize water. There has been a 33 percent reduction in smoke-related health problems where the technology has been used. “Healthier children,” she said with a smile. Alan Bigelow, the U.N. representative, showed an amazing range of state-of-the-art solar cooking technologies. Deepak Gadhia, from India, shared his designs and implementation of large-scale solar kitchens that produce more than 500 meals at once. He has utilized the Scheffler concentrator for commercial applications and would like to see it used by restaurants.

Jana Ganion, sustainability director for the Blue Lake Rancheria Tribe, from northern California, explained how her tribe is moving toward becoming a sustainable, carbon-neutral community committed to environmental and cultural stewardship. Their intent is to create economic opportunity and clean-energy jobs while reducing and leveling energy costs. They also intend to reduce or eliminate carbon emissions, improve the distribution grid and provide emergency power. To this end, as part of a micro-grid solution, they have installed numerous home-scale PV systems and a 500kw solar array with 950-KWH Tesla battery storage.

The tribe, which saves over $200,000 in energy costs annually, earned the 2015-16 White House Climate Action Champion award.

Women in Solar was packed with talented, dedicated people representing all fields in the industry. Engineer Marlene Brown, an international solar PV instructor from New Mexico, led the session. Also attending were NMSEA President Athena Christodoulou and Jill Cliburn, a consultant and ASES board member from Santa Fe. Cliburn presented a paper on her U.S. DOE-funded work to promote community solar nationwide and make it a win-win for all involved. In one case, she sought to address PNM’s concerns, as well as community goals, policymakers’ and technicians’ complex technical issues—establishing common ground to identify a working model and keep everyone at the table.

The most prestigious ASES honor went to another New Mexican, Edward Mazria, who was given the Charles Greely Abbot Award for his solar energy research. Mazria first entered the international solar scene as the author of The Solar Energy Book. Published in 1979, it became one of the most important books on passive-solar design. He is also known for energyconserving architecture such as the Genoveva Chávez Community Center in Santa Fe. Mazria has showed that buildings make up the largest sector of energy use, much more than industry and transportation. His research has demonstrated that buildings’ energy use can be greatly reduced, and in doing so, the world can reduce CO2 emissions that contribute to global warming. Mazria’s Architecture 2030 Challenge, http://architecture2030. org/, calls for all buildings to be carbonneutral by 2030. Most architects, mayors, governors, cities, states, industry leaders and universities have signed on to this pledge.

Mazria and his staff have been researching building science, developing the methods, materials and design tools needed to design zero-net-carbon buildings. He has spoken at major universities around the world and to many state and federal government agencies including the U.S. Congress. He was not able to accept the ASES award in person, as he was flying to Asia to discuss bringing Architecture 2030 to China. Mazria will lead a training program there to teach architects how to design zero-net-carbon buildings.

We then saw a street full of homes of the future.

The Swiss had a large delegation at the conference. Architecture professor María Cristina Munari-Probst has developed a rating system that sets standards. She evaluated sensitive applications of solar panels appropriate for integration on historic buildings. This useful, simple tool should be utilized in cities such as Santa Fe. Keith Brooks, a materials scientist from H-Glass, a Swiss company, shared what he called the third generation of solar panels with dye-sensitized solar cells. These are transparent and have great potential for building-integrated PV. I’m excited

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We are on our way to a 100 percent renewable society. This was shown in so

CONTINUED ON PAGE 29

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27

many ways and disciplines. The pieces are coming together. To date there are over 171 community solar installations, generating 300 megawatts of power. There are now 373,807 jobs in solar alone, compared to 86,000 total jobs in coal. The PV industry is growing at a rate of 25 percent a year. PV power continues to develop and drop in cost.

exhaust air and preheat incoming fresh air.

Automatic watering systems minimized water usage. Techniques include harvested rainwater, reprocessed gray-water and hydroponics. The Swiss team had an aquaponics system. They fed a tank of fish. The nutrient-filled water was filtered through the vertical wall of plants. Both are healthy food sources.

We then saw a street full of homes of the future. They were varied and creative, with an electric car in the driveway and eatable landscapes in the front yard. The U.S. DOE decathlon is a competition between universities chosen to design and build a real home that demonstrates state-of-the-art in energy conservation, RE technology and sustainable lifestyles.

The prize is $300,000. These homes were designed for a specific client, site and climate. They power all appliances and introduce sustainable systems, materials and creative water-saving. The teams were judged on criteria including: architecture, engineering, communications, innovation, technology, health, comfort and energy use. The teams spend up to three years on this project. Each had to develop a marketing plan, raise the money to participate, cook a large meal for guests, charge and drive the car 25 miles daily, use appliances, monitor all water and energy usages, and give tours of their home. The grand prizewinner was the Swiss team, followed by University of Maryland in second and a collaboration of the University of California-Berkeley and the University of Denver in third.

As we drove home, we had time to discuss, evaluate, and share what we had experienced.

We listed some of the notable elements we saw repeated in a number of instances.

Kinetic architecture—movable walls to change spaces by size and function, and exterior walls that open the home to the outside—provided shade while changing the angle of the PV panels. Movable furniture could be interconnected to achieve additional functions.

The addition of plants—some food producing, and others to help regulate fresh air and humidity—provided lovely additions to many homes. There were a lot of vertical gardens inside and out.

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After homes with SIP (structural insulated)

These homes were comfortable, aesthetically pleasing and complex. Many in this world want at least some of what they have to offer. I was pleased that ASES and the

© Mark Chalom

The Solar Decathlon www.solardecathlon.gov We drove into a large parking lot with PV-covered shade and a bank of electric charging stations. This was parking for the Denver Light Rail mass transit system.

As one steps off the train, the PV-covered canopies protect the commuters.

Water use was one of the judged categories.

Rainwater harvesting and grey-water processing were common. Water was reused in landscaping and toilet flushing. Local codes limit many creative approaches to water reuse. This will change. Composting toilets, one with worms, were common elements.

University of Denver designed theirs to be stackable to produce multifamily units.

UC-Davis utilized wood from drought stricken areas of California. Northwestern University used titanium dioxide to help keep windows clean as well as to draw out airborne pollutants.

PV and grid-tied systems were used. Most homes had batteries to manage loads and take advantage of “time-of-use” rates. All appliances were electric, including the heating backup. All were powered by the sun. It was strange to see a house designed for Bolder, Colorado, without a wood stove or fireplace. Just heat it with solar energy, both passive and electrical.

panels were designed and built at campuses, they were disassembled and shipped to Denver to be reassembled for the competition and then taken apart again— only to be reassembled once more at the specific location for which they were designed. These systems were developed to achieve this flexibility. Team Netherlands developed a creative joining system based on Legos.

We had time to discuss, evaluate, and share what we had experienced.

Monitoring was critical. Everything was monitored to optimize efficiency, collect data and operate complex systems. Interaction was through LED screens and voice activation like Alexa to operate and control lighting, appliances, HVAC heating, ventilation and air conditioning and let you know real-time data.

Heat pumps were used in the HVAC systems, extracting heat or coolness depending on season. These are extremely efficient and were used more than solar collectors for heating and cooling and for hot water, although some homes still utilized solar thermal units in line with the heat pumps. Heat recovery ventilators were also common, to extract heat from stale

The Swiss team rethought the concept of “home.”They developed a very flexible space, allowing it to function as a community center.

Moveable walls opened the structure to the exterior. They built a wall with glazing on both sides, introduced fresh outside air, and it became a passive-solar clothes dryer.

The University of Maryland designed itshome with an entry greenhouse, vertical gardening with automatic hydroponics and a drop-down solar crop dryer to preserve food. The Swiss had a green roof. The University of Missouri utilized “American Clay,” a natural earth plaster manufactured in New Mexico. It helps modify humidity and temperature. UC-Berkeley and the

Kinetic, movable walls opened the Swiss team’s home up to the exterior, extended shade, and pointed PV panels to the summer sun. This team used PV panels on the south, east and west sides, saving the roof for rain collection and a green roof (for vegetation).

decathlon addressed the needs of all people in the world by developing appropriate technologies that can bring all of this into a new renewable-energy society.

The experience and knowledge the participating students received has been extraordinary and well worth their commitment. Student teams already are preparing to go to solar decathlons in China, Dubai, Africa, Europe and Latin America. ■ Mark Chalom is a Santa Fe-based architect known for designing passive-solar and sustainability into earthen buildings.

Having explored vernacular architecture f rom around the world, he integrates simple climatic technologies. Chalom designs, builds and teaches. In 2012, ASES awarded him the Passive Solar Pioneer award. Solarch@rt66.com

Green Fire Times • November 2017

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NEW MEXICO RANKS in the BOTTOM THIRD NATIONALLY in ENERGY EFFICIENCY

Tammy Fiebelkorn

F

or the second year in a row, New Mexico ranked 35 th in energy efficiency and its inherent benefits.

The state scored lower than the national average and well below other states in the region. The score should concern New Mexicans and state officials because better energy efficiency policies would help the Land of Enchantment prepare for challenges related to fluctuating energy costs and climate change, such as wildfires, storms and droughts. It is also a critical tool for withstanding and recovering from economic shocks.

As more states struggle with extreme weather events, the 2017 State Energy Efficiency Scorecard (http://aceee.org/ state-policy/scorecard) gives state-level policymakers a roadmap for building stronger and more-resilient communities.

The 11th annual report from the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) shows which states are doing the best on energy efficiency.

A blueprint for how to improve New Mexico’s energy-efficiency.

The scorecard assesses state policies and programs that improve energy-efficiency in homes, businesses, industries and transportation systems. It examines six policy areas in which states typically pursue energy efficiency: utility and public benefits programs and policies; transportation policies; building energy codes and compliance; combined heatand-power policies; state government-led energy-efficiency initiatives; and appliance and equipment standards.

Energy-efficiency means reducing the amount of energy that you need to perform a particular task. When you practice energyefficiency, you increase or maintain your level of service but decrease the energy used to provide that service through efficient technologies. Examples include ENERGY STAR appliances, compact fluorescent and LED lightbulbs, better insulation for buildings, more efficient windows, highefficiency air-conditioning equipment, and vehicles with higher miles per gallon (mpg). Another distinct strategy is energy conservation, which means that you change your behavior or lifestyle to reduce energy use. Examples include carpooling, using

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mass transit, turning thermostats down in the winter and up in summer, and other behavioral changes. Improving energyefficiency is a “win-win” strategy—it saves money for consumers and businesses, reduces the need for costly and controversial new power plants, increases the reliability of energy supply, cuts pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, and lowers energy imports.

There is vast potential for improving the energy-efficiency of homes, appliances, businesses and vehicles throughout New Mexico What New Mexico is Doing Well The ACEEE said New Mexico scored 3.6 out of 6 points for state government-led initiatives because of the state’s sustainable buildings tax credit, along with other stateled initiatives to increase efficiency.

The SBTC is an income-tax credit to encourage private-sector design and construction of energy-efficient, sustainable buildings for commercial and residential use. The tax credit is based on thirdparty validation of the building’s level of sustainability. The program has been highly successful, and was extended with some modifications in 2015.

The state also authorizes bonds for energyefficiency investments, and has enabled PACE financing, though active programs have yet to be established. The state government implements a comprehensive set of lead-by-example programs, including requiring efficient buildings and fleets, benchmarking public buildings, and encouraging the use of energy savings performance contracts.

Additionally, an analysis from the Southwest Energy Efficiency Project, a regional think tank, noted that the steps New Mexico already has taken have, in fact, generated significant benefits for the state and its people. SWEEP estimates that the net economic benefits from utility-efficiency programs operating in New Mexico over the last eight years total $355 million, according to the utilities’ own data.

The electric savings in 2016 also resulted in water savings of about 450 million gallons per year, enough to supply about 3,100 New Mexico households. As a result of energyefficiency programs implemented over the last eight years, the state’s electric utilities cut their CO2 emissions in 2016 by about 514,000 metric tons, the equivalent of taking about 96,000 passenger vehicles off the road. (www.swenergy.org/Data/Sites/1/media/ nm-success-story-ee-2017-final.pdf )

American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy National Scorecard Map

But while SWEEP’s report shows that the state’s utilities have improved their electric energy-efficiency programs during the past several years, data from ACEEE also highlights other areas where New Mexico falls short.

Where New Mexico Falls Behind New Mexico’s poor ranking results from low scores on transportation (1.5 out of 10), utility energy efficiency (4.5 out of 20), building energy efficiency (2.5 out of 8), combined heat and power (1.5 out of 4), and appliance standards (0 out of 2).

Transportation: Transportation scored low because New Mexico has failed to develop any sort of policy framework to encourage efficient transportation. Unlike surrounding states, New Mexico currently offers no incentives for either the purchase of an electric vehicle or the installation of a public EV charging station, despite numerous legislative efforts by Rep. Jim Trujillo and others to implement such incentives.

Utility Programs: New Mexico also scores poorly on utility efficiency programs (4.5 out of 20). The Efficient Use of Energy Act, originally passed in 2008 and updated in 2013, is the main driver of utility-efficiency programs. The EUEA established energy savings requirements for investor-owned electric utilities of 5 percent of 2005 total retail kWh sales by 2014, and 8 percent of 2005 total retail kWh sales by 2020. The EUEA also established a fixed budget level of 3 percent of annual revenues for energy efficiency programs.

Utility programs: All NM investor-owned

utilities are on track to meet the savings requirements set forth in this legislation for 2020. The state’s utilities offer a variety of energy-efficiency programs that provide money saving opportunities to residential and commercial utility customers. However, the 8 percent savings goal is low compared to other states, and savings goals do not rise after 2020 under the current legislation.

Building Eff iciency: Building energy efficiency is another area where New Mexico has significant room for improvement (Score of 2.5 out of 8). The state energy conservation code is the 2009 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC). Since 2009, four new IECC templates have been released, but New Mexico has made no moves to update its statewide codes.

CHP: Combined heat and power (1.5 out of 4) has definite room for improvement.

Combined heat and power (CHP) refers to generating electricity at or near the building where it is used, and then “recycling” the waste heat and using it for space heating, water heating, process steam for industrial steam loads, humidity control, air conditioning, water cooling, product drying, or for nearly any other thermal energy need. The end result is significantly more efficient than generating cooling, heating, and power separately. The state has an interconnection standard and offers incentives for the deployment of CHP, but no new CHP installations were completed in 2016.

Appliance Standards: New Mexico has no appliance standards; therefore the state

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Green Fire Times • November 2017

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New Mexico Ranks in the Bottom Third continued from page

31

received 0 out of 2 points. Minimum efficiency standards for residential appliances and lighting have been one of the most successful policies used by other states and the federal government to save energy. Appliance-efficiency standards prohibit the production and import or sale of appliances and other energy-consuming products less efficient than the minimum requirements. These standards not only save energy but also reduce pollutants, improve electric system reliability and save consumers significant amounts of money over the life of the equipment. Standards help to assure a level playing field by eliminating products with burdensome operating costs and hastening the development of innovations that bring improved performance.

The national report can provide state

lawmakers and other elected officials a blueprint for how to improve New Mexico’s energy-efficiency. The state’s consumers, water supply, air quality and role in curbing climate change all would benefit from more progressive laws and policies. ■ A lbuque r que r esident Tammy Fiebelkorn is the New Mexico representative for SWEEP (Southwest Energy Efficiency Project, www.swenergy.org) and president of eSolved, Inc., an environmental and business consulting f irm. Fiebelkorn has degrees in Economics and Finance from Northeast Louisiana University and a master’s degree in Environmental Economics from Colorado State University

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ÁRBOLES (THE COTTONWOODS)

Poem and photo by Sylvia Ernestina Vergara

Driving along the Río Grande, I see a procession of cottonwood trees

A procession of many thousands of sun-browned nymphs caught in a trance— Turantilla dance sweeping along the Río Grande as if this flowing river were a spring bride wandering with her woodland handmaids down a winding aisle of a high desert canyon—

Árboles, arbolando— movimiento parado— movimiento revuelto en las raíces— Pies destendido abajo la tierra, perdido en un mundo duro—a veces suelto en ríos más abajo— en ríos revueltos en sueños— Escondido en la sombra de descanso los brazos de los árboles duermen.

They are still, Yet the branches outline such sweeping movement against the blue sky—

It’s as though pages of life were pressed against the horizon of my vision— pages of a story about beautiful trees and how they got to be— How they got so gypsy-like with wandering branches— arching bows— trunks tilting into the wind—

Laurels of leaves frame, enchant, embellish the sylvan spirits of the árboles along the bosque—

How did they get to be?

How did they get to be?

Sighing, they paint brush the answer in the wind.

Sylvia Ernestina Vergara is an author, composer, choreographer and Embudo Valley farmer.

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NEWSBITEs MOVING NEW MEXICO FORWARD ON CLEAN ENERGY

Under a proposal from New Mexico Attorney general Hector Balderas, utilities in the state could have more impetus to move to renewable energy (RE). Under the proposed clean-energy standard, they would have to cut CO2 emissions by 4 percent through 2040, which, supporters say, would protect ratepayers from costs of future environmental regulations. The New Mexico Public Regulation Commission (PRC) last month approved (3-2) a proposal that calls for scheduling public workshops on a clean-energy standard. Commissioner Patrick Lyons wants the workshops to be held in northwestern New Mexico, where utilities are looking to retire their coal assets.

PNM’s draft Integrated Resource Plan would end the utility’s coal-fired generation by 2031. Four units at the San Juan coal plant would be retired and PNM would exit the Four Corners coal plant, relying instead on natural gas and renewables. Xcel Energy is planning two wind farms in eastern New Mexico and will buy energy from two being built in Texas. It is projected that 40 percent of that region’s annual needs will be wind-driven by 2021. More than 1,800 MW of wind are under construction or in advanced stages of development in New Mexico. However, many of those projects will serve out-of-state customers.

Last month, a PRC hearing examiner rejected part of PNM’s 2018 renewable energy procurement plan because it excluded bids by independent power producers to own plants on PNM’s preselected sites. Opponents said this would unfairly allow the utility to choose only turnkey projects that PNM itself would own and run. PNM has appealed the examiner’s recommendation.

New analysis by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), based on modeling of a series of future energy scenarios, reveals that RE, not gas, is New Mexico’s lowestcost long-term solution. The report advocates a strengthened renewable portfolio standard (RPS) to help ensure a transition to clean energy. Last legislative session, SB 312 was introduced to that end. The effort stalled, but it’s expected to be revisited in future sessions. UCS’s report says: “By committing to an energy plan dominated by renewables, policymakers can secure good jobs, significant capital investment and a healthier world for all New Mexicans. This can be achieved while keeping costs for consumers affordable, and electricity service reliable.”

New Mexico’s efforts to encourage more RE follows EPA head Scott Pruitt’s move to repeal the Clean Power Plan, former President Obama’s signature climate rule.

A repeal, however, likely won’t stop states from investing in RE.

NAVAJO NATION TRANSITIONING FROM COAL TO SOLAR

On Sept. 12, President Russell Begage signed an executive order implementing a clean energy economy for the Navajo Nation. “The Navajo Generating Station (NGS) is shutting down, forcing us to make a huge paradigm shift. We are upgrading our entire infrastructure and infusing money for small businesses. I’m getting our nation ready to make this transition,” Begaye told PRI’s The World. “Part of it is creating solar farms, wind farms, natural gas. The [Colorado] river runs through the Navajo Nation for hydroelectricity production.”

The NGS and its nearby coal mine, which have provided about a third of the nation’s operating budget, provided about 725 jobs, and supported more than 100 local entities, are shutting down at the end of 2019—a victim of cheap natural gas and the declining market for coal. The NGS’s emissions contribute to haze that clouds views at the Grand Canyon and 10 other national parks and wilderness areas. In 2015, its smokestacks spewed more than 14 million metric tons of CO2 into the atmosphere.

The tribe has invested in and plans to manage the Kayenta Project, a 27.3-megawatt solar farm in northeastern Arizona. The project has begun producing electricity and is capable of powering 13,000 homes on the 27,000 square-mile reservation, home to 200,000 people. Some of those houses will be getting power for the first time. Begaye has negotiated for the rights to transmission lines so the Navajos can sell power from solar or wind farms onto the grid. “If Beyage follows through with bringing the Kayenta Solar Project online, its positive effects—on climate change, tribal independence and job opportunities—can be world-changing,” said Navajo filmmaker, Tony Estrada.

REPORT: 7% OF NM RESIDENTS NEAR OIL & GAS POLLUTANTS

National environmental groups Clean Air Task Force, Earthworks and FracTracker have produced an interactive online map (www.oilandgasthreatmap.com) that pinpoints active oil and gas facilities across the country, along with the number of homes, schools and medical facilities within a half-mile of them.

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According to the map, 138,400 people in New Mexico, about 7 percent of the state’s population, lives near the more than 55,000 active wells, compressors and processing facilities—most in Eddy, Lea and San Juan counties. Within a half-mile radius of these sites, there are 99 schools, serving 32,000 children.

As part of the project, the groups released videos shot with infrared cameras that picked up gas plumes—apparently methane mixed with volatile organic compounds— coming from vents at facilities in Sandoval and San Juan counties. Multiple studies have documented respiratory, neurological problems and cancer links to oil and gas operations’ pollution. The administration of President Donald Trump plans to repeal or roll back pollution controls at coal and natural gas plants.

A spokesman for the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association has been quoted saying that the Threat Map is part of a “misleading campaign of fear” on the part of environmental activists and that operators in the state always strive to comply with state and federal laws. With the recent multibillion-dollar investment by companies in southeastern New Mexico’s Permian Basin, oil and gas production and its impacts on communities is expected to increase.

INTERSTATE STREAM COMMISSION MEMBERS RESIGN

Following the resignation of New Mexico Interstate Stream Commission (ISC) Director Deborah Dixon, three ISC members, including Chairman Caleb Chandler and longtime director, Jim Dunlap, abruptly resigned last month, alleging that state statutes were not being followed and that State Engineer Tom Blaine was trying to control the commission. As an example, Dunlap reportedly said that Blaine told the ISC’s former director to drop a challenge to water rights applications by a major mining company, after having met with representatives of the firm without giving the commission’s attorneys a chance to attend.

The resignations came the same week that decisions favoring Texas and the United States against New Mexico were announced in the U.S. Supreme Court, and reports that $12 million has been spent in the Arizona Settlement planning for the Gila River diversion, despite little progress to show for that spending.

Gov. Susana Martínez appointed Blaine state engineer in 2014. He also serves as secretary of the commission. The governor also appoints the ISC’s other eight members. The commission, whose monthly meetings are open to the public, is supposed to be an independent agency that provides transparency regarding state water policy and spending. Former ISC Director Norman Gaume sued the agency in 2014 for allegedly repeatedly violating the Open Meetings Act while making decisions about the Gila River diversion. The influential commission handles issues of water policy and management. The governor recently appointed two new members to ensure a quorum.

SPREADING CHROMIUM PLUME THREATENS AQUIFER

Sampling a new injection well in July, Los Alamos National Laboratories (LANL) detected hexavalent chromium (Cr) contamination five times greater than the New Mexico groundwater standard in the “sole source” groundwater aquifer that serves Los Alamos, Santa Fe and the Española Basin. The thickness of the chromium plume at the well location that had been thought to be at the edge of the plume is not exactly known, but elsewhere it has contaminated approximately the top 80 feet of the aquifer.

LANL’s “Chromium Plume Interim Measures Plan,” approved by the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED), is designed to remove contaminated water from the center of the plume through extraction wells, treat it and inject the treated water into the leading edge of the plume in an attempt to slow or halt the plume’s migration. The new data suggests that injecting treated water into the well now may only push the plume farther east toward San Ildefonso Pueblo and the Buckman Wells that the City of Santa Fe relies on for a third of its drinking water. Therefore, more injection wells may be needed to accurately find the true boundary of the plume, and remediation will take longer and cost more.

The NMED, which has granted the lab more than 150 compliance milestone extensions, weakened its own regulatory authority through a revised Consent Order governing cleanup that it agreed to with the Department of Energy last year.

The Environment Department also has forgiven about $300 million in potential stipulated penalties.

Hexavalent chromium, a known carcinogen, is the culprit in many illnesses, as depicted in the well-known film Erin Brockovich.

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WHAT'S GOING ON! Events / Announcements ALBUQUERQUE

Nov. 4, 6:30–8 pm, Nov. 5, 1–4 pm 2017 NEW MEXICO FILMMAKERS SHOWCASE AWARDS NHCC Bank of America Theater, 1701 4th St. SW 11/4, Ceremony, panel discussion with winners. 11/5: Free screening of winning films. 505.476.5604, Rochelle@nmfilm.com, nmfilm.com Nov. 4, 12:30–2:30 pm HEALTHY WRITING, HEALTHY YOU New Life Presbyterian Church, 5540 Eubank NE Integrating mind, body and soul through writing, yoga and Ayurveda. All levels welcome. $20/$30. www.southwestwriters. com/events/workshops/ Nov. 4, 2–5 pm NM INTERFAITH POWER AND LIGHT FALL GATHERING Central Methodist Church, 201 University Blvd. NE “Generations Caring for the Earth Together” Guest speakers: Lyla June Johnston and Pat McCabe. 2017 SEED and SPROUT awardees.

Free. joan@nm-ipl.org, www.nm-ipl.org Through Nov. 5 OUTSTANDING IN HIS FIELD: SAN YSIDRO NHCC Art Museum, 1701 4th St. SW Contemporary and traditional depictions of the patron saint of farmers & gardeners.

More than 65 artists. $6/$5/16 & under free.

Nationalhispaniccenter.org Nov. 9, 8:30 am–6:30 pm; Nov. 10, 8:30 am–4 pm STATEWIDE ENVIRONMENTAL LITERACY SUMMIT Sandia Mountain Natural History Center, Cedar Crest Bringing educators outdoors for professional development. Presentations, breakout sessions, awards ceremony. $50–$95. Presented by the Environmental Education Association. 505.859.3366, info@eeanm.org, https://eeanm.org/ programs/summit/ Nov. 10, 1:30–3:30 pm GREEN JOBS FAIR Amy Biehl High School, 123 4th St. SW Organizations and companies in the private, nonprofit and governmental sectors will represent work relevant to sustainability, environmental services, renewable energy and more. 765.748.8060 or Emily@ riversource.net Nov. 10–12 INDIGENOUS COMIC CON Isleta Resort Native and indigenous creators, illustrators, writers, designers, actors and producers of comic books, graphic novels, games, sci-fi, fantasy, film & television.

Indigenouscomiccon.com Nov. 11, 9 am–4 pm PUEBLO FIBER ARTS SHOW & SALE IPCC, 2401 12th NW 7th annual. Coordinated by the Pueblo Fiber Arts Guild. 24 artists showcase weaving, embroidery, spinning, knitting, crochet, sewing, basketry. Free. 505.843.7270, www. indianpueblo.org

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Through Nov. 11 CROSS-POLLINATION 516 Arts, 516 Central SW Exhibition at the intersection of art and science, featuring 21 artists from around the world, emphasizing the importance of bees and other pollinators. 505.247.1445, 516arts.org Through Nov. 11 LONG ENVIRONMENTALISM IN THE NEAR NORTH UNM Art Museum, 1 University of New Mexico A collection of photos and writings by UNM professor Subhankar Banerjee. Closed Sundays and Mondays. Unmartmuseum.org Nov. 15, 6:30–8:30 pm IN OUR LANGUAGE IPCC, 2401 12th NW Indigenous Power, Poetry and Music. With Radmilla Cody, Lyla June Johnston, Frank Waln and Tanaya Winder. Part of the KCLC Native Languages Symposium. A fundraiser for the Keres Children’s Learning Center. $10 suggested donation. Registration: www.kclcmontessori.org Nov. 15–17 QUIVIRA COALITION CONFERENCE Embassy Suites Hotel “Ranching and Farming at the Radical Center.” Conference will bring together thought leaders, agrarian innovators and land stewards. Plenary presentations, roundtable discussions and networking. Post-conference activities and workshops. Discounted rates to beginning ranchers, farmers and students. https://quiviracoalition.org Nov. 16, 2–4 pm COOPERATIVE CATALYST MEETING Hispano Chamber, 1309 4th St. SW Resources for organizations and individuals interested in cooperatives plus support for existing cooperatives. sandra.m@currentcenergy.com, www. facebook.com/The-CooperativeCatalyst-617649248623803/ Nov. 17–19 4TH ANNUAL PUEBLO FILM FEST IPCC, 2401 12th NW The only film fest in the country devoted to the work of Pueblo filmmakers.

Screenings, presentations and discussions.

505.843-7270, www.indianpueblo.org/ centerevent/4th-annual-pueblo-film-fest/ Nov. 23, 9 am TURKEY TREK 5K RUN/FITNESS WALK + KIDS 1K Benefit to support Horizons ABQ, academic achievement program for low-income public school students. https://register. chronotrack.com/r/34088 Dec. 13–14 STATE WATER PLANNING TOWN HALL “Advancing NM’s Water Future.”

Opportunity for the public to help develop policy priorities for the State Water Plan.

Presented by NM First. 505.225.2140, nmfirst.org

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First Sundays NM MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY 1801 Mountain Road Museum admission is free to NM residents on the first Sunday of every month.

505.841.2800 Saturdays, 1 pm WEEKLY DOCENT-LED TOURS National Hispanic Cultural Center 1701 4th St. SW Tours of different exhibits and themes in the Art Museum. $2-$3, free with museum admission. 505.246.2261, nhccnm.org ABQ 2030 DISTRICT A voluntary collaboration of commercial property tenants, building managers, property owners and developers; real estate, energy, and building sector professionals, lenders, utility companies; and public stakeholders such as government agencies, nonprofits, community groups and grassroots organizers. Property partners share anonymous utility data and best practices. Professional partners provide expertise and services. Public partners support the initiative as it overlaps with their own missions. Info: albuquerque@2030districts.org

SANTA FE

Nov. 4, 8 am–4 pm 18TH ANNUAL CONGRESO DE LAS ACEQUIAS Santa Maria de la Paz Parish Hall, 11 College Ave. Annual NM Acequia Assn. meeting.

Stories of Enduring Acequias, Testimonies in Defense of Water. Registration $25.

505.995.9644, www.lasaceequias.org Nov. 4, 8:30 pm–12 am NOCHE DE MUERTOS Museum of International Folk Art, 710 Cam. Lejo Benefit party for the museum education fund. Desserts by leading SF chefs. Facepainting for adults. Costume contest, raffle. $35/$60 couple. www.museumfoundation. org/events/post-noche-de-muertos/ Nov. 5, 3–4:30 pm WOMEN’S DIALOGUE SF Public Library Community Rm. Lincoln & Marcy Learn how to become self-empowered and authentic. Throw off negative societal rules in supportive, group experience. Free workshop presented by Betsy Keats, M.A. Registration required. 505.955.0873, bkempower1@gmail.com Nov. 6, 2–6 pm CAMPUS OPEN HOUSE Institute of American Indian Arts, 83 A Van Nu Po Rd. Open studios and classrooms, campus tours.

Dedication of new Performing Arts and Fitness Center at 3:30 pm. 505..424.2325, https://iaia.edu Nov. 9, 5–7 pm SF YOUTH SYMPHONY ASSN. OPEN HOUSE 422 Medico Lane Reception with music. RSVP by Nov. 6: www.sfysa.org/open-house.html

Nov. 13, 6 pm CHACO CANYON WATER Hotel Santa Fe SW Seminars lecture by Dr. Vernon Scarborough, author, The Flow of Power: Ancient Water Systems and Landscapes.

With geographer Jon-Paul McCool and archaeologist Samantha Fladd. $15. southwestseminar@aol.com, SouthwestSeminars.org Nov. 6, 7 pm IT CAN’T HAPPEN HERE! Adobe Rose Theater, 1213 Parkway Dr. Local personalities reading of Sinclair Lewis’ play about the election of a totalitarian president. With Bob Martin, Pen LaFarge, Hollis Walker, Monica Sosaya Halford, Patricio Serna, Jennifer Graves. Benefits the National New Deal Preservation Association. $15. www.brownpapertickets.com Nov. 6–9 INDIGENOUS CONNECTIVITY SUMMIT Hotel Santa Fe Free event focused on connecting Indigenous communities to the Internet.

Success stories of Indigenous community networks. Panels, presentations, discussions. rl@1st-mile.org, www.internetsociety.org/ events/indigenous-connectivity-summit Nov. 7, 7:30–9 pm ENERGY AND MATTER AT THE ORIGIN OF LIFE The Lensic Presentation by award-winning author, Dr. Nick Lane, professor of biochemistry in the Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment at University College London.

Presented by the SF Institute. Free. Tickets: 505.988.1234, ticketssantafe.org Nov. 9, 5:30–7:30 MAYOR’S SUSTAINABILITY AWARDS La Fonda Hotel, NM Room Presentation to congratulate 2017 winners.

Businesses, advocacy groups, community organizations, schools and individuals. Displays from the winners showcasing their work. Free.

Open to the public. jealejandro@santafenm. gov, www.santafenm.gov/sustainable_santa_ fe_awards Nov. 9, 6–7:30 pm SEED: THE UNTOLD STORY SITE SF, 1606 Paseo de Peralta Seed keepers fight to defend the future of our food. Film features Vandana Shiva, Dr. Jane Goodall, Andrew Kimbrell, Winona LaDuke and others. Part of the SF Botanical Garden’s Sustainability Series. $7/$10. https://santafebotanicalgarden.org/ Nov. 10, 5–7 pm ARTSMART & MUSEUM OF ENCAUSTIC ART BENEFIT 632 Agua Fría St. Silent auction of photos and artworks benefit free children’s art education center and workshops. $25. 505.989.3283 Nov. 11, 9 am–1 pm HOUSEHOLD HAZARDOUS AND ELECTRONICS WASTE AMNESTY DAY Buckman Rd. Recycling, 2600 Buckman Rd. Motor oil, antifreeze, paint, pesticides, cleaning products, aerosol cans, rechargeable batteries, computers, monitors, TVs, cell phones, etc. Free.

505.424.1850, ext. 150, ndenton@ santafecountynm.gov

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Nov. 13–16, 10 am–3:30 pm MAKING SENSE OF THE ‘60S SYMPOSIUM NM History Museum Auditorium 113 Lincoln Ave. Presentations by David Farber, Lois Rudnick, Lisa Law, Roberta Price, Sylvia Rodríguez, Bette Novit Evans, K. Paul Jones and Mark Rudd. 4–day program: $125. Advance registration required. 505.982.9274, renesan.org, nmhistorymuseum.org Nov. 14, 28, 6 pm MIDTOWN SF SUSTAINABLE NEIGHBORHOOD SF Higher Education Center, 1950 Siringo Rd. Contribute ideas to the design of a sustainable neighborhood in midtown SF. Mixed-use, mixed-income, shared facilities, etc. http://bit.ly/SustainableSF Nov. 17–19 RECYCLE SF ARTS FESTIVAL SF Convention Center, 201 W. Marcy Trash fashion and costume contest (5–9 pm) kicks off the weekend-long annual recycled art show. 11/17, 9 am–5 pm; 11/18, 10 am–5 pm. $5. No admission fee on Sunday. Recyclesantafe.org Nov. 18, 10:30–11:30 am RAPTOR ENCOUNTERS Vista Grande Public Library, 14 Ave. Torreón Meet bird ambassadors. Info/Reservations: 575.757.7241. Hosted by Pecos National Historical Park.

Nov. 18, 5:30 pm ACTIONS MATTER PANEL DISCUSSION La Fonda, 100 E. San Francisco St. Bill Richardson and Sam Donaldson; moderated by Julie Mason of Sirius XM Radio. Reception followed by conversation. $160/adv. 505.820.0552, silverbulletproductions.com Nov. 24,25, 26 WISE FOOL-NM CIRCUS LUMINOUS The Lensic Aerialists, acrobats and other performers from throughout northern NM. 505.988.1234, Ticketssantafe.org Nov. 30, 5:30–8 pm WINTER WATERSHED BENEFIT Hotel Santa Fe, 1501 Paseo de Peralta Keynote speaker: Writer, professor, former state historian Hilario Romero.

Hors d’oeuvres, Silent auction, raffle: $30. Admission: $50. Benefits the SF Watershed Association. Tickets: www. santafewatershed.org Dec. 4, 6 pm LOWRIDERS I HAVE LOVED Hotel Santa Fe SW Seminars lecture by photographer/ author Don J. Usner. (See pg. 14) $15. southwestseminar@aol.com, SouthwestSeminars.org Dec. 9, 9 am–4 pm ANNUAL HOLIDAY MARKET IAIA Campus, 83 Avan Nu Po Rd. Works by over 70 students, faculty, staff and other Native American artists in the gallery in the Academic Building.

505.424.5704, cbrossy@iaia.edu Dec. 11, 6 pm VOLCANIC GEOLOGY OF THE JÉMEZ MOUNTAINS Hotel Santa Fe

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SW Seminars lecture by volcanologist/ geologist Dr. Kurt Kempter. $15. southwestseminar@aol.com, SouthwestSeminars.org Dec. 17, 2–5 pm SF ARTISTS’ MEDICAL FUND BENEFIT Yares Art Projects, 1222 Flagman Way Holiday party and silent auction. 250 artists donate 6”x6” artworks. Funds administered by the SF Community Foundation.

805.722.9776, eventswithLerin@gmail.com, www.santafeartistsmedicalfund.org Through Feb. 11, 2018 VOICES OF COUNTERCULTURE IN THE SOUTHWEST NM History Museum, SF Plaza Exhibit spans the 1960s and, 70s, exploring the influx of young people to NM and the collision of cultures. Archival footage, oral histories, photography, ephemera and artifacts. Curated by Jack Loeffler and Meredith Davidson. http:// nmhistorymuseum.org/calendar.php?

Sundays, 11 am JOURNEY SANTA FE CONVERSATIONS Collected Works Books, 202 Galisteo St. 11/5: William Smith, president of the SF Community Foundation; 11/12: SF Public Banking Task Force; 11/19: Shane Woolbright, NM energy utility expert, will discuss climate change challenges that face NM; 12/3: Garrett Veneklasen, candidate for Land Commissioner; 12/10: Dave Parsons, Mexican Wolf Recovery Program; 12/17: Attorney Daniel Yohalem will discuss the Public Education Department lawsuit.

Hosts: Alan Webber, Bill Dupuy and James Burbank. Free. www.journeysantafe.com Mon.–Sat. POEH CULTURAL CENTER AND MUSEUM 78 Cities of Gold Rd., Pueblo of Pojoaque In T’owa Vi Sae’we: The People’s Pottery.

Tewa Pottery from the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian. Nah Poeh Meng: 1,600-sq.-ft. core installation highlighting the works of Pueblo artists and Pueblo history.

Poehcenter.org Tues.–Sat. EL MUSEO CULTURAL DE SANTA FE 555 Cam. de la Familia Rotating exhibits, community programs and performances designed to preserve Hispanic culture. Elmuseocultural.org Tues., Sat., 8 am-1 pm; Weds., 3–7 pm SANTA FE FARMERS’ MARKET 1607 Paseo de Peralta (& Guadalupe) Tues., 3–6 pm: Plaza Contenta, 6009 Jaguar Dr. Northern NM farmers & ranchers offer fresh tomatoes, greens, root veggies, cheese, teas, herbs, spices, honey, baked goods, body-care products and much more. santafefarmersmarket.com Weds.–Sun. SANTA FE CHILDREN’S MUSEUM 1050 Old Pecos Tr. Interactive exhibits and activities.

505.989.8359, Santafechildrensmuseum.org Fridays, 2–4 pm TECH TUTORING Capitol Computer & Network Solutions 518 Old SF Tr. 505.216.1108, www.ccandns.com Sydney Davis of Elder Tech is offering free

tutoring with tech issues and facilitating lifelong learning. Bring questions and devices.

Sat., 8 am–4 pm RANDALL DAVEY AUDUBON CENTER 1800 Upper Canyon Rd. Striking landscapes and wildlife. Bird walks, hikes, tours of the Randall Davey home.

505.983.4609, http://nm.audubon.org/ landingcenter-chapters/visiting-randalldavey-audubon-center-sanctuary Daily SANTA FE BOTANICAL GARDEN 715 Cam. Lejo, Museum Hill Living museum on 14 acres. Ojos y Manos, Orchard Gardens, The Courtyard Gardens and the Arroyo Trails.

Santafebotanicalgarden.org

TAOS

Nov. 2, 4–6 pm BENEFIT FOR AMIGOS BRAVOS 114 Des Georges Pl. Tour ABs’ new office, raise a glass for clean water and then enjoy dinner next door at Eske’s Brew Pub. 575.758.3874, www. amigosbravos.org Through Feb. 18, 2008 CORN: SACRED GIVER OF LIFE Millicent Rogers Museum, 1504 Millicent Rogers Rd. Images of corn in Native American textiles, pottery, paintings, baskets and jewelry.

575.758.2462, www.millicentrogers.org Third Tues. Monthly, 5:30–8 pm TAOS ENTREPRENEURIAL NETWORK KTAOS Networking, presentations, discussion and professional services. Free. 505.776.7903, www.taosten.org

HERE & THERE

Nov. 4, 3–5 pm WINE & WAG ARTS & CRAFTS SHOW Jemez Springs Presbyterian Church, 17540 N.M. 4 Gala/auction to benefit animal welfare in the Jemez Valley. Participants must be 21 or older $12/adv. $15 at the door.

888.828.5822, ext. 4 Nov. 4, 5 pm NORTHERN NM COLLEGE FOUNDATION GALA Ohkay Convention Center, near Española, NM “Dream, Journey, Thrive.” Keynote speaker: Congresswoman Michelle Lujan Grisham.

Dinner, auction, performances by Moving Arts Española and Cipriano Vigil y Familia. $100. 505.747.2147, tmulert@nnmc.edu Nov. 4–5 DIXON STUDIO TOUR Dixon, NM 36th annual. Over 50 artists and businesses representing virtually every art and craft. Maps available at each numbered stop and can be downloaded from www.dixonarts.org. Participating artists can be met at the Collected Works show at the Community Center from 5–7 pm, Nov. 3. 575.776.7431, Dixonarts.org Nov. 6–7 REGENERATIVE EARTH SUMMIT University of Colorado, Boulder, CO. Food and agriculture’s potential positive impact on climate change. www.attheepicenter.com/ regenerative-earth-summit/

Nov. 16–19 YOGA, MEDITATION, REFLEXOLOGY RETREAT Mandala Center, Des Montes, NM Focus on health, reconnect with nature, discover ancient healing modalities.

575.278.3002, operations@mandalacenter. org, www.mandalacenter.org Nov. 18, 9 am–5 pm; Nov. 19, 10 am–4 pm HOMEGROWN: NM FOOD SHOW & GIFT MARKET NM Farm & Ranch Heritage Museum, Las Cruces, NM 60 vendors from around the state. $5 per vehicle. 575.522.4100 Nov. 28, 8 am–5 pm NAVAJO NATION BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY DAY Navajo Nation Museum, Hwy. 264 and Loop Rd., Window Rock, AZ. Business matchmaking and procurement expo. Networking and Exhibitor Opportunities, Breakout sessions for small businesses. Presented by the National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development.

480.371.8373, joan@ncaied.org Dec. 2, 10 am–4 pm ANNUAL OPEN BARN AND CHRISTMAS SALE The Wool Shed, Stanley, NM Natural wool yarns & blends for knitting, etc. Finished goods & equipment. A NM True provider. Text 505.204.6127 or thewoolshed. maplewindsfarm@gmail for info.

Feb. 6–8 GREENBIZ 18 JW Marriott Desert Ridge, Phoenix, AZ. Annual event for sustainable business leaders. www.greenbiz.com/events/ greenbiz-forum/phoenix/2018 First Mondays each month, 3–5 pm SUSTAINABLE GALLUP BOARD Octavia Fellin Library, Gallup, NM The Sustainable Gallup Board welcomes community members concerned about conservation, energy, water, recycling and environmental issues. 505.722.0039.

Mon., Wed., Fri., Sat., 10 am–4 pm PAJARITO ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION CENTER 2600 Canyon Rd., Los Alamos, NM Nature center and outdoor education programs. Exhibits of flora and fauna of the Pajarito Plateau; herbarium, live amphibians, butterfly and xeric gardens.

505.662.0460, www.losalamosnature.org First 3 Weds. Ea. Month, 6–7 pm SOLAR 101 CLASSES 113 E. Logan Ave., Gallup, NM Free classes about all things related to off-grid solar systems. No pre-registration necessary. 505.728.9246, gallupsolar@ gmail.com,Gallupsolar.org BASIC LITERACY TUTOR TRAINING Española area After training by the NM Coalition for Literacy, volunteer tutors are matched with an adult student. 505.747.6162, read@raalp.org, www.raalp.org/becomea-tutor.html SPIRIT OF THE BUTTERFLY 923 E. Fairview Lande, Española, NM Women’s support group organized by Tewa Women United. Info/RSVP: Beverly, 505.795.8117

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In a disaster scenario, where would you turn for clean drinking water?

In the last decade, natural disasters occurring in human populated areas have increased in both frequency and intensity. These events often incapacitate vital infrastructure, including essential potable water delivery systems and utility services. Disasters also debilitate access to critical medical care and equipment. There is an urgent need to deploy immediate, temporary relief of life saving water and services in areas affected by such disasters.

To solve this, a New Mexico startup has designed a self-sustaining portable shipping container that will house an atmospheric water-capturing device to provide emergency potable water in disaster situations.

It works by pulling ambient moisture (humidity) out of the air through various filters condensing it, and saving it as clean water in storage bladders for human consumption, medical aid and other emergency relief purposes.

Learn more at:

www.GreenAndSustainable.org Green Fire Times • November 2017

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