Coming Attractions at The Screen Sept. 19-25  Showcasing the best in classical, independent and foreign cinema, The Screen cinematheque at the Santa Fe University of Art and Design presents new releases, special cinema events and performances all day every day! See what critics have to say about the latest screenings, watch a trailer, then visit The Screen for a unique movie-going experience. Happy Christmas USA – 2014 – 1 hour 18 min. A Joe Swanberg comedy starring Anna Kendrick and Lena Dunham  “A quiet, serious comedy about marriage, parenthood and the everyday strains of bringing up a rambunctious toddler while struggling to sustain a creative life.” -Stephen Holden of New York Times  “This semi-improvised indie accomplishes its modest goal, which is to explore the way a vexing relationship between in-laws can yield unexpected personal growth and warm bonds of affection.” – Colin Covert of Minneapolis Star Tribune . . . Fifi Howls From Happiness France – 2013 – 1 hour 36 min. The True Story of the “Persian Picasso” “Critic’ pick! Addictively fascinating. The lovely meeting of artistic sensibilities makes this dos sing.” – Michael Atkinson of Village Voice “Five stars! Stunningly multifaceted. Surprising and deeply affecting.” -Keith Uhlich of Time Out NY “Thoughtful, moving…A portrait of the artist as a refusenik, a recluse, a survivor and a stubborn question mark, “Fifi Howls From Happiness” registers, by turns, as a celebration, an excavation and an increasingly urgent rescue mission.” -Manohla Dargis of The New York Times< . . . Expedition to the End of the World Denmark – 2013 – 1 hour 10 min.  Winner of Reykjavik Film Festival’s 2013 Best Director Award “The amazing imagery of stony beaches and stubbornly frozen fjords suggests nature’s utter indifference to human presence, a well-trodden theme here given an entertainingly trick-up treatment.” – Adam Nayman of Globe...

In a month filled with fiesta, few venues in New Mexico can compare in popularity and size to Albuquerque’s State Fair, running this year from Sept. 10-21. Part of EXPO New Mexico, a self-sustaining agency, the 61-year-old fair was created to “reflect and showcase” the state’s “agriculture, industries, arts, science and technology, diversity of people and traditions…and promote youth development and education.” Within the 200 annual events of EXPO New Mexico, the Albuquerque State Fair is the local favorite, providing native artists and business owners a venue to promote their work and establishments via the entertaining and food-bombarding atmosphere. This year, the fair offered its usual exhibitions and markets along the main road of Governors’ Avenue, performances and events in its Pavilion, and of course the midway carnival (complete with various-sized ferris wheels, vomit-inducing rides and marry-go-round!). Overall, the experience can be summarized in three categories: art, animals and food.  Last weekend to visit Albuquerque’s State Fair, today through Sept. 20. As the EXPO New Mexico website reads, Go Fair! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOu_Gkjhgzw&list=UUXRoHF_-OUfMUd-XlbUesFw Art The Hispanic Arts Center, located along Avenue of the Governors, is an exhibition dedicated to Hispanic arts. This year artists submit their work in 22 visual arts categories, from traditional to contemporary, and materials included wood, straw, wax, porcelain, oil, watercolor, paper, tin, photography, wire, nails, etc. According to Cheree Bloom, art seller at this year’s Hispanic market, artists eligible for first, second, third place ribbons and honorable mentions must be at least one quarter Hispanic. Bloom says that although they go by the honor system, if any of the artists are challenged, they must present their birth certificates. This year, the submissions were judged by three residents of New Mexico, artists with degrees and an eye for what locals consider “Hispanic-themed” art.  Much of the work, for example, reflected Roman Catholic values, Southwestern culture, and the...

A variety of SFUAD students showcase artistic talents at this year’s AHA Festival of Progressive Arts.

The National Atomic Testing Museum sits on East Flamingo Road in Las Vegas, NV. From there one can travel 65 miles northwest by charter bus to the Nevada National Security Site and take a general interest tour sponsored by the Energy Department. However, before the NNSS became a respite from casino floors and buffet lines, it was known as the Nevada Test Site, and was a destination for contention—particularly between anti-nuclear protest groups and Department officials. In 1988, on this very site, Lisa Adler was arrested, jailed and charged with a misdemeanor for trespassing on government property. Though a misdemeanor, at a federal level this charge carries a potential penalty of up to one year in jail. Adler managed 24 hours and community service. Today, in Santa Fe, Adler teaches political theory for the liberal arts department at Santa Fe University of Art and Design. Since 2002, when SFUAD was still the College of Santa Fe, Adler has covered a wide range of subjects including global politics, feminist theory and, currently, social movements for civil rights. Adler’s arrest in Nevada wasn’t her only confrontation with the Establishment. Her career in political agitation spans almost the entirety of the 1980s and was centered on women’s equality. In college, Adler founded her own women’s rights organization called POWER—People’s Organization for Women’s Equal Rights. “We just really liked the acronym,” Adler says. POWER advocated for reproductive rights, and participated in many events such as the famous Take Back the Night marches. “Women are denied a sense of safety,” Adler says, and these marches were designed to raise public awareness of sexual assault and rape, according to the organization’s website. Created by European women’s groups in the 1960s, TBTN marches made their way to the U.S. by the 70s,...

The dance program at Santa Fe University of Art and Design has spent its existence continuously transforming in order to offer the students a more solid dance education. The newest addition to this burgeoning department is modern and ballet teacher Banu Ogan. After growing up in the ballet world, Ogan was introduced to the philosophies of modern choreographer of Merce Cunningham, with which she fit seamlessly. The Cunningham technique is an approach to modern dance which explores the use of direction and space, and emphasizes the creation of choreography independently from the music. “Physically, it really suited me and my personality. And I loved the daring involved with it,” Ogan says. “The way they worked with chance operations and all of the elements coming together on opening night—he dancers not hearing the music, seeing the sets, wearing the costumes until the premier of the dance—I thought that was the coolest thing that I’d ever heard.” She danced for the New York-based company for seven years before teaching the technique at Juilliard and Marymount Manhattan College. Ogan also has been traveling the world to teach workshops and stage Cunningham pieces for more than a decade. All of this experience coming to SFUAD means the dancers will be receiving pure Cunningham modern technique classes that can be applied to their broader dance curriculum. As for her first two weeks at SFUAD, Ogan speaks about her students with an encouraged and eager tone. “They’re really open and interested in learning and that is all a teacher can ask for. So I feel like there will be a really nice exchange between my teaching and their learning,” Ogan says.   In coming to Santa Fe, Ogan has opened opportunities not only for SFUAD’s dancers, but also for herself. While living in...

SFUAD rolls out online campus safety training, Think About It, as part of new initiatives and resources for students.

“The road to hell is paved with leeks and potatoes.” —Julie Powell   From sort-of-actress and desk-job employee to author and amateur cook, Julie Powell set a pathway for 21st century bloggers and launched a writing career. From blog, to memoir, to movie—Powell’s ambitious Julie and Julia project, cooking Julia Child’s 524 recipes over 365 days, warranted national attention and her second memoir Cleaving, A Story of Marriage, Meat and Obsession  (2009) ignited mixed opinions. Unlike some negative criticism from her book Julie & Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen (largely from those who didn’t understand that Powell was a writer rather than a professional cook), Powell’s 2009 novel Cleaving was met with some “eyerolls and raised eyebrows,” Jennie Yabroof from Newsweek writes. Allison McCarthy from GlobalComment.com, however, defends the author’s subject of marriage, sex and the metaphors of meat, writing that “much of the criticism Power has received…relies on all-too-familiar sexist tropes of female authors as mentally unstable and unworthy of serious consideration. Apparently, women aren’t supposed to publicly express the same adulterous desires that prolific male writer often describe, at least not without being savaged by critics.” Despite the conflicting responses to her memoirs, Powell continues in her “engaging and humorous” voice, tackling next the art of fiction writing with her husband. Powell has appeared on ABC’s “Good Morning America,” CBS’s “The Early Show,” “The Martha Stewart Show” and “Food Network’s Iron Chef America.” Her writing has been published in Bon Appétit, Food and Wine, Harper’s Bazaar, The New York Times, and the Washington Post. In an interview with the Jackalope, Powell describes her writing pleasures, her current projects and her upcoming visit to SFUAD Sept. 15-17 (Powell will read and sign books in O’Shaughnessy Performance Space at 7 p.m., Tuesday, Sept. 16).   Jackalope Magazine: What craft of writing do you most enjoy or do...

Student Life is gearing up to create a safer campus for the 2014 fall semester. Last April, in a report prepared by the White House Task Force to Protect Students From Sexual Assault, a troubling mosaic was pieced together with a variety of findings gathered from college campuses nation-wide. These include the following: Nearly 1 in 5 women—or nearly 22 million—have been raped in their lifetimes. 1 in 71 men—or almost 1.6 million—have been raped during their lives. Women of all races are targeted. Most victims know their assailants. Repeat victimization is common. In response, the report includes a variety of recommendations for policy changes that colleges, Santa Fe University of Art and Design (SFUAD) among them, must adopt to become more in tune with the intent of Title IX, which governs gender equality in education. Policy changes for the 2014 fall semester will include more comprehensive reporting procedures related to sexual assault, which will provide a wider range of support staff for students. Additionally, a Title IX advisor, Becky Connelly, will be on campus to ensure policies are properly implemented, and to provide grievance counseling so students can report violations of their civil rights. Finally, the school is introducing “Think About It,” an interactive multimedia educational data-gathering tool that guides students through topics such as alcohol and drug awareness, sexual harassment, sexual assault, what it means to give consent, what isn’t considered consent, and the obligations of bystanders who witness assault. “Think About It” will collect data while it educates students so lawmakers can make policies to better suited to student needs. There has only been one sexual assault reported at SFUAD since 2010. But just because others haven’t been reported, Student Life Senior Director Laura Nunnelly says, doesn’t mean they didn’t happen. She says potential low reporting could be due to...

Since its July premiere on WGN America, the new TV series “Manhattan,” shot in SFUAD’s very own backyard, has fans and critics exploding with positive feedback and heightened anticipation. TV critic Ed Bark of Unclebarky.com says the network’s second dramatic series is a “cerebral, character-driven morality play in which the stakes couldn’t be higher.” From Denver Post Television, critic Joanne Ostrow calls the show “Harvard with sand,” a “well-crafted, historically based drama” that “works its magic through a talented cast and a taut script.” In an interview conducted by Fox6Now news, “Manhattan” TV star John Benjamin Hickey (“The Good Wife,” “The Big C”) comments that writer Sam Shaw has taken an “imaginative leap of faith” in creating a show that could have been “historically accurate [to] this time and place and instead has focused on the emotional truth.” Unlike the city landscape of Woody Allen’s 1979 romance Manhattan, the “Manhattan” TV series takes place during WWII in the isolated desert of Los Alamos New Mexico, in which the race to create the most destructive weapon of war burdens top scientists and their families with maddening pressure and secrecy. With series like “Breaking Bad” and “Longmire” (recently cancelled pending new network ownership) in the New Mexico’s back pocket, “Manhattan” has kept the state thriving in network drama, bringing in names like director Thomas Schlamme (“The West Wing,” “Murder in the First”), writer Sam Shaw (“Masters of Sex”), and actors John Benjamin Hickey, Olivia Williams (The Sixth Sense, Hyde Park on the Hudson), Daniel Stern (Home Alone, City Slickers) and Christopher Denham (Argo) to New Mexico. In an interview with Jackalope, creator and writer Sam Shaw with director Thomas Schlamme describe how the historical drama relates to New Mexico’s Manhattan Project and what they hope the locals will get out of it. http://youtu.be/8ayC-_RCkGI Actors Daniel Stern...

Androgenicity is a  newly formed club  at the Santa Fe University of Art and Design dedicated to the great art and theatrics of dressing in drag and putting on a show. The club aims at breaking the ice with a hammer, and showing its members how to entertain as well as provoke an audience to consider the circumstances of gender. Through Androgenicity, members and supporters will work throughout the semester to produce a Drag show. This club is headed by student ambassador Gelo Guisti, whose alter ego, the fabulous Miss Gelato, has become a regular presence on campus from school-hosted events to simple walk arounds. Miss Gelato struts around with thick heels and deep eyeshadow. Her pale complexion and often vivid attire and wigs explode along with her personality. As Gelo sees his alterego, Miss Gelato is very much a dear character of his own person, which exists on her own with her own variation of personality. This past week I had the pleasure of sitting down with both Gelo and Malcom Morgan, the club administrator as well as a very proactive enrollment advisor of the Performing Arts students. Over the last week, Androgenicity held its first meeting and appointed cabinet members for the club: President Gelo Giusti; Vice President Isaac Navaro; Secretary Mariah Faye; Treasurer Jake Oliver and Historians Bythe C. Brooks and Lauren Eubanks. According to Malcom Morgan, these students will learn to manage their positions in the club and develop strengths in leadership and organization. One of the heavier questions that I asked Gelo and Malcom is what drag means to them. A general consensus between the two is that drag is a form of art in which one builds up a character. “We are taking these structures and just breaking them apart. We...

SFUAD students will soon have access to free transportation downtown, following the Santa Fe City Council’s Sept. 10 approval of a pilot shuttle project. The program builds on the three-day Night Wave event held last summer. Night Wave was intended to provide a model for what project director Vince Kadlubek hopes will become a regular, city-funded infrastructure for a more vibrant night life in downtown Santa Fe. Even before this most recent decision to approve the shuttle project, Kadlubek said that the Night Wave Project had been receiving “really solid cooperation from the city,” which be believes signifies a shift to what he referred to as a “culture of yes.” The Night Wave weekend featured a wide array of concerts, late-night food trucks and shuttles. These events covered diverse genres and demographics, featuring everything from stand-up comedy to a heavy metal showcase at Evangelo’s. One of the weekend’s largest draws was a double-headline concert at the recently opened night club Skylight, which featured highly buzzed-about national acts: experimental EDM artist Pictureplane and the transgender hip hop MC Mykki Blanco. Throughout the three nights, food trucks were able to serve food and shuttles ran fare-free until 2 a.m.. Kadlubek said that downtown business reported on average a “200 percent increase” in business during the weekend. Kate Noble, acting director of the Housing and Community Development Department, said that the Council resolution for the pilot shuttle program is intended “to provide better integration of students of SFUAD into the Santa Fe community,” adding also that with wider available transportation options students can “potentially get to jobs and be consumers” in the downtown Santa Fe area. Kadlubek agrees that “The university is a key” to the success of the Night Wave project and the overall initiative to...

The first week of school usually consists of meeting classmates and reading through countless syllabi. In SFUAD’s dance department however, rehearsals are already in full swing. With the dancer’s first performance this weekend as a part of The After Hours Alliance Festival of Progressive Arts, and their second just two weeks later in celebration of Greer Garson’s 110th birthday, all seven dance majors have schedules full of rehearsals and brains full of choreography. Shannon Elliott, the chair of the dance department, described a vibrant, eclectic group of five new students. With three new women and two new men, all with different dance backgrounds, hailing from various parts of the country, the diversity and collective experience of the department only seems to be growing. “It’s nice to have this new energy, and just a new comradery that I see occurring. Them working together not only in class, but also in rehearsals,” Elliott says. There are also two new faculty members contributing to the further growth of the department. Banu Ogan, who will be teaching both ballet and modern classes, taught at Juilliard for almost an entire decade after her career with the Merce Cunningham Dance Company. A new ballroom class that will address swing, tango and salsa will be taught by Mike Garcia, a prominent figure in the Santa Fe dance scene. “I think it’s great to actually have them here and to see who the dance majors are,” says Elliott. “And to begin conceptualizing how we can move this group forward together.” Elliott also has plans to bring in guest choreographers not only to make original works, but also to teach master classes and set existing pieces on the dancers. With only a week of the new school year under their belts, this upcoming semester is already...