UPDATE: Application Deadline Extended to February 1, 2022

The Santa Fe Arts Commission is a nine-member volunteer advisory board of the City Council. Through its various programs and projects, the commissioners advise the City Council on such issues as contract recommendations, public art projects and the arts in Santa Fe. The Cultural Investment Funding Program (grants for arts non-profits), Community Gallery, Mayor's Recognition Awards for Excellence in the Arts, Poet Laureate, and the City Historian are also programs of the Commission.

The Commission is composed of individuals from the community who have demonstrated arts and culture expertise and involvement, whether it be through avocation or employment, and who actively strive for cultural equity throughout the City. Knowledge of Santa Fe's various artists and arts organizations is vital, as is experience with financial planning and fundraising for the arts.

Chair of the Arts Commission Alma Castro says: “We, The Arts Commission for the City of Santa Fe, strive to support new and exciting programming and to reach new levels of diversity, inclusion, and equity in our city's art funding. The commission seeks members of the arts community who are committed to these same values to be a part of our team. The Arts Commission is attempting to broaden its efforts to recruit, going beyond past methods, to try and reach those voices who need to be heard! Serving on the Arts Commission is needed now more than ever as we navigate through key issues surrounding Santa Fe.”

As the Arts Commission moves forward, the Culture Connects lens of diversity, equity, inclusion and access is integral to how the arts advance and re-imagine the new normal. Together we will continue to re-imagine a true “City Different” – a city that celebrates the role of culture in tourism and the wider economy. In that context, this disruption of our “typical” approaches to arts and cultural has created opportunity for change. Learn more about Culture Connects Roadmap here: https://www.santafenm.gov/cultural_roadmap

Commitment: Members of the Arts Commission are required, when feasible under New Mexico State Public Health Orders, to:

• Meet monthly;
• Attend an annual one-day retreat;
• Serve on panels for public art and/or Cultural Investment Funding Program involving one to three meetings of two to four hours;
• Actively fundraise to support Culture Connects Initiatives, Mayor’s Arts Awards, Youth Passport and other projects developed with the Arts Commission and Arts and Culture Department;
• Reside in Santa Fe County.

Term: A regular term is two years of service beginning in October and limited to consecutive two terms. The Arts Commission currently has two vacancies, with appointments anticipated to begin in March 2022. These will be mid-term appointments, the first term expires October 2022.

Arts Commissioners are volunteers, appointed by the Mayor and affirmed by the City Council.

Express Your Interest by 5 p.m. MST, February 1, 2022, via Survey Monkey; find the application in English and Spanish here: santafenm.gov/arts_and_culture_department

Questions? Please contact the Erminia Tapia, Arts Commission staff liaison, at artscommission@santafenm.gov