[Autonomous engagements]
During my residency at Santa Fe Art Institute (SFAI), there were a major reshuffle. The manager responsible for event organization and artist engagement left two weeks after I arrival. The key role was not filled. Therefore, most social events, artist talks, and collaborations were held autonomously by artists. During this period, I became closely with fellow artists. We arranged potlucks every two weeks to interact with other artists in residence. This experience significantly transformed my creative perspectives. Previously, writing was a personal and lonely activity for me, but now it became an interactive and cross-medium process with ambiguous objectives. I worked with other artists to develop a three-party creative project.

An American artist with the background in curating launched a“salon project”and invited us to have regular conversations about our ongoing projects. As a Chinese-language writer, I couldn’t directly share my written works for others to read. Instead, I told stories and discussed with others in my session. We talked about current progress, creative direction, challenges we encountered, and issues we grappled with. Other artists offered valuable feedback inputs, and they eventually became my intimate creative partners.

At the end of my residency, we organized an Open Studio event. We sent out invitations and have discussion about our creative works with visitors who came to our studios. SFAI board members and Santa Fe art enthusiasts attended in the event and interacted with us.

It's important to note that some artists decided not to take part in the salon or Open Studio. At SFAI, everyone in residence had the freedom to choose how they wanted to engage. SFAI was a small but democratic community where every person their space with and freedom to comfortably created work and lived together.

[Feature destinations at Santa Fe]
1.Art & culture: Tumbleroot Brewery and Distillery nearby frequently hosts domestic and international musicians for music performances. Additionally, Grill restaurant Cowgirl has offer regular live rock and blues shows.
2.Bookshop: Collected Bookstore & Coffeehouse has extensive collection of books and hosts numerous book-related events. Garcia Street Books is a conveniently located small bookstore. Downtown Subscription sells magazines and beverages. My favorite bookstore, The Good Stuff Café Vinyl, has a lot of secondhand books or flawed items for treasure hunting.
3.Museum/Gallery: Guide tours at The Georgia O’Keeffe Museum are highly recommended. It’s located at a small town Abiquiu where just one hour’s drive from Santa Fe. The tour also incloude visits to O’Keeffe’s home and studio. Be sure to make online reservations in advance. SITE Santa Fe frequently hosts art talks featuring exceptional contemporary art workers, and admission to exhibition is typically free. Another must-visit is Meowwolf. It’s a fantastical amusement park created by a group of artists. It offers dozens of widely diverse spaces to explore. Visitors can also choose to participate in mystery games. On weekends or holidays, Meowwolf organizes creative, colorful, and fun techno music parties.
4.Landscape: Aspen Vista area is a half-hour car ride away, and it offers a variety of hiking trails that lead to diverse landscapes and seasonal scenes.
5.Architecture: In downtown Santa Fe, you’ll find charming adobe buildings scattered around. This structures combines Spanish and Native American styles. These organic buildings respond to natural, irregular surroundings. Residents need to maintain and repair them continuously over time. Once abandoned these buildings, they collapse quite rapidly. Although adobe buildings in Santa Fe nowadays maintain their primitive styles, they are usually constructed using modern methods rather than traditional processes.

Author: Yu Hsuan Chao
Edited: Brix