Who’s the arty-est of them all?
Frida Kahlo
Jenny's View
Dear Friends,
Maybe it’s because we’ve grown so accustomed to being a tourism mecca over recent decades, but our cultural institutions aim high. Just look at the ever-expanding International Folk Art Market and phenomenal growth of SITE Santa Fe and Meow Wolf. Well, now the Spanish Colonial Museum is planning to bring summer crowds to its doors with the international touring exhibition Mirror Mirror: Photographs of Frida Kahlo, a show well received in New York City and at the National Portrait Gallery in London.
Frida Kahlo is especially well loved in New Mexico as a Hispanic cultural icon and art heroine. Not only did she paint her instantly recognizable self-portraits, but she was photographed as often as any celebrity. In fact, the exhibition suggests that these photographs showed the artist how a theatrical persona could turn her into a work of art for others. The same “Mona Lisa” look that makes her paintings so memorable also intrigued the likes of Imogene Cunningham, Lucienne Bloch, Carl van Vechten, Edward Weston, Andre Breton and Dora Maar, among many others.
David Setford, executive director of the Spanish Colonial Arts Society, says the group held fundraisers and worked hard to bring the show to Santa Fe, with the goal of introducing the museum to a wider audience and expanding the understanding of Spanish Colonial art. The exhibit opens May 6, preceded by a lecture, “Introducing Frida Kahlo,” on April 22. The exhibit will run through October 29. And, of course, La Fonda is offering a hotel special that includes tickets to the museum's exhibit and breakfast in La Plazuela.
I think it’s safe to say that an appearance by Frida puts Santa Fe squarely on the global culture map. But if you need more proof, the City Different is very proud to have just won the World Legacy Award from National Geographic Traveler for its Sense of Place. Check it out!
Artfully yours,
Jennifer Lea Kimball
NEW ONLINE STORE for Detours at La Fonda
April marks the beginning of Spring in Santa Fe and Detours will be dressed up with Easter and Spring related items on the main floor as well as the gallery space below. This month, we will be showcasing “Harvey” hand-forged, bronze 30” & 15” sculptures and Harvey bottle stoppers, adorable bunny and duckling hand puppets for the kids, silk flowers, cast iron rabbits and other animals, children’s books and beautiful scarves for women. And, we are excited to introduce a new line of pewter tableware accessories that are absolutely adorable. We've added some of these new items to our e-commerce store and have them available in the lower gallery of the store. Visit www.detoursatlafonda.com to see all the new products.
| Pewter Rabbit & Carrot Salt & Pepper Set
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Recipe For Adventure
Some people like to decorate eggs for Spring & Easter. Here at La Fonda, we fire up our deviled eggs by spiking the usual go-to mixture with a little (seriously, this stuff is hot) chipotle puree. The chipotle pepper gives the traditional deviled eggs a smoky punch of heat, which is just the way we like it here in New Mexico!
La Fonda Spicy Deviled Eggs – Serves 12
| 1 dozen eggs 2 teaspoons yellow mustard 1 teaspoon sugar 1 teaspoon chipotle puree (One small can chile chipotle in adobo, puree all ingredients in a blender) 1/3 Cup Miracle Whip 2 teaspoons white wine vinegar 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/8 teaspoon white pepper 24 Fresh cilantro leaves as garnish |  |
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Live at La Fonda
| “People are always stunned that we can sound as big as we are,” Steve O’Neill says of The Gruve, a band consisting of just him on keyboards and Ron Crowder on drums. That’s not only because of their musicianship, he says, but also their “amazing chemistry” on stage. An R&B band with no guitarist? O’Neill and Crowder used to have one, but found that they loved the sound of their simple instruments and harmonizing voices alone. Not only do they dispense with the rest of the band, but “every single note is played,” O’Neill says—there’s no sequencer, synthesizer, or anything but old-school funk and soul, played on real instruments.
Native New Mexicans with a comedic bent, The Gruve always manages to communicate the good time they’re having together. Whether it’s covering Michael Jackson, Terence Trent d’Arby, or Stevie Wonder, their fun, funky vibe gets people smiling and dancing. Occasionally someone will throw out a request for a country number, O’Neill says, and they’ll oblige with a little Merle Haggard, but basically “it’s just two white guys singing soul music” and goofing around between songs. “We’re not trying to set the world on fire—though we’re doing a pretty good job of it,” he adds. Appearing regularly at La Fiesta Lounge, the pair have their next date on stage April 14-15. Meanwhile, check out the videos on their website to hear what two white guys can do with Mark Ronson’s hit “Uptown Funk” or Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean.” |
It's a Good Time To...
| Celebrate spring with a flurry of dance performances, from flamenco and Bollywood to modern and classical. Or quench your thirst for harpsichords and choirs as Easter season brings a series of concerts featuring Bach and the baroque. Hurry and catch the tail end of Teatro Paraguas’ Flamenco Fiesta 2017 (Mar. 31-Apr. 2), three days of flamenco dance and music with a Japanese-inspired theme, featuring Mina Fajardo and Chuscales. More dance on stage at the Lensic includes Taj Express with sensuous Bollywood (Apr. 12) or Aspen Santa Fe Ballet presenting the world premiere of Broadway choreographer Cherice Barton (Apr. 8). And Jessica Lang Dance introduces work from the eponymous New York choreographer (May 23). Also at the Lensic, the three-man comedy troupe Reduced Shakespeare Company weaves all of the Bard’s famous characters and greatest lines into “a tale told by idiots” (May 11). |
| Aspen City Ballet
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Performance
On other stages, The Santa Fe Playhouse is performing an adaptation of George Orwell’s 1984 through April 16, followed by In the Next Room (Or the Vibrator Play), a comedy about marriage and electricity set in the 1880s (May 4-21). The Adobe Rose Theatre closes the comedy Moonlight and Magnolias on April 2, and opens the Tony-nominated drama Time Stands Still by Donald Margulies on May 18. Poet Timothy McLaughlin performs traditional Celtic legend and dance at the Santa Fe Women’s Club (Apr. 9).
| Santa Fe Playhouse
| Timothy McLaughlin
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Broadcasting from the Metropolitan Opera in New York, Anna Netrebko reprises her lead role in Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin (two shows, Apr. 22) and Strauss’ Der Rosenkavalier stars Renee Fleming in one of her signature roles (May 13) for Met Live in HD. From London’s National Theatre, also screening live at the Lensic is offers a new twist on Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night (Apr. 13) and a 50th anniversary production of Tom Stoppard’s situation comedy Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead (Apr. 20).
| Twelfth Night
| Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead
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Music
| The annual New Mexico Bach Society Concert (Apr. 9) is followed by a benefit concert for artist Richard Kurman (May 6), both led by Metropolitan Opera conductor Franz Vote at the Immaculate Heart Chapel. Bach’s Goldberg Variations make up the program at Serenata of Santa Fe’s spring concert at First Presbyterian Church (May 7). And Santa Fe Pro Musica plays three baroque concerts for Holy Week at Loretto Chapel (Apr. 13-15). The Santa Fe Symphony wraps up its 33rd season with a springtime concert of Chabrier, Haydn, and Schumann featuring principal horn player Nathan Ukens (Apr. 23), followed by a program of “bombastic” works from Beethoven, Mendelssohn and Lauridsen featuring the full orchestra and chorus (May 20-21). Also at the Lensic is pianist Anne-Marie McDermott playing Beethoven (Apr. 29-30), with an artist dinner on Sunday. |
| Anne-Marie McDermott t | Kathryn Mueller, Soprano
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In contemporary music, Dead Man Winter plays the Bridge at Santa Fe Brewing (Apr. 1), while Meow Wolf has Strand of Oaks (Apr. 1), Pleasures (Apr. 2), Chicano Batman (Apr. 11), Masta Ace with Wake Self (Apr. 14), The Four Horsemen of Strange Famous Records (Apr. 20), Gregory Alan Isakov (Apr. 22), and Whitney (Apr. 25), followed by the benefit show Dear Patriarchy (Apr. 27), the Sounds Like Primal dance party featuring Perkulator and Galaxy (Apr. 29), Frank Iero and The Patience (May 5), La Santa Cecilia (May 10), that dance party known as Back to the ’80s Prom (May 12), Com Truise with Roland Tings (May 13), and Pantha Du Prince (May 24).
| Frank Iero and The Patience
| Four Horsemen
| Com Cruise
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Out and About
The Native Treasures Indian Arts Festival (May 26-28) offers works for sale from more than 200 invited artists representing a range of tribes and styles, an annual benefit for the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture, at the Santa Fe Convention center.
Outdoor Vision Fest is a free self-guided exhibit of environmental art, video, and light installations projected onto buildings at the Santa Fe University of Art and Design (Apr. 28). The next day, the Japanese cultural festival known as Matsuri 2017 takes place at the convention center (Apr. 29). And for a taste of local culture, the Baile de Mayo crowns the leading couple of the annual Hispanic heritage celebration known as Fiestas de Santa Fe, part of an evening of live music and dancing at the Santa Fe Convention Center (May 6).
Another quintessentially New Mexican custom takes place on Holy Week (Apr. 10-16) as Catholic pilgrims from around the state (and beyond) can be seen walking to el Santuario de Chimayo, sometimes barefoot and carrying crosses, for events culminating in the Good Friday procession and Mass on Easter Sunday.
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| El Santuario de Chimayo
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Fed up with high culture? Then head down to the Duke City for the Bacon, Beer & Blues festival at Balloon Fiesta Park (Apr. 15), formerly known as the Southwest Bacon Fest. For a more wholesome excuse to imbibe, there’s the annual Outside Bike & Brew festival (May 18-21), which combines craft beer with various road and mountain biking events. The annual Santa Fe Century (May 21) is another favorite on the cyclist’s calendar, offering a range of ride distances and intensities along picturesque routes—and probably some brew at the end. Drop by La Fiesta Lounge and sample our extensive collection of beers on tap.
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At the Museums
Santa Clara Pueblo potter Jody Naranjo will have an exhibit of her work opening at the Museum of Indian Arts & Culture (Apr. 2), in conjunction with being honored at the Native Treasures Art Festival. The museum opens its Center for New Mexico Archaeology to the public (Apr. 20), a rare look at this repository for more than 8.5 million artifacts and multiple specialty laboratories. Also at the museum, expert Mark Bahti will share his extensive knowledge of Hopi Katsinas (May 18).
| Jody Naranjo
| Mark Bahti & Emmi Whitehorse
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The New Mexico History Museum opens an exhibit on Voices of Counterculture in the Southwest (May 14) that runs through February. The photos, footage, and artifacts reexamine the attraction that New Mexico held in the 1960s and ’70s. At the Museum of International Folk Art, East Indian quilts and quilters will be the focus of a talk and textile sale (Apr. 3). As part of its ongoing exhibition of “tramp art,” the museum will have a unique concert of handmade instruments including saw blades, door springs and glass bottles (Apr. 9). And of course there’s the annual Folk Art Flea (May 6), where you can shop for gently used folk art from around the world, including this year a Collector’s Corner for better-than-flea items.
| Folk Art Flea | Cady Wells |
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The New Mexico Museum of Art opens an exhibit of watercolors by Cady Wells and photography by Meggan Gould and Andy Mattern for First Friday (Apr. 7), with a talk (Apr. 28) by Lois Rudnick on the friendship between Cady Wells and Georgia O’Keeffe. The next day, the museum takes part in a worldwide movement to appreciate preselected museum works on Slow Art Day (Apr. 8). On May 26 the museum hosts an opening reception for Lines of Thought: Drawing from Michelangelo to Now, from the collection of the British Museum (through Sept. 17).
At the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, learn about the origins of the Indian Pop art movement of the 1960s and ’70s (Apr. 11).
Speakers
Michael Kearns discusses the use of algorithms and social fairness in “Machine Learning and Social Norms” (Apr. 4), a free talk from the Santa Fe Institute at the Lensic. At the same venue, the Lannan Foundation presents Indian author and activist Arundhati Roy with documentarian Anthony Arnove (May 3), and then novelist Marlon James with author Russell Banks (May 10) at the Lensic.
If you’re a fan of Beat poet Gary Snyder, this might be a good time to become a member of the Lensic, since the Pulitzer Prize winner will share his perspective on the counterculture in a presentation for members only (May 14). Opera buffs can get a sneak peek at the season as Desiree Mays of the Santa Fe Opera Guild introduces the five shows for 2017, with musical samples (Apr. 11), at the Unitarian Church.
Opera buffs can get a sneak peek at the season as Desiree Mays of the Santa Fe Opera Guild introduces the five shows for 2017, with musical samples (Apr. 11), at the Unitarian Church.
| Michael Kearns | Arundhati Roy | Gary Snyder |
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La Fonda and Santa Fe In the News
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