Lines & Circles Press Release

The Lines & Circles Families Project

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, December 8, 2009

Beyond the Tri-Cultural Myth: Eleven Local Families Celebrate Contemporary Santa Fe

A new exhibition of art and poetry puts to rest the myth of “tri-Cultural Santa Fe.” The city’s Poet Laureate, Valerie Martínez, and eleven Santa Fe families present mixed-media works of art and poetry that celebrate the breadth of community life in the capital city. The exhibition, entitled Lines and Circles: A Celebration of Santa Fe Families, runs January 15 through March 2010 at the Arts Commission Community Gallery in downtown Santa Fe.

For over a year and a half, Valerie Martínez, Santa Fe Poet Laureate, worked closely with three and more generations of eleven Santa Fe families who created unique family works of art and poetry. The goal of the Lines and Circles project was to nurture and celebrate the Santa Fe community, deepen bonds within and between families, and generate a body of art and poetry that commemorates city life. The family works and poems reflect the family name, family history, or simply the intergenerational collaboration that happened during the project. Participating community members include the Akers Hunt Covelli, Brown, Carmona, Goler Baca, Gottlieb Shapiro Bachman, Ingram, Martínez Ridgley, Ortiz Dinkel Hasted Wilkes, Quintana Gallegos, Salazar and Strongheart families. Over 60 family members, ages 5-90, participated in the project.

The Lines and Circles project was sponsored by the City of Santa Fe Poet Laureate Program and supported by the Lannan Foundation, the Santa Fe Literary Education Endowment at the Santa Fe Community Foundation, the First National Bank of Santa Fe, Littleglobe, Inc., Sunstone Press, and the 400th Commemoration of Santa Fe. A book about the project, published by Sunstone Press, will accompany the exhibition.

Valerie Martínez, the city’s poet laureate and artistic director, says of the project: “While many tout the landscape of Santa Fe as the city’s richest asset, the truth is that the people of Santa Fe, those that are here to stay, are its gold. The Lines and Circles families expand our notion of who we are and why we call this place home. These family works of art and poetry give us a lens through which we learn much more about contemporary Santa Fe—beyond the tri-cultural myth.”

The public is invited to the opening reception of the exhibition, on January 15,
2010.

The exhibition includes short films, music, audio oral histories, mixed-media pieces, installations, a four-generation quilt, a children’s book, and more. The following day the families will discuss their art and poetry followed by a feast of traditional family recipes. The city’s ArtWorks program will also sponsor related events and activities with public school students and their families.

Martínez adds: “In addition to creating special works of art and poetry that will stay with them for generations, the participants have come together, even more meaningfully, as families. They have also met, worked with, and become friends with families they didn’t know, across the “invisible lines” that tend to divide us, as city residents. The project has worked to deepen our sense of connection and fellowship in this constantly changing city.”

Lines and Circles: A Celebration of Santa Fe Families
January-March 2010
Santa Fe Arts Commission Community Gallery
Community Convention Center, Downtown Santa Fe

Opening Reception: January 15, 2010
5:30 – 7 p.m.
Free and Open to the Public

Presentation by the Families and Family Recipes Feast
Saturday, January 16, 2010
2-5 p.m.
Free and Open to the Public

For more information, contact:
Valerie Martínez, Santa Fe Poet Laureate
City of Santa Fe
505-603-0866
valmatz@comcast.net
www.valeriemartinez.net
www.sfpoetlaureate.blogspot.com