Artful Exercise

The city of Santa Fe, in partnership with San Francisco-based firm National Fitness Campaign, is preparing to open an outdoor gym designed with the iconic pop art of Keith Haring at SWAN Park in mid-December.

Santa Fe was selected as one of 10 cities nationwide to build such facilities after applying with the campaign, which worked with the Keith Haring Foundation in New York to create the exclusive project.

The 90-acre park—whose name stands for Southwest Area Node—is located on Jaguar Drive, on the edge of the city’s Southside.

Depending on funding availability and community interest, a handful of other parks including Salvador Perez and Monica Lucero may also become home to fitness courts, according to Pauline Kamiyama, director of the city Arts and Culture Department.

The court features seven workout zones, each focusing on a different kind of movement for a full-body workout at all ability levels. It comes with a $250,000 price tag for the city.

On a recent afternoon, two local mothers—Brigitte Probst, who has two kids, and Kirsten Minns, who has three—spent time at SWAN Park with their homeschooling group that visits different parks throughout the city. They both say their kids are excited to use the equipment.

“It’s really nice to see that they’ve expanded the opportunities here at this park,” Probst says.

Court users can download a free app from the National Fitness Campaign, which was founded in 1979 with the goal of promoting healthy lifestyles. The app features instructional videos and workout tips and challenges, and the city is training some of its employees on the equipment so they can teach classes.

The city is also seeking volunteer instructors. Anyone who’s interested will be required to get certified and can contact Kamiyama at artscommission@santafenm.gov.

Kamiyama, whose department worked with parks and recreation to get the project off the ground, says several parks were assessed for the court, but it ultimately made sense to have it on the underserved Southside.

The SWAN Park court is designed as a demonstration project and will fully launch with classes in the spring. With only one license for Haring’s art, the city will look to local artists to design any other facilities, with public and private fundraising and a $10,000 award from the campaign that can be used for the next court.

Construction started at the park a couple weeks ago and work on the flooring and graphics is ongoing.