Food Summit, Sept 30 & Oct 1, Las Cruces

La Semilla Food Center Convenes First Border Food Summit

Normally, this would be an iCreate or Mountainair Farm & Garden Market blog post because it deals with their issue - agriculture, sustainability, agriculture, local food and growers. This summit is here because it addresses Mountainair and community issues not limited to a couple of local groups, one of which is informal, not an organization and decidedly less than transparent, and the other a small, non-membership 501(3c). Besides, the MFGM blog (but not the Facebook page linked above) has been deactivated, another story for another time. Maybe in the scheduled post about our new look and other changes.

In the Rio Grande Valley of southern New Mexico and far west Texas, early fall is a very busy time of the year. Weekdays are devoted to harvesting one crop while preparing for the next. Weekends are filled with fiestas, harvest festivals and community gatherings of all kinds. Colors splash the land, as white cotton balls glisten from the earth and plump, orange pumpkins smile from ripe patches. Even in the water and crop challenged year of 2011, the aroma of roasting green chile stubbornly drifts over the landscape.

In the middle of all this feverish activity, the staff members of Las Cruces' La Semilla Food Center have managed to squeeze in time for the first food summit convened for the tri-state border region.

Scheduled for September 30 and October 1, the summit is planned to take place at the Court Youth Center in Las Cruces. Speakers, hands-on workshops, food-making demos, music, fellowship, and discussion will be part of the bill. According to La Semilla Food Center, a dialogue on food systems, food sovereignty and food justice is envisioned as a central ingredient of the summit.

100 Thousand Poets for Change—and You

I've already been posting about this event elsewhere, mostly at Poets and Writers Picnic and @PWPicnic, but restricting my efforts there smacks of coals to Newcastle. Musician Kathleen Clute is on Zach Kluckman's 100T Poets for Change NM mailing list too. So we know what we're doing for the day. What about the rest of you? You don't have to be a poet to do something. Check below for ideas... and follow along for more ideas and updates. I dare say National Poetry Month projects would recycle well. If the arts council isn't working on something, somebody remind them. Tag them about it on your next 100T Poets4Change Facebook share.

Personally, I fancy the idea of mailing poems to people, and not just in public office. You could add NGOs, service organizations and administrators to that list too. I don't know enough about the MES mentor program to write it up as I'd hoped but certainly hope mentors and mentees will at least spend Friday in the company of poetry getting ready for a Saturday happening. They could email poems about learning to legislators on education and budget committees ~ or their mentors on their behalf but only if the children pick the poems and they read them together. A Saturday chalk day below sounds fun too, So many possibilities, especially with this also being National Hispanic Culture Month.

¡Globalquerque!

~ is a celebration of world music and culture... it's everywhere too: live at the National Hispanic Center,  broadcast live on KUNM and Native Voice One; online at its webpage, on Facebook; online and features in print and online at Local iQ and the Weekly Alibi. Schedules at webpage and in both mags.


More live Saturday , 1 pm in the Wells Fargo Theater at the National Hispanic Culture Center, Local Poets Guild presents Hand-to-Tongue: A Celebration of Threatened Languageduring the free Global Fiesta. plus more events the day before and after.  My personal pick for best of the weekend

Celebrate National Arts in Education Week!

But isn't every week arts education week? If not, shouldn't it be? And if not in the schools then with arts groups, other NGOs and at home... 

Considering the state of  education funding, creating, curating and publishing an arts resource for educators, mentors, homeschoolers and emerging young artists is a project worth considering.

Blue Man Group Morning Madness!

basic blogging

Blogging is not that different from writing email. The compose screens are very similar. Instead of emailing to designated addressees, you publish - send it into cyberspace. You can also compose and save in drafts. Likewise, you can compose in a word processing program and then copy paste into the message screen. 

In other words, if you have no passion for writing or the topics you would write about plus writing skill and information gaps, blogging may not be for you. Nuts and bolts explanatory stuff below. Looking over a few blogs will also help you get a feel for the possibilities. 

We Art the People

Huge puppets, acrobats and crafts galore! Giant puppet samba parade? Say no more. iCreate's Albuquerque music outreach partner, OFFCenter Community Arts Project is throwing its ninth annual folk art festival, We Art the People (Schedule & Events), on Sunday September 11 in Robinson Park (Eighth Street and Central NW). In addition to the parade, a family of jugglers, acrobats and magicians known as Clan Tynker will be running around spreading merriment.

The daylong event—including a Rogue Bindis belly dance performance, the Cajun rhythm and blues of Joe Daddy & Hoodoo Jeff’s Swamp Fried Duo, bluegrass by Holy Water & Whiskey, and a crafting tent with supplies for kids and adults—is free. The only thing you might spend dough on is the work of more than 90 self-taught folk and community artists.

The sale of OFFCenter products, baked goods and yard sale items at this event will benefit the nonprofit and its low-income and/or homeless artists throughout the year. Also a portion of the food sales from the day is being donated to OFFCenter by the mobile vendors.

We Art the People

Salinas gets de Profundis word out

A message from the Salinas Pueblo Missions reminding you about the de Profundis Choir's annual event. Early is better than last minute or missing altogether.... and we've been promised a reminder to share. Take this opportunity to visit Salinas' Facebook page, look at the pictures, comment or leaves a message and be sure to "like" them.

We wanted to get the word out early for this upcoming event: de Profundis the a cappella men's ensemble of Albuquerque will be having their annual concert at Quarai on Sunday, September 18th at 3 PM. This is a free concert inside the Quarai Mission. If you haven't made it to the concert before, this is something not to be missed. Don’t worry, we will remind you again the week of the concert.

photo from 2009 concert, GarryP's Odyssey

Garry P comments,

"The wonderful program lasted about an hour. This was a real treat as the Profundis performs at the mission each year as the first appearance of their yearly tour. They sang chants, international songs and American historical favorites."

From the de Profundis Schedule:

"Our annual concert at Quarai opens the eighteenth season of de Profundis concerts. Quarai is a unique space - a 17th century Spanish mission church, abandoned in the 1670s - part of the Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument. The top part of the church is open, and yet the acoustics in the stone walls are wonderful."

Arrive early with your picnic lunch - and make sure to make time before or after the concert to tour the grounds of Quarai. And don't forget your water, head cover, and sunscreen!

3:00 pm, September 18, 2011. Admission Free

Quarai Mission Ruins of the Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument, Mountainair, NM
Background information about Quarai and map: click here
Virtual tour of Quarai: click here

Habitat! Do it!

www.habitat.org

MES after school art program needs teachers

New Mexico Arts grant funds After School program at Mountainair Elementary

"Red Cloud" ~ a youth installation art, NM Arts page

TEACHERS NEEDED

Hello all!  Although the regular ASPIRE program closed this year due to lack of funding, we received a small grant from NM Arts - enough to offer 5 or 6 classes one or two days a week after school - all ART (music, theatre, visual arts, dance) classes.  I am looking at running a program for about 10 weeks in the fall and 10 weeks in the spring, but would like people who are interested in teaching to help me plan the exact schedule (how many days/week, how long is each class, etc.).  

Please get back to me right away if you have any interest.  Call me - 847-0109 at home or 8472231, ext 2028 at school. The pay will be $20/$25 per class and we have money for supplies. We can also pay for the fingerprinting/background check required for working with kids. 

I hope to hear from a lot of people so we can offer the young people of our community wonderful choices.

I'd like to hold a meeting of all interested potential teachers the beginning of next week.  Call me - 847-0109 at home or 8472231, ext 2028 at school.

Anne Ravenstone

Ed. Note: although not listed, literary arts (creative writing, publishing, poetry) should also qualify, Are you a writer with something to offer? Call or email Anne and ask. Learn more about Arts in the Schools and why keeping them there matters. Arts education curriculum is crucial to childhood development.