Santa Fe County Plane Crash Kills Pilot, Destroys Home

Plane crashes into Santa Fe home, killing pilot

A twin-engine Cessna traveling to California crashed into a mobile home in La Cienega shortly after refueling at the Santa Fe Regional Airport yesterday morning. The crash killed the pilot, who had not yet been identified as of press time, and the crash’s subsequent fire destroyed the home. “It just seems so surreal at this point,” homeowner Miquella Benavidez told SFR. “I don’t know how to process it. I don’t know what to think. I just thank God that nobody was there.” Benavidez says she and her two children lived at the home, but that her kids are on vacation visiting her parents and she was at work when the plane crashed. The crash occurred at 9:03 am, according to a news release from Santa Fe County, whose fire department, along with the City of Santa Fe Fire Department and local law enforcement agencies responded to the scene. State police are investigating the cause of the crash. According to information provided by New Mexico State Police Public Information Officer Wilson Silver, the pilot contacted the air tower approximately two minutes after departing the airport to report engine failure. “Approximately 30 seconds to a minute later, the plane went down,” Silver said, “making contact with the residence.” Officials originally said the plane was headed to Santa Monica, California; Santa Fe County’s subsequent news release said it stopped to refuel in Santa Fe from Sherman Oaks.

Short-term rental owners sue Santa Fe County

Several owners of short-term rentals in Santa Fe County this week filed a lawsuit in US District Court against the county, the Board of County Commissioners and the county’s Growth Management Director Penny Ellis-Green alleging the county’s short-term rental ordinance violates their constitutional rights. Commissioners passed the ordinance last October, which calls for a stricter level of annual review and higher fees for non-owner-occupied units than those with owner-occupants, amongst other provisions. Plaintiffs in the lawsuit, who include Santa Fe residents, as well as out-of-state owners, say in the lawsuit the named defendants have “weaponized” the county’s Sustainable Land Development Code “and set it loose” on short-term rentals, using it “as a type of ‘backdoor’ into the properties and lives of STR owners, with no rational basis or connection to their stated concerns of promoting the health and general welfare” in the county, the suit says. In advance of filing lawsuit, several of the plaintiffs, under the name Short Term Rental Fellowship of Santa Fe County, organized a GoFundMe had raised close to $50,000 to fund the lawsuit as of press time.

President Biden names new trustees to IAIA board

President Joe Biden this week announced his intentions to name five new members to the Institute of American Indian Arts Board of Trustees. The United States Congress established IAIA in 1986—one of only three Congressionally chartered colleges. The five new trustees named include: artist Rose B. Simpson (Santa Clara Pueblo) who has both a bachelor’s and master’s degree from IAIA (as well as a master’s degree from Rhode Island School of Design) and recent solo exhibitions at ICA Boston; The Fabric Workshop and Museum, Philadelphia; the Nevada Art Museum, Reno; SCAD Museum of Art, GA; Pomona College Museum of Art, Claremont, CA; and the Wheelwright Museum. Other named members include” architect Johnpaul Jones, whose “design philosophy emerged from his Choctaw-Cherokee ancestors, which connects his work to the natural world, animal world, spirit world, and human world”; Madeline Sayetis, “a Mohegan theater maker who believes the stories we pass down inform our collective possible futures” Jane Semple Umsted, “an artist who has spent a lifetime working in a variety of media which includes oils, acrylics, watercolor, sculpture, and the unique media of batik. She is a descendent of two Choctaw Chiefs and her art exudes the spirit of her Native roots”; and Manuelito Wheeler, born and raised on the Navajo Nation, and the current director of the Navajo Nation Museum in Window Rock, Arizona.

State touts film industry wages

Amidst the ongoing Hollywood writers and actors strikes, the state of New Mexico yesterday announced what it says are “record-high” wages for those working in the film and television industry here. According to a news release from Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s office, film, television and digital media production spending in New Mexico surpassed $2.2 billion over the past three fiscal years, and the industry spent more than $794 million in New Mexico between July 1, 2022 and June 30, 2023. In addition, the state reports recent data it says shows that median hourly wages for industry workers jumped to $35.51 in the past 12 months, up 21%, with New Mexico communities outside the Albuquerque/Santa Fe Corridor experiencing a 150% increase in direct spending from $6.5 million between the 2021 and 2023 fiscal years. “The investments in New Mexico by the film and media industry are delivering higher wages and creating cascading positive economic impacts in communities large and small across the state,” the governor said in a statement. “Our continued efforts to create a thriving and robust film industry means more money in the pockets of New Mexico families and businesses.” Former Economic Development Secretary Alicia J. Keyes, who departed her position last week, also weighed in saying the state “has built a strong foundation for this industry—not just at the new studios and stages rising in the metro areas, but throughout the state with our scenic locations and film-friendly communities. Now we need to take this momentum and invest in our workforce so New Mexicans can tap into these opportunities, learn new skills and continue to thrive.”

Listen up

Santa Fe Art Institute’s podcast-turned-video series Tilt returns with its second episode since the format change. “Soil as Black Gold” examines how “soil becomes foundational to an art & science practice” and follows SFAI Changing Climate resident Esha Chiocchio’s use of film and photography “as a vehicle to document the environmental conservation work of various farming communities throughout the Southwest.” The program also takes a look at “how understanding soil biogeochemistry becomes a part of environmental physicist Sanna Sevanto’s vegetation-climate research work at Los Alamos National Laboratory.” The episode also features work by Changing Climate artists-in-residence, including Margaret LeJeune, Kei Ito, Sonja Peterson, Katie Kehoe, Ashley Colley and Jess Zeglin.

IFAM reports record sales, leadership change

The International Folk Art Market says its move from Museum Hill to the Railyard for the July 6-9 event brought an estimated record $3.37 million in art sales, with average artist sales totaling approximately $21,339 per booth, another organizational record. Nearly 30,000 pieces of art were sold, according to news release, and approximately 80% of guests were first-time attendees. Following those successful markers, IFAM CEO Melissa Mann is now departing. “Melissa has been instrumental in leading the International Folk Art Market through COVID and the market’s move from Museum Hill to its new location at the Santa Fe Railyard Park,” a news release reads. “The IFAM board thanks Melissa for her years of dedication to the organization and wishes her the very best in her next endeavor.” According to a market spokeswoman, Mann began with IFAM in 2019 in a development position and has worked as CEO since 2021. The board will apparently be conducting an executive search over the next few months, while Joni Parman serves as interim CEO. IFAM also announced the dates for next year’s market—its 20th—July 11-14, 2024. The market spokeswoman tells SFR “the intent is to go forward at the Railyard.”

The old college try

For the interactive “College Looks Like This,” the New York Times showcases seven college student photographers who capture both how their campuses looked and felt in advance of the US Supreme Court’s late June decision striking down affirmative action. The student photographers include Andrew Jogi, who graduated in May with a bachelor of Fine Arts in Honors Art Studio and a minor in Honors Interdisciplinary Liberal Arts from the University of New Mexico. “With over half of its student body identifying as Hispanic, the University of New Mexico is considered a Hispanic-serving institution, or H.S.I.,” the Times notes. “Although H.S.I.s make up 17 percent of higher education institutions nationwide, they serve two-thirds of Hispanic college students in America.” Jogi says he feels “really lucky to be able to go to a school that has such a large community and population that is not white. Within my little art bubble that we have in the fine arts, I feel like I do belong. There is a sense of community and strength among P.O.C. and queer people. But once I leave the college and go beyond that, it feels a little more hostile towards marginalized groups.” A UNM news release identifies Jogi as alum Andrew Michael Joseph, who says seeing the work published in the Times has “been a bit surreal…but I’m honored to have been chosen to talk about and photograph such an important concept. I think having this assignment allowed me to also reflect on what community means.”

Keep cool

The National Weather Service has issued another heat advisory from noon to 9 pm forecasting a high temperature of 95, after yesterday’s record-breaking 100 degrees. Santa Fe also has a 30% chance for precipitation, mostly between noon and 3 pm, via scattered showers and thunderstorms. As the heat wave continues nationwide, Al Gore has some thoughts. Closer to home, the City of Santa Fe is offering offering free passes to the Genoveva Chavez Community Center’s ice arena during open public skate sessions this week Sunday, July 23 (schedule here). As noted in yesterday’s newsletter, all three public libraries also offer free cool environs, and the city’s Mary Esther Gonzales Senior Center (1121 Alto St.) is available for anyone over 60 to hang out, drink some cool water, watch TV, play pool etc.

Thanks for reading! The Word is cooling off watching the brown bears at Brooks Falls.