2014 Main Event

Raquel Redshirt, an environmental engineering major at the University of Oklahoma, believes “a broken system exists in our homeland and vast improvements need to be made.” Redshirt is a member of the Navajo Tribe, who is answering that call for change through technology. In 2011 Redshirt was an International Science and Engineering Fair Finalist and the recipient of the Goethe Special Award where she presented her project to students in Germany as a sophomore in high school. Today, her project has been recognized by Intel, the 100 People Foundation, Winds of Change American Indian Science and Engineering Society Magazine, amongst others. Originally from Shiprock, New Mexico she plans to return to the Navajo Nation where she can use her knowledge to create a brighter, greener future for her people.

Andrew Lovato is an Associate Professor of Speech Communication at Santa Fe Community College. He received his PhD in Communication with an emphasis in Intercultural Communication from the University of New Mexico in 2000. Lovato was selected as a Fulbright Scholar in 2008. Through his writings, Lovato walks readers through an exploration of Hispanic and New Mexico cultures of yesterday and today. He is the author of Santa Fe Hispanic Culture: Preserving Identity in a Tourist Town and “The Year Zozobra Escaped: Featuring Zozobra’s Great Escape.” His latest project is a serialized version and podcast of his latest book, Elvis Romero and the Cosmic White Corvette. Lovato is a contributing author for four other books, has written numerous articles, and given lectures related to New Mexico history and culture.

Conrad Skinner at 19 saw the paradigm-changing show The Architectural Visions of Paolo Soleri at the Corcoran Gallery in Washington; he listened to Soleri lecture at Reed College; he heard bands play in the Paolo Soleri Amphitheater at the Santa Fe Indian School. Not until 2010 when the school announced the theater’s closing and possible demolition did he imagine its historical significance. Why on this campus a theater with bowl seating, with a rusticated shell backing the stage, with an upper stage with bridge and balcony? Why a manmade canyon, a tower and artificial hill, a view to the Sangres? Through archival research and interviews with artists, architects, actors, writers and teachers he’s composed from multifarious sources the intriguing story of the theater designed by Soleri, the first, expressly for American Indian drama.Skinner is an architect with a background in, art, art history and dance. He earned his Master of Architecture from the University of New Mexico.

As an advocate for victims of human trafficking and victims who have been exploited by the sex industry, Roslynn Gallegos regularly looks into an ugly world. Over the past three years she has presented at various conferences and organizations advocating for the rights of both Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking Victims and Adult Victims of Sex Trafficking.Gallegos is a recent graduate from the masters program at New Mexico Highlands University School of Social Work and will receive her provisional LMSW license in August of 2014. She works as a Case Manager and Social Work Intern, providing services to male youth and their families. Gallegos works to live in the world that will bear witness to the end of modern day slavery.

divider

Jamey Stillings is a Santa Fe based photographic artist creating work that reveals and informs our perceptions of how humans use and transform the Earth. Within a diverse range of photographic interests, he is concentrating on issues of sustainability. Changing Perspectives: Energy in the American West, his current project, focuses on large-scale renewable energy projects and their fossil fuel counterparts. Stillings’ three-decade career spans documentary, fine art, editorial and commercial projects. He holds a BA in Art from Willamette University, an MFA in Photography from Rochester Institute of Technology, and has a diverse range of national and international clients. His fine art/documentary work is in the collections of the Library of Congress, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Nevada Museum of Art, JGS, and UNLV Libraries, along with private collections. Stillings recent acknowledgements include Eliot Porter Grant recipient 2013 and Critical Mass 2013 Solo Exhibition Award.

Steiner strives to live a purposeful life, to inspire kindness with fierce passion and to lead by example through art. She is the founder/president of Peach’s Neet Feet, a non-profit organization that uses art to create custom, hand painted shoes to celebrate children fighting cancer and living with disabilities. In 2012 Peach’s Neet Feet was chosen as the winner of the Random Acts of Kindness Foundation’s Extreme Kindness Challenge and Madison received the Good Samaritan Real Heroes Award for Northwest New Mexico. She was a guest speaker at the Chopra Foundation Sages and Scientists Symposium 2013. Most recently, Peach’s Neet Feet was the recipient of the Sheckler Foundaton “Be The Change” award in May 2014. Steiner is helping to create a diverse, global community rooted in kindness while teaching the simple idea of choosing your labels rather than accepting the ones given to you.

Robert Rhatigan struggled with alcoholism for over ten years. When numerous attempts to overcome addiction through will-power and conventional treatment failed, he traveled to the Peruvian Amazon for treatment from local shamans. After four challenging ceremonies with a purgative, psychedelic plant medicine, his desire for alcohol dissolved and a quest to understand his transformation began. A New York City native, Rhatigan is a Research Scientist at the University of New Mexico. He holds a Master’s Degree in Applied Geography from the University of Colorado and a Bachelor’s in Environmental Science from the State University of New York. After starting a career on Wall Street, Robert helped build a successful tech start-up, worked as an environmental consultant, published non-fiction writing and delivered mail for the US Postal Service. Sober and craving free for over four years, he still contends with an incurable case of wanderlust.

Rusty Rutherford is a social worker by day, and a stand up comedian by night. He spends his time at his home away from home behind a microphone on stages across North America with his twisted comedy that has “More energy than a high school cheer squad” (Montreal Fringe Festival). He has appeared on NBC’s Last Comic Standing and uses his comedy to add a little laughter to his audiences’ day, and also get them to think about critical social issues. Rutherford has worked for Youth Development, Inc.’s Teatro Consejo (Theatre of Counsel) and Gang Intervention programs since 2007, introducing gang-involved and at-risk youth to media, performance, and visual arts. He carries his passion for comedy and the arts into his work with youth to break through Albuquerque’s toughest gang members’ shields, and reduce violence and criminal activity through laughter.

Heather Himmelberger, P.E. is proud to be able to say that she has now visited all 50 states. In her travels she studies the interesting ways water issues are similar and different throughout the U.S. and abroad, particularly in Australia and New Zealand. Himmelberger is a registered professional engineer with over 28 years of experience with water and wastewater utilities and in the environmental arena. She has a BS in Environmental Engineering from Penn State University and an MS in Environmental Engineering from Johns Hopkins University. She is currently enrolled in a Civil Engineering PhD program at the University of New Mexico.As Director of the Southwest Environmental Finance Center at the University of New Mexico, Himmelberger assists state, local and tribal governments with the broad financial implications of providing environmental services, such as water and wastewater, and complying with state and federal regulations.She also serves as a board member on the Environmental Protection Agency’s Environmental Financial Advisory Board.

The content for your Tab goes here. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Pellentesque pretium, nisi ut volutpat mollis, leo risus interdum arcu, eget facilisis quam felis id mauris. Ut convallis, lacus nec ornare volutpat, velit turpis scelerisque purus, quis mollis velit purus ac massa. Fusce quis urna metus. Donec et lacus et sem lacinia cursus.

The content for your Tab goes here. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Pellentesque pretium, nisi ut volutpat mollis, leo risus interdum arcu, eget facilisis quam felis id mauris. Ut convallis, lacus nec ornare volutpat, velit turpis scelerisque purus, quis mollis velit purus ac massa. Fusce quis urna metus. Donec et lacus et sem lacinia cursus.

The content for your Tab goes here. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Pellentesque pretium, nisi ut volutpat mollis, leo risus interdum arcu, eget facilisis quam felis id mauris. Ut convallis, lacus nec ornare volutpat, velit turpis scelerisque purus, quis mollis velit purus ac massa. Fusce quis urna metus. Donec et lacus et sem lacinia cursus.

The content for your Tab goes here. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Pellentesque pretium, nisi ut volutpat mollis, leo risus interdum arcu, eget facilisis quam felis id mauris. Ut convallis, lacus nec ornare volutpat, velit turpis scelerisque purus, quis mollis velit purus ac massa. Fusce quis urna metus. Donec et lacus et sem lacinia cursus.

The content for your Tab goes here. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Pellentesque pretium, nisi ut volutpat mollis, leo risus interdum arcu, eget facilisis quam felis id mauris. Ut convallis, lacus nec ornare volutpat, velit turpis scelerisque purus, quis mollis velit purus ac massa. Fusce quis urna metus. Donec et lacus et sem lacinia cursus.

The content for your Tab goes here. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Pellentesque pretium, nisi ut volutpat mollis, leo risus interdum arcu, eget facilisis quam felis id mauris. Ut convallis, lacus nec ornare volutpat, velit turpis scelerisque purus, quis mollis velit purus ac massa. Fusce quis urna metus. Donec et lacus et sem lacinia cursus.

The content for your Tab goes here. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Pellentesque pretium, nisi ut volutpat mollis, leo risus interdum arcu, eget facilisis quam felis id mauris. Ut convallis, lacus nec ornare volutpat, velit turpis scelerisque purus, quis mollis velit purus ac massa. Fusce quis urna metus. Donec et lacus et sem lacinia cursus.

The content for your Tab goes here. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Pellentesque pretium, nisi ut volutpat mollis, leo risus interdum arcu, eget facilisis quam felis id mauris. Ut convallis, lacus nec ornare volutpat, velit turpis scelerisque purus, quis mollis velit purus ac massa. Fusce quis urna metus. Donec et lacus et sem lacinia cursus.

The content for your Tab goes here. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Pellentesque pretium, nisi ut volutpat mollis, leo risus interdum arcu, eget facilisis quam felis id mauris. Ut convallis, lacus nec ornare volutpat, velit turpis scelerisque purus, quis mollis velit purus ac massa. Fusce quis urna metus. Donec et lacus et sem lacinia cursus.