SFUAD Fiesta Float celebrates history of school

Posted by Zoe Baillargeon in Santa Fe

There are few greater ways to kick off a school year than with a parade.

Every year in early autumn, the city of Santa Fe mobilizes around its most cherished of local traditions, Fiesta. Originally established in 1712 to celebrate the Spanish re-conquest of the city, the Fiestas de Santa Fe may have a religious overtone, involving several masses throughout the week, but perhaps most beloved are the ritualistic burning of Zozobra, Desfile de Los Ninos, or as it is affectionately known, the Pet Parade, and the Historical/Hysterical parade, a salute to Santa Fe’s past and current quirky citizens.

This year, the broiling Sunday afternoon was greeted by devoted Santa Feans lining the streets of downtown, caked in sunscreen and hovering under umbrellas for protection from the fierce desert sun. Everywhere, women and young girls twirl their traditional fiesta dresses, colorful concoctions of lace and satin. Men roar “Que Viva!” while pumping their fists skyward. The air is ripe with celebration.

The people who took parade on the parade were very enthusiastic and some even wore costumes.

Midway through the parade, a truck driven by Peter Romero, head of SFUAD facilities, chugs down the street, dragging behind it a trailer covered along the bottom with a flowing silver tinsel skirt, and on the wooden flats above, an eye-catching display of earthy-toned triangles. A huge black arch protrudes from the back, proudly proclaiming SFUAD. On the back of the arch, the names of the various departments are written carefully in white paint, each with a different font or symbol to celebrate the department’s specialty. People cheer as students wave from the float, throwing candy into the crowds. A few students on the sidelines cry “Que Viva SFUAD!”

The float was the handiwork of senior Chelsea Kuehnel, who played a key role in deciding a theme, as well as in making the float safer for students to ride on, thanks to her background as a technical theater major.

Senior student Chelsea Kuehnel organized the construction and planning of the SFUAD float.

“My experience with technical theater was definitely a plus, especially having worked a lot with flats and painting,” she says Friday afternoon, having set up several volunteers with tasks before hurrying off to class. But this was not her first time being involved with the Fiesta Float.

“I first did it my freshman year. I walked behind it in the parade.”

The 2014 float theme centered around SFUAD’s distinctively shaped and colored logo, as demonstrated by the cuts of the flat boards, the multi-colored array of triangles, and the black arch with the department’s names.

“We wanted to showcase the overall unity of the campus,” Kuehnel says.

Dominic Acosta working along with Derek Conkins.

Raya Lieberman, a freshman photography major, notes that the colors used “went with the landscape of the school and Santa Fe.” But there was more inspiration behind the design than met the eye.

“We tried to incorporate a little bit of College of Santa Fe into it (the float), because there is a historical component (to the parade), and in fact one of the categories for the float was historical,” says David DeVillier, the new assistant director of student life, who collaborated with Kuehnel and other student leaders and organizations, such as the SFUAD Student Ambassadors, to create the float.

The SFUAD float was all built by students and the colors used on it resemble the Santa Fe earth colors.

“We wanted to really be a part of Fiesta Parade as it was intended… there is a rich history of celebrations and festivals. So, since there’s a religious component to the parade itself, College of Santa Fe also had a religious component, with the LaSallean brothers…. so we tried to build on that, and we thought of using some icons and images relating back to the history and how we have come to this creative art school.”

DeVillier also expressed gratitude to Kuehnel and the many students who took time out of their busy first week to contribute to the float.

“Chelsea is the person who put all the effort…she was just tremendous, working there late nights and just truly dedicated. We could not have done it without Chelsea…It was part of CommUnity Focus Day and that extended into the week, with Chelsea having new students volunteering to work, and even a few of those students rode on the float and were involved in the parade.”

Raya Lieberman is a freshman photography student who was very excited to participate in the construction of the float.

Kuehnel also extended praise to the SFUAD students who came together to help out. “People were very generous with their time, coming out after class and all. It was great.”

Unfortunately, due to the ill-timing of the parade to fall just after the first week of school, not as many students rode on the float as in past years. But DeVillier states that the low turn-out was understandable.

SFUAD’S float was a colorful representation of our school.

“It was Sunday morning and they wanted to sleep in and maybe take the day to rest, it was the end of their first week of school, so completely understandable reasons,” he says. “Students were still adjusting, and so in the future hopefully, if it (the parade) falls three weeks into the semester, that would be great, because students can really have more time to come together.”

Still, all involved are rightly proud of the end result, especially the incorporation into the design of the evolution from College to Santa Fe to SFUAD. “That was the inspiration,” DeVillier muses. “The LaSallean brothers created it, and we’ve taken it from their creation to our creativity.”