25 Things Large

Anson Bollens-Williams

25 Things We Love About Santa Fe Right Now

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The workers at SFR cling to this issue all year long—our final bit of work before we take a week off for the holiday and lie, near-comatose, on our floors while warmed by the knowledge that we don’t have a thing to do save ring in the holiday. We love our work, of course, and we love our town, the latter of which is kind of why we like to close out each year with a combo listicle/love letter to the things we love about Santa Fe right now. Please note that “right now” part, because it’s important. Everyone who loves Santa Fe knows that we could never contain every last thing to love about this place in a single issue. Yet we try. Herein find tangible excellence (like food) and exciting prospects (like young Indigenous leaders and improved reading scores amongst the schoolkids), as well as some good old-fashioned punks and DJs hanging around in warehouses (plus more!). We love this city. Happy New Year.

Hiking the desert and the mountains on the same day

One of the things that makes Santa Fe so hard to even consider leaving, is the geography. We live in a high desert haven that is like nowhere else out there, with the foothills of the Rockies in one direction and the empty desert in the other—with the Jemez, Ortiz and Sandias in-between. It undoubtedly serves as an inspiration that shows up in all kinds of weird and beautiful little ways in our community. The idea of waking up and venturing out into the juniper and piñon scrub, then cruising up the mountain road into the ponderosa and alpine forests is bound to spark some kind of feeling, whether you like it or not. (Adam Ferguson)

There is a street packed with Mexican food trucks

There is something comforting living in a city where an entire street becomes a mecca for Mexican street food. While it’s easy to get lured in by all the tempting downtown eateries, if you take a little cruise down Cerrillos Road to the Southside of town then swing a right on Airport Road, you’ll find a plethora of food trucks stretching out as far as the eye can see. From the beloved Fusion Tacos and Monkey’s Food Truck to the handful of hidden gems serving up everything from burritos and tacos to gorditas, sopes and birria, all the classic street food is there. Don’t forget about Taco-Miendo or Taqueria Argelia or so many others we can’t fit here. Thank you, Santa Fe for your cultural diversity. (AF)

Farmers Grow Amazing Produce

To set out upon the endeavour of growing vegetables other than chile in this sandy, dry area is one that takes courage, dedication and a resilience bestowed upon a select few. If you have a successful home garden, that’s great and all, and we’re sure that handful of tomatoes totally slaps when the time comes—but full-scale farming takes a little more stamina. Actually, it’s not just stamina, but a bond developed between humans and the elements that becomes a healthy (OK, or combative at times), functioning relationship. The farmers selling their produce at the Santa Fe Famers’ Market love what they do, and we’ve seen it with our own eyes, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t a major challenge getting to that point. Seasonal organic stuff is what’s up. (AF)

There is an awesome group of people dedicated to protecting the Santa Fe Watershed

Founded by local hydrologist Paige Grant, the Sante Fe Watershed Association is a group of Santa Feans who put their hearts and souls into making sure our water systems aren’t forgotten. What makes the org even more awesome is its initiative to make sure the kids in all the local schools get out into the natural world—and get their hands wet. “The watershed is such an essential tie that binds us together,” SFWA Executive Director Mori Vorenberg tells SFR. “We literally have the Santa Fe river inside our bodies, and it provides 30% to 50% of our drinking water. The association also hosts events throughout the year rooted in taking care of our city and reminding us what the watershed is all about. Glug, glug, baby! (AF)

The Santa Fe Desert Chorale Christmas Concert

Santa Feans seem to have a love/hate relationship with the holiday season. And while it would be easy to curl up in the fetal position and wait for the ball to drop already, there are a number of events for which it’s worth venturing into the cold. Let’s face it, the faralitos lining the

snow covered adobe walls, aromatic biscochitos and the comforting smell of piñon create a singular ambiance that we all know and love. But when it comes to engaging with the community itself, the choir and classical concert happenings all over town are hard to beat. The annual Santa Fe Desert Chorale Christmas concerts at the St. Francis Cathedral are always on our holiday list. “From the beginning it’s been about making this beautiful music here in Santa Fe for the community,” SFDC Executive Director Emma Marzen tells SFR. The ambiance is pure holiday spirit, and the setlist is always packed with classics. (AF)

DIY Spaces are killing it

If you don’t know what we mean when we say spaces like Ghost, Baby Grand and Cirque du So Gay are absolutely slaying the events game, ask a punk. No, really. If you see some weirdo music type on the street looking all cool and like they’re headed to where the party’s at, ask ‘em. Unless you’re some kind of narc, chances are they’ll say they’re headed to one of the aforementioned DIY spaces where local musicians, DJs, artists, poets, dancers and more congregate for community care and some seriously sick tunes. While we won’t go so far as to print their addresses here, we do recommend finding them online and trying to get involved, but only if you have pure intentions. If you do find yourself welcomed, come correct—if you screw this up for our town you’ll never be forgiven. As for us? We love an underdog story and an outside-the-box story. Long live DIY in Santa Fe and beyond! (Alex De Vore)

SITE Santa Fe is showing locals a whole lot of love

With all due respect to about a bazillion shows at contempo-plus (a term we just invented) art space SITE Santa Fe, the way it keeps shining a light on artists with connections to Santa Fe and the surrounding area is a solid reminder that our city is crammed with more talented people than seems possible. As we speak, Erika Wanenmacher’s what Time Travel feels like, sometimes is still up at the Gudalupe Street institution, and its opening was so highly attended that many in the local art-o-sphere struggled to remember a show that did bigger numbers. Throw in recent-ish showings from the likes of Nani Chacon (Diné) and Bruce Nauman, plus upcoming exhbits from Dakota Mace (Diné) and Harmony Hammond, it truly seems like SITE loves Santa Fe as much as the rest of us do. That it resides in a gorgeous building sure doesn’t hurt. (ADV)

The California burrito of our dreams is available at El Rigoberto’s Tacos

As long time Culture Editor for the paper and a former Californian, you can believe your old pal Alex when I say some folks around here long for the Mission-style burritos of our youths. Yes, we love chile, but sometimes it’s more about a fat-ass burrito crammed with everything but the kitchen sink. Meanwhile, at El Rigoberto’s—the Los Alamos-born taqueria that took over the former Fast ’n’ Real/Burrito Spot location at Cerrillos Road and Lujan St.—opened earlier this year with precisely that. It’s a big boy and stuffed to bursting with beef, rice, lettuce, sour cream and fries. What a dream! With Felipe’s Tacos gone and so many other burritos coming either smothered or with the quizzical look that accompanies ordering food sans-chile, this one’s been on our regular dining agenda. It’ll stay there. (ADV)

Some of the best tattooers in the world live and work here 

Even a few short years ago, there were but a mere handful of kickass tattooers working in Santa Fe (and we mean kickass, not your cousin who is, like, pretty good according to you). Now, however, Santa Fe is flooded with so many options that the challenge becomes who to choose rather than how long you’re willing to wait for something magic. Mark Vigil still slays hard over at Four Star Tattoo—Santa Fe’s oldest shop—as does Dawn Purnell at Dawn’s Customs. Longtime ‘tooer and 2024 Best of Santa Fe cover artist Jeffrey Pitt, meanwhile, went the private studio route and busts out the goods on the regular. Over at Shrine Tattoo, Santa Fe-born Zac Scheinabuam is keeping it real, too, alongside brilliant artists like Emma Bagley and Greggletron (plus others), and Marie Sena/Caleb Barnard’s Electric Eye is just plain glorious. Take this as your sign to get the huge backpiece already. Get some sick skulls in there, buds. (ADV)

Fine dining joints offer affordable options, too

If you’ve yet to visit chef Kathleen Crook’s Market Steer Steakhouse in its new location, you’re blowing it. Everything about the restaurant screams high-quality and is well worth the splurge. But did you know Crook also offers a generous bar menu featuring a bunch of $10 items? Holy smokes, that’s a deal! Same goes for Beard-nominated chef Eduardo Rodriguez, whose Zacatlán restaurant offers up affordable brunch options during the day before becoming a pricier white cloth joint by night. Perhaps this is about embracing changing economies, or maybe these people just want to make their food accessible to all. In either case, we don’t actually care—we’re just here for the burgers and the huevos rancheros. (ADV)

La Familia Health Center is back on its feet

Last November, La Familia Health Center faced an uncertain future as the organization reported it only had 90 days left of operational funding and urged Santa Feans to donate to keep the low-cost health center alive to serve its estimated 15,000 patients. After receiving more than $200,000 in donations since then and successfully negotiating a collective bargaining agreement with its union this summer, the health center is not only recovering, but expanding to serve more patients. According to the health center’s chief marketing and development officer, Jasmin Milz, the clinic has since gained five new medical providers, three new dentists and two new hygienists, and are currently working through contacting more than 1,100 patients on their wait list and reaching out to more potential patients. “We’re doing everything we can to increase the number of patients that we see, because that obviously will help us with our financial situation,” Milz tells SFR. (Mo Charnot)

Reading rates are improving

Earlier this year, Santa Fe Public Schools Superintendent Hilario “Larry” Chavez told SFR the district’s slight increase in reading proficiency between 2023 to 2024 (from 38% to 40%) is “a great start” to improving literacy rates among students statewide. Last year, the Public Education Department listed eight schools in the district as needing improvement, but this year all eight schools upgraded to a “traditional” status, leaving all schools in SFPS at a “traditional” or “spotlight” status. Four schools at SFPS in particular, however, made significant gains in reading over just one school year: Francis X. Nava Elementary School increased by 22%, Nina Otero Community School increased by 10% and El Dorado Community and Chaparral Elementary schools increased by 7% each. (Mo Charnot)

SFPS made a huge dent in chronic ­absenteeism

This fall, Santa Fe Public Schools’ work to address chronic absenteeism in the district for the past few years paid off. In September, the Public Education Department highlighted SFPS for achieving the largest decrease in chronic absenteeism among the seven largest districts in the state that received funding to improve attendance. The rate of chronically absent students has decreased from 50% to 30% in one year. Superintendent Chavez credits the district’s Board of Education for adopting attendance initiatives three years ago in response to the high rates of chronic absenteeism that began after students returned from remote to in-person learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. Chavez said the more time students are in the classroom, “the better opportunities students have for better outcomes.” (Mo Charnot)

STEM Pathways for Girls Conference attendance doubles

Since 2018, local science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education nonprofit STEM Santa Fe has hosted an annual conference to encourage girls and gender-nonconforming students from fifth through eighth across the state to consider STEM as a potential career path. At the conference, local educators and industry professionals taught the girls about their respective lines of work through 12 hands-on workshops that included activities such as water pollutant testing and stop-motion animation. According to STEM Santa Fe Programs & Volunteer Manager Leanna McClure (Oglala Lakota and Mescalero Apache), the number of students in attendance this year nearly doubled compared to last year’s conference—from 86 to 150. “There was a lot of great reception and interest,” McClure told SFR. (Mo Charnot)

SFCC’s food pantry served more than 10,000 individuals this year

If there’s one thing any college student is familiar with, it’s hunger on a tight budget. At the Santa Fe Community College, 54% of students reported being food insecure in the 2023-24 Student Basic Needs Report published this year, and the college has taken great strides forward in providing food and other basic needs to its students through growing their free food pantry, the Campus Cupboard. According to SFCC Student Resource Coordinator Joanna Johnston, the Campus Cupboard has even partnered with the school’s Controlled Environment Agriculture program to grow and distribute more than 300 pounds of fresh produce this year, using aquaponics and hydroponics to grow food in the campus greenhouse. “Their generosity makes this possible, and they put in so much effort harvesting, packaging and delivering fresh produce each week,” Johnston tells SFR. “They deserve credit.” Anyone interested in donating to the Campus Cupboard can send their donation through the Santa Fe Community College Foundation. (MC)

Gonzales Community School gets case management for students

Communities in Schools of New Mexico has added the northside Gonzales Community School to its roster of 13 partnering Title I (high poverty) schools this school year to provide the school with resources for students to address their needs in four focus areas: attendance, academics, social-emotional learning and family engagement. The school now has a CISNM “student success facilitator” present on campus to provide individualized case management to between 35 and 40 students to improve their school experience, with the goal of keeping kids in school and boosting them toward the path of graduating. CISNM’s services range from providing families with emergency funds to giving students access to free food or clothing and providing after-school programming and tutoring. (MC)

Youth Services has new behavioral health program

The Santa Fe County Youth Services Division, which has hosted programming for youth in Santa Fe to address health and social welfare, has introduced a new branch of services to aid youth in the county. In addition to the Teen Court Program, the DWI prevention program and other public awareness campaigns, the division introduced a program specifically for teens struggling with behavioral health issues this September, which includes consistent and regular intensive case management services. In this program, case managers will assess behavioral health needs, identify risk factors and develop and implement a care plan for youth  and families during times of transition or crisis—specifically behavioral health crisis. Case managers will be able to coordinate their services with schools, hospitals, the Children, Youth and Families Department, mental health centers, homeless shelters, behavioral health providers and other entities to meet the youth’s needs. (MC)

Gay shit is taking over

It has been said that Santa Fe has more LGBTQ+ people per capita than any other part of the country—even San Francisco. While that’s probably not true, if our record turnout for the annual Pride on the Plaza is any indication, we’d venture to say it’s a pretty great time to be gay in Santa Fe. Human Rights Alliance of Santa Fe Executive Director Kevin Bowen tells SFR roughly 11,500 people attended this year’s event, in comparison to nearly 10,000 last year. “That is significant compared to previous years,” Bowen says. “When I first got involved as a volunteer in 2018, there were maybe a couple thousand people. It has grown significantly.” Factor in the weekly Queer Night on Mondays at hotel bar La Reina; a weekly community conversation hosted by the HRA on Saturdays and monthly drag shows and dance parties, and we’re really making waves. But let’s face it: there’s never enough resources. That’s why Bowen says he has his eyes set on a brick-and-mortar location for the HRA, for which the organization is “still in the fundraising phase.” Can we please get a gay club next? *crosses fingers* (Evan Chandler)

Little Globe welcomes two young Indigenous storytellers as executive directors

In October, local nonprofit Little Globe welcomed new co-executive directors Aurora Escobedo and Dylan Tenorio, ushering in a new era of Indigenous leadership for the organization. Escobedo is a filmmaker from the Pueblo of Tesuque who was hired as an intern in 2019 and has since produced stop-motion animation for various Little Globe TV episodes. Tenorio, a visual development artist from Kewa Pueblo, began work with Little Globe in 2019 after he studied at the now-defunct Santa Fe University of Art and Design. The two replace former executive director Chris Jonas, who held the role for nine years. “It has been such a beautiful thing to see how much support there is from the community since Auroroa and I have stepped in,” Tenorio says. “I am excited for the next year ahead as we have plans to work with various Indigenous organizations as well as other community organizations in Northern and Central New Mexico.”(EC)

Resources and community outreach are increasing for homelessness initiatives

Local organizations that serve Santa Fe’s unhoused community have made strides this year, from the launch of the first pallet home community to mobile shower units in three locations weekly—both with the city’s help. And things are just getting started for the city, according to the new Community Health and Safety Director Henri Hammond-Paul, who took over the role in September following a nine-month search and will lead homelessness efforts. That list of planned initiatives include an expansion of pallet shelter communities, a trauma-informed street outreach team and more. Hammond-Paul says the city team is “excited to build on this momentum in the coming year” alongside community partners and service providers. “Santa Fe is taking meaningful steps to address homelessness with compassion and purpose…We’re focusing on data-driven, transparent solutions that can create lasting impact,” he says. “Together, we’re building a more inclusive and resilient city.” (EC)

Nightlife is slowly getting better…we think

Okay, we won’t pretend like we’re in the heyday of nightlife in Santa Fe, but if you can’t find things to do in the evenings, it’s probably because you’re not aware or you’re not looking. So let us help you out by sharing some of the nighttime activities we love around Santa Fe, starting with Boxcar’s Wednesday and Sunday karaoke nights. Grab a drink, or food, and wait for your song to come on the queue. Prefer to be a member of the crowd and not the star of the show? This downtown bar also hosts dance nights with DJs on the weekends. Cake’s Cafe offers additional options—including a Tuesday night comedy open mic night, events that connect creatives and more. The monthly Tumbleroot Twirl from the Human Rights Alliance of Santa Fe gives queer folk on the Southside a space to let loose and be with community—and we really need that right now. Almost as much as even more nightlife. (EC)

Seating for food trucks is on the way

If you read SFR, you know we live, breathe and die Fusion Tacos. But our beloved taco truck is just the tip of the iceberg of Santa Fe’s food truck offerings—a much-needed local late night alternative to fast food. And with new efforts underway, we may be able to actually sit down and enjoy our orders soon instead of packing it up into the car and heading off. District 4 Councilor Jamie Cassutt previously told SFR she’s been working on an update to the 2015 food truck ordinance and code for a couple of years in order to create civic plazas. Earlier this year, Earth Care Co-Director Miguel Acosta, whose organization focuses on community development, hired a local surveyor to complete a preliminary analysis and study the idea with the help of a portion of a $35,000 McCune Charitable Foundation grant. (EC)

Phase one updates to Santa Fe Airport bring art, concessions and more

Our humble little airport is growing, and with the completion of the first phase of its renovation—over $21.5 million worth of work—visitors will find new concessions, a larger terminal and rotating public art exhibits. The most recent rotating art series focused on the elements. Before updates began, approximately 200 people used the airport daily. Today, that number has grown to between 800 and 1,000. The overall project and our airport in general, admittedly, still have a long way to go. The second phase of the airport expansion includes a new terminal and connecting Highway 599 to the airport. The city received $2 million from the New Mexico Legislature to pay for the design of phase two and another $4.5 million for the road. (EC)

Geronimo’s Books brings that indie bookshop life to the Southside

“We want a place where people can hang out,” Geronimo’s Books co-founder Phil Geronimo told SFR when the shop opened last fall. In the year since, Geronimo and his co-owner/wife Lauren Ayer have fostered exactly that through readings, special sales and a carefully curated selection of tomes culled from the very best Santa Fe has to offer—and that are either unavailable or more expensive elswhere. You might have to dig for the treasures a bit, but with the vast majority of local bookshops operating a fair distance from the Southside (yeah, yeah, we know about Barnes & Noble, but they ain’t indie), it’s more than worth the time spent examining the shelves. Geronimo and Ayer love books as much as you do, maybe even more so, and with the option for personalized service, this could be one of your fave spots, too. Start flippin’ them pages. (ADV)

The Crow’s Nest Oddities Store builds space for the weirdos

When The Crow’s Nest opened on Old Santa Fe Trail last summer, the goths, nerds, weirdos and dweebs all took notice. There, owner Rose Hutson created a space for the outsiders and outcasts and the people who love things a little stranger or darker. Also rad? Hutson has opened the space for local artists like Grady Gordon to show their work. Still, it has been a tough road for Huston as a young entrepreneur, and if we’re going to have an oddity/curiosity shop in our fair city, the time for support is now. “I’m here for al lthe people who maybe felt like they didn’t have a place before,” Hutson says, “and who didn’t feel like they had a store to go to—I’m here for the weirdos.” Consider this your warning, fans of skulls, dark ephemera, candles, art and more.  (ADV)