Courtesy Andrea Hanley
I appreciate that for the most part the overall dialogue and personality of Santa Fe is open, relevant, honest, inviting and sometimes wild. Art, land, relationships, family, and reciprocity are also characteristics of this city. In a lot of ways, the larger public conversations that I have seen in this community don’t really happen anywhere else in the world.
We are blessed this way. Things move slower here. There are background stories for everything and everybody. The stories and social, cultural, and political identities of this community have been built, and perhaps, burnt down and then rebuilt over time, for hundreds and hundreds of years; so the deep connectedness of the people, the land, and the narratives are things that are not taken lightly both then and now.
Santa Fe is a place for extraordinary people, whether they be artists, creative economy professionals, writers, critics, academics, chefs, and possibly just serious thinkers who live their lives in the Southwest. I recently heard local famous feminist artist Harmony Hammond say something like, "we do what we want, we live in outlaw territory." It resonates and rings true in a lot of ways.
Alternative weeklies have always had a place in my life, in every city that I have lived, including Phoenix and Washington D.C. I have relied on them, to know what is most important to the community, what civic and political issues are covered by local journalists, and basically what, the cool kids are up to. Santa Fe is a place where I live, work, and have been the most productive and creative—I think in my entire life. Having been here for almost seven years, the strong and soulful Native American and Hispanic community, great food, art, land, and over the top public programming in this town is why I think we live here. I became so easily connected to the city by way of the Santa Fe Reporter, THE Magazine and 98.1 Radio Free Santa Fe. I have never lived in a community where both writing and radio were so significant.
Thank you, Santa Fe Reporter. You allow us to remain the City Different by offering us wonderful writers. You connect us to community in ways that perhaps we haven't thought about.
Make us zealous. Make us laugh. Push our buttons. Get after us. And absolutely make us proud to be from Santa Fe.
Andrea R. Hanley, Chief Curator, Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian
