Click Here: Tribute to a Bestselling Novelist, Musical Concert Celebration, Virtual Harvest Festival, and More

SANTA FE – Explore the latest online programming from the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA), bringing the state’s unique blend of cultures into your home through its museums, historic sites, and cultural institutions.

This week includes three outstanding programs:

The latest installment of the podcast "La Hilacha: Words and Memories" from the History and Literary Arts program at the National Hispanic Cultural Center is a tribute to Spanish novelist Carlos Ruiz Zafon, who passed away in June. Ruiz Zafon was the author of eight books, which have sold 38 million copies worldwide and garnered multiple awards. In this episode, listen to an excerpt of his bestselling novel "The Shadow of the Wind" as well as interviews with writer and director of Instituto Cervantes Silvia Rodriguez Grijalba and UNM associate professor Santiago Vaquera-Vasquez.

The New Mexico Farm & Ranch Heritage Museum website has a new online art exhibit. "Monumental Territory" features photographs and paintings by Las Cruces artist Kayla Blundell. Blundell was selected for the Friends of the Organ Mountain-Desert Peaks National Monument Artist-in-Residence program, and the works in this exhibit were created during her residency there. This virtual exhibit is a preview of her in-person art show that is expected to open at Farm & Ranch later this fall.

In celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month and Mexican Independence Day, the Museum of International Folk Art Facebook page will host a virtual musical concert by local mariachi and norteño fusion group Euforia at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 16.

Here are other interesting programs from across the Department:

•  In the latest Quick Trip video from the Sandia Mountain Natural History Center, learn how to keep yourself safe if you encounter a bear in the wild.

• The New Mexico Museum of Art’s ongoing Staff Favorites series on Facebook last week featured a two-part post courtesy of collections manager Erica Prater, focusing on an artwork in the collection that doesn’t fit within the current collecting mission – a wooden sculpture of Chinese origin from roughly the 16th-18th century. 

•  Preserve your thermal paper receipts and find out how to bring them back to life, thanks to a Preservation Workshop video from Sue Taylor, chief curator for the New Mexico Museum of Space History.

•  The staff at Los Luceros Historic Site has developed a virtual Fall Harvest Festival to help satisfy your craving for the season in northern New Mexico.

More information related to social media and online resources for each division of DCA, including photos, is available upon request.

About the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs
Created in 1978 by the New Mexico Legislature, the Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA) is New Mexico’s cultural steward, charged with preserving and showcasing the state’s cultural riches. With its eight museums, seven historic sites, arts, archaeology, historic preservation, and library programs, the DCA is one of the largest and most diverse state cultural agencies in the nation. Together, the facilities, programs, and services of the Department support a $5.6 billion cultural industry in New Mexico.

Events, news releases, and images related to activities in divisions of the DCA can be accessed at media.newmexicoculture.org.

###