Wow! Summer is flying by. It’s almost August in Santa Fe. Weather has been perfect for the most part, though we’re coming off a bit of a heat spell. Temperatures have mostly been in the 80s, evenings in the 60s, lots of moisture. We took a few road trips over the last week and were amazed by how green everything is. Everything seems to be blooming earlier this season. We saw chamisa abloom in Abiquiu and green chiles are already roasting at the Santa Fe Farmers Market.
August is traditionally been the busiest time of year in The City Different. The Opera runs all five operas consecutively; opera buffs come specifically for this. The Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, another strong draw is in full swing and then there’s Indian Market. This event, usually the 3rd weekend in the month, has always brought the highest number of visitors to Santa Fe. It’s now been joined by the Indigenous Fine Art Market (IFAM) which was started last year by a group that broke with Indian Market. Besides these, there are a host of art events during Indian Market Week because of the collectors and dealers who come during this exciting time.
BTW, congrats to Santa Fe! It was named the fourth best city in the US and Canada by Travel + Leisure readers. And to Rosewood Inn of the Anasazi for Anasazi number being named to seventh place in Continental U.S. | Small City Hotels up from number nine last year.
Here’s some of what’s happening this August in Santa Fe.
Santa Fe food and dining news
Chef Fernando Olea demonstrates his New Mexico mole at El Rancho de las Golindrinas, photo/Steve Collins
The biggest news we have to share is that Chef Fernando Olea is back. The long-time Santa Fe chef closed both Epazote where he served his “inspired New World cuisine” and the iconic Bert’s Burger Bowl, a local fixture for decades that he ran with his wife Debbie last spring. When I to him after Epazote closed he promised he’d be back. He’s a man of his word. His new restaurant, Sazón, at 221 Shelby Street, will open sometime in August. The name is a Spanish word meaning spice but, according to Olea, it means a lot more “It’s a bit like umami,” he says. A Google search yields this on a number of snippets: “There isn’t a word like sazón in the English language. In its romantic, dual meaning in Spanish, sazón is both ‘just the right taste’, and ‘the perfect moment.’” Olea is buoyant about the new restaurant, its location, the décor, the team he’s working with and most importantly, the food. We’re excited that this master chef is back and will once again be turning out his intricately crafted moles and other Mexican-inspired dishes. Put Sazón on your must-dine list. Follow our Facebook page, we’ll announce the opening date if it’s before the next Tidbits and we hope it will be.
Santa Fe’s getting a new nightclub. The High Note will open at 132 West Water Street below Coyote Café in the spot that formerly housed The Den. They expect to be open soon. The uber-busy Quinn Stephenson, partner in Coyote, Geronimo, the new Radish & Rye is “owner/partner.” Managing partner is R.J. Laino. According to their Facebook page they expect to be opening soon.
Support local food; 10best.com is having two contests that have local impact and your votes are needed. The Santa Fe Farmers Market is in the running for Favorite Farmers Market and New Mexico green chile cheeseburgers are on the Favorite Food Trail list. After all, New Mexico has an official Cheeseburger Trail. Here are the Santa Fe restaurants on the state’s official trail.
New Mexico Chiles book, courtesy History Press
We met filmmaker Kelly Urig in the summer of 2013 when we interviewed her about Emmy-Award-winning film The Chile Film: Red or Green? Her new book, New Mexico Chiles: History, Legend and Lore was released on July 20th. She’ll be appearing at Christ Church Santa Fe (1213Don Diego) on Friday, July 31st from 6:30 to 8:30pm. The evening will feature a showing of her film and a book signing. This will be preceded by a tailgate party at 6pm. Come! You may see people you know in the film.
Indian Market Week
Indian Market Week, the week leading up to Santa Fe Indian Market (and IFAM) is a busy one in Santa Fe. Besides these two shows bringing American Indian artists to town, there are art shows, gallery openings, and other events preceding and during IFAM and Indian Market.
Events are in chronological order.
Apache water basket from the Whitehawk Ethnographic Show 2012, photo/Steve Collins
This year, Whitehawk Antique Shows, presents the 31st annual Antique Ethnographic Show on Friday, August 14th and Saturday, August 15th with a benefit preview on Thursday. This will be followed by the 37th Antique Indian Art Show with a preview on Sunday, August 16th followed by the show on Monday and Tuesday, August 17th and 18th. Both shows are open from 10am to 5pm. Previews are from 6 to 9pm. All events take place at the Santa Fe Convention Center. Show admission is $10 per day or $17 for a two day admission. For more information, check their website or call (505) 992-8929.
A booth at the Santa Fe Show (now Objects of Art Santa Fe) 2012, photo/Steve Collins
Objects of Art Santa Fe (formerly The Santa Fe Show) and The Antique American Indian Art Show Santa Fe, both presented by Santa Fe Show, will be at the Museo de Cultural during two consecutive weeks. Each show will have a gala premier the night before it opens and both shows runs for three days each. Objects, featuring art from around the world including textiles, jewelry, antiques, furnishing and decorative arts from the Americas, Africa, Europe and Asia, will take place from Thursday, August 13th through Saturday, August 15th. The Indian art show will take place from Tuesday, August 18th through Thursday, August 20th. Both shows are open from 11am to 6pm. Admission is $15 for the run-of-show for each show; $20 for run-of both shows. Tickets to the previews are $50 for each. For information call (505) 660-4701.
Artist Irving Toddy at the inaugural IFAM 2014 photo/Max McDonald, courtesy IFAM
The second annual Indigenous Fine Art Market (IFAM) takes place at Railyard Park from Thursday, August 20th through Saturday, August 22nd from 10am to 5pm. Over 400 exhibitors will show their work including Native American activist Leonard Peltier who is serving a prison sentence for the 1973 murder of FBI agents at the Pine Ridge Reservation. Because Peltier is in prison, his son Chauncey Peltier will man the booth. Proceeds from sales of his paintings will go towards the activist’s prison release efforts. In addition to artists’ booths their activities will include entertainment from Native hip-hop, rock, and blues bands; traditional music and dance performances; skateboard exhibitions; performance art and mural painting. The event kicks off with a Glow Party at the Farmers Market Pavilion on Wednesday, August 19th from 8pm until midnight. There will be music, dancing, and interactive art projects as well as other happenings to enliven the evening. Admission is a minimum $5 donation.
The Wheelwright Museum of the Amerian Indian opens their 40th Annual Benefit Auction on Thursday, August 20th at 3:30pm with a silent auction and a preview of items that will be sold at Friday’s live auction. Friday’s events start off with the Collector’s Table, from 10am to 11:30am. It’s billed as “Santa Fe’s favorite tag sale!” Collectables will be on sale at what organizers call “unbeatable prices.” The live auction preview begins at 10:30am. The main event, the live auction, begins at 1pm. Among the items offered will be contemporary Native American jewelry, textiles, pottery, katsina figures, basketry, beadwork, fetishes, and other art forms, including sculpture, mixed media, and many others.
Indian Market is almost here again, photo Steve Collins
The 94th annual Santa Fe Indian Market, presented by SWAIA, takes place on Saturday, August 22rd and Sunday, August 23rd in the historic Santa Fe Plaza. Collectors, art lovers and just plain folks come from all over the globe for this world-class market. Friday events include the Best of Show luncheon for SWAIA members. There are also Friday evening preview events at the Santa Fe Convention Center. The evening begins with the Sneak Preview from 5:30 to 7:30pm followed by the General Preview from 7:30 to 9:30pm. These are member and ticketed events. For ticket information, call SWAIA at (505) 983- 5220. The juried show, with over 1,000 vendors, presents some of the best Native American artists and artisans working today. There is no charge to attend Santa Fe Indian Market. Market hours are 7am to 5pm on Saturday and 8am to 5pm on Sunday. Check SWAIA’s website for a complete Indian Market Week Schedule.
More Santa Fe art
Lynn Boggess,12 May 2014 will be at Evoke Contemporary, photo/courtesy EVOKE Contemporary
EVOKE Contemporary opens Reflections of Summer, Lynn Boggess landscapes on Friday, July 31st from 5 to 7pm. Boggess, well-known for his use of masonry trowels in his work, has received several awards, including Visual Artist of the Year in 1999 and the Governor’s Award of Excellence in Painting in 1997. The exhibition runs through Saturday, August 22nd.
The gallery opens another show, Figurativo, featuring the work of Bernardo Torrens, on Friday, August 28th from 5 to 7pm. According to the gallery “Each painting features one of several models that are recurring in the artist’s work. Each composition is uniquely composed and intricately painted focusing solely on the personality of the model and nostalgic scenes of summer.” The show runs through Saturday, September 19th.
From Kay Khan’s Conversation Series, photo/courtesy Axle Contemporary
Needles & Seams, an exhibition of textile works by four artists, will open in the Axle Contemporary, Santa Fe’s gallery on wheels, on Friday, July 31st from 5 to 7pm in the Railyard. Artists Marina Brownlow, Kay Khan, Merce Mitchell, and Judy Tuwaletstiwa show work created using garments and other fiber techniques including sewing, felting, and knitting. The exhibition runs through Sunday, August 23rd. Check the gallery’s website for their current location; these guys move around.
Angela Fraleigh “Saturn’s Moons” at David Richard’s Gallery photo/ courtesy David Richard Gallery
David Richard Gallery opens (Un)Real, a group exhibition of figurative paintings by five contemporary artists, on Friday, July 31st from 5 to 7pm. The show will feature new works by Michele Bubacco, Angela Fraleigh, David Humphrey, Martin Mull, and Claire Sherman. In addition, they’re hosting a gallery discussion on the show on Saturday, August 1st from 2 to 3pm. The exhibition runs through Saturday, September 26th.
Navajo Yei weaving from the Bolton Estate Collection photo/courtesy Shiprock Gallery Santa Fe
Shiprock Santa Fe has two Indian Market Week events. The first, highlighting two collections, Navajo Bridles: The Foutz Collection and Sandpainting Weavings: Masterworks of the Legendary Weavers, opens on Saturday, August 15th from 5 to 7pm. Navajo Bridles will feature some items collected by William Randolph Hearst along with others created by Navajosilversmiths. Sandpaintings will feature Navajo weavings from the Bolton estate. The exhibition runs through Wednesday, September 30th.
On Thursday, August 20th they will hold a joint reception for Lakota artist Dyani WhiteHawk and Hopi fine jeweler Sonwai (Verma Nequatewa) from 2 to 4pm. Sonwai is a master of stone inlay. Dyani WhiteHawk’s paintings incorporate traditional bead and quillwork.
Multi-colored bracelet by Ray Tracey, photo/courtesy Sorrel Sky Gallery
Sorrel Sky Gallery opens a Native American Group Show on Thursday, August 20th from 5 to 7:30pm. The show featuring new works by contemporary Native American artists including world-renowned jeweler Ben Nighthorse, the first Native jeweler to use gold and a former US Senator, responsible for establishing the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian. Other artists include Ray Tracey , Cody Sanderson, Victoria Adams, Darryl Dean & Rebecca Begay, Shane Hendren, and Santa Clara potter Autumn Borts-Medlock.
Santa Fe Film
The Santa Fe Jewish Film Festival brings to town the Deli Man, about Texas-based deli owner Ziggy Gruber on Sunday, August 9th at 11am. According to the festival’s press release, Gruber has built the “best delicatessen” in the U.S., Kenny & Ziggy’s. His story, augmented by the stories of iconic delis including Katz’s, 2nd Avenue Deli, the Carnegie, and Stage includes cameos by Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David. Deli lovers will enjoy the optional “deli bites” lunch and live klezmer music will follow the film showing.
That’s it for this month. Tidbits will be back on the last Tuesday in August. ¡Hasta Luego!
Beyond Santa Fe
Rough Rider Museum, Las Vegas, NM, photo/Steve Collins
The 100th anniversary New Mexico Cowboys’ Reunion, the Las Vegas Cowboys’ Reunion Centennial Celebration will be held on Saturday, August 1st through Sunday, August 9th. Events are scheduled daily. The main events include a rodeo. a hundred horse parade, barbecues, lectures and panels, book signings, theater, and dances. There will also be a Centerpiece Reunion exhibition featuring historic panoramas and photos from past Cowboys’ Reunions at the Ray Drew Gallery in the Donnelly Library at New Mexico Highlands University, as well as an exhibition of works by contemporary cowboy artists at the University’s Kennedy Hall.
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