The City of Santa Fe Arts and Culture Department. Selects Fourth City Historian: Valerie Rangel
The City of Santa Fe Arts Commission is pleased to announce the selection of Valerie Rangel as the city’s fourth City Historian. Established in 2017, the City Historianis an honorary position that is both ceremonial and educational, and is given to an individual who has a demonstrated knowledge of Santa Fe’s cultural history from within local, regional and transnational perspectives. The Historian position is selected based upon a commitment to and passion for sharing information about the diverse ethnic groups and historical processes that have contributed to Santa Fe's cultural development. Rangel, as Historian, embraces the opportunity to engage in inclusive civic discourse and will serve in that role through June 2023, during which time she will make conduct public research and make public presentations
Valerie Rangel is an alumna of the University of New Mexico, where she earned a bachelor of University Studies that carried a concentration in Freshwater studies and Cultural Anthropology. She also earned a graduate degree from the Master of Community Regional Planning (MCRP) program where she majored in Natural Resources & Environmental Planning concentrating coursework in Indigenous Planning with a minor in Public Health.
Valerie has worked an archivist for the New Mexico Records Center and Archives and conducted research, contributed historical essays, and digitally archiving Spanish land grants, oversized maps, and civil war muster rolls for the New Mexico Office of the State Historian. In 2016, she became a research assistant and author of a Santa Fe County Health Impact Assessment, “Indian Health Services Budget and Urban Indian Budgeting Decisions”. In April 2018 she presented selections from the book she published, “Environmental Justice in New Mexico: Counting Coup,” at the National Environmental Justice conference in Washington, D.C. Her book presents stories of strife and struggle in the war to protect the integrity of natural systems, rights to religious freedom and the continuation of traditional customs.
Rangel’s most recent work experience includes the position of Fiscal Sponsorship & Community Outreach Coordinator for the New Mexico Foundation. Presently, she offers technical support to communities working on Health Impact Assessments through the New Mexico’s Health Equity Partnership, and she works as the Community Outreach & Engagement Manager assisting staff attorneys and frontline communities on legal cases in a fight for environmental justice and human rights at the New Mexico Environmental Law Center.
Through the City Historian program, the City wishes to explore the complicated cultural history of Santa Fe while identifying key shared assets and values. This program engages the community with our diverse and sometimes difficult histories that make Santa Fe unique qualities from other municipalities. The Historian receives an annual honorarium of $5,000 funded by the Arts & Culture Department and they serve a two-year term.
The City of Santa Fe Arts and Culture Department (ACD), an agency within the municipal government of the City of Santa Fe, provides leadership by and for City government in supporting arts and cultural affairs. The ACD also recommends programs and policies that develop, sustain and promote artistic excellence in the community. For more information contact the ACD at 505-955-6707, email artscommission@santafenm.gov, or by fax 505-955-6671