NeoRio 2017: Seeds, Community + Gratitude!
What a wonderful afternoon and evening at Wild Rivers on the rim of the gorge, celebrating seeds!
Over 200 of you came to join us for NeoRio this year:
To experience Kaitlin Bryson’s “Radicle” seed installation, Hollis Moore’s “Pulse Flow” paper mache canoe and Geraint Smith’s beautiful milkweed flags fluttering (click on images for larger view);
To touch, smell and shake seeds in the SEED Sensorium;
To listen to Deborah Hutchison and Gabrielle Herbertson read moving poetry and hear Jonathan Hutchison play wonderful music at the Seed Poetry and Music Salon;
To jam out to tunes by High Desert Acoustic Duo (Mark Dudrow & Justin Dean) and guest musician Dean Gitter;
And to share in a delicious fall feast made by Gaea McGahee, Wendy Medina and many other local cooks and bakers from the Questa Farmers Market and beyond;
To delve deeply into the arts practices and works presented on site by featured artists Kaitlin Bryson and Hollis Moore with their after dinner artist talks;
And of course, we all shared the majesty of the place together, through the changing light of the afternoon and evening, closing with hot chocolate and biscochitos by fire and star light. (Reminder: click on square images for larger view.)
Our extensive collection of images from the event can be seen on Flickr HERE.
(Photos used in this post and on Flickr are courtesy of Kelly Butwinski, Carrie Leven, Dorje Gyalsten, Charlie McGarity and Claire Coté)
Thank you to all who helped make NeoRio possible this year – volunteers, donors and sponsors.
A deep thank you to the many dedicated individuals for their time and labor given to make the event a success!
Huge thanks go specifically to: Featured artists Kaitlin Bryson and Hollis Moore for sharing their work at the event and for offering their artist talks. Although we offer NeoRio artists a small stipend to help cover supplies and travel, their time and expertise are donated. Also to contributing artist Geraint Smith, who donated to LEAP the beautiful “Milkweed Pods” that were on display, three of which were raffled to three lucky winners. Without this kind of generosity the past nine NeoRio events would not have been possible.
- Chris Coté for endless moral and logistical support, set-up and take down and providing fire wood for the campfire and shlepping equipment to and from Wild Rivers.
- Martha Shepp for much event logistics, volunteer coordination and graphic design support!
- Timothy and Connie Long for providing the tents for the event, childcare and helping with set-up and clean-up, down to the last details and beyond!
- Gaea McGahee, NeoRio Food Maven, for graceful and delicious food coordination and preparation.
- Sarah Dzieweczynski for event logistics expertise
- Dawn Provencher, Katie Woodall, Olga Gressot and Lily for their invaluable help with set-up and decor.
- Questa Farmers Market Cooks Wendy and Alex Medina and Lacey Chrisco as well as food volunteers, Ethan Jackson, Jeannie Masters, Kate Cisneros, Flavio Cisneros, Krissy Briedenbach, and Alita Randolph for their delicious food!
- Joan Long for cooking delicious lunches for our NeoRio volunteers as well as logistical support.
- Juan Sisneros, Dorota Orozasz, Ed and Lynn Galusky for great help at the event.
- Steve Bishop and Njal Schold for super support with tents and all things set-up and take-down.
- Peggy Trigg and Jean Frey for being warm welcomers and general event help.
- Alberta Bouyer for help with PR.
- Sherri and Daniel at Cerro Vista Farm and the Kostecki-Shaw Family for providing beautiful flowers and foliage to decorate the event!
- All BLM staff and volunteers – most especially to Wild Rivers Manager, Teddy Lucero, and Ranger, Tim Long for many onsite details; John Bailey for coordination, administration and generous support.
- PPC Solar for generously providing solar electricity to power the event.
- Kelly Butwinski for photographing the event.
- Musicians, Justin Dean, Mark Dudrow and Jonathan Hutchison for providing wonderful tunes for the evening.
- Many thanks to the Sunday Morning clean-up crew including Joan Eilers, Chris Cote, Tim and Connie Long, Nyal Schold and generous visitors from Santa Fe and eager pint-sized helpers.
Special thanks to Questa Economic Development Fund, Chevron Questa Mine Community Fund, Taos County, BLm Taos Field Office, PPC Solar, Common Fire, North Star Toys, KRZA Radio, Taos News, Cid’s Market, Cerro Vista Farm, OCHO and especially our parent organization Localogy, and others. It takes “a village” to make this annual event happen!
And last, but certainly not least, thank you to everyone who came to experience and participate in the the event! Your presence and participation provided the alchemy that made it a success. Let’s do it again next year!
We would love to hear what you thought of the event and we are always interested in suggestions, photos and feedback: emailforleap@gmail.com or call Claire 575-224-9066.
Every NeoRio event is a unique collaboration of artists, other area nonprofits, organizations, businesses and our host, the Bureau of Land Management Taos Field Office. This growing circle of collaboration, connections and relationships are an important part of NeoRio and LEAP’s work and we hope to continue to enrich and strengthen these relationships through each project and event! Thank you to all who came to the event or contributed in some way!
Dia de los Muertos in Questa Nov. 2, 3 – 7 pm!
Third year celebrating Dia de los Muertos in Questa!
Event Details:
Time: Thursday November 2, 3 – 7 pm (Drop in or stay for the whole event).
Cost: Free. Donations welcome.
Location: OCHO Art + Event Space, #8 Hwy. 38, Questa, NM (parking across the street)
More Info: www.LeapSite.org, Gaea McGahee, gaea.mcgahee@gmail.com, (575) 224-2102
Dia de los Muertos in Questa Schedule, 3-7 pm:
3 – 4:30 pm Letters to the Dead with author, Annie Mattingley
4 – 5:30 pm Activities and Community Altar Adorning
5:30 pm Feasting
6:30-7 pm Music by Questa Mariachi
All are welcome to the third annual Dia de los Muertos celebration hosted in Questa at OCHO Art + Event Space. This year’s celebration offers art and festival activities, and features the “Dead Letter Office” with author Annie Mattingley, and riveting tunes with Questa Mariachi, Questa’s Junior and Senior High School students. The event takes place from 3-7 pm at OCHO Art + Event Space, #8, Hwy. 38 in the village center.
Author Annie Mattingley will lead participants in writing letters to the dead in “The Dead Letter Office.” She recently published The After-Death Chronicles: True Stories of Comfort, Guidance, and Wisdom from Beyond the Veil (Hampton Roads Publishing 2017).
At the event, participants can make sugar skulls, paper marigolds, and other (traditional Dia) art. “And if you choose, you can be made into a sugar skull (a calavera) by skillful facepainters,” say organizers.
Please bring photos of loved ones or objects to add to a community altar. Participants may bring a small altar to display, or other Day of the Dead art, but items need to be no larger than a shoebox. If inspired, bring a favorite dish to share, perhaps a favorite of someone to remember and celebrate at this event. Event organizers will contribute posole, prune pies, hot chocolate, pan de muerto, and more. There will be much to feast upon at 5:30 and then enjoy mariachi music to close this ritual of remembering.
Dia de los Muertos is now celebrated all over the world, although it’s origins combine Spanish, Aztec, and even earlier traditions. The celebration in Questa is inspired by this now world-wide memory tradition in the spirit of bringing bright colors, music, art, and food with strong flavors in to lift the gloom.
Coordinated by Gaea McGahee, the collaborative event is the collective effort of LEAP (LeapSite.org) and OCHO (OchoZone.org) and many from Questa and surrounding communities.
“Dia de los Muertos encourages us to revive memories and celebrate our beloveds, as well as acknowledge our own sorrow over their absence. Bereavement and missing are part of our human experience, just as death is, but this ritual gives us a space to honor loved ones with festivity and joy. We’re all on the same path, but some have made it to the other side of ‘the veil,’ whatever that veil means (to you),” says McGahee.
The event is made possible by funding from Chevron Questa Mine Community Fund, and Questa Economic Development Fund, as well as individual donations and many in-kind contributions and volunteers. Thank you!
NeoRio is Today + Sneak Preview!
Join us for NeoRio TODAY at Wild Rivers!
Don’t miss your chance in 2017:
To Experience innovative, seed-inspired art installed, performed and located in this beautiful place…
To share a locally-sourced Northern NM Fall Feast…
To Enjoy music, poetry and each other’s company…
All amidst the beauty of a fall evening, on the rim of the gorge!
Here’s a sneak preview of what Kaitlin Bryson, one of our featured artists has been cooking up for the event:
See you there!
Find all the info about NeoRio 2017 HERE.
NeoRio 2017 is Sat. September 16, 4 – 9 pm!
This year at NeoRio we will explore glorious & fascinating seeds; they will inspire the art installations on the rim of the gorge, by featured artists Kaitlin Bryson, Hollis Moore and contributing artist-photographer, Geraint Smith. In the afternoon, enjoy the family-oriented “SEED Sensorium” and a curated poetry and music salon. In the evening, savor a locally-sourced, northern NM fall feast, live music, artist talks, and campfire, all celebrating this year’s generative, life-giving theme. See google map of Hwy 378 to Montoso Campground HERE. Find out more about the artists and event details HERE.
LEAP Community Collaborations
This year, one of LEAP’s goals was to increase our community collaboration and involvement in events that we support:
April 29: Invent Event
Invent Event Attendees Exploring Seed Play
LEAP, SEED Taos and AIRE hosted a Seed Play Station (manned by Claire Coté & Siena Sanderson and Miguel Santistevan) We had hands-on experiments and make-it activities exploring dispersal as well as a traditional seeds of Northern NM display and guessing game. It was snowy outside, but warm and wild inside with over 800 folks in attendance with lots of playing and exploring! See more about the event at Twirl’s website.
July 1: Questa Library Community Day
Making packing peanut sculptures outside Questa Library
The Library is a great community resource in Questa. To finish out its participation in the nation-wide, month-long Summer Reading Program, the Library hosted a Community Day with the theme “Make a Better World,” and celebrating the kids’ summer reading, free lunch and more. LEAP was invited to offer some recycled craft activities. We made corn starch packing peanut scultpures and recycled tetrapak wallets. Fun!
July 29: Successful County-Wide Clean-up Day
One of the Questa crews with the trash collected from the day
This year LEAP helped organize the 11th Annual Taos County-Wide Annual Rivers and Lands Clean-up Day, spearheaded by Amigos Bravos. In collaboration with the Forest Service Questa Ranger District, BLM Rangers at Wild Rivers and three Rocky Mountain Youth Corps crews, we focused on cleaning up illegal dump sites and litter in Northern Taos County, near Questa and the Rio Grande del Norte National Monument.
The Questa crews nearly filled a roll-away dumpster with large trash illegally dumped in nearby forests and arroyos (including couches, chairs, TVs, fridges, stoves, toilets, sinks, transmission casings etc.), 50 bags of smaller trash, and 15 bags of recyclable materials.
What a day it was, all over Taos County! Thank you to everyone who came out to to make this year’s Taos Countywide River and Lands Cleanup Day a great success! Huge progress was made across the county to remove trash from our rivers and landscapes. The effort wouldn’t have happened without: Amigos Bravos, Rocky Mountain Youth Corps – New Mexico, Carson National Forest, BLM Taos Field Office, Town of Taos, LEAP, Taos County Solid Waste, Taos Land Trust, and the community members, and many organizations and businesses who donated time, money, food, and supplies!
2017 Earth Day Celebration: Fun Exploring Seeds & Planting Trees!
What a great day! 18 trees and shrubs planted by participants of all ages around the Questa library, Youth Center and Municipal Park, seeds given away, yummy burritos eaten. Thank you to everyone who volunteered to make the event happen, came to plant trees and contributed to the success of the event. Special thanks to Sharon Nicholson, librarian at the Questa Public Library for event partnership, and other event partners and Rio Grande Ace Hardware and Cid’s for generously supporting the event for Celebrating the Earth and beautifying our community – success!
Sat. April 22: Come Celebrate Earth Day in Questa!
Celebrate Earth Day in Questa with Tree Planting, Seed Activities and a Picnic! In the morning, come lend a hand to plant trees and help launch the new Seed Exchange at the Questa Public Library. Explore the Seeds ~ Semillas Sensorium with special Earth Day and seed-related activities for kids and stay for burrito picnic lunch, fun music and community celebration from 12:30 – 2:30 pm. This free, outdoor event is Saturday, April 22nd, 10 am – 2:30 pm at the Questa Public Library and Park.
Please bring your shovel and gloves to help with tree planting ~
If you save seeds from your garden and have enough to share, please bring them to add to our seed exchange and Library (we love both flower seeds and veggie seeds!) ~
More info at LeapSite.org – 586-2362
Welcome, 2017 and a look back
Happy New Year!
May it be wonderful for us all – people, places, creatures and things.
Reflections and Projections
2016 was “abuzz” for LEAP. We were busy! Perhaps a little too busy. In 2017 we plan to take things a little slower; fewer big events and intentional focus on some of the less visible, but very important nuts and bolts that will make LEAP stronger and more sustainable in the long run. We hope you will join us in whatever ways are right for you and yours!
As you may remember, pollination was LEAP’s theme in 2016. “The Buzz” permeated LEAP’s activities and programming throughout the year, from our science and art enrichment programs for Questa and Costilla elementary students in the spring, to NeoRio at Wild Rivers in the Fall. We also organized our annual Questa Earth Day event, the regional ¡Pollinate! Art Show at OCHO in Questa, StorySLAM and Paint Out event at Wild Rivers, Dia de los Muertos Community Celebration and local field trips for Questa Junior High Students.
Each event and engagement deepened understandings of the phenomenal and beautiful roles of pollination and pollinators in our lives and ecosystems; each brought people and “place” together and was successful in its own ways.
We also launched two new projects this year: The Northern NM Growers & Makers Exchange and the North Central NM Story Cache. The goals of these new projects are to enliven our communities, generate meaningful conversations, draw-out local stories, and celebrate histories and traditions, new and old. The Growers & Makers Exchange champions our local agricultural and artisan networks by localizing our economy with outlets to sell goods and other infrastructural support. The North Cental NM Story Cache is an emerging local oral history project and archive. Look for more on these projects this year!
Thank You!
HUGE thank yous to all who contributed time, energy and resources to LEAP’s endeavors in 2016. Gratitude to our volunteers, collaborators, artists, participants, donors and grant supporters! You all made it possible.
We are looking forward to new adventures together in 2017!
Donate to LEAP online HERE
Dia de los Muertos: An evening for art, honoring and feasting
On Nov 1st, OCHO Art + event Space in Questa overflowed with activity, color, music, delicious food and a diverse group of guests. We honored loved ones and ancestors with ritual and celebration by gathering the living for Questa’s second annual collaborative Dia de los Muertos celebration. This full, late afternoon and evening party included art and altars, Aztec dancers, a feast, music by Questa High School Mariachi and more!
Many thanks to those talented students and their dedicated teacher, Rachel Leon. We will long remember their performance of La Llorona in a candlelit gallery.
The main artworks in the gallery were altars created by Questa Junior and Senior High School students thanks to the guidance and support of art teacher, Jennifer Vialpando. A heartfelt thank you to our local educators, and gratitude to the hosts of the event at OCHO Art + Event Space, in the village center.
As guests arrived they were greeted by local artist Anita McKeown and her Water Altar, created to honor and celebrate the importance of water.
Anita said this of her inspiration, “Water is life for all of us, the altar allows us to make ‘offerings’ for the healthy continuance of our relationship with water and place. It gives a space to reflect and be mindful of our inter-connectedness.”
Thanks to our inspired community members who cooked and baked and served the feast! The spread included posole, vegetarian lentil stew, beans and rice, a huge prune pie, hot chocolate, apples, local cider, pan de muerto, and much more!
The Aztec Dancers moved with such vitality and power, a deeper history of this celebration, rooted in the indigenous traditions of precolonial centuries, struck us.
Guests of the evening brought photos of loved ones and objects to adorn a community altar. And a pet altar honored animal friends. We remembered the dead with celebration, bright colors, and food with strong flavors; which may explain why this year’s Dia de los Muertos filled the house.
Guests enjoyed decorating sugar skulls, writing calaveras or “memory poems,” making paper marigolds, calavera face painting (special thanks, Peggy Trigg), and printmaking (special thanks, Joan Long), and writing letters to the dead at “The Dead Letter Office” with author and teacher, Annie Mattingley.
Of this particular activity Annie said: “This is a chance to write your own heart-healing letter to someone dear who died either recently or long, long ago.” Those heart-healing letters deposited in the sealed box in “The Dead Letter Office” were burned, (in their box), as promised.
Coordinated by Gaea McGahee and Claire Coté, the collaborative event was the collective effort of LEAP, OCHO, Questa Junior-Senior High School students and teachers, as well as community volunteers.
“I see Dia de los Muertos as a way to process loss with simple and meaningful actions in the presence of a community. During our celebration, we prepared food, made beautiful altars and items to place on them. We made sugar skulls; and, while adorning them, maybe we faced mortality with a bit of humor. Our ritual and celebration was a container for our feelings of sorrow at the death of our beloveds. By treating mortality with humor, we acknowledged that we are all sojourners; some simply further ahead,” says Gaea.
Thanks to Rita Daniels of KNCE 93.5 Taos True Radio for joining us at the event and reporting about about it. Listen to her radio program about our day of the dead celebration here: “Wake Up, Taos! with Rita Daniels” Nov. 2, 2016 episode 51: “Questa Celebrates Dia de los Muertos” (click on “Questa Celebration” 18:10 minutes)
The event was made possible by funding from the Northern Rio Grande National Heritage Area Fund, Chevron Questa Mine Community Fund, Questa Economic Development Fund as well as individual donations and many, generous, in-kind contributions and volunteers.
We are looking forward to next year! If you’re interested in participating in the event in some way, please contact, Gaea McGahee, gaea.mcgahee@gmail.com, 575-224-2102.
Dia de los Muertos in Questa
Tuesday, November 1, 4 – 7 pm
OCHO Art + Event Space, #8 Hwy. 38, Questa, NM (parking across street)
Free – Donations welcome
More Info or to volunteer: Gaea McGahee, gaea.mcgahee@gmail.com, (575)224-2102
All are invited to join in Questa’s second annual collaborative Dia de los Muertos celebration, featuring artwork by Questa Junior and Senior High School students. Enjoy art and activities, Aztec dancers at 5pm, followed by a feast, then mariachi music. Community members will contribute posole, prune pies, hot chocolate, atole, apples, local cider, and the Questa Junior-Senior High School culinary arts students will make “pan de muerto.” At 6:30, Questa Mariachi students will perform in a candlelit gallery to close our festive evening with La Llorona.
Dia de los Muertos is a time to honor our loved ones and ancestors with ritual and celebration and gather the living in these observances. With intertwining cultural roots it combines Spanish, Aztec, and even earlier indigenous traditions. It is a time to remember the dead with celebration, bright colors, and food with strong flavors; this may explain why Day of the Dead has spread across the world. This ritual offers a container for our feelings of sorrow at the death of our beloveds. And by treating the eventuality with humor, we recognize we are all sojourners; some are simply further ahead.
Dia de Los Muertos in Questa explores traditional activities and innovative elements centered around community and art. Supplies and instructions will be provided for decorating sugar skulls, writing calaveras or “memory poems,” making paper marigolds, and colorful prints with traditional imagery. These items can adorn altars or be taken home. Guests on the evening of Nov 1st may bring photos of loved ones or objects to add to a community altar. A pet altar will be created to honor animal friends. Items can be brought ahead of time to the OCHO gallery, which will be open on Oct 29th and 30th.
The event will also feature calavera face painting for all ages with Peggy Trigg, printmaking with Joan Long, and writing letters to the dead at “The Dead Letter Office” with author and teacher, Annie Mattingley. (The Saturday prior to the event (Oct. 29th) Mattingley will lead the “Writing Letters to the Dead” workshop, 2 – 4 pm at OCHO. Suggested donation to OCHO $5. For more information or to sign up for the workshop, contact author and teacher, Annie Mattingley at (575) 586-1792.)
Dia de los Muertos in Questa Schedule, Tuesday, November 1, 4-7 pm:
4 – 6:30 pm Activities and Constructing Altars/Ofrendas
5 pm Aztec Dancers
5:30 pm Feasting
6:30-7pm Music / Candle Lighting
Coordinated by Gaea McGahee, the collaborative event is the collective effort of LEAP (LeapSite.org), OCHO (OchoZone.org), Questa Junior-Senior High School students and teachers as well as community volunteers. The event is made possible by funding from the Northern Rio Grande National Heritage Area Fund, Chevron Questa Mine Community Fund, Questa Economic Development Fund as well as individual donations and many in-kind contributions and volunteers.
