TalkingSantaFe.com

Greentelligence on the Home Front

Malissa Kullberg — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 06:07:36 +0000

Photo by Marcel Lam, for the New York Times

“Consumers in general want a home that is cozier, more organized and more economical in terms of operating costs,” said Stacy Rogers in Home Buying Trends in 2010.

Behold the acme of cozy, organized, energy-efficient operation: Gary Chang’s “Domestic Transformer.”

With the use of sliding screens, architect and homeowner, Chang, mutipurposed his 330 square foot Hong Kong apartment into 24 distinct rooms. The result is a home that’s comfortable, commodious and ultra-hip. Watch the video and marvel at the man’s brilliance.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lg9qnWg9kak

While Cheng’s design is a sharp departure from the soft curves and natural materials that characterize “Santa Fe style,” the creative intelligence that spawned it is not. Architects?

Revolutionary touch screen

Paula Berthelot — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 18:31:12 +0000

Check out this video to see where the revolutionary touch screen wave of change is heading . You will be amazed!

Santa Fe Fall Getaways

Lisa Smith — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 02:54:05 +0000

Santa Fe Fall Getaways

Trip Advisor reports that close to 30% of Americans will be enjoying Fall Getaways. So count yourself in and make plans now to head to Santa Fe!

Getting Here

FLY – You can fly non-stop to Santa Fe Airport from Los Angeles or Dallas on American Eagle. Other airlines serving Albuquerque are: Southwest, Delta, Continental, United, US Airways and Frontier Airlines. Many are boasting last minute Labor Day specials! And in just a 1 hour picturesque drive north you’ll find yourself in the heart of Santa Fe.

DRIVE – There’s nothing like driving into Santa Fe whether you come in on the historic Old Santa Fe Trail or drive down from the north through the renowned Raton Pass. Look for our landmark Sangre de Cristo mountains and find our city nestled in the colorful foothills.

As an option, you can purchase a New Mexico Culture Pass and visit monuments and museums throughout the state on your way here and back home.

TRAIN – Hop on the New Mexico Rail Runner Express. You’ll weave through the backs of ancient pueblo lands and arrive in the Santa Fe Railyard District where you can dine, shop & catch a shuttle or take a brief walk to the Historic Downtown Plaza. Coming from California, the Mid-west or Southwest? The Lamy Shuttle Service meets the Amtrak Southwest Chief trains daily for an easy ride to Santa Fe hotels.

The New Mexico Rail Runner Express will be offering expanded service for the Labor Day Weekend – September 4th, 5th and 6th.

Just Get Here!

Events

Some of our Annual Fall Events include:

102 bluPub Crawl
The Burning of Zozobra & Santa Fe Fiestas
20th Annual Wine & Chile Fiesta
Santa Fe Geocaching Challenge
Studio Tours – Pojoaque, El Rito, Abiquiu, Galisteo
Kewa Pueblo Annual Arts & Crafts Market
O’Keeffiana – Art and Art Materials
Santa Fe Calendar for much, much, more!

Accommodations

Santa Fe Resorts, Hotels, Inns, Bed & Breakfasts and Vacation Rentals are offering a vast array of Lodging Specials for you to choose from.

Whether you’re planning a Romantic Getaway, Reunion, Girlfriends Weekend or just up for an individual Exploration and discovery, we’ll satisfy your needs and your budget.

Check out Lodging Specials Now!

Dining

We’ve got over 200 restaurants and a wide variety of cuisines to satisfy every palate. Check out our Dining Specials Now!

Things To Do

Explore the Things To Do section of our website and you’ll understand why this is the most extensive & popular section of our Santa Fe Convention & Visitors Bureau Website. Here are a few popular options and visit the website for a full list of Things To Do.

Check our Santa Fe Calendar for a full list of events including Gallery Openings, Art Related Events, Concerts & Performances.

Follow Santa Fe Lodging on Twitter
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Follow Santa Fe Gay Travel on Twitter
Become a Fan of SantaFeNM on Facebook

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Quail Run- The Neighborhoods of Santa Fe, New Mexico

michaelumphrey — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 23:11:28 +0000

Quail Run- The Neighborhoods of Santa Fe, New Mexico

It’s all about the lifestyle. Quail Run is a meticulously planned gated community in Santa Fe, rich with all of the ingredients of care-free living. The setting is fabulous and includes a lush, 9 hole golf course with spectacular sunset views. This is where I learned to play tennis from the resident pro, Pat Narvais. The fitness club is world-class and includes swimming, therapeutic pools, jacuzzis, cardio machines, weights and stationary bikes. Tonia and I have always felt it a privilege to have membership to the club and its facilities.

Click Here To See The Condos For Sale In Quail Run, Santa Fe, New Mexico

Michael’s Minute of Real Estate

The nation’s collective mindset is often evident in housing market trends, and if you own a home or are planning to purchase, it’s important to stay updated on the most significant changes. In order to protect their investment, homebuyers and renovating homeowners should consider resale potential when making key decisions, and that requires an understanding of the features that appeal to the majority of today’s consumers. This month I have sent information to my friends and clients about the most recent trends captured by a prominent survey of American architects. In addition to the emphasis on smaller, more efficient floor plans, the survey also identified other popular characteristics that relate to modern lifestyles like outdoor rooms and home offices. Of course, preferences can vary considerably from one region to another. If you are planning a home-improvement project, or would simply like to know more about trends that are specific to Santa Fe, feel free to give me a call at 505.470.4180. I’m always happy to help maximize your home’s market value.

I’ll see you in the neighborhood,

Michael

Past as Presence: Joanne Lefrak at Box Gallery

Malissa Kullberg — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 22:53:48 +0000

Joanne Lefrak is lovely and charming, with a warmth and gentle spontaneity that disarms.

Given the potent mystique of the brooding artist, you might think niceness would be an occupational detriment, or at the least, irrelevant. But if you’re in the business of brokering relationships and gathering stories, it helps to be the sort of person who invites engagement the way a puppy invites touch.

Surely that effulgent loveliness serves her work at SITE Santa Fe, where she works as education and catalogue manager and runs the Young Curator’s Program. It also enabled her to entice ghost town raconteurs to unfurl the old family stories she pairs with the delicate drawings in her show, Past as Presence, currently on display at Box Gallery.

Like any good works of art, Lefrak’s pieces unveil in layers. The fact that she scratched her drawings onto plexiglass is an immediately appreciable neat trick, especially for anyone who has ever tried NOT to scratch plexi and knows just how touchy a medium it is. And it’s also quite cool that wall-mounting and front-lighting these scratched plexi panels reveals pallid but precise images in shadow. What follows is what you feel: the haunting resonance of powerful times past–at the Trinity Site, testing ground for atomic bombs, and in the faint, memory-bent remnants of a vigorous family life echoed in a present day ghost town.

Head down to Box Gallery, downtown in the Santa Fe Railyard, and spend a half an hour absorbing these etheric wonders. Slip on a set of headphones, and listen to the words of the ranchers Lefrak befriended. Share the fresh, direct sense of something not there made real and present by the humble, receptivity of this gentle artist.

Exhibition runs August 27 – October 2, 2010 at Box Gallery “[one of] a dozen galleries … that the serious collector and the discerning tourist would not want to miss.” — Mimi Avins, Los Angeles Times, Travel

Box Gallery is located at 1611-A Paseo de Peralta, across from SITE Santa Fe. Open Tuesday – Saturday 10 – 5; Tel: 505.989.4897

~*~*~*

Real estate agents Malissa Kullberg and Joshua Maes, AKA Changing Gallery, use their listings, where appropriate, to showcase the art, photography, sculpture and other creations of emerging and independent artistic and musical talents.

Santa Fe Neighborhoods – Focus on Old Las Vegas Highway Corridor

Karen Meredith — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 14:35:02 +0000

Old Las Vegas Highway Corridor is located southeast of the Plaza on Old Las Vegas Highway and extends to Highway 285 South. It is near the main hospital, St. Vincent Regional Medical Center, and many retail services.

Lots in this area, nestled in the foothills of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, average between two and a half to approximately five acres depending on the community. Although this area is only minutes from town, its feel is decidedly rural, and its views to the south and west are more expansive. Many horse properties are in this area and horse trails weave around many of those properties. You can find a beautiful home with privacy and views here. Communities here include Arroyo Hondo Vistas, Double Arrow, Overlook, Sunlit Hills, La Barberia, and Seton Village. Housing is not uniform or cookie-cutter and the styles range from modest homes to elegant territorial and pueblo ranchettes. Arroyo Hondo, in particular, is known for its superior horse properties.

Santa Fe Market Report
Featuring The Old Las Vegas Highway Corridor (OLVH)

Active SFAR Listings
All Santa Fe Listings (8/20/10)
Residential: 2868
Residential Land: 1543
Farm & Ranch: 111
Commercia Buildings: 204
Commercial Land: 78
Live/Work: 23
Multi Family: 36

OLVH Corridor Snapshot
Residential Listings (8/20/10)
Active: 60
Pending: 4
Sold: 32*
  Average DOM: 286*
Average Listing Price: $679,785*
   Average Listing Price Per Sq.ft: $227*
  Average Selling Price: $625,635*
   Average Selling Price Per Sq.ft.: $209*
% of List Price: 92%*

*Sold (8/19/09-8/20/10)

Days on Market (DOM)
OLVH – Residential Sold*

Selling Price: % of List Price
OLVH – Residential Sold*

MLS Comparison, Sales Year To Date
OLVH – Residential – 2009 v. 2010
(1/1/09-8/19/09) – (1/1/10-8/20/10)

Summertime Guacamole

Karen Meredith — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 15:56:45 +0000

Summertime Guacamole

Ingredients:

- 2-3 medium to large-sized avocados, halved and seeded

- 3 tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice

- 1 clove garlic, finely chopped

- 1/3 cup red onion, finely chopped

- 1 jalapeño chile, seeded and finely chopped

- 1 small tomato, seeded and chopped small

- 1/3 cup cilantro, finely chopped

- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

Cut each avocado in half. Remove the skin and seed and cut into 1/2-inch cubes.

Place all of the ingredients into a mixing bowl, season with salt and pepper and toss until all the ingredients are incorporated and the avocado is lightly mashed. This guacamole is best when served on the chunky side.

This Week on Santa Fe’s Creative Scene, August 20th

Malissa Kullberg — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 05:38:11 +0000

“I make things to find out what the ideas in my head look like in the physical world.” –David McPherson

Friday and Saturday night, from 5-9 PM, stop by 1800 Hopewell Street, at the corner of Hopewell and 2nd, to lay your eyes on the AV installation event Reflection Contraption: the brainchild of Meow Wolf member, David McPherson. If you don’t know the unique and scrappy genius of the Meow Wolf Creative Collective, you’re missing some of the freshest, most playful art in action. Poke around their Facebook page and website for a foretaste of the group’s inventive imagination.

“It’s kind of a vintage garage sale where a bomb went off.” (from the Bobby Levin video documentary on Geodecadent)

Bobby Levin (Bobby XI) documents the elements and ideas of last year’s installation, Geodecadent, in a video worth viewing, but it’s a bit like seeing the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in still photos with voiceover. Nothing can do justice to the experience of visiting a Meow Wolf piece itself.

~*~*~

RSVP for the David Solomon’s Works on Paper Show, or just show up on Friday, from 5-8 PM, at the Jay Etkin Gallery, located in the Artyard behind Warehouse 21: 703 Camino de la Familia, #3103. The installation featured on his Facebook page had nice rhythm. Get a feel for David’s style on his website.

~*~*~

Sam Haozous will be displaying his photographic work at the Open House Meet & Greet at Standing Buffalo Indian Art Gallery & Gifts on 1422 Second Street. Sam’s a down-to-earth genial guy from a renowned art family. We liked his work at the “Generations” exhibition held downtown at the Santa Fe Community Convention Center back in January of 2009 and look forward to seeing more.

~*~*~*

From 7-8 PM on Friday, head over to Little Wing at the Candyman Strings and Things, 851 St. Michael’s, for Invitational Exhibition Opening to see the work of some of Santa Fe’s finest emerging artists as selected by the SITE Santa Fe Young Curators. Artists include Jesse Salazar, Megan Toon, Kassie Marshall, Olivia Bonfiglio and Spencer Byrne-Seres.

Kakawa Chocolate House Now Serves Ice Cream

Joshua Maes — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 01:41:01 +0000

Here is a great review on Kakawa: Liquid Luxury = Solid Satisfaction at Downtown Santa Fe Chocolatier

www.youtube.com/watch?v=TcbNPtO3TGg

Activate or Deteriorate: Avoiding ‘Spectrum Syndrome’ in Santa Fe

Malissa Kullberg — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 20:59:10 +0000

Activationism Indoors is practiced at the New Central Nightclub in Provincetown, 1948

About six weeks ago, I found myself in a time trough between appointments, looking for shade and coffee in a part of town not known for its cafes. I stumbled upon Spectrum which won me over with its excellent coffee and commitment to community. While doing a final fact check last week prior to giving them a plug in my blog, I called their number. Disconnected. Like some crazed EMT-wannabe doing CPR on a cold corpse, I redialed four times. Finally, I called neighboring Pizzeria Espiritu and learned from the friendly voice on the line that, in fact, the cafe had closed the day before.

I shouldn’t have been shocked. When we spoke to Shalene Dailey, who co-owned Spectrum with her husband Nathan, we detected the ozone of exhaustion, centered on the challenge of finding professionally-minded staff. But what heartened me was to hear Shalene frame this challenge as a big picture service to community. She wanted her employees to learn life skills they could later apply to their own passions and to model the same for her own kids. She wanted the cafe to serve as a locus of community.

*~*~*~

Last week, at the urging of Red Cell, we met with Dan Werwath and Shannon Murphy who were collecting info for the next MIX Santa Fe from locals-in-the-know about Santa Fe nightlife. I’m hardly one to tap on that subject, but Changing Gallery–our endeavor to support emerging and independent artists–has made occasional contributions to the downtown night scene. So we talked about common ambitions and perennial problems. If you haven’t heard, MIX Santa Fe “is a public/private collaboration that [uses] creative micro-stimulus initiatives, job resources and regular networking to [attract] new ideas, business growth and energy to Santa Fe.” That’s the short version. Visit the Mix website for the full bio on this local effort to make Santa Fe a better, more economically-friendly home for the city’s young professionals. MIX even caught the camera-eye of CNN.

Every month, MIX poses a question with a prize for the winner. May’s “Mix Pays Revenge of a Question” was, “What, besides money, do you need to launch an entrepreneurial idea or business?” The responses pointed up both the sandpits and fairways of launching new venture, including a rant about how the city is controlled by a small cabal of status quo players with longstanding ties (here termed a “gerontocracy.”) Positive suggestions included assembling a group of taste makers to vet and bless new ventures, and providing a gathering place for entrepreneurial folk to share ideas.

Member of an old Boston Family... expresses Activationist Joy

Whatever it doesn’t have, Santa Fe has no lack of talent. The challenge is how to interlock that talent to make it go further. I was going to propose that the wished for groups of tastemakers and entrepreneurs make Spectrum their meeting place, and that Spectrum tap the pool of young professionals for ideas and action to create a full scale entrepreneurial “factory,” but Spectrum didn’t make it.

So what HAVE we got? Changing Gallery uses on-market real estate to showcase the work of emerging and independent artists. Sure, I’d love a large warehouse with walls into which Jennifer Joseph could hammer her gorgeous installations, where a day cafe could make way for a nighttime performance space for indie musicians. But what I have are listings and artwork–both of which need to be seen in order to be sold. Through intersecting needs, everyone wins.

Last month’s Mix Pays winner was Rob DeWalt, who suggested “extending the Santa Fe Trails bus service to 3 a.m. on limited routes on the weekends for a 3-month trial period…. “In order for it to work, though, people will have to put their money where their mouth is and actually use this new public transportation option during the trial period.” (italics mine) “We’d like to try to put Rob’s idea in motion but we need your feedback…,” said Mix. “What would it take to get you and your friends to ride it? What routes would be most important? Leave it in the comments or show up at the next MIX event (every third Thursday) to tell us in person.”

As of this writing, there wasn’t a comment in the box. This is what I’m calling “The Spectrum Syndrome”: the passive belief that somebody will give feedback; somebody will set up the program; that if it’s a good idea, it’ll happen. I know I’m guilty of this; Spectrum’s my witness. Are you? Here’s hoping that those whom the talented creatives behind Mix are seeking to serve will offer what they can easily spare–opinions and support for a good idea–lest the fine potential that is Santa Fe Mix become just another case of Spectrum Syndrome.

**Answer August’s $200 MixPays Survey on the issue of public transportation in Santa Fe and earn a ticket toward a free drink and a chance to win $200 if your answer smokes the competition.