Anson Stevens-Bollen
As 45 local artists, curators, gallery owners and community members gathered at Currents New Media's new physical space on Canyon Road last week, Mayor Alan Webber was also in attendance. Snacking on ginger cookies and sipping hot apple cider, the group discussed the future of Santa Fe's art economy.
The main questions of the night: How should Santa Fe's art economy adapt to changing tastes and technology while maintaining its unique and historic personality? What is the art community's story moving forward? Should the city provide funding to help shape that future?
"Alan, I don't mean to put you or the city on the hook at all—" said curator Ylise Kessler.
"Yes, you do," Webber interrupted with a laugh. "Anytime you start like that, you absolutely do."
There were no simple answers. In fact, the mayor mostly answered the question with a question.
"I don't get to decide as mayor what our new story is," Webber said. "I can chime in and offer input or tell you what I see when I go out into the community, but this story ought to emerge from the people who are doing this. What is our new story, what is our new offer to the world?"
Webber also said that the future of Santa Fe's art economy should be steered on a community level rather than hinging on city funding.
"It's easy, easy, easy to think that the answer to everything is more money," he said. "And it's nice to have money, and it can solve a lot of problems. But if we had all the money in the world and no good ideas, we'd find ways to waste a lot of money. So a gathering like this for me … [is] the secret sauce. It's looking around and saying what makes us special, historically, that we can interpret in new ways."
A few participants disagreed.
"People need to get paid if we're going to put the story out," Kessler said. "I think the city needs to realize that the creative economy is really important and there needs to be some money put aside either for artists to create things or for people to go around to communities and hold these events and organize it. So I think the city does need to step in and say, 'Hey, we're going to allocate X amount of funds, and what's the best use for those funds'—have another get-together. We could participate in that, but after a point, we're not going to do it for free all the time."
A concern for several attendees involved the growth of corporations like Meow Wolf and Descartes Labs and the rising cost of living for small artists. According to data from the Santa Fe Association of Realtors, average home prices in 2017 were some of the highest since 2008. Zippy Guerin, the creator of Santa Fe Found, a website profiling local artists and entrepreneurs, highlighted the issue.
"The people here who I've profiled on Santa Fe Found, they collaborate with other young entrepreneurs who are also self-employed," Guerin said. "It's a really great network of young people who are relying on each other for support, who are living in each other's living rooms when their lease is up and they can't find affordable housing."
But, according to Webber, Santa Fe's affordable housing issue is comparably small.
"People are coming back," Webber said. "The people that I see every day are flocking back to Santa Fe because they can't afford to live in Boulder, San Francisco, Austin."
Frank Ragano, co-executive and artistic director at Currents, told SFR that Santa Fe's art community moving forward should work to ensure that artistic innovation is something the city is known for worldwide, in addition to its strong cultural heritage.
"I think some people may have misinterpreted [Webber's] idea that the money is not the answer, that if you have a good idea the money will follow," Ragano said. "Sometimes things sound good on paper but there's a lot of talk and no action. This is the part I agree with him; if the idea is good and the project is good in terms of action and is not just all talk, then things like that need to be supported, because it can only help the people."
There was one thing the room seemed to agree on: Further discussion is necessary.
"Clearly, one of the main things was collaboration between all of the different people invested in this idea," Ragano said. "The arts community, art galleries, the city—that kind of collaboration and that kind of speaking with one voice is a really important thing."
