It’s a busy time in Santa Fe. August can be called the height of the season in Santa Fe with a lot going on. The Santa Fe Opera and Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival are going strong. The annual Indian Market, the biggest event of the season is the third weekend of the month and there are a lot of other events.
This week in Santa Fe:
If you collect contemporary art or are interested in seeing what’s hot in the design world, the third annual Sculpture Objects & Functional Art Fair (aka SOFA West Santa Fe) is at our Convention Center. Top galleries from Santa Fe and around the world will be showing here. Please give a warm Santa Fe welcome to my Twitter friend from London, Adam Aaronson’d (aka aaronsonglass) ZeSt Gallery will be in booth #607. Opening night, Wednesday August 3rd, begins with an invitational event for members of the Museum of New Mexico Foundation from 5 to 6:30pm. Doors open to the public from 7 to 9pm; admission is $50. Or visit the show Thursday to Sunday from noon to 6pm. Click here for ticket information.
"Desert Sunset" by Adam Aaronson of London's ZeST Gallery will be at SOFA photo/Corinne Alexander
This weekend, Saturday, August 6th and Sunday, August 7th, join the fun at Frontier Days at El Rancho de las Golondrinas. The event is from 10am to 4pm both days. Highlights include a horse show featuring the Peruvian Pasos from La Estancia Alegre, a horse ranch north of Santa Fe, mountain man encampments, famous figures from the old west including Billy the Kid and Kit Carson and the Parade of Breeds.
Peruvian Pasos will be at Frontier Days at El Rancho de Las Golondrinas, photo/courtesy Las Golondrinas
Sunday night, Texas great Robert Earl Keen will be at the Santa Fe Brewing Company. The concert, presented by Heath Concerts, starts at 7pm. Advance tickets at $22 each can be purchased through Tickets Santa Fe. At the door they’re $25.
In the wings:
Speaking of mountain men, the annual Santa Fe Mountain Man Trade Fair takes place in the Palace of the Governors’ Courtyard, Thursday, August 11th through Sunday the 14th. Re-enactors in period clothing and artisans recreating the crafts of a bygone time will be here. Demonstrations include how to make your own knives, tan an elk hide, handle a raptor, and other skills early 1800s hunters and trappers needed for survival. Click here for days, times and event schedule.
Traditional crafts at the Mountain Man Show photo/ Nicholas Chiarella
The long-running Whitehawk Antique Shows are a highlight of the summer season. There are two shows running consecutively from August 11th through the 16th at the Santa Fe Convention Center. First up, the Antique Ethnographic Art Show, specializing in tribal art from around the world, is in its 28th year. It previews at a gala on Thursday, August 11th from 6 to 9pm. Regular hours are Friday from 10am to 6pm and Saturday from 10am to 5pm.
The 33rd Annual Antique Indian Art Show previews on Sunday, August 14th from 6 to 9pm. According to Whitehawk’s website, it’s the “oldest and largest antique event of its type in the world”. Attendees will find antique Native American art that originated from the Atlantic to the Pacific coasts. Hours Monday and Tuesday are from 10am to 5pm.
The previews offer an early peek at the merchandise and a chance for early shopping. Both run from 6 to 9pm. Admission is $75 per person and includes a buffet by Santa Fe’s popular Cowgirl. There are over 150 dealers exhibiting at each show. Tickets, available at the door, are $10.00 per day or $17 for two days.
Masks on display at The Santa Fe Show, Objects of Art 2011, photo/ courtesy Huber Primitive Art
If the weekend isn’t busy enough, there’s more. The Santa Fe Show, Objects of Art takes place at El Museo de Cultural for two weekends. The event kicks off with a preview benefiting the Animal Shelter and Humane Society on Friday August 12th from 6 to 9pm. Regular hours on Saturday, Sunday and Monday are from 11am to 5pm. The following weekend begins with a preview benefiting El Museo on Thursday 19th, also from 6 to 9pm. Regular hours on Friday, Saturday and Sunday are from 11am to 5pm. This event will feature over 60 vendors presenting art and design in diverse media. The show’s pieces range from historic to contemporary including the work of living artists.
Lodging news:
The Rosewood Inn of the Anasazi, Rosewood Hotel’s Four-star, Four-diamond boutique hotel in Santa Fe, was included in a sale of five of their luxury properties. The buyer is reported to be Hong Kong billionaire Cheng Yu-tung and his family. The sale price is said to be more than $570 million. Currently, there are a number of Chinese investors buying luxury hotels in the United States. With the rise of their economy, they’re betting that increasingly affluent Chinese and other Asians will be headed here for vacation. The other Rosewood properties in the deal: New York City’s prestigious Carlyle Hotel, Little Dix Bay in the British Virgin Islands and two Dallas properties, the Rosewood Crescent Hotel and Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek. The good news, according to Kersten Rettig, Corporate Director of Public Relations for Rosewood Hotels and Resorts, the company will stay on as the Anasazi’s management company. As yet, no changes are expected to the name or the on-site management team.
Rosewood Inn of the Anasazi changes ownership, photo/Steve Collins
Santa Fe welcomes Fairmont Residences, a division or Fairmont Hotels, to town. They’re taking over management of El Corazon. The fractional ownership property, a few blocks from the Plaza, can also be your temporary home if you’re here on a visit if there are units unoccupied by owners. Fractional ownership is an interesting concept. Individual units are divided into shares; here it’s eighths. You can buy one or more shares. Some units here are sold in their entirety to a single owner. One perk; owners can take advantage of other Fairmont and Raffles brand residential properties throughout the world. El Corazon has 77 units, 15 are complete ownership units. Some people live there fulltime. Guests get the same pampering that owners do. They can take advantage of the concierge service, get their refrigerator stocked in advance of arrival and attend guest receptions. The full transition is expected to be completed in November.
Fairmont Hotels takes over management of El Corazon Residence Club, photo/Steve Collins
Odds and Ends:
Attention home buyers (and sellers): Prudential Santa Fe has been sold to Keller Williams. Details have not been released, but stay tuned and we’ll update you if we hear anything.
Saturday we got a personal tour of Absolution, the town in Cowboys and Aliens. Today we saw the movie and loved it. New Mexico should get an above the title credit; it definitely plays a starring role. If you want to see where the film was shot, give us a holler and we can arrange a tour for you.
According to the New Mexican column, El Mitote, the closest we get to gossip here, Katharine Kagel, owner of the fabulous Café Pasqual’s is on The Food Network’s Best Thing I Ever Ate. The episode airs Monday August 8th at 8pm MDT. The subject of the episode is egg dishes. Kagel’s Huevos Barbacoa con Chile d’ Arbol Salsa was chosen by NYC chef and restaurateur Chris Santos. Barbacoa is usually slow cooked lamb, but in this case, slow cooked shredded beef, served with eggs and a spicy salsa. Congrats Katharine!
That’s it for now. If you have any interesting Santa Fe tidbits to share with us, we’re all ears.
Authors’ note: As a former hotel concierges and owners of a travel concierge and trip-planning business in Santa Fe, the writers may have been guests of business or services mentioned in posts on this site. While these experiences have not influenced us in any way, this information is provided in the spirit of full disclosure.
Lots of good & useful stuff here..thanks..
Cheers..
And if those aren’t enough things to do, nearly all the mountain trails and roads are re-opened. There have been some spectacular summer cloudscapes to enjoy from trails and restaurant patios!
Thanks Karen. I meant to add that and forgot. It’s great that we can get out into the mountains and hike again and the skies have been fantastic. Now if we could only get some rain.