artdirector@sfreporter.com
MORNING WORD
Public turns out in support of mansion tax
More than 50 people spoke in favor at last night’s Santa Fe City Council meeting regarding a proposed tax on high-end real estate. During the hearing, residents, along with representatives of the Old Santa Fe Association, New Mexico Interfaith Housing and Chainbreaker Collective, expressed support for initiative, and urged councilors to go even further: One attendee came bearing a sign that read “3% is NOT enough.” As currently written, if approved by voters, the law would impose a 3% excise tax only on the portion of the home sale that exceeds $1 million, which would be used to support the city’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund. Earth Care New Mexico member Anisa Gallegos endorsed the bill in tears, saying she and her family currently lived with her grandparents due to rising housing costs. “If people can pay that much money for a house, people who have lived in Santa Fe for their entire lives should be able to [afford a home] as well,” Gallegos said. The Santa Fe Association of Realtors has already expressed opposition to the bill, and SFAR former President Andrea Dobyns spoke against the proposal last night—the sole opposing voice: “The Santa Fe Association of Realtors will not be able to support this,” she said. “Housing advocates have not done an effective job in demonstrating how the funds will be used.”
Santa Fe County Fire Marshal bans open burning
A ban on open burning in Santa Fe County goes into effect tomorrow in response to what the county characterizes as “immediate and present danger of range fires, brush fires, grass fires, forest fires and structure fires” due to “persistent hot, dry, and unstable atmospheric conditions with temperatures much above typical peak fire season maximums, humidity of 15% or less and Haines Index of 5+.” As of tomorrow, the county will suspend permits for open burning and won’t issue new ones until the fire marshal rescinds the order. As described in a news release, open burning “is the burning of materials wherein products of combustion are emitted directly into the ambient air without passing through a stack or chimney from an enclosed chamber.” For instance: “a bonfire, rubbish fire or other fire in an outdoor location where fuel being burned is not contained in an incinerator, outdoor fireplace, barbeque grill or barbeque pit.” The ban doesn’t apply to road flares or similar devices associated with safety or occupational uses typically considered open flames. Most recreational outdoor burning—like barbeque grills and the like—don’t require permits.
City allocates $3.4 million for youth services
More than $3.4 million in city funding went into effect this month as the new fiscal year began for three years worth of funding to several Santa Fe nonprofits serving the city’s children and youth. In a news release, the City of Santa Fe says the funding “prioritizes goal areas identified in the Children and Youth Commission’s Strategic Plan to address youth wellness, safety and basic needs, and early childhood and supplemental education.” Funding for 18 nonprofits includes: $302,250 to the Santa Fe Public Schools Teen Parent Program; $261,300 to SFPS’ Adelante Program to provide homeless support services; and $267,600 to Gerard’s House to implement the Nuestra Jornada peer support grief program. “Funding unmet social and human services for our community is critical not just for the well-being of those residents but for the overall health, safety, and quality of life of the community at large,” Youth and Family Services Division Director Julie Sanchez said in a statement. “The city is fortunate to have so many partner organizations that have proven track records of providing services effectively and efficiently.”
Senate confirms Torres Small as USDA deputy secretary
Former New Mexico Congresswoman Xochitl Torres Small was confirmed earlier this week by the US Senate as the federal Department of Agriculture deputy secretary. “As the granddaughter of migrant farm workers, Xochitl experienced firsthand the challenges that many producers and rural communities face day in and day out,” Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in a statement upon her confirmation. “The hard work and determination she witnessed informs her commitment to public service and her respect for those we serve.” Torres Small has served as undersecretary for Rural Development since 2021, following the loss of her seat in the state’s 2nd Congressional District. As reported by Roll Call, Torres Small, during her May confirmation hearing, said if confirmed as deputy secretary, “I would want to focus on being that customer service agency that our farmers and rural people rely on and all of the backend work that supports that effort.” Democrats US Sens. Martin Heinrich and Ben Ray Luján of New Mexico both offered congratulations to Torres Small in a statement saying Torres Small’s “confirmation marks a proud day for New Mexico. From the borderlands to Congress to a Senate-confirmed member of the President’s administration, Xochitl has spent her life serving her community and putting people first. That’s just who she is.” Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, who is traveling out of state through July 19, also tweeted her congratulations.
Listen up
New Mexico Poet Laureate Lauren Camp’s sixth new collection, An Eye in Each Square (River River Books; June 2023), “is part social critique, part imaginative biography of enigmatic painter Agnes Martin, and part treatise on the multiplicities of the natural world.” Camp, whose honors include a Dorset Prize and finalist citations for the Arab American Book Award, the Housatonic Book Award and the Adrienne Rich Award for Poetry, reads at 6 pm this evening at Collected Works Bookstore (202 Galisteo St.,), and the event also will livestream on Zoom; register here.
Sands of time
Photographer Matt McClain traveled to New Mexico for the Washington Post’s latest podcast Field Trip, which the Post describes as “a journey through the messy past and uncertain future of America’s national parks.” He also, naturally, took some photos. McClain writes that a few years ago while on assignment in New Mexico, he had a rare evening to himself: “I was mulling over whether to go to Roswell, the small town made famous for its UFO lore, or White Sands, an expansive dunefield. I chose White Sands.” He traces his fascination with sand dunes to Star Wars (naturally). “I was mesmerized when C-3PO and R2-D2 end up stranded on the dry, desolate planet of Tatooine,” he notes. He jumped at the chance to return in October, and documents his trip, and what he describes as a “meditative experience” as he trudged through the sand, finding scenes to photograph—from “fossilized tracks made by a giant sloth” to a wedding. He ends his trip at the Trinity site—where the first atomic bomb was detonated on July 16, 1945—with the apt observation that “it is foolish to underestimate the historic significance this desolate piece of land has on our collective history.”
Saints and santeros
The National Catholic Register travels to the Sacred Heart Spanish Market in Gallup and visits with master santero and New Mexico native Charles Carrillo, a National Endowment for the Arts Heritage Fellow and “one of the most influential living artists within the Spanish Colonial tradition.” That tradition, as the publication in which the story appears indicates, has a religious focus—Catholicism, specifically. The most popular saints’ depictions Carrillo sells are St. Pascal in his kitchen; St. Isidore at his plow; or the “ever-popular” Our Lady of Guadalupe. His crucifixions don’t sell quite as well, he says. “Still, he gestured toward one piece depicting Jesus hanging on the cross, wounds dripping red, and an angel with a chalice collecting the fountain of blood gushing from his side” and then “flashed a quick smile: ‘Hang that one up, and there’s no cutting corners’ in announcing to houseguests that you’re Catholic,’ he said.” Carrillo was one of 30 acclaimed artists at last month’s market in Gallup, the story says, describing the market as “an annual showcase that reflects both the deep, Catholic roots of the region and an adherence to traditional art forms handed down for generations. Market host the Diocese of Gallup “might seem an unlikely host for artists who also show yearly at the prestigious, juried Spanish Market in tony Santa Fe,” the story notes, but Bishop James Wall tells the Register, as Catholics, “We have a history with this. We put forth things that are good and true and beautiful, and we see that in the arts,” particularly the “real natural beauty” of the santero tradition.
The heat is on
Yesterday’s rain sure was a glorious feeling. No such luck today. The National Weather Service forecasts mostly sunny and hot conditions, with a high temperature of 94 degrees; southeast wind 5 to 15 mph becoming northwest in the afternoon.
Thanks for reading! The Word feels too hot (and lazy) to cook, but she’s enjoying reading the recipes in Emergence Magazine’s multimedia story on Seasons of the Monastic Table, and looks forward to trying the Ice Meadow Soup on the summer menu.
