For two decades now, local nonprofit Little Globe has hosted a wide array of programs and events rooted in community storytelling—like an evolving time capsule that contains the story of us, Santa Fe, and the people who make our fair city what it is. And now they’re ready to celebrate. At this week’s 20th Anniversary event (Noon Sunday, April 13, $100. Violet Crown Cinema, 1606 Alcaldesa St., (505) 216-5678), a veritable who’s-who of current and past leadership—including notable locals like founder Chris Jonas and Molly Sturges, plus former leaders like Katie Gross and Valerie Martinez—participants, subjects, friends and hangers-on will congregate to swap tales, screen some of the nonprofits work in film and video an otherwise celebrate the work and impact from the last 20 years. We spoke with Little Globe’s current co-executive director Dylan Tenorio (Kewa Pueblo and Diné), who took over in December alongside Aurora Escobedo, to learn a little more about the event. This interview has been edited for clarity and concision. (Alex De Vore)
Let’s talk about the past a little bit. You came up working with Little Globe, how did that affect you and how has that impacted how you look at and engage with our community?
I think Little Globe has impacted the way I engage with my community, really, though being able to connect with people I would never have been able to connect with. And I think it’s that connectivity that has kept me here. I went to the Santa Fe University of Art & Design, and I keep saying it felt like I was always in a bubble—y’know, like Santa Fe’s true nature was siloed off on that campus, and I never really got to know the rest of Santa Fe. Through Little Globe I’ve met a lot of the community, and there’s still so many people, too.
It felt good. I’ll say from the very first time at [Little Globe program] Presente, which is how I came on, I felt like these people understood where I’m coming from, because they’re also creatives. And it’s just been like that ever since. Every person I’ve met here has been doing art or been doing creative stuff or trying to remember their culture or trying to exist within their living culture. There have been so many relationships that have come up through storytelling that I’ve come to see happen through this work.
OK, now let’s check in with the present. What are you hopeful to achieve and/or accomplish in the now?
I think the first notion I feel like when I answer that question…considering we’re in a moment—and not just in New Mexico, but in the nation—I feel like a lot of the things we’ve done in the past and will keep doing can be an antidote to fascism and authoritarianism, especially when it comes to having a community that can come together under one banner of creativity to tell their stories and share with each other what it is we are together. We’re continuously finding there’s a need for it. I come from an Indigenous tribe as well, and it’s kind of the same theme: We need to find a way to heal and share our stories and share the truth and to expand on who we are as New Mexicans.
You probably saw this one coming—the question about the future. Now that Little Globe has hit the 20-year milestone, what do you think or hope comes next?
There are definite, concrete things in planning. We’re currently working with the Santa Fe Indigenous Center, who have been a partner...throughout the past 5 years, and we’ve been talking with them about possibly doing a show at The Lensic. We’re going to be working with some of their constituents through an ensemble-like program, very similar to Presente where we’d be focusing on Indigenous stories in Santa Fe, as well as music and film.
With the needs of the community…we want to expand more toward bringing up the youth and allowing them to learn the skills they really want. When I was a kid, I was taught basic animation in middle school, and it changed my life. We’d try to provide that same kind of spark to young people.
They don’t even have to be young. I think those skills through storytelling might introduce somebody to something they love for the rest of their lives. The stories themselves…if we want to consider what the future of that is, it’s still in line with what I mentioned before: to fight authoritarianism, to fight fascism. I think our expression is the most important thing, and we want to continue that while being sure the stories remain true to who we are. I know that’s a little vague, but our projects will be guided by our exact notion.
