Tidbits: Santa Fe Indian Market Week and more….

This is the busiest week of the year for Santa Fe and for Santa Fe Travelers. There’s a lot to share with you.

Food and dining news:
Love food and brew? The Santa Fe Farmers Market Institute’s first Grill N Chill, is at the Farmers’ Market Pavilion on Thursday, August 16^th from 5 to 9pm. Ten New Mexico breweries will be there along with food from some of Santa Fe’s favorite chefs and farmers. Beer tastings are free. Attendees get $5 in food tickets and can use them to buy food at the booths and trucks set up. Grill N Chill tickets can be bought online $25; they’ll be $30 at the door. Proceeds will go to benefit the Institute.  There’s a list of vendors on New Mexico Magazine’s blog.

A summer day at the Santa Fe Farmers Market, photo/Steve Collins

While we’re talking Santa Fe Farmer’s Market, our beloved local food resource made another best of list: HuffPost’s  Top U.S. Farmers Markets Every Food Lover Should Visit. The distinctive water tower that marks the Market’s home in the Railyard was picked as the cover photo for the post. Our wonderful market also made Forbes’ Shop These Top 10 U.S. Farmers’ Markets in May.  

More for you brew lovers. Blue Corn Brewery Southside has another of their Beer Socials planned. For the Love of Tomatoes, is on Thursday, August 23^rd. Chef David Sundberg has been working on the menu and writes that it will be loads of fun with great flavors coming from the Farmer’s Market and three great beers. He’s been waiting for weeks to get the thumbs up on the tomatoes from his local growers. He also has some new tomato-based items on Blue Corn’s menu. The upcoming Social introduces Thursdays at the Brewer’s Table, which Chef Sundberg says, “you’ll have to see to appreciate it.” If you want to know more about the Brewer’s Table or to make a reservation for the Social, call 438-1800.

Santacafe new Executive Chef Martin Anton, photo/courtesy Santacafe

The venerable Santacafe has a new Executive Chef.  Martin Anton took over the helm in late May. This veteran of a number of kitchens both in Santa Fe and beyond tells us the menu will remain very much the same with a few subtle tweaks here and there.

Art happenings:
Gallery Events in conjunction with Santa Fe Indian Market:
Blue Rain Gallery is known for representing really prestigious Native American Artists. Indian Market Week is a busy time for the gallery. They have a full schedule for Indian Market Week this year:
Thursday August 16^th, 5 to 8pm:
Artist reception for Taos Pueblo jeweler Maria Samora; Santa Clara Pueblo potter Jody Naranjo; Chippewa Painter David Bradley; Hopi jeweler Al Qoyawayma; Navajo painter Hyram Joe; Cochiti painter Mateo Romero and  husband and wife pottery team, Harlan Reano (Santa Domingo) and Lisa Holt (Cochiti).
Friday, August 17^th, 11am to 4pm: Glass blowing demonstration by Preston Singletary
(Tlingit) and Bronze patina demonstration by the Bronzesmith Foundry from Prescott Valley, Arizona.
Friday, August 17^th, Pottery show and sale: Preview the highly coveted pottery of artists Tammy Garcia (Santa Clara Pueblo) and Richard Zane Smith (Wyandotte) highly coveted pottery from 8 to 9:45am. At 10am, the pottery will be sold by lottery. There are many more buyers than pieces. Hopeful collectors (sometimes as many as a few hundred) put their name in the proverbial hat and hope it’s picked. There are less than two dozen pieces available for sale. And these pots don’t come cheap. They are in the five-figure range.
Friday, August 17^th, 11am to 4pm: Glass blowing demonstration by Preston Singletary
(Tlingit) and Bronze patina demonstration by the Bronzesmith Foundry from Prescott Valley, Arizona.
Friday August 17th, 5 to 8:00pm: Artist reception for Navajo painter Tony Abeyta; Tlingit glass artist artist Preston Singletary and Aztec/Mayan/Mescalero Apache jeweler Larry Vasquez.
Saturday, August 18th, 11am to 4pm: Glass blowing and bronze patina demo at Blue Rain Gallery (see above).
Other gallery events during Santa Fe Indian Market Week:
Friday, August 17^th, 5 to 7pm: The Allan Houser Gallery, across Lincoln Avenue from Blue Rain has Quintessential Works, a retrospective show of the Chiricahua Apache artist’s “rare and important” sculptural works, paintings and drawings. (See below for more information on Houser).
Friday, August 17^th 5 to 8pm: Native American drummers will set the beat for the artists’ reception for Beals & Abbate Fine Art’s new show, Treasures of Native America. The exhibit, opening today, runs through August 27^th. Santa Clara/White Mountain Apache sculptor Upton Ethelbah, Jr. (Greyshoes) and Pawnee/Red Lake Chippewa painter Raymond Nordwall will be there to meet and chat with gallery goers.

Raymond Nordwall’s painting “Crossing at the River”, photo/courtesy Beals and Abbate Fine Art

Saturday August 18^th and Sunday, August, 19^th, 10am to 4pm: Open House at the Allan Houser Compound south of Santa Fe. Houser (born Haozous), a Chiricahua Apache, is one of the best known Native American artists of the 20^th century.  Eighty-five of the prolific artist’s big sculptures are scattered around the over 100 acre property. The gallery and studio house smaller works as well as his paintings and drawings. Admission to the Compound this weekend is free. On Sunday, from 1 to 3pm, there is a reception honoring his widow, Anna Marie Gallegos Houser who celebrated her 100^th birthday on August 7^th.

Other gallery news:
There are other openings and art events this week including:
Wednesday, August 15^th through Sunday, August 19^th: BIG! A show from Beals & Abbate Fine Art opens Wednesday, August 16^th in The Tesuque Room a the Inn and Spa at Loretto. The gallery calls it, “a larger than life exhibition of wondrous works by six celebrated local artisans.”  The artists, Anthony Abbate, Quinn Tincher, Jono Tew, David Rudolph, Cody Brothers and Jaque Fragua were asked to create enormous works of art for this “grand setting.” The show runs from 11am to 7pm daily.

David Rudolph A Huge Outlet at the BIG show at the Inn and Spa at Loretto, photo/Beals and Abbate

Friday, August 17^th 5 to 7pm: Opening reception for The Abstract: New Mexico’s Own, at Karan Ruhlen Gallery on Canyon Road. The show , which runs through August 31^st, will feature paintings from local artists Martha Rea Baker, Ellen Koment, Jinni Thomas and Kevin Tolman.

Ellen Koment’s “Blue Waves” a The Abstract: New Mexico’s Own, photo/courtesy Karan Ruhlen Gallery

You can find more gallery openings on the Santa Fe Gallery Association website and more Santa Fe Indian Market Week events on Santa Fe Travelers.

The sounds of music:

Shelley Morningsong to perform at the Maria Benitez Cabaret at The Lodge at Santa Fe, photo/courtesy Shelly Morningsong

Native American musician Shelley Morningsong will present her new musical show, Full Circle – We Are All Related in the Maria Benitez Cabaret at the Lodge at Santa Fe from Friday, August 17^th through Monday, September 2^nd. The original musical, written by Morningsong, of Cheyenne and Dutch heritage, features The Morningsong Band and a Native American traditional dance sequence performed by her husband, Zuni/Omaha dancer Fabian Fontenelle. The full performance schedule and ticket pricing can be found on her website. You can also purchase tickets there or by calling (505) 615.9355.

The Santa Fe Performance Exchange has two upcoming concerts.
Wednesday, August 22^nd at 7:30pm at Santa Fe Sol 7 Fire Place, just south of I-25 off NM 14:: Singer/songwriter Eilen Jewell performs her country-flavored, blues-infused contemporary folk music.

Singer Eilen Jewell is coming to Santa Fe Sol

Sunday, August 26th at 7:30pm at Legal Tender, Lamy, NM:  The debut (and perhaps only performance) of the Funky Monks, a group featuring local musicians, Catfish Hodge, Jono Manson, Chris Ishee, Mark Clark and Justin Bransford. They will perform “full throated boogie and blues music.”

Tickets for both are $15 in advance and $18 at the door.  For more information, call (505) 577-8015.

Smart phone resource for travelers to Santa Fe:
We met Maria Johnson of Santa Fe Selection at our monthly Santa Fe Hospitality Breakfast. Her recently launched business puts Santa Fe at your fingertips via your mobile device. She offers maps and other info that visitors can easily access.

Whew! That was a long Tidbits, but considering it’s the busiest week of the year…. See you next week. We’re off to enjoy Santa Fe Indian Market Week.