Warm and Cozy - Taos Wool Festival

October 1, 2009

One chilly evening my friend’s father lamented one of the drawbacks of evolution: We lost our fur. Thankfully, out of bare-skinned necessity were born a myriad of snugly innovations.

This weekend the 26th annual Wool Festival at Taos invites you to celebrate 400- plus years of textile tradition in New Mexico, Colorado and Texas. Breeders, fiber artists, and a few of the furry four-leggeds that make all of this possible, will be on hand Saturday (Oct. 3) from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. and Sunday (Oct. 4) from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. at Kit Carson Park, 211 Paseo del Pueblo Norte.

The event is presented by the Mountain and Valley Wool Association and entry is free of charge.

“The festival is really alive, really fresh, there is something for everybody,” says Merce Mitchell, a local fiber artist who has participated at the festival for the last 11 years. “Luckily we have the tradition, but it is being experimented with and expanded. People are doing the craziest things — spinning and knitting wildly! We are pushing the medium from craft to art.”

Over 60 vendors will display knitted, felted, woven and crocheted winter garments, tapestries, rugs and artworks. Yarns, both chemically and naturally died, and mounds of raw wool fleece will also be available, along with tools, equipment and books for both budding and advanced fiber artists. Exotic fibers to sink fingers into will include mohair, cashmere, alpaca, llama, buffalo and Angora rabbit.

“Because everyone is juried in, the quality of art is very high and vendors made everything in their booths,” says MVWA board member Liesel Orend. “A lot of them are ranchers who have raised the sheep and processed the wool themselves.”

The Fiber Critters Showcase offers a chance to visit some of the animals behind our beloved garments. Karen F. Young of Morningstar Alpacas has displayed her alpacas at the festival for the last seven years. Among her flock of 27 are six babies.

“Alpacas stand during the first hour after being born. It’s amazing to see them hit the ground, organize those long legs and figure out how to run,” Young says.

Alpacas come in 27 different colors and their fiber, shorn once a year, can be spun thin enough for a wedding dress. It’s a “medullated fiber,” meaning it has air pockets that enhance its insulating qualities.

Demonstrations of sheep-shearing, weaving, felting and other techniques will take place at individual booths as well as every half-hour at a central tent with a schedule posted outside. Watch also for displays on natural dyeing, carding and several spinning procedures, including one where angora yarn is spun straight from the rabbit upon someone’s lap.

Tempo music columnist Rima Ralff is also a local spinner who creates the colorful “Jewels” line of thick spun wool for La Lana Wools. The strands are playful and clumpy, with unpredictable twists and variations. Most often used for hat bands, purse handles, scarf ends and other embellishments on finished products, only the truly adventuresome attempt to knit it.

Mitchell also hand spins her own unique yarns.

“I spin because you can get a creative idea in your head and give it a really quick expression,” she says. “You can make a skein in just a few hours, as opposed to felting which can take up to two months to make a piece.”

A Handspun Yarn Show and contest will take place in the show tents on Saturday, alongside contests for Garment and Home Accessories and Fleece. Plenty of food vendors and live music will round out the day’s events. In conjunction with this year’s festival was the Earth’s Palette Natural Dye and Color Conference, which took place Sept. 26-28 at the Sagebrush Inn.

More than 50 people pre-registered and teachers included pioneers in the field such as Louisa Gelenter, John Marshall and Pamela Feldman. Workshops included Lichen Dyes, Navajo Natural Dyes and Cochineal Dyeing. Farmed in South America, the cochineal bug is the size of a small ant and when ground up into a powder and prepared as a tea, provides the foundation for colors from orange to purple. Its use dates back to the 15th century when it was coveted by the Aztec and Mayan people of Central and North America.

“The different colors come when you change the pH by adding a little acid or alkaline or adding some iron,” Orend explains. “When it was discovered, it was huge because it made the first brilliant scarlet red and everyone wanted that color.”

More than 30 in-depth workshops on everything from Andean Back Strap Weaving to the Art and Science of Knitting Button Holes are also conducted through the Wool Festival for a separate fee. They overlap somewhat with the Dye Conference offerings.

Galleries that will be having shows related to the Natural Dye Conference and Wool Festival include Millicent Roger’s Museum, Jewelz of Taos, Weaving Southwest, J Fine Art, Encore Gallery, La Lana Wools, The Taos Gallery, Wilder Nightingale Fine Art and RB Ravens.

Photo by Rick Romancito

For more information, call (800) 684-0340 or visit online www.taoswoolfestival.org.

Pages of Discovery - The art of the book

January 7, 2010

It was a jewelry box. Elegantly raised on four claws, viney engravings wound around its metallic body. Doors opened from the top to reveal shiny treasures. It presumably functioned as such for many decades — until it fell into the hands of book artist Linda Gottlieb.

“That’s so eerie,” I say as she lifts the center door to reveal a collage of tiny heads made from sculpy clay.

“Thank you,” she says with an instant smile.

I pull open the other two doors and scrolls unravel towards the floor with Rilke poetry written in cursive upon them. Deep inside the box is a pair of black cloth children’s shoes, soles adorned with old maps and stamps. Wedged into the heel of one shoe is a tiny handmade book about searching. Story upon story unfolds as I touch, hold and open.

Gottlieb and a community of adventuresome book artists — including Jamie Ash, Maggi Younger, Joy Purcell, Josie Lenwell, Sara Jean Gray, Martha Daley, Gail Goodwin, Robbie Steinbach and Deitre Cameron — will exhibit their work for the January Shop and Learn Trunk Show at the Gift Shop at the Harwood Museum of Art of the University of New Mexico, 238 Ledoux St.

A reception, where artists will demonstrate and offer hands-on instruction in various bookmaking techniques, will take place Saturday (Jan. 9) from noon until 2 p.m. Admission is free. Each artist takes the medium and runs with it to her own, often very personal, realms.

Some are like journals that you’ll want to carry into a corner and read in privacy, others resemble modern architecture. A few are made of such alluring materials that the greatest joy is in opening and closing them. Ash brings a fascination with science and years of experience as a builder and general contractor to her bookmaking.

She constructed an aluminum-hinged book with glass pages the thickness of tiles. Images of brains appear on each page with different sections colored corresponding to which part of the brain is being used while reading the text.

My fingers delight in the singular sensation of turning glass pages. “Encyclopedia of Tides,” also by Ash, is like a tiny, private reading nook. Each of its three mini books has a hard cover of brass and fits snugly between velour walls of a bookcase. Plucking a book out, opening it and then slipping it back in its nook is its own meditation.

In “Prayer for the World,” Younger uses thick church window shaped pages to display images of humanity’s dark side juxtaposed with hopeful poetry and religious icons.

Tea bags line the pages of her other intimate poetry book. Like many of her peers, she weaves together both original and reclaimed images and text. These artists found one another, and a passion for bookmaking, through Norah Lovell’s revered University of New Mexico-Taos class on the subject.

“I took it the first semester she taught it and I never stopped,” Ash says. “There’s so much inherent possibility in the form and she was wonderful at teaching it.”

After Lovell moved to New Orleans, a core group of former students continued meeting and eventually became Taos Book Arts Group. They have grown to include new members and currently meet once a month to encourage one another and provide feedback and insight on works-in-progress.

“Most of us were already in love with books, whether literary texts, children’s pop up books or art books so when we took the class it was an opportunity to put that love into something we could create ourselves,” says Steinbach.

She used a box of century old glass plate negatives to create “Albuquerque 1906.” After scanning the negatives she printed them onto a strip of poly silk and attached them to the reel on the back of an old Kodak bellows camera.

If you crank the film sprocket, images scroll by. “Memento Mori” (this week’s Tempo cover image) pays tribute to creative women of Taos, including Máye Torres, Melissa Zink, Jeralyn Lucero and Sylvia Torres, with their golden-tinted images alongside other photos, some original and some found.

One of the older photos has a double exposure that gives a young girl two heads, one rising behind her. Words emerge with a certain punch when placed within the colors, textures and worlds these artists create.

As I stand to leave Gottlieb’s studio — its shelves lined with ancient medical texts, rusty flotsam and odd-shaped pharmaceutical bottles — I spot a toaster. It’s modestly disguised in varnished duct tape and yarn wound tightly around its cord. I pop out the book lodged in a bread slot and am treated to “Toast, the book.”

“Raisin toast, rye toast. Have a slice of mean toast.”

A piece of whole grain bread scowls. “And winter best of all toast!” reads the last page, beside a slice smothered in cream cheese.

“Take a moment to really see the piece,” writes Gottlieb in her artist statement. “You may perceive the magic of it, and you may recognize one of your own stories being read back to you.”

'Belladona I’ by Robbie Steinbach. Courtesy photo

The show runs through the end of January. For more information call Carolyn Hinske at (575) 758-9826, ext. 102 or e-mail chinske@ unm.edu.

Stray Hearts: Dedicated to Homeless Animal Care

Seth, a German Shepherd mix, furrowed his brow in concentration as Katie Gillis gave him commands, treats and praise. This was his third session and he could promptly “sit,” “stay,” “follow” and “look at me.”

“They astound you with their resilience and ability to bond,” said Gillis who volunteers at Stray Hearts Animal Shelter every day, rain or shine. She works with about six of the most difficult, shy or anti-social dogs per day. “Ninety-nine percent of the time, they’re willing to come around.”

Stray Hearts Animal Shelter was bustling on Thursday afternoon (Feb. 19) as dog after dog was walked, trained and cared for; cages were cleaned, bowls filled; buildings constructed and countless other details were tended to in service to the community’s stray animal population.

“Working together is the key,” said Dr. Holly Johnson, a veterinarian who has been volunteering her services one or more days a week at Stray Hearts since last December. “I’ve worked at shelters in other parts of the country. It’s the staff that makes the difference. These are tough jobs. Across the country there’s a high burnout rate. But these people are wonderful, both the employees and the volunteers. They are very astute in noticing changes in animal’s behavior and health and have been responsive to any suggestions I’ve made.”

Stray Hearts, a 501C-3 nonprofit, first opened its doors in 1991 and — aside from a hiatus due to a funding crisis from August to November 2004 — has operated continuously ever since. Taos’ original animal shelter was started in 1962 with land donated by the Wurlitzer sisters on Los Pandos Road, according to veterinarian Ted Schupbach.

He worked there in the 1980s and said the staff consisted, for many years, of one veterinarian. Stray Hearts currently employs 14 people and has from 35-40 volunteers, according to executive director Dave Noll. The shelter’s 2009 budget is $393,650 and the town of Taos and Taos County funds $195,000 of that amount; the rest comes from donations and adoption fees.

Taking in animals

On Tuesday (March 10) Stray Hearts had 85 dogs and 18 cats in its care. Rick Medina, sheriff’s lieutenant and supervisor for animal control in Taos County, said his office receives about eight to 10 calls per day that result in about four to five dog pickups a day, all of which are brought to the shelter.

“It would be a disaster without Stray Hearts,” Medina said. “They treat the animals and help the community and they do a great job.”

The Stray Heart’s Animal Daily Management Report states that in 2008, the shelter took in 1,287 animals (all dogs and cats except for one ferret), a 29 percent increase from 2007. In 2008, 458 were adopted; 386 were transferred; 94 were returned to their owners; 224 were fostered (74 returned to shelter); 60 died; and 156 were euthanized.

Animals may be euthanized due to illness, injury, aggressiveness or minimal chances of adoption, said Lisa Davis, board president. Pit bulls are evaluated for signs of aggression more often than other dogs, but if any breed behaves and adapts well to the shelter, and is deemed adoptable, he or she may be kept at Stray Hearts until adoption occurs, she explained.

“Euthanasia is never taken lightly,” said Davis. “And it’s done properly, by a veterinarian.”

“By not euthanizing, you often end up causing the suffering and death of many other dogs because when the shelter fills up, the animals are out there breeding, starving to death and getting hit by cars,” said Schupbach.

According to Noll, Stray Hearts has one of the lowest rates of euthanasia in the state of New Mexico: 12 percent.

Actively seeking homes

Stray Hearts actively seeks homes for animals via adoptathons; sponsored advertising; local businesses that show animals on given days; a Web site and also through bi-weekly transfers of dogs to Colorado, where they have a shortage of puppies and a higher demand for dogs due to stricter enforcement of spay and neuter laws, according to Davis.

The shelter recently acquired a van with donations from a board member that fits 15 dogs to facilitate these transfers. “What frustrates me is that every month I see (for veterinary care) four or five dogs that people got from a shelter in Santa Fe or Española,” said Schupbach. “All that does is add one more stray animal to our population.”

“It is so essential that people spay and neuter their pets,” said Davis. “Not only will it help with overpopulation but their behavior and temperament will be better; they’ll have better health and they’re less likely to roam,” she explained.

Financial assistance for the procedure is available through Stray Hearts, whether or not the animal originated from the shelter. Those interested can pay a $20 fee and fill out a form to receive a voucher, accepted in lieu of payment at designated veterinarian’s offices.

Critical comments

Stray Hearts has received complaints from some members of the community that the shelter has worked hard to rectify, according to Noll.

“Most of the complaints were last summer. When we took over (October 2007) the shelter was struggling for a lot of reasons: Lack of funding for one. And staffing is difficult in Taos, especially when you’re asking someone to (clean animal cages) for $8 an hour,” he explained.

When a letter of concern was sent by Salazar Veterinary Clinic in June 2008 regarding the shelter’s cat-care procedures, the shelter took immediate action, Noll said.

“We did every recommendation that came to us from Salazar. We also replaced the cattery manager and added an additional staff.”

About two weeks after their first letter, the Salazar clinic veterinarians wrote a follow up letter, commending Stray Hearts on addressing the issues they raised in their first letter. Jeff Northrup, former board member, said in an interview Feb. 18, that a lot of improvements have been made at the shelter since Johnson started volunteering and a new kennel manager was hired.

However, he said he still had concerns, primarily about the small size of the cat’s cages, the closure of the cat socialization room and the dogs’ living conditions. Other concerns were about a former staff member; and overcrowding at the shelter, which he said should be remedied by euthanizing more animals. Since last summer, the cat’s cages have been upgraded.

The new cages are 2 by 3 feet and 17 inches high and, on a Feb. 19 tour, appeared to provide ample room for cats to stretch and move around. Almost all the cats were stretched out in their cages, napping or sitting serenely on clean padding. Davis explained that the cat socialization room had been permanently closed to prevent the spread of ringworm, as per a veterinarian’s suggestion.

The shelter now has a cat visitation room where staff and volunteers can play with one cat at a time. After each visit the room is thoroughly sterilized, according to a protocol delineated on a white board.

“Some of the complaints are from people who haven’t been to the shelter in over a year,” Noll said. “A couple of months ago there were some people picketing in front of the county building. We went out and talked to two of the women and just asked them to come by the shelter. One of the women did come by two days later and she said, ‘the shelter’s never looked better.’”

New accommodations

Dogs’ living quarters have recently been upgraded to provide more space and weather protection. Davis pointed out “the ghetto,” a row of small, minimally tarped cages, where the dogs were formerly housed. Forty of them had been torn down but a few remain standing to keep dogs in the fresh air for the half hour each day while their cages are being cleaned.

The new accommodations for dogs are larger and are double tarped with semi-truck tarps that are batted down each night for warmth and protection from wind and moisture. Each cage contains a plastic igloo — with a heating pad if the dog is short-haired — as well as plenty of straw. According to Johnson, these quarters “will maintain a comfortable warmth even in the worst storm.” Some dogs are currently housed indoors and by the end of spring, the plan is to have all the animals sheltered indoors, except the dogs that fare better in the open air, according to Noll.

Five enclosed greenhouse style buildings are currently under construction, with donated money and volunteer labor. One is designated for the cats and the other four will house dogs. Each building will have a pressure washer, a feedand- water station.

The dog’s buildings will have 12 kennels and an outdoor play yard divided into two sections so they can play together according to temperament. Currently, dogs walks are notated in a log book so the staff and volunteers are aware of which dogs need walking, according to Cynthia Sharfin, shelter manager.

“As a shelter, there’s always things we can improve on,” said Noll. “But we think the shelter’s never been better. And if people have questions, we’ve always told them to just come on out. You are always welcome.”

Stray Hearts Animal Shelter nurse Summer Wood, left, and volunteer veterinarian Dr. Holly Johnson bring in sister and brother Pasha and Giggles for their puppy shots Friday (Feb. 28). Photo by Tina Larkin

To contact Stray Hearts Animal Shelter about donations, volunteering or other inquiries, e-mail them at strayhearts@ taosnet.com or visit www.strayhearts.org which has up-to-date photos and profiles of available animals; or call (575) 758-2981.

New Mexico's Hidden Past - Part 2

November 12, 2009

Rubén Durán found out he was Jewish when he was building a mud house on some land he had inherited, outside Albuquerque. Foraging for materials in the remains of his great-grandmother’s house, he found some weathered old wood that might be useful. “So I start pulling, separating the wood from the adobe and out popped a mezuzah ... it fell out of there, kind of a little metal box with a round cylinder. And inside, rolled up is a little scroll, which contains the shammat, which is, of course, the most important prayer to the Jewish people,” explains Durán.

Like artifacts from an adobe wall, the history of New Mexico’s Sephardic crypto-Jews, kept hidden for many generations, is now emerging.

Durán is one of several crypto-Jews depicted in the play “A Light In My Soul/Una Luz En Mi Alma,” which will be performed Friday and Saturday (Nov. 13-14), 7 p.m., at the Taos Community Auditorium, 145 Paseo de Pueblo Norte.

The production, presented by the Taos Jewish Center and Working Classroom Theater Group, is part of a 10-day festival called “¡Celebrate!, The Jewish Experience in Spanish-Speaking Countries,” which is spread out through Albuquerque, Santa Fe and Taos. It concludes Sunday (Nov. 15). Other events include films, music, art, theater, food, lectures and exhibits.

Tickets for the play are $12 in advance, $18 at the door and $15 for students and seniors. A free performance for students and seniors is planned Friday (Nov. 13) at 1 p.m., for which reservations are required with the TJC.

There will also be a reception and Q&A afterward in Doc Martin’s Restaurant at The Taos Inn, 125 Paseo del Pueblo Norte. Present will be the director, cast and some of the crypto-Jewish interviewees depicted in the play. Tickets for the reception are $55, which includes a ticket for the play that evening.

Working Classroom’s award-winning Albuquerque-based theater group includes an ethnically diverse group of actors ranging in age from 11 years old to 65. The play, written by Leigh Fondakowski and a team of collaborators, is based on extensive interviews conducted with New Mexican Crypto-Jews. Interview transcripts were then incorporated into historically accurate and visually exciting theater, using a process Fondakowski developed while writing her Emmy-nominated TV movie, “The Laramie Project.”

“These are the exact words (of interviewees) and their real names. It’s a very rare opportunity in theater where people get to speak for themselves,” says producer Nan Elsasser.

The play starts in Spain at the brink of the Edict of Expulsion, then travels to the New World where a boatload of expelled Jews come tumbling on stage. The action then fast-forwards to modern-times, as descendants enjoy the blessings, and grapple with challenges, their ancestry brings.

Father Clemente Espinosa grew up in Albuquerque in a family that practiced Judaism in secret for five centuries, continuously. His family is still in possession of religious paraphernalia that belonged to his 15th-century ancestors.

“Inside the house we were Jewish, but outside we were Catholics. We still had the fear of the Inquisition and things like that, because being ostracized by your own neighborhood is very terrible, especially as a little child, that’s a form of the Inquisition. I used to remember the words (they called us),” he says. “Right here in this district that happened! And we have a lot of Converso families here now and this is a very Roman Catholic state. And if you dare, you get ostracized, you lose your jobs, you lose your friends, and there’s connections, let’s put it there, nunca se acaba (translation: it never ends).”

Maria Apodaca was raised Catholic, but found out in high school that she was Jewish. “Somos Judios,” her father whispered to her after he read a poignant school essay she had written on Judaism.

“I had this feeling in my heart ... that it was very, very sacred very special that he said that to me and so that stayed with me,” she says.

The deep connection she felt to Judaism continued to grow in her and she eventually did her Return, which means she studied Jewish laws and customs for some time under a rabbi and then took part in a ceremony and ritual bath (mikvah.) Her son, Mark Tafoya is skeptical of these links to ancestry and the DNA testing his mother undergoes but he loves her and accepts her choice nonetheless. The rest of the family, however, is adamantly against her decision to embrace Judaism, a repercussion she must accept as she moves forward with her life.

Another challenge for Crypto-Jews touched on in the play is a sense of alienation from other Jews. When crypto-Jews decide to join overt Jewish communities, the Ashkenazi (Eastern-European) Jews are sometimes unfamiliar with, and therefore skeptical of, their Jewish authenticity.

There are some differences in Sephardic and Ashkenazi traditions, such as singing different melodies to certain songs and eating slightly different traditional foods during holidays and ceremonies. As awareness of Sephardic Judaism grows in the Jewish community, measures are being taken to be more inclusive. According to Ariana Kramer, assistant to the director of TJC, Albuquerque now has a synagogue called “Nahalat Shalom,” which actively reaches out to Sephardic Jews and holds monthly Shabbats (Friday services) focused on Sephardic traditions.

The TJC, though not a synagogue, hosts religious and cultural events and has always welcomed everyone, “Jewish, non-Jewish and everyone in between,” says Kramer. “Some people come here for years and don’t know why they’re attracted but there’s this resonance with the traditions. Then later on they find out they have Jewish ancestry,” she adds.

New Mexico’s crypto-Jewish history has been surfacing more since the 1980s largely due to the work of researchers such as sociologist Tomas Atencio and historian Stanley Hordes. In his book, “To the End of the Earth: A History of the Crypto-Jews of New Mexico,” Hordes writes that his biggest challenge was “determining the history of a group of people who for centuries tried desperately to cover their tracks, to leave behind as little evidence as possible, documentary or otherwise, that would jeopardize their security and ... their families.”

“I believe my father’s generation was the last generation that would have any inkling that this happened,” says Durán. “We could have gone into my generation and, of course, my children’s generation, without them ever knowing about their own history.”

On his journey exploring Judaism, Durán visited Israel. “My wife and I ... we were riding around on a bus and they asked us where we’re from and we tell them New Mexico and they said, ‘Oh, you’re Jewish?’ And we’d say, ‘Well, I believe my family was Anusim.’ Now, the word anusim means forced to convert, okay. Funny how everybody knew that word ... And some of them would even reach out and touch you, kind of like, “Wow, brother. You’ve been lost for all these years. Welcome home.’ ”

For more information, call the Taos Jewish Center at (575) 758-8615.

New Mexico's Hidden Past - Part 1

November 5, 2009

Josef García’s maternal grandmother would light two candles every Friday and then move her hands around in a circle, saying words in a mysterious language. When someone died, he said she would cover all the mirrors with black cloth.

When he asked her about these traditions, she would say they were “very old family traditions taught to her by her grandmother.”

“In 1982,” García said, “my elderly great uncle told me the reason I was uncomfortable in Christianity was because we were Jews. Suddenly, it made sense to me, my mother shouting about the filth and toxicity of pork and the other family customs. My father cried when we celebrated Erev Shabbat (Friday evening religious services) in my home. It was the first time he had done so since his mother’s death.”

Modern-day descendents of New Mexican crypto- Jews, such as García, are the subjects of an exhibition by late artist Cary Herz titled “Remnants of a Hidden Past: Photographs and Essays on New Mexico’s Crypto- Jews,” which opened with a reception Thursday (Nov. 5), 5:30-7 p.m., at La Hacienda de Los Martínez, 708 Hacienda Rd. in Lower Ranchitos. The term “crypto-Jew” can refer to anyone who practices Judaism in secret, for fear of discrimination or persecution — but, it can also refer to their descendants.

To explain how a number of Sephardic crypto-Jews ended up in New Mexico requires a brief step back in time. Jewish persecution, frequently flaring up throughout Europe since the first Crusade in 1095, infested Spain in 1492. At this time, Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand ordered the expulsion of the Jews, saying they had to either convert to Catholicism, leave the country, or face torture, imprisonment or execution.

Some fled to the New World with the conquistadores. Mexico City in particular received such a high influx of Jewish immigrants that in 1571 a tribunal of the Spanish Inquisition was established there, which also administered brutal punishments for practicing any religion other than Catholicism. Jews migrated further north, some as far as what is now New Mexico.

Although a portion of these Jews who had converted to Catholicism fully renounced their Jewish identities, others converted but continued to practice Judaism in secret and thereby became Sephardic crypto-Jews of New Mexico.

Herz (1947-2008) was photographing the Jewish cemetery in Las Vegas, N.M. in 1985 when she heard whispers of, “What about the others?” The cemetery contained the remains of Eastern European Jews who immigrated in the late 19th and early 20th centuries but was missing those of the Sephardic crypto-Jews that had resided in New Mexico for centuries.

The term “Sephardic” refers to persons of Spanish, Portuguese or North African descent. This day marked the start of her 20-year “odyssey” into this hidden — and now emerging — culture. Many of her images were shot in New Mexico but some were taken as far away as Portugal, where she journeyed with some of the crypto-Jewish descendants. Herz is the child of two Holocaust refugees and her deep personal connection to this subject seems to vibrate through her images.

Gerald González is depicted in Portugal, surrounded by aging stone walls. “Sitting on the steps of an Inquisition jail in Monsaraz, Portugal, led me to think of ... the perils and journeys across the globe that my Jewish ancestors undertook to protect themselves and their faith.

“In 2007 I identify myself as a Hispanic New Mexican who is culturally Catholic, but who also has a deep awareness of and sensitivity to my Jewish roots, embracing them as part of who I am,” González says in the book. “Accepting the complexity of my family history (including the French and Italian branches along with my Jewish origins) has led me to seek a wider understanding of our relatedness as God’s creations.”

Alongside each of Herz’ portraits will be brief biographical statements offering a glimpse of the range of experiences subjects have had in integrating their ancestry. Statements are excerpted from Herz’ book, “New Mexico’s Crypto-Jews, Image and Memory,” created in collaboration with Ori Z. Soltes and Mona Hernández.

Some descendants, like González, openly accept their Jewish heritage but choose not to practice the religion. One chooses to practice both Catholicism and Judaism. A few, some of whom have only recently discovered their Jewish ancestry, feel that they’ve come home. Lorenzo Domínguez stands with his elderly mother, Felima, beside the Río Grande in Albuquerque. He wears a tallit, a shawl with about 600 tassels, each a reminder of one of God’s commandments; she drapes her grandmother’s black shawl around her.

They both look directly into the camera with soft eyes. Felima is a devout Catholic who acknowledges her Jewish heritage that dates back to 16th century ancestor Lucas Vixil.

“From the time he was young my son has always felt that he was Jewish. I have a daughter who feels the same way. For me, as long as they, my children, pray to God, as long as you live your life in a good way, that is all that matters,” she says.

Herz was also intrigued by crypto- Jews’ gravestones that were adorned with Jewish symbols, sometimes hidden, sometimes not. Jewish stars are sometimes engraved alongside or inside crosses, or above the heads of angels. Some of the imagery, Herz writes in her book, has not yet been studied by material culture academics.

These photos raise interesting questions about why crypto-Jews would choose to leave a permanent, public marking of Judaism traceable to their families when they had gone to such lengths to keep their faith a secret. The gravestones that combine Jewish and Christian imagery can also be seen from an artistic perspective, as representations of religion as a unifying force rather than the divisive one that history has sometimes proven it to be.

Part 2 in the series will delve more deeply into the complex range of issues faced by this population, drawing on material from “A Light In My Soul/Una Luz En Mi Alma,” a play based on interviews with New Mexican Crypto-Jews and descendants. Performances will be Nov. 13-14 at the Taos Community Auditorium. For more information, call (575) 758-0505 or visit www.taoshistoricmuseums. org. Herz’ book also contains an extensive bibliography of works on this subject.

Lorenzo Domínguez (Levi Ben Macario) and mother by the Río Grande, Albuquerque, 1999. Photo by Cary Herz

Former Miss New Mexico - "It's not about perfection"

November 16, 2008

Does the Miss America Pageant degrade women or empower them?

Taos teens got to decide for themselves after hearing an argument for the latter from Jenny Marlowe, 2007 Miss New Mexico. She spoke to girls at Taos High School last Tuesday (Oct. 7) about her pageant experiences and encouraged those-inclined to register for the Miss Taos pageant Nov. 15.

Marlowe — a TV reporter and professional singer — said she had a huge advantage in the professional world because of the interviewing, public speaking and performing practice she got at pageants. The first time she went on stage at a pageant, she told THS girls, she was terrified.

“But each time I got better,” she said, “I promise, you get better.”

And then there’s the money. Miss America is the biggest scholarship organization for women in the country and money is available to winners and non-winners alike, according to Alyssa Martínez, executive director (a volunteer position) of Miss Taos County Scholarship Pageant. Just for competing in any local pageant, a girl becomes eligible to apply for scholarships of at least $1,000 to study law, engineering, medicine, performing arts and more. So you don’t have to meet an arbitrary standard of perfection to cash-in. But you do have to put yourself out there — on stage, performing, interviewing and strutting your stuff in a swimsuit. Students cringed when Marlowe mentioned the swimsuit competition.

“It’s only 20 seconds!” she said, “You can do it! And it’s not about being ultra-skinny; it’s about being healthy.”

Those competing in the Miss Teen pageant have a sportswear competition instead of swimsuit. Those who place in the top five at Miss New Mexico (adult competition), get four years paid in full at any New Mexico College, including room and board, according to Marlowe. However, this comprehensive scholarship is only available to incoming freshman, so this is a key year for high school seniors. Winning a local pageant is a requirement to compete at Miss New Mexico.

“I’d compete for the school money and for the experience,” Carissa Nichols, a THS senior, said. “But I don’t have that much self-confidence so it’s kind of scary to me.”

Barbara Jones, a self-actualization coach, and Martínez offered free coaching sessions to girls on interviewing, talent, wardrobe, makeup and other skills, so they can walk into the competition with confidence.

“I don’t want to (compete),” said Krystal Archuleta, a junior, “because I know I’m beautiful myself.”

In response to the criticism that pageants overemphasize physical appearance, Marlowe said, “The pageants have been about perfection for a really long time and they’re trying to get away from it, but change takes time.”

She admitted to having felt intense pressure to be perfect at the Miss America pageant, but she said it was self-inflicted. The platform program, started in 1989, requires contestants to pick and advocate for a social issue, as an attempt to downplay the emphasis on individual perfection, said Martínez. Marlowe’s platform was “becoming powerful against sexual and physical assault.”

For the year she was Miss New Mexico, she spoke to schoolchildren all over New Mexico about this issue. In addition, she volunteered at a rape crisis center and was a spokesperson for the Rape, Abuse and Incest Network. It was a tough choice for her to pick this platform and she received some criticism for addressing this issue in elementary schools but she held her ground. Having survived sexual assault when she was a teenager, she felt strongly about bringing the message to kids that abuse is never their fault and that help is available. Marlowe said she matured a great deal during that year from her experiences speaking to groups and counseling individuals.

“Now I feel like I can walk into any room and talk to anyone, whether it’s a kindergartner or the president of the United States,” she said, “If I’ve made them feel important, then I’ve done my job.” Marlowe admitted that pageants aren’t for everyone, but those even the slightest bit interested, were offered encouragement, clothes from her closet and her phone number for coaching. The deadline to sign up for the Miss Taos pageant is Friday (Oct. 20). Class ended and Martínez spoke over the rustling of backpacks: “Every single one of you can take this opportunity and run with it. As long as you believe you can do it and you don’t listen to the people that tell you you’re crazy.”

Megan Avina

For more information, contact Alissa Martínez at: (575) 776-1177 or gottatrymarykay@ aol.com

Deliberately Fit: Visualizing the Finish Line

June 11, 2009

I believe in exercise. A long hike or bike ride always leaves me exhilarated and full of insight. Gyms, however, have never done it for me.

The scary machines and looks of exhaustion on all the faces make my skin crawl. When I was assigned to cover the Deliberately Fit Workshop at the Northside Spa, and saw the schedule, I filled with dread. Nearly three hours of continuous gym exercise for four days in a row? I’d collapse.

Then I found out Eileen Pedersen, who co-facilitates the camp with Rosa Hagan, is a yoga teacher and something in me opened up.

“This isn’t just about helping people to fit into a size six. Our bodies are an amazing tool to work towards a higher purpose,” said Pedersen, who is also a spinning instructor and certified nutrition counselor. “We want to empower people to take control of their own health and well-being, so no one else has to take care of them.”

Hagan is a certified Pilates and bosu instructor, lifestyle counselor and an American College of Sports Medicine certified health and fitness instructor.

“It’s the gold standard of fitness and personal trainers,” Pedersen said. “We’re sort of East meets West, we train across modalities.”

Each afternoon, from 1- 4:30 p.m., offers a balance of cardio-vascular exercise, flexibility and resistance training, yoga and Pilates and relaxation. Following the physical workout are lectures on nutrition, cardio- vascular science, resistance training and stretching.

Before and after camp, participants undergo an (optional) assessment that includes blood pressure and heart rate, flexibility, waist-hip ratio and core endurance.

“When you meet a physical challenge and overcome it, your strength and confidence spills over to other parts of your life,” Pedersen said.

I was convinced. I went the first day and by that day’s lecture, I’d rearranged my schedule so I could attend the whole enchilada.

Day 1

After introductions and a talk on cardiovascular exercise, half the group went to Pedersen’s spin class and my half hopped on cardio machines in the main gym. Hagan came around to check on me and my elliptically bouncing neighbor.

“Listen to your body,” said Hagan, after we’d been warming up for a couple of minutes. “You should be aiming for about a seven or eight on the exertion scale — one being relaxing on the couch and 10 being running from a tiger. You should still be able to talk but not really want to. We’ll stay here for two minutes, GO!”

I stayed at eight for a couple seconds and then returned to a comfortable five. Bosus were next — they look like the top third of an exercise ball sliced off and given a flat supportive bottom. We jump off and on with variations and then Hagan adds (optional) fancy moves like knee to opposite elbow on the landing. I flounder.

“Confusion is good. It burns more calories!” says Hagan.“Thirty more seconds!”

I keep moving and get it eventually.

“Lovin’ it! Lookin’ good,” Hagan kept shouting during the following hour of strength training and I realize I love having someone cheer for me. After Pilates is our first lecture: Nutrition.

Pedersen dumps tiny containers of rice and pastas on a plate to show us what a “serving size” looks like. A ping pong ball represents the suggested serving of cheese. Pedersen recommends several small meals a day — every three to four hours — as opposed to waiting until piercing, irrational hunger overcomes us.

“This will also help to maintain a healthy blood sugar level so you are steadier, emotionally and physically,” said Pedersen.

I had so much energy that night I pulled out my dusty box of acrylics and painted a couple of small pieces and then some polka dots onto the back of my car.

Day 2

My expectations are very low as I step into my first-ever spin class. I believe biking should involve fresh air and a destination.

“It’s important to become comfortable leaving your comfort zone,” Hagan said that morning. “A lot of people will back off at the point of discomfort but it’s those who learn to tolerate the discomfort that see change.”

I decide to spend some more time in the discomfort of level eight exertion.

“Be deliberate, stay with it … visualize the finish line!” said Pedersen as the beads of sweat swam down our faces.

Inspired by the in-depth afternoon cardiovascular lecture and still giddy from Pedersen’s class, when I get home I highlight every spin class on the spa schedule.

Day 3

I’m on exercise autopilot and keep moving in spite of gravity beckoning me to the nearest patch of floor.

I vaguely recall spinning, bosu lunges, poolside lunges, a game of catch with a heavy, gooey ball while balanced on tippy plastic half moons. Then we got a crash course in weight machines.

I’m attentive during yoga because I think all the breathy stretching is why I haven’t been sore this week. That night as I polish off my second avocado sandwich, I belatedly recall Pedersen’s words as we were leaving: “Eat protein tonight. Because of all the strength training we did today, your body will crave carbs but need protein.”

Day 4

After sleeping like a rock, I awake with loads of energy. My body is buoyant with possibility.

“Up, over, down, lunge!” says Hagan as we’re building up to our first interval on bosus, which I’ve grown to love.

During our rigorous upper body workout, I ponder our imminent departure from the endorphin-soaked alternative universe of the last four days. At the morning check in there was talk of meeting up for buddy workouts and reuniting for the instructors’ weekly Deliberately Fit maintenance series.

“I want to do this every day for the rest of my life,” someone said. Nearly everyone echoed her sentiment or expressed some version of “I feel fantastic,” with a sparkle in the eyes to back it up.

I can’t say for sure if I’ll return to the gym but it’s highly likely. It’s work, but the results help the rest of the day feel like play.

Deliberately Fit workshops are offered several times a year.For more information, contact the instructors who also offer dietary cleanses and individual sessions: Rosa Hagan (575) 779- 1081 or Eileen Pedersen (575) 770-9437.

Tina Larkin