Contact Info
201 W. Marcy St.
PO Box 909
Santa Fe, NM 87501
artsandculture@santanm.gov
505-955-6707
Hours
Monday - Friday
8:30 am - 5:30 pm
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Culture Connects: Santa Fe
An initiative of the City of Santa Fe
Culture Connects: Santa Fe is a community-wide effort to shape the cultural future of our city. Through a series of creative, hands-on input sessions, we explored notions of culture, shared our dreams for Santa Fe’s future, and created a roadmap to realize our vision. Leading this effort on behalf of the City was Dr. Estevan Rael-Gálvez, a nationally-recognized leader in cultural strategies. We invite residents, cultural organizations, creative professionals, and community groups to continue to be involved in the process.
You may download Culture Connects Santa Fe: Cultural Cartography documents below. These include a letter of introduction from the Community Working Group, a 13-page Executive Summary, and the full Cultural Cartography. To facilitate download the Cartography has been divided into two documents; be sure to download BOTH files.
1. Culture Connects book summary
2b. Cultural Cartography CS Appendices
Social Media
Join the conversation on social media. Like us on Facebook! Follow us on Twitter! Don't forget to tag your posts with #CultureConnectsSantaFe!
Visit our YouTube Channel to see great Object Story videos along with highlights from Culture Connects: Santa Fe meetings!
Culture Connects Working Group
Appointed by the Arts Commission, the working group is responsible for providing feedback and guidance for Culture Connects: Santa Fe.
The group is chaired by JoAnn Balzer and is made up of individuals who represent a range of skills, experience, and expertise.
JoAnn Balzer Trustee, Institute of American Indian Arts; various nonprofit boards; philanthropist; collector
Judy Espinar Founder, International Folk Art Market; folk art expert; former small business owner
Adrea Fellows Walters, Director, Education and Outreach, Santa Fe Opera
Robert Kret Director, Georgia O'Keeffe Museum; former Director, Hunter Museum of American Art
Bob Martin Executive/Artistic Director, Lensic Performing Arts Center
Ana Pacheco Historian, author; publisher; City of Santa Fe Historian
Carmella Padilla Award-winning journalist; author; has written extensively about the art, culture, and history of New Mexico and the Southwest
Debra Garcia y Griego led the implementation of the Culture Connects Initiative and the future design and growth of the program. Garcia y Griego is Cabinet Secretary of the Department of Cultural Affairs of the State of New Mexico.
Robert D. Lambert, Jr. Community Gallery Manager. Lambert oversees the operation and programming of the Gallery, plans organizes, and implements all programming related to exhibitions, programs/workshops/events, and manages the advertising and marketing for the Gallery. “The component of Culture Connects that I feel has the most potential is its applicability to any group, program, department, or organization. With the basic tenets of Culture Connect as the guidepost, its flexibility and applicability to programming are universal. I anticipate that groups and organizations who are interested in participating will apply the Culture Connects ‘lens’ to their plan and be able to leverage their resources while maintaining their vision. Culture Connects will thrive when groups and organizations are encouraged to think creatively about how Culture Connects can be applied in their organization.”
Dr. Estevan Rael-Gálvez is a leader experienced in the management of cultural-based organizations, Dr. Rael-Gálvez served as the lead consultant for the Culture Connects: Santa Fe Plan. "I am confident that our work -- centering culture and planning culturally -- will point the way toward activating the community and invigorating the health and well-being of this unique place. One of our primary goals is to lead an inclusive and engaging planning process, all toward elevating the rich cultural resources and relationships found in the very fabric of the entire city," noted Dr. Rael-Gálvez. "But above all, the Cultural Cartography will begin to illuminate the potential that our layered, complex, and rich creative community holds now and in the future."
Culture Connects Projects/Initiatives
Culture embodies the shared complex and diverse heritage of a community, including its tangible and intangible virtues…It is the quiet and restless imagination that becomes an expression, from which emanates writing, song, performance, painting, sculpture, cuisine, dance, design, and story. When recognized, coalesced, and leveraged, culture is transformative. It ignites creativity, consciousness, and capacity.
--Culture Conencts Roadmap
Culture Connects Roadmap
Early in the pandemic, we identified that members of our arts community, specifically artists themselves, were among those hardest hit. Without normal venues for their performances and exhibitions, artists saw deep cuts in their professional economies. Initially, with help from the Lannan Foundation and generous members of our community, we started our Artist Relief Fund (more info HERE) and were able to distribute $500 grants to 92 artists throughout Santa Fe County. During that time, we realized that our work could not stop when that funding resource was expended. As a result, our request for Federal CARES Act funding was focused on better serving (and helping) the creative human resources of our community.
In the Fall of 2020, the City of Santa Fe Arts and Culture Department received over $70,000 in COVID Relief Funds as a function of Federal CARES Act support. In the interest of developing projects and programming that would have the greatest impact on our local arts and culture communities, we focused our funding activations on TWO primary functions: Promoting COVID Safe Practices and Artist Professional Training.
Promoting Covid Safe Practices
As a result of our ongoing close work with arts organizations and members of our creative community, we understand that artists are often the segment of society that helps us communicate with and more clearly view our world. During a crisis, the need for that insight becomes even more essential. In that light, we dedicated the largest portion of our Federal CARES Act funding for the contracting of artists to create COVID-safe messaging of education and hope. These projects were developed by artists and selected for their ability to communicate to populations of our community who were most at risk and displaying the highest infection rates in our community.
The first program was a series of bilingual video public service announcements to promote COVID-safe practices: face coverings, social distancing, and washing your hands. Our first promotion in the project was released in September 2020 and was entitled, "YO PROMETO". This PSA featuring Carlos Medina was produced by Kaela Waldstein of Mountain Mover Media and was based on the City’s “I Promise” campaign, developed to encourage residents and visitors to use safe practices while out in the community or while engaging with others. More Info HERE
Artist Mini Grants For Hope
These projects were conceived, developed, and implemented in the minds of local artists and varied from faux movie posters promoting the use of face coverings to bicycle spoke cards with COVID-safe messaging printed on them. In the end, we were able to fund 60 artist projects in the amount of $750 each. These projects helped support the work that artists do while simultaneously educating and inspiring our community with creative, small, and temporarily engaging messages of hope. More Info HERE
Our third program was inspired by the success and popularity of our "YO PROMETO" PSA and is a series of videos with the same creative team entitled, “Los Maskareñas”. “Los Maskareñas” is an effort by the City of Santa Fe to reach the Spanish speaking community with targeted messaging around COVID safe practices. A comedic four-part mini-series, “Los Maskareñas” depicts a day in the life of a Southside Santa Fe family as they navigate how to live safely in a COVID world. The PSA series features Carlos Media and was produced by Kaela Waldstein of Mountain Mover Media. In the interest of supporting a greater number of local creatives, this production expanded to include: soundtracks and musical themes were composed by Carlos Medina, local New Mexico band Lone Piñon, and Jason Goodyear; local photographer Tira Howard; animator Alec Brown; Joe Dean of Lumenscapes Illumination Media and Motorama; La Familia Medical Center; and Carlos Medina’s real-life girlfriend Christine Romero also contributed to the production. More Info HERE
Digital Artist Professional Training
As the COVID pandemic moved our lives online, we immediately understood that access to and competency with digital media were more essential than ever for our creative community. The need for everyone to be more engaged with digital technologies has been vital for us to be "in touch" with one another. However, for artists and arts organizations, digital media became the only way to safely engage with their current and future audiences. In response, we produced a series of digital technology training workshops free to the public to help our creative community in Santa Fe become more agile in that world and thus, more competitive. Now, more than ever, artists will need digital images of their artwork and the skills to use social media, email marketing, and the web to promote themselves. Creatives will need to be savvy in the world of basic digital video, teachers will need to be better trained to teach art online and artists with the gift of illustration can supplement their income with a new trend in professional meeting services called Visual Recording. More Info HERE
Thank You to the Generosity of our arts community whose compassionate action will help to support local artists
The Culture Connects Coalition fund initiative is a response to the current COVID-19 public health pandemic and the subsequent suspension of events in our community. The impact of these suspensions has had a ripple effect throughout our artistic community, adversely impacting artists, their families, and the greater community. Relief awards of $500 were made to 92 artists to support them through these challenging times.
We are grateful to the Lannan Foundation who immediately stepped up with a generous contribution of $10,000 in seed grant funding plus an additional $15,000 challenge grant which our Santa Fe cultural community met and exceeded! Thank you so very much.
Tamara Bates The Essential Guide New Mexico Actors Lab
Anonymous Alexander Hanna Anita Ogard
JoAnn and Robert M. Balzer Steven J. Harris Catherine Oppenheimer
V. Marie Bass Christy E. Hengst Sabrina Pratt
Jamie Blosser Thomas M. Hnasko Doug Puryear
David W. Burling Sean D. Ianni Daniel J. Rubin
Lilia Chacon Pauline Kanako Kamiyama Scheinbaum & Russek Ltd.
Peter Chapin Robert Lambert William D. Snead
Anne Chognard Anonymous Gerald Stiebel
Dorothy Clyne Fleischaker Women's Legacy Fund Caresa Summers
Southwest Contemporary Diana T. MacArthur James Ward
Anonymous Bram Meehan Eileen A. Wells
Judith & Steven J. Goldstein William A. Miller
The Artist Relief Fund was featured recently in Hyperallergic, Pasatiempo, and The Santa Fe Reporter Blog
To continue supporting our artists:
Mail check made payable to Coalition Connects Coalition
c/o Santa Fe Art Institute
PO Box 24044
Santa Fe, NM 87502-4044
Click Here for online payments.
Note there is a 5% processing fee for credit/debit cards
Graphic Recording Workshop Training
Graphic Recording is a new way for professional organizations, meeting planners, conference organizers, and record keepers to record meetings and events VISUALLY. This series of workshops will teach artists (who are already prone to thinking visually) how to better Tell Stories, Map Ideas, Solve Problems, and Share Ideas through their own illustrations. This workshop series emphasizes the importance of visual content as a companion to auditory content to aid in the absorption of material by viewers, capturing key themes and ideas, synthesizing info, and capturing processes. Attendees will be able to create a visual record by better understanding. What is visual thinking? How do you practice graphic recording (analog/digital)? How do you listen with the intention of recording ideas? How do you build a graphic recording business practice? How do you build a visual vocabulary to record the stories around you in captivating ways?
Graphic Recording for Beginners, Part 1, Taslim van Hattum
Graphic Recording for Beginners, Part 2, Taslim van Hattum
Graphic Recording for Beginners, Part 3, Taslim van Hattum
Digital Media Marketing
This series of workshops focused on the essentials of conquering digital media marketing including social media management, digital advertising, email marketing and online sales. As the world navigates the pandemic and more people are turning online, it's important for the creative economy to show up with a strong digital presence online as well. With this series of digtial marketing 101 strategies, participants will overcome their fear and discomfort with the tools of the digital world and understand the techniques that are used to conquer digital marketing.
Digital Media Marketing Workshop 1 with Rubina Cohen
Digital Media Marketing Workshop 2 with Rubina Cohen
Digital Media Marketing Workshop 3 with Rubina Cohen
Digital Media Marketing Workshop 4 with Rubina Cohen
Creating Video Content for Self-Promotion
These two workshops focused on the fundamentals of how to create fun content that may be used for both self+ institutional promotion, and the distribution of our local art culture online. Voluntary assignments were given to workshop participants with the opportunity for one on one check-ins with the instructor after the workshop was completed. Pre-requisites were: iPhone or iPad, at least one social media (Instagram, Facebook, Twitter)
Setting Your Scene- Intro to Mobile Video Creation with Bel Sigado
Going Live - Content Creation Off the Cuff with Bel Sigado
Online Teaching for Arts Educators
In response to the pandemic, Santa Fe Public School District transitioned to remote learning. CARES funding from the City of Santa Fe enabled ArtWorks and Partners in Education the opportunity to provide public programming that responds to the current educational challenges experienced during the pandemic. Programming educated constituents about the realities of online teaching, provided solutions to real-time challenges, connected classroom teachers with arts activities to enhance their teaching in all subject areas, and trained educators in new technology and applications that helped them reach students more effectively. ArtWorks provided 89 professional development experiences to workshop attendees.
Arts and Trauma-Informed Instruction with Trina Raper
Tech Platforms & Appls in the SFPS Classroom with Oliver Prezant
COVID-Safe Practices Public Service Ads
City of Santa Fe Launches Los Maskareñas, A Short Video Series for COVID Safety Featuring Carlos Medina
Los Maskareñas, a PSA starring local entertainer Carlos Medina, is part of an effort by the City of Santa Fe to reach the Spanish-speaking community with targeted messaging around COVID safe practices. A comedic four-part mini-series, “Los Maskareñas” depicts a day in the life of a Southside Santa Fe family as they navigate how to live safely in a COVID world.
The PSA series was directed, produced, shot, and edited by Kaela Waldstein of Mountain Mover Media, and co-written by both Carlos and Kaela. The soundtracks and musical themes were composed by Carlos Medina, local New Mexico band Lone Piñon, and Jason Goodyear. Local photographer Tira Howard, animator Alec Brown, Joe Dean of Lumenscapes Illumination Media and Motorama, La Familia Medical Center, and Carlos Medina’s real-life girlfriend Christine Romero also contributed to the production.
In the video, Carlos plays the five main characters: “Franque,” a single father and COVID tester, his two children Emma and Leo, Tia Lola, and Franque’s brother Graviel. It touches on themes of virtual learning, COVID testing, shopping alone, and socially distanced activities, all in a fun and light-hearted way. Kaela used camera and editing tricks to layer shots of each of the characters so they all appeared simultaneously in the same shots.
“Having just one actor and taking care of all the shooting and lighting myself kept it a COVID-safe production. We had to carefully watch the Governor’s shifting COVID recommendations and quickly adapt. For example, after one of Michelle Lujan Grisham’s COVID public updates, we decided to reshoot all the scenes in which the characters were at home maskless, and that’s when we decided on the name ‘Los Maskareñas.”
Carlos Medina says: "I was excited to do my part in helping my friends and neighbors stay COVID-safe. I appreciate the creative freedom we had to reach an important community in a unique way. It’s really about looking after and supporting one another. "
The City of Santa Fe will be releasing one episode every 1-2 weeks. The first episode, “¡Living La Vida Covid!” is now available to view on the City of Santa Fe Arts & Culture social media page, as well as at www.santafenm.gov and www.todosjuntosanta.org. A 30-second commercial featuring the “Los Maskareñas” characters and tailored COVID messaging is now airing on Telemundo.
Click Here to read the Santa Fe New Mexican's article on the series.
Premiere of "Yo Prometo" PSA Video
"Yo Prometo" is a Public Service Video featuring Carlos Medina, produced by Mountain Mover Media and the City of Santa Fe, Arts, and Culture Department in response to COVID-19 based on the City’s “I Promise” campaign to encourage residents and visitors to use safe practices while out in the community or engaging with others.
We wanted to remind everyone to use CSP (COVID Safe Practices) while engaging with others. There are simple things you can do to prevent the spread and help us keep our community safe!
- Wear face coverings
- Practice social distancing
- Wash/sanitize your hands regularly
There are numerous people who can thank those who contributed to the development and production of this video, but we want to share a special thanks to Kaela and Carlos for their talent, enthusiasm, and creativity on this project!
You can view the video on the website here or visit our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/SantaFeArtsCulture
WATCH THE VIDEO HERE!
We also encourage you to sign up for the Promise at www.santafenm.gov/promise
Also, if you aren’t already following us on social media, please do so to stay up to date on stories and features while you are social distancing.
Our Facebook page Instagram: @santafeartsculture