"Zane's World" takes a look back at what made the art world exciting in 2006 and previews what's to come in 2007.
ROSY PARKERS:
While other public space and architecture projects have caved into mind-numbing blandness under public pressure, the Railyard Park-designed by Ken Smith and Mary Miss and coordinated by the Trust for Public Land-has both managed to be open and responsive to public input and to keep the integrity of its vision intact. Naysayers are angry enough to spit venom about gabion walls and the one-off playground equipment, but it's always projects that push boundaries enough to make people seethe that are most beloved in the end.
What to watch for in 2007:
Let's see if artist Chrissie Orr's design for a pedestrian walkway crossing St. Francis Drive and leading to the park entrance sets the tone for progressive art in the park.
HEON LIGHTS:
Much-improved energy and buzz at SITE Santa Fe this year proved that choosing a young, smart woman as director and curator at SITE Santa Fe was the right choice. Nobody misses Charlie "I like to swing a hammer at, er, with the crew" Stainback, and the fact that SITE has recently broken ground on expanded facilities indicates that board members and funding organizations must be just as happy with Laura Heon at the helm as the public is.
What to watch for in 2007:
Heon spent last year juggling transition and prepping for the biennial. Next year, she'll be tasked with all-original programming that will be debuting at SITE.
METER LEED-ER:
Construction doesn't begin until 2007, but the Center for Contemporary Arts (CCA) didn't waste any time in 2006. After securing a long-term lease on its already long-term location, the venerable and beloved arts organization found the funds to plan a major building remodel with a slick gallery, a new cinema lobby and bathrooms that, well, smell better. Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)-certified green construction costs more, but Executive Director Steve Buck says, "CCA is a community organization, and it's important that we represent the sensibilities of our community."
What to watch for in 2007:
If they build it, will we go?
VANISHING CULTURE:
When Santa Fe paid big bucks to strange Texans in order to create an economic development strategy, the arts and culture industry emerged as top dog, thanks to what was touted as impressive organization. This well-oiled arts machine inspired local foundations to generate UNM's Bureau of Business and Economic Research report detailing the specifics of the economic impact of arts and culture, hooked the city into funding an Internet portal, a community box office and overseer organization Creative Santa Fe and then…fell asleep at the wheel. We haven't heard a peep of forward momentum from a supposedly unified lead industry. Instead it's all rumors of infighting and reorganization.
What to watch for in 2007:
If anyone can get it together to lobby for a quality of life ballot initiative.
MARKET MAYHEM:
Farmers and artists nearly tore each other apart with pitchforks and easels when they couldn't agree on whether the artists would be allowed to share outdoor space on the promenade in front of the yet-to-be-built Farmers Market building. The City Council had to slap down the fight and slapped the artists harder. That's because the farmers may be grumpy and irritable, but the artists are whiny and incorrigible.
What to watch for in 2007:
If the artists will be smart enough to create a market that doesn't ride on someone else's coattails.
PRESERVATION RESERVATION:
David Rasch, city preservation officer, opined that, while much of the nation has found wisdom in preserving historic buildings and allowing progressive new construction side by side, Santa Fe is in a preservation "backlash." He didn't call it regressive, but I will. The City Different is determined to keep it the same, even if it means restricting energy-efficient windows and the placement of solar panels.
What to watch for in 2007:
The need to preserve aesthetics and energy is going to tumble this house of cards.
SIGN OF DESIGN:
Design Week has issues (not to mention questions about how effectively it handles it's half-million-dollar budget), but if you don't think it made massive improvements in 2006, you aren't paying attention. It's now an event with real possibility for serious impact.
What to watch for in 2007:
If it can muster the
cajones
to tackle all the issues surrounding historic preservation.
RITE OF PASSAGE:
Now that the children and grand-children of the original Indian Marketeers have come of age and are media-savvy, art history-literate and culturally connected to their own-and the larger nation's-roots, the contemporary Native scene is smoldering a smoky hole in the local art world.
What to watch for in 2007: A full-on wildfire as this group goes global.
FOR MY NEXT TRICK…:
Skeleton Art, aka Feral Gallery, BANG! and Peanut Gallery all either disappeared or said goodbyes of one kind or another this past year. Beneath it all is constant talk of re-emergence and especially of collaborative hijinks. But lack of specifics has left a big hunk of Santa Fe's underground scene wondering where and when the hit-and-run, lowbrow, high-concept, great-party dynamic will show up again.
What to watch for in 2007:
Feral Gallery is hosting a New Year's Eve party-and, hopefully, playahs like these won't be able to resist an appearance during ART Santa Fe, the 2007 art fair.
RESTRICTED DISTRICT:
Last year made clear the bones of the Railyard Arts District (sometimes called the Paseo Arts Corridor), and a host of hot galleries moved, reopened or vowed to soon appear in the Railyard neighborhood. With some of the city's best contemporary galleries conglomerating around SITE Santa Fe, it looks like we're on the road to a contemporary art scene to match our appetite for Southwest kitsch.
What to watch for in 2007:
An answer to the question: Will it be young enough and gritty enough to really blossom? Or will high rents, close proximity to a Cold Stone Creamery and too many banks make the district too Canyon Roadified or, worse, generic urban, arty
platz
-ified?
