By Nick Martinez An interview with Matt Donovan, co-chair for the Creative Writing Department with Dana Levin, in which Donovan discusses his return to chairing duties for the Fall 2013 semester....
Historical Hysterical Parade...
posted by Amanda Tyler
Early on a Sunday afternoon, people of all ages gather around the streets of the Santa Fe plaza. Near 1 pm, floats representing local football teams, marching bands and even credit unions go past the crowds of umbrellas and lawn chairs that line the sidewalks. This parade, lovingly nicknamed the Historical/Hysterical parade, welcomes any and all floats or groups that wish to participate, and is a staple experience in the events surrounding...
A Delicious Fiesta Afternoon...
posted by Nick Martinez
I should say now, despite my last name, I am terminally Caucasian. I say this not out of pride, but as a cop-out for not quite understanding all the different idiosyncrasies of Fiesta last weekend. The mock meeting of the Native Americans and the Spanish clergy on the main stage, the collection of women in beautiful dresses being marched around the plaza, all flew mostly over my head. However, the one thing that unites the world and culture is our love of food. The first place I stopped for a sample was the Santafehoney.com honey stand. The friendly clerk asked me which honey I would like to try. I told him to surprise me. He smiled and dipped the sample stick into the white honey jar, a honey which he assured me was both rare and delicious. As soon as the honey reached my tongue I was in heaven. The sweetness of the honey and the almost faint vanilla taste convinced me that this was as much dessert honey as it was fit for a sandwich. Had a pint of the white honey not cost $20–and I wasn’t college student poor–I would definitely have bought one. Next, I decided that I needed to wash down the honey, so I stopped at George’s Fresh Fruit Drink stand. They also offered free samples and the strawberry pineapple was calling my name. The clerk made clear that only fresh fruit and no sugar or other additives would be present. Knowing all this only made me happier with the perfect fruity taste. Another nugget of honesty: I’m incredibly picky. I’ve been this way my entire life and only since I’ve been in Santa Fe have I opened up my palate a bit. For example, the color green now...
THE MEANING OF ZOZOBRA...
posted by Maria Costasnovo
Thousands of people come from other cities and states to be a part of Santa Fe’s Zozobra celebration: the burning of a giant marionette called “Old man Gloom” or “Zozobra,” which dispels the hardships and travails of the past year. Zozobra means, literally, “anxiety” in Spanish, but what does Zozobra really means for people who come to the oldest capital city in the United States for this celebration? If there was a synonym for Zozobra at the Sept. 5 burning, it was “family.” The whole Fort Marcy Park was full of families sharing just their time. Ben Gomez, a Vietnam veteran, has been coming to this event since he was a kid. He used to bring his son; now also his granddaughters come with them. “It’s an important day because the whole family meets every year. When my son was a kid, he danced up there. We just come here, sit in the yard and spend the whole day together. For us this is an important tradition, we all come together, buy funny hats and we become this in a family day. We just enjoy being together.” Friendship also had its place at Zozobra. The whole park was full of teenagers, both enjoying themselves, and volunteering. One group had come from Northport School, in New York, as part of the International Baccalaureate Program. In this program, they go to a city every year to help in any event. Last year, they went to New Orleans, and this year they came to Santa Fe, where they seemed impressed with the city and the event itself. “This is really different from New York, and we love it,” Anna said. “Yesterday we were in Pueblo, helping in one of the kitchens for poor people, and today we...
Inside Zozobra’s Security...
posted by Arianna Sullivan
I have been to Zozobra many times in my life, but never as early as 3 pm when, it turns out, the gates officially open. The first most apparent aspect of the field—as people refer to the baseball field in Fort Marcy Park, which hosts the burning of the great big white puppet of gloom—is the abundance of security moving about the place. Already the parking lots around the field are closed off, and men in neon yellow vests that read ‘SECURITY’ across their backs are monitoring the pedestrian entrance between temporary metal barricades blocking vehicles from entering. This entrance is followed by a security corridor between tables, where I am patted down (or prodded with a magic metal detector wand, depending if I end up with the woman on the right or the woman on the left who is checking my bag and my person), which spits me out at another metal fence with a narrow entrance managed by more yellow-vested people scanning tickets electronically. Finally I reach the bridge across an arroyo—another corridor—that will spit me out at… the field. But first I must stop at the bridge’s entrance where yellow-vests will cuff one of my wrists with a lime-green band which will prevent me from being accosted by more security on the inside—this is their signifier that I have entered the event by the correct process of checking and being herded along by yellow-vested security, or, more simply, that I have paid the entry fee. Once I am finally through this series of corridors being overseen by yellow-vests, I expect to be home free—I have arrived at my destination and can relax—but the field, only spotted at this early hour with picnickers and die-hards who will be here from 3pm, when a...
Zozo’s Return
posted by Charlotte Martinez
“I’ve been coming to Zozobra since I was four,” says native Santa Fean and security officer Kenny Garcia. Since then, “it has lost its theme and become like a rock concert.” “It just got out of control,” says Diego Baca, whose family follows Zozobra religiously. “They weren’t playing New Mexico music, there was a lot of commercialized stuff.” Last year, additional complaints included the $20 ticket price and the tedious wait for Zozo to burn. This year, though they showed up with concerns from the previous year, Garcia and Baca shared a hope for Zozo’s 2013 make over. For those of you who don’t know, Zozobra was created by William Shuster in 1924 as a pagan tribute. With the building and burning of the ugly old man, who held glooms in his white garments, Shuster hoped to integrate the art community into the Roman Catholic celebrations. His very first Zozoba was burned in his back yard and later, when the event was big enough, the city brought him to Fort Marcy Park as the official and appropriate kick off to fiestas, which itself dates back to Don Diego de Vargas’ re-conquering of the city from Pueblo Indians. In many ways, stuffing the 50-foot puppet with the written glooms of the city, burning it, then celebrating with a weekend of fiestas, is Santa Fe’s very own New Year celebration. “It’s an amazing ritual,” says University of New Mexico freshman Katrina Pederson, previous member of Santa Fe High Key Club. “After Zozobra and fiestas, everyone calms down and is ready for a new year.” Kiwanis, the organization which orchestrates the event, was also ready for a new year after the complaints of the 2012 burn. They got to work right away. “The planning started the...
Art Infusion
posted by Brandon Ghigliotty
The Fall 2013 semester is bustling with events and the art department is no different. Three events draw near: faculty member Tom Miller’s exhibition at Zane Bennett Contemporary Art, Enrique Martinez Celaya’s lecture in Tipton Hall and hARvesT, the 2nd annual juried exhibition. Tom Miller’s exhibition, Walling: Containing Architecture, looks to challenge the role of barriers in society. Miller’s concern lead him to a body of work that navigates the notions of transition and perspective. The show features an installed wall centerpiece measuring 24 feet in length. Its front—a stark, neutral white—contrasts sharply with the worn back, which reveals supports reminiscent of tank traps. Miller was worried about being limited to painting when he entered graduate school. “With sculpture I could do anything,” said Miller. On Oct. 1, Enrique Martinez Celaya comes to campus for a lecture in Tipton Hall. Martinez Celaya, a Cuban American artist, is responsible for shaping nearly 12,000 feet of gallery space at SITE Santa Fe. According to Martinez Celaya’s biography, he was pursuing his doctorate in quantum physics before shifting his focus to the art he practiced in his spare time. Given the gestures of reclamation within Martinez Celaya SITE Santa Fe exhibition, it would be a great opportunity to ask questions such as, “I read something in your biography about laser patents. What the hell, man?” The lecture is a collaborative effort between SITE Santa Fe and Santa Fe University of Art and Design. Linda Swanson, chair of the art department, discussed the relationship between SITE Santa Fe and the university. Such as the opportunities afforded by internships and the benefit of having Joanne Lefrak, director of education and outreach, engaging with the students in the classroom. “I think of them as one of the institutions that expands...
Alumni Spotlight
posted by Shayla Blatchford
Cliff Shapiro graduated from the College of Santa Fe, now known as the Santa Fe University of Art and Design, in 2010 with a BFA in Photography. He is a New York native but has recently planted some rivaling roots in Santa Fe. Like the rest of us, the land has enchanted him beyond his expectations and he has been living and working in Santa Fe for the past five years. Working like a true photographer, he has enrolled in classes at the Community College to grasp a better understanding of his newest photographic subject… food. Not only has he enrolled in culinary classes to broaden his understanding of food but to fine tune his existing skills in the kitchen. He has hopes of someday combining his two passions of food and photography by finding his way into what I imagine would be a fine art/fine dining...
Enrollment Snapshot
posted by Arianna Sullivan
By Arianna Sullivan The 2013-‘14 school year began with rumors that the Santa Fe University of Art and Design had suddenly increased its student numbers by the hundreds. There were students momentarily camped out in King Lounge because the dorms had been over-booked, and students received an email from student life before the first day of classes reiterating that each meal time consists of a two-hour block in an attempt to cut down on the long lines already forming in the cafeteria. It was clear from the get-go that student numbers were up, but by exactly how much remained to be seen—even by enrollment staff—until the add-drop period ended on Aug. 30. The magic number of new students: 430. The incoming students are divided into domestic (262), international (19) and network (149). The total number of new students has increased from 18 in 2010, when the school officially became SFUAD, so clearly progress is being made. How exactly are these numbers increasing? Christine Guevara, SFUAD’s executive director of student operations, explains the ins and outs of the enrollment process that yields these numbers. While SFUAD is a Laureate International University network school, its enrollment process happens internally. The university has six field reps, or representatives of the school, who visit high schools to attend college fairs and talk to college counselors and students. These representatives are located in Northern California, Southern California, Arizona, Colorado, Texas and New Mexico. The target states are concentrated in the west and southwest because studies by higher education consultants such as Noel-Levitz show that students are becoming less and less likely to travel further distances for undergraduate education. SFUAD also enlists its department chairs to travel around the country to hold workshops and introduce the school to high school...
The Meaning of Gloom
posted by Brandon Ghigliotty
When I arrived at Fort Marcy Park, I had no idea what to expect. The air was filled with the scent of fair food: funnel cakes, turkey legs and various other carts spewing out New Mexican favorites. The mood was reserved, and there were still a number of hours before the actual ritual was set to begin and the crowd was not quite filled out. I was unimpressed. There was little difference between this and something like a county fair—except a fair would have booths and rides to entertain. Was this the Zozobra everyone was talking about? This was my first burn and I wasn’t feeling it. After my arrival I drifted over to the official “Gloom Box,” the place for people to write down their worries, stuff them in a box, then have them put into a giant puppet. I scrawled my most dominant worry (I didn’t want to spread the magic over several worries) onto a small slip of paper, folded it, then tucked it into the gloom box. A sticker of triumph was passed my way—the word “gloom” in black letters, crossed out with a red line and circle. I kept an eye and ear turned towards the gloom box. There was something about it. Orderly queues formed. People posed for photos after filling the box with their lamentations. Parents instructed their children on the procedure, letting the kids write out their own worries, then hoisted them so they could push the paper into the box themselves. My initial reaction to the ritual was that people were using Zozobra as a scapegoat. That they were pushing off responsibilities onto this victim, but it was more than that. They drank in the ritual some had participated in for generations, conjuring up what...
Coming Attractions
posted by Charlotte Martinez
The Screen Presents: Sept. 13-20 Presenting to Theater Majors: Beckett on Film Beckett on Film is a celebrated five-part series of Samuel Beckett’s 19 plays, filmed by some of the world’s most talented directors, and featuring actors like Julianne Moore, Jeremy Irons and John Hurt. Beckett was awarded ‘Best TV Drama’ at the Sixth South Bank Show Awards Ceremony in 2002 and is called a celebration of artistic achievement. FREE ADMISSION every Sunday of September at 11am. Doors will open at 10:30. This Sunday, Sept. 15 watch Come and Go, directed by John Crowley and Waiting For Godot, directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg. Visual Artists and Mona Lisa Lovers, Resist the Mystery of The Missing Piece: Mona Lisa, Her Thief, The True Story Joe Medeiros’ documentary investigates the secret motives behind Mona Lisa’s 1911 theft from the Louvre. Creatively assembled and comically informative, Medeiros’ sources come straight from the lion’s mouth, the descendants of Mona Lisa’sthief, Vincenzo Peruggia. Opens this Friday, Sept. 13. Special Skype Q/A with filmmakers 1:30 pm, Sunday, Sept. 15. Tickets on sale at thescreensf.com This Is Martin Bonner, Come Meet Him! Chad Hartigan’s live-action narrative between two estranged family men is, according to critic Andrew Lapic (The Dissolve),“beyond the hoary parable of most faith-based films.” It is an “understated drama with small words and big ideas.” Made in the US, this candid character sketch brings out the realism in film-based storytelling. Opens this Friday, Sept.13. Visit thescreensf.com for movie times 505.473.6494 1600 St. Michael’s Drive Santa Fe, NM 87505 https://www.facebook.com/thescreen, https://twitter.com/thescreensf...
Gotta Dance
posted by Charlotte Martinez
By Charlotte Martinez/ Photos by Amanda Tyler Seven pairs of parallel feet marching in sync is the perfect metaphor for the emerging dance department at the Santa Fe University of Art and Design—fuzzy socks and all! With Senior Maria Weckesser in lead, moving like the chug chugs of a locomotive, the six remaining “train cars” represent the entire population of the newly named Greer Garson Dance Company. Introducing freshmen Marielle Garcia, Brittany Kriechbaumer, Marisa Melito, Stephanie Martinez, returning sophomore Alex Chavez and transfer junior Mikyla Hutwohl. In their first rehearsal, this small but mighty group of young women already share an excitement for the coming year. Events span from site-specific installations to the annual Winter and Spring Recital in Greer Garson Theater. “It’s great because we get to help build everything,” freshman Melito says. Like her dance teacher Shannon Elliot, Melito grew up a military brat, moving from place to place. Beside her, Stephanie Martinez, previous resident of Portland, Ore., nods her head and adds that because the department “doesn’t have their ways set” it becomes more open to them. When as a group they’re asked what they hope to gain in the future, one shouts, “maybe some boys!” At the front of Garson dance studio, Shannon Elliot conducts rehearsal with charismatic poise, giving notes and welcoming ideas. She mimics the stance of a train. The movement is comedically rigid. “It should look like a racket wrench,” Elliot says. Luckily for the seven dance majors, their director Shannon Elliot, also the assistant chair of the Performing Arts Department, comes from a long career of professional dance and performance administration. With Hubbard Street, Canadian Dance Assembly, National Dance Institute of New Mexico and Moving People Dance Santa Fe under her belt, Elliot’s administrative career now includes five years as part time and full time staff at SFAUD. Today, the vibrant Elliot enters Greer Garson with dozens of ideas for her 2013-2014 school year. Working her black leggings, patterned skirt, pink shirt and wicked jazz shoes, Elliot demonstrates the shapes and sounds of her upcoming dance, the first official project of the department. The dance, Elliot explains, is meant for Santa Fe’s upcoming 3rd Annual AHA Festival of Progressive Arts, which she pitched as a perfect location for her students to move within “structures that currently exist.” The dancer’s stage? The inactive train tracks! The Festival, a community-sponsored event featuring local artists, takes place in and around the Railyard this year on Sept. 15. The event is one of many that Elliot, with her co-workers Layla Amis, Jonathan Guise, and John Kloss, hope to utilize in their pursuits of a dance curriculum. Along with scheduled rehearsals, classes this year include ballet three times a week, modern twice a week, and a tap taught by returning rhythm tapper John Kloss. “We’re a small entity now,” Elliot says, reflecting her seven brave majors. “But as we grow I think it will be a really interesting addition to the [artistic] mix.” She adds that because these students are pursuing dance as a career, the level of professionalism is “going to have a very positive impact, not just within the Performing Arts Department but all over campus.” John Weckesser, chair of the Performing Arts Department, says that the opportunity to create the major was “natural” because dance belongs with the performing arts. In the future he hopes to include additional dance space on campus so the program can become “as elevated as the Theater Department.” The staff has additionally booked two guest artists to choreograph for the future Winter and Spring recitals. Choreographer and ballet teacher Kelsey Paschich will set a contemporary dance to classical music and Jamie Duggan will workshop an Afro House Fusion piece, a mix of old school hip hop and African dance. Other events include a performance installation at SFUAD’s Outdoor Vision Fest and a Summer Collaboration Intensive...
Matt Eldridge talks Acting
posted by Christopher Stahelin
By Christopher Stahelin I sat down with Matt Eldridge to talk to him about his feelings about acting, being a senior at Santa Fe University of Art and Design, and getting a lead roll of Middle Town. It was nice to talk to him about these subjects and learn more about the insight of an actor. We also talked about his excitement to leave Santa Fe, when the time comes for graduation. He has a wonderful personality, a positive outlook on life, and was a good choice for Middle Town....
Meet the Feminist Collective
posted by Maria Costasnovo
By Maria Costasnovo/Photos by Sandra Schonenstein Julia Griffin, the leader of the feminist collective, first decided to lead SFUAD’s Feminist Collective two years ago. The initiative hasn’t always been easy. Since the collective kicked off, Griffin and the members say they’ve struggled a bit with some negative connotations that seems to follow the word “feminism.” Now their goal is is to gain more recognition on campus and dispel any myths that their group is solely made up of women talking negatively about men. Indeed, the Feminist Collective had its first meeting of this semester in Alexis, and from the beginning of this meeting, that general idea was torn up. The meeting started with the presentation of every member of this group discussing their interest in the group. For example, Ana Stina Rimal said “I wanted to join to a feminist collective for the first time during my puberty, when I was not understood by people around me, and I was insulted by them just because I had sex.” Diana Padilla says she felt attracted by the feminist collective “when I saw that there were people my same age that had such retrograde ideas about life and women.” On the other hand, there’s Adam Wall, who’s interested in discussing homosexual and transgender rights. After each member of the collective presented him or herself, it was time to think what kind of events were necessary in the school. Griffin says the collective is very open to ideas for events for the fall semester. Certainly one point of the collective is to join together to discuss issues ranging from members’ own issues to international conflict. Griffin also has contemplating a zine to inform the campus about the collective’s meetings and projects. The collective plans to meet weekly; more information and updates are available on its Facebook page. Ultimately, Griffin says, she began the collective “as a safe place for anyone,”which means anyone who is interested can join. “This is a space for people to be who they really...
Q/A with Emma Baker
posted by Nick Martinez
By Nick Martinez/ Photos by Chris Stahelin In the first of a series of Q&A sessions with SFUAD students, Jackalope Magazine speaks with freshman Performing Arts Department student Emma Baker. Baker muses on SFUAD, coloring books, and the new Jesus Christ. Jackalope Magazine: How does it feel to be in college? Emma Baker: It’s been really fun so far. Been real crazy. I’ve met lots of people, which is awesome. I love meeting people. It’s one of my favorite things, besides performing. Overwhelming for sure. We’ve already had auditions for the first show. That was really exciting and fun. It’s like a new audition process. Much different than high school, and I got two call backs, and one of them was for the part I really wanted, which is awesome. JM: Why theater? EB: That’s sort of a hard question. I’ve always loved to perform, and acting is my favorite kind. I started in dance. My mom is a dance teacher. She owned a studio all throughout my childhood and that’s kind of how the whole performance thing started. When I got older I started getting into musical theatre and acting, because it’s all those things: dancing, singing, acting. Now it’s just what I do and I can’t imagine myself doing anything else. JM: What actor or actress do you admire, or try to emulate? EB: Sutton Foster. Do you know who Sutton Foster is? JM: No, I don’t. Tell us about Sutton Foster. EB: She is like this generation’s Broadway Jesus Christ. Everyone loves Sutton Foster. She was the original Millie, in Thoroughly Modern Millie on Broadway. She was the original Princess Fiona in Shrek The Musical. God she’s been in everything. She was on a television show–I think on...
Spraypaint + Vision
posted by Amanda Tyler
By Amanda Tyler Kyleigh Carter sits in the morning sun, contemplating the blank sheet of paper before her as she draws inspiration for her current piece of artwork. “The scene where Elizabeth almost jumps overboard to save her father,” she thinks aloud, referring to a scene from Pirates of the Caribbean in which a full moon glows somberly in the night...
SFUAD at Zozobra
posted by admin
Writers and photographers from Jackalope joined 25,000 other Santa Feans at the Sept. 5 Zozobra celebration at Fort Marcy park to check out the annual ritual burning of Old Man Gloom, and talk to officials and attendees about the ritual. Check out their stories: Arianna Sullivan investigates the security at the event. Brandon Ghigliotty considers the meaning of gloom. Maria Costasnovo and Sandra Schonenstein talk to attendees about Zozobra’s meaning. Charlotte Martinez looks at the way the event has changed. Nick Martinez and Christopher Stahelin delve into Fiesta food. Amanda Tyler documents the Historical/Hysterical Parade. Shayla Blatchford captures the spirit of Fiesta in words and...
SFUAD on Santafe.com
posted by admin
SFUAD writing and photography students have been contributing for several years to the online magazine SantaFe.com in advance of the launch of Jackalope. Stories have included coverage of Japanese Master Shodo Harada Roshi’s visit to Santa Fe, a photo essay of last year’s Snow Poems project, on-the-scene reporting from the annual ARTFeast tour and much, much more. Check out SantaFe.com’s SFUAD publishing page...
SFUAD at SITE
posted by admin
In Spring, 2013, students from the Jackalope pre-cursor class Collaborations toured several exhibits at Site Santa Fe, producing writing and photography that was then published by SITE as a gallery guide. View the guide online here. Photography student Sandra Schonenstein also created an audio visual piece interview with SITE intern Diana Padilla: And photography student Shayla Blatchford also created an audio visual piece with Linda Mary Montano, whose show, “Always Creative,” was part of the SITE...
His Name Is Cabin
posted by Christopher Stahelin
By Christopher Stahelin A profile of one of Santa Fe’s street...
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