Home Care In Santa Fe, NM

The inaugural iteration of Santa Fe Invitational will take place April 8–11, 2027 at the Santa Fe Convention Center, hosting some forty-five international galleries as well as artists, collectors, and various local and international institutions. A press release describes SFI as a “cultural summit built around cultivating the relationships, knowledge, confidence, and curiosity,” though further details have yet to be formally announced. The organization bills itself as a new model of international art fair, one that not only offers a marketplace but also creates a cultural “ecosystem” involving the broader Santa Fe community. It is the first such fair in the Southwestern United States.

Cultured reports that the main fair will include a conversation series with such cultural luminaries as Roberta Smith and Cynthia Rowley, as well as satellite exhibitions, site-specific installations, performances, and tours of private homes and collections throughout the city. SFI was conceived by Michael Stein, owner of Tesuque Village Market, a restaurant and general store in Santa Fe.

“I’ve learned that culture happens when people have a reason to come together—and a place that makes them want to stay,” he told Cultured. “The Santa Fe Invitational grows from that same belief in the power of bringing people together—artists, collectors, galleries, cultural leaders, and communities—to share ideas, discover new perspectives, and create meaningful connections across cultures and disciplines.

Michael Phelan, who cofounded the Marfa Invitational in 2019, has been announced as SFI’s creative director and curator. He touted the “more human and relationship-driven” aspects of the invitational. “We are not simply building a market for today,” he said, “but helping shape one for tomorrow—cultivating the collectors who will sustain art and culture for generations to come.”

Santa Fe National Forest officials Thursday morning announced forthcoming closures as the McCauley Springs Fire near Jemez Springs grew overnight to roughly 350 acres.

The fire, first detected early Wednesday morning, prompted the evacuations of Jemez-area campgrounds and the Sierra de los Pinos community and sent smoke throughout the surrounding areas.

Claudia Brookshire, Santa Fe National Forest spokesperson, said in an emailed update Thursday that a forest closure is expected Thursday, though she did not specify how much of the national forest will be impacted.

The SFNF said Thursday afternoon in a social media post that the closure, when issued, would be limited to the McCauley Springs Fire area.

As of Thursday morning, the blaze was 0% contained, and its cause remained undetermined.

Newly released maps of the wildfire’s perimeter, which grew roughly 200 acres overnight, showed it had encroached onto the southwest perimeter of the Valles Caldera National Preserve property. Preserve officials noted on social media that a stretch of New Mexico Highway 4, which loops around the northern edge of the fire, is closed at the preserve’s main entrance.

National Weather Service forecasts that the incident command team fighting the blaze requested show that humidity is trending upward, which helped firefighters’ efforts to contain the blaze overnight. Forecasters also predict increased chances of beneficial rainfall Thursday and Friday, but also the potential for strong and erratic wind gusts.

Firefighters’ priorities Thursday include preventing the wildfire’s spread northward across New Mexico Highway 4, as well as keeping the blaze west of the Jemez Falls Campground and north of the nearby East Fork Trail, as well as preventing the fire from impacting structures in Sierra de los Pinos and Jemez Falls Campground, according to incident command records.

Air tankers and three helicopters have been brought in to drop retardant and water on the wildfire, Brookshire said, and “numerous” other federal and local resources are responding.

SANTA FE, N.M. (KRQE) — It was designated as New Mexico’s state cookie back in 1989, and now the Santa Fe mayor has given the treat its own holiday. Tuesday, June 16 officially marks Biscochito Day.

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“The biscochito has become a symbol of the state’s rich heritage. For generations, families have shared recipes and memories centered around the distinctive flavors of anise and cinnamon, making the biscochito a staple at holidays, weddings, fiestas, and other gatherings,” the mayor’s office stated in a news release on Tuesday. “The proclamation honors the role the biscochito continues to play in bringing people together and preserving traditions that help define Santa Fe and New Mexico.”

Here’s what to know about New Mexico’s state cookie.

All about Biscochitos

Biscochitos, a small anise-flavored cookie, were brought to New Mexico by the early Spaniards. They’re often at special celebrations, wedding receptions, baptisms, the Christmas season, and other holidays.

Key ingredients typically include anise seeds, sugar, and cinnamon. They’re typically made with lard instead of butter. They also have a crisp, shortbread texture. This is the recipe provided by the New Mexico Secretary of State Office:

“Sift flour with baking powder and salt. In a separate bowl, cream lard with sugar and anise seeds until fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time. Mix in flour and brandy until well blended. Refrigerate 2-3 hours. Turn dough out on floured board and pat or roll to 1/4- or 1/2-inch thickness. Cut into shapes (the fleur-de-lis is traditional). Dust with mixture of sugar and cinnamon. Bake 10-12 minutes at 350° or until browned,” the recipe instructions read.

The mayor’s proclamation

On Tuesday, Santa Fe Mayor Michael J. Garcia proclaimed June 16 will be biscochito day moving forward.

You can read Garcia’s full proclamation below.

“WHEREAS, the biscochito is a local tradition with more than 400 years of history in New Mexico, arriving with Spanish colonists in the 16th century and evolving into a uniquely New Mexican culinary treasure shaped by Spanish, Indigenous, and regional influences; andWHEREAS, the biscochito has been served for generations at weddings, baptisms, Christmas celebrations, and family gatherings throughout New Mexico, representing the cultural heritage and traditions of our communities; andWHEREAS, Frances Maldonado, owner of Enchantment Delights in Albuquerque, spearheaded the effort to have the biscochito officially recognized, persuading former Representatives Edward C. Sandoval, Frances P. Armijo, and Henry “Kiki” Saavedra to sponsor House Bill 406; andWHEREAS, debate over House Bill 406 was so spirited that legislators argued over the very spelling of the cookie’s name—the dictionary favoring “bizcochito” with a “Z,” while many New Mexican grandmothers preferred “biscochito” with an “S”—a discussion so passionate it nearly sent the bill back to committee before legislators ultimately adopted the dictionary spelling, though New Mexicans continue to use both spellings to this day; andWHEREAS, House Bill 406 was approved by the New Mexico Legislature on March 3, 1989, signed into law by former Governor Garrey Carruthers, and became effective on June 16, 1989, making New Mexico the first state in America to designate an official state cookie; andWHEREAS, the City of Santa Fe wishes to honor the biscochito—however one chooses to spell it—the women who preserved its recipe across generations, and the people who ensured this treasured tradition would never be forgotten.

Now, Therefore, I, Michael J. Garcia, Mayor of the City of Santa Fe, New Mexico, do hereby proclaim June 16 of each year as BISCOCHITO DAY IN THE CITY OF SANTA FE“

The best in Santa Fe

One of the ways the city is encouraging residents to celebrate Biscochito Day is by visiting a local bakery. Here’s an idea of where you can start, according to Yelp.

Santa Fe National Forest crews are responding to eight wildfires that ignited in recent days, likely as a result of lightning, amid a statewide heat wave that is coinciding with the start of the monsoon season.

One of the eight fires, the Frijoles Fire in the Pecos Wilderness Area, had grown to roughly 200 acres in size after igniting Tuesday evening. Crews will begin building firelines to halt the fire’s northern spread, and large air tankers and helicopters will continue dropping retardant and water, according to a news release Thursday afternoon from the Forest Service.

The other seven fires remain only a few acres in size, and one of them is already contained. Two of the wildfires are burning within the boundaries of the Pecos Ranger District, and the remaining five are within the Cuba Ranger District.

Despite their small size, officials warn that the fires pose a risk of growth and that smoke plumes may be visible, including from Santa Fe, Cuba, Española and Chimayo. They are urging visitors to avoid the area.

As of Thursday, the fires have resulted in no closures or evacuations.

The fires arrive at what usually marks the tail end of New Mexico’s fire season. A recent National Interagency Fire Center outlook said monsoon rains and other factors mean that no part of the state should experience above-normal wildfire risk.

The outlook notes that much of the state’s northern and central mountain areas received between half an inch to an inch of rainfall.

While New Mexico has not experienced major wildfires so far this year, especially compared to recent years, state and private lands saw a record number of wildfire starts.

By early July, 524 wildfires ignited in the state, which is more than the state’s five-year average of 321 wildfires through that period.

The New Mexico Forestry Division, in a post on social media Monday, said the state has so far avoided devastating fires despite the record number of wildfire ignitions due to the hard work of firefighters.

According to the division, nearly three-quarters of the wildfires were controlled before they grew to 10 acres in size. Only 2% exceeded 1,000 acres, according to the division.

This season, 73% of wildfires were controlled before they reached 10 acres in size. Only 2% grew past 1,000 acres.

“New Mexico did not avoid catastrophic wildfire this year by luck,” the division wrote. “The state was proactive in keeping fires small and positioned people and equipment to move fast and respond within minutes of a smoke report.”

Elected officials in Santa Fe County unanimously passed a temporary moratorium on data center developments Tuesday evening, becoming the latest New Mexico community to do so.

The pause on issuing development permits for data centers took effect immediately and will run for 18 months while county staffers develop regulations on water, energy, noise and more. While there are no pending data center proposals in Santa Fe, commissioners said they believed it was important to be “proactive” and put guardrails in place before a developer pitches a project in the county.

Data center proposals have cropped up in virtually every corner of the state, from Raton on the Colorado state line to Doña Ana County on the Mexico border.

“When Project Jupiter kind of broke the news, as well as now fast forward to Socorro County, I’ve been looking at…trends around data centers, particularly in rural areas,” Commissioner Lisa Cacari Stone, who co-sponsored the moratorium with Commissioner Hank Hughes, said before the vote. “This is about prevention, not prohibition forever.”

The moratorium specifies that it applies to data centers that would use one or megawatts — enough to power up to 1,000 homes, in some areas. A previous draft of the moratorium put the cutoff at 100 megawatts, but commissioners said that amendment was necessary to prevent a developer from coming to Santa Fe and building a 99-megawatt facility.

Across the state, elected leaders have often taken different approaches to regulating data centers as proposals came in.

Leaders in Socorro County, about an hour south of Albuquerque, recently adopted a yearlong data center moratorium. There, a Canadian tech CEO had been pitching a data center and solar array on 10,000 acres of land in partnership with New Mexico Tech. Source NM found that neither the CEO nor his company had ever successfully built a data center.

And in Raton, a town of about 6,000 just south of the Colorado state line, municipal leaders recently postponed a decision on adopting a data center moratorium after previously signing a memorandum of understanding with a data center developer.

In Santa Fe Tuesday night, supporters said they hoped that the moratorium’s proactive nature would serve as a guidepost for other communities across the state. More than 10 residents spoke in-person during the Tuesday meeting’s public comment period and burst out in applause when commissioners passed the ordinance.

“I want you to know that folks all over the state are watching,” Santa Fe resident and co-director of the environmental advocacy group Earth Care Bianca Sopoci-Belknap told commissioners. “A lot of counties across the state…don’t have the resources we have here in Santa Fe County, so the work you all are doing to develop these really rigorous regulations so we can put forward a model protective ordinance is going to really matter.”