Santa Fe Tidbits: Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta, art, food and more…

The air here is clear as are the skies. This just got validated by the World Health Organization who named Santa Fe the cleanest city in the US and one of the cleanest in the world. Bring your lungs (and the rest of you) here for vacation. While we’re tooting our horn, readers of Conde Nast Traveler named Santa Fe one of the top three city destinations in the US. We’ll find out next month if we made number one. Stay tuned.

Balloons at night, photo courtesy Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta

It may be called the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta, but it impacts Santa Fe tourism numbers greatly. If you’re coming for this event and are staying in The City Different, there’s a lot for you to do over the next few weeks. The Fiesta starts on Saturday, October 1st and runs through Sunday, October 9th. Mass ascensions take place most days, weather permitting, at 7:00am. For a complete schedule of events, click here.

Design Santa Fe

Mark your calendars. Design Santa Fe takes place Friday, September 30th and Saturday, October 1st. Three events that encompass the weekend:

2010 Design Santa Fe Party, Jay Etkin Gallery, photo/Karen Novotny, courtesy DesignSanta Fe

The Design Dialogue and Luncheon, is at the Farmers Market building Friday from 9am to 1:30pm. The panel discussion, Change Makers, according to the event’s Speakers Chair, Franziska Neumann, will address “how design can be used to change the world.” Susan S. Szenasy, editor-in-chief of Metropolis magazine moderates the discussion. Author and architect Cameron Sinclair and textile designer Susan Lyons, whose specialty is sustainable technologies and materials, complete the panel. Sinclair is the co-founder of the non-profit Architecture for Humanity. The cost for the three-hour panel discussion and luncheon is $85pp. Tickets can be purchased online or at the door, space permitting.

If you love peeking into other people’s houses, the Home Tour is for you. Hours are Friday, September 30th from 1:30 to 5pm and Saturday, October 1st from 11am to 5pm. The five featured homes are projects local designers have done for clients. Tickets, which can be bought at any home on the tour, are $15.

Don’t miss the Design Crawl. It’s a chance to visit retail and wholesale design businesses around town. They’ll welcome you from 1:30 to 5pm on Friday and 11am to 5pm on Saturday. Come shop, meet local artists and artisans and sample the food and drink at this free event. Maps for both tours can be downloaded here. Proceeds from Design Santa Fe, now in its seventh year, benefit local charities.

Art

Join the galleries on historic Canyon Road for the Fourth Friday Art Walk from 5 to 7pm (some galleries stay open later). This Friday, Beals & Abbate Fine Art, 713 Canyon Road, is hosting the opening reception for their new exhibit, Fragments of Nature from 5 to 7pm. Artist Frank Gonzales says of his paintings, “My work is about taking forms in nature and making them my own. What I do is nothing new, but by using the language of color, composition, fragmentation, and representation, my aim is to speak about these known elements and present them from a different perspective.” The show runs from Tuesday, September 27th to October 11th. If you’re on the Design Crawl on Friday, Beals & Abbate will have a DJ and snacks for visitors.

"Barn Swallow" by Frank Gonzales, photo courtesy Beals & Abbate

The El Rito Studio Tour is this weekend (Saturday October 1st and Sunday October 2nd from 10am to 5pm. This old New Mexico town in southwest of Abiquiu and you can combine the two for a memorable day trip. We went last year and really enjoyed it. Two of the highlights for us were photographer David Michael Kennedy and Santero Nicholas Herrera.

Local artists will also be out at Aldea, northwest of town this weekend. The community is holding their October Art Event Saturday October 1st from 9am to 2pm at the Aldea Community Center. The eight vendors will offer original paintings, giclees , prints, note cards, Guatemalan textiles, hand-painted silk scarves, jewelry, baked goods and more.

"Tobacco with Cigarette", Photo/ MF Cardamone, courtesy Selby Fleetwood Gallery

Santa Fe will be getting its own botanical garden on Museum Hill sometime in the, hopefully near future. Santa Fe Botanical Garden, a non-profit whose mission “celebrates, cultivates and conserves the rich botanical heritage and biodiversity of our region” is having a fund-raiser at the Selby Fleetwood Gallery on Canyon Road on Friday, October 14th.from 5 to7pm. The art show and reception features the work of botanical artist MF (Mary Fran) Cardamone. The over 30 pieces on display are either new works, part of her Plants of the Southwest series, or from her recent solo show, Flora Fantastica, at the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia. “I wanted to create art that would help advocate for nature by expanding on the idea of what a plant part is,” the artist says. “To me, it’s more than just plant anatomy. It’s also ecological medicinal, historical, spiritual, and social parts of a plant.” Half of the proceeds raised at the sale will go to the Santa Fe Botanical Garden. Members get special pricing, and if that helps you make your buying decision, you can join at the event.

Have any great Santa Fe photos and want to win a two-night stay in a fireplace at the Inn on the Alameda? The inn is holding a photo contest, Show us Your Santa Fe, for its Facebook fans. Entries, one per person, should express “the special feeling Santa Fe and the Land of Enchantment gives you.” You can vote for as many entries as you like, but can only vote once per entry. There are some wonderful photos entered already. Contest runs through October 31st. Icing on the cake: Santa Fe Travelers will run the winning photo as our Photo of the Week. Good luck!

Fireplace Suite at the Inn on the Alamada photo/courtesy Inn on the Alameda

Food news:

We are big fans of eating fresh, local, sustainable food whenever possible. This is one of the missions of the Santa Fe Alliance. They have teamed up with Edible Santa Fe for Eat Local Week, October 10th through 16th. They plan two major events during that time.

The Cook with the Chef Showdown on Thursday, October 13th from 5:30 to 7pm pits chefs George Gundry of Atrisco Cafée against the Cowgirl BBQ Patrick Lambert for an Iron Chef-style chile and yak appetizer showdown. Judging their efforts: Il Piatto’s Chef Matt Yohalem, Chef Rocky Durham and Rob DeWalt, food editor for the Santa Fe New Mexican. May the best chef win.

If you are a Santa Fe County baker, you can enter the Local Food Baking Competition. The hook: use as many local ingredients (minimum of three, extra points added for each additional) as you can in a baked dessert. Local is defined as New Mexico produced foods. The judging takes place on Saturday, October 15th from 11am to noon. Judges (local luminaries and food professionals) will determine the prize winners for this amateur only contest. There are only fifteen slots available and they’re filling up fast. You can register for the competition by emailing [email protected] .

Chef David Sunberg's creations a Beer Social at Blue Corn Brewery photo/courtesy Blue Corn Cafe

Pumpkin time is upon us. To celebrate the harvest season, Chef David Sundberg of the Southside Blue Corn Brewery is having another Beer Social, The Great Pumpkin, on Tuesday, October 18th from 6:30 to 7:30pm. Local farmers have promised him about eight different varieties of the gourd-like squash. Each of the three pumpkin-centric small-plates is paired with an in-house brew. The cost is $15 per person. You can make your reservation at (505) 438-1800.

If you have any Santa Fe news to share, let us know.