PechaKucha Night VOL. 13 FLUX

Stained glass artist and jewelry maker Mara Saxer was raised in Santa Fe. Currently she’s the preservation program manager at the Historic Santa Fe Foundation, the artist and vendor relations manager for ArtWalk Santa Fe, and is the owner of Bitterbrush Workshop.

Jewelry maker and embroidery artist Alex Streeper was born and raised in Mexico, and moved to Santa Fe in 2016. Her background is in marketing and advertising for brands like T-Mobile, Coffee-Mate and K-Swiss, as well as for local organizations like Creative Santa Fe, Xerb, Hatchform, and the City of Santa Fe. She’s the marketing and outreach manager for ArtWalk Santa Fe and the owner of Alita’s Mexican Curios.

Joshua Lance is an impressionist oil painter whose time spent living and teaching in Asia and Europe has given him countless subjects for his art of visual storytelling. In his work he presents the honest truth and beauty of his subjects, and embraces cultural life and geographic environment as his muse. His work includes painting murals and teaching art in China.

Michelle Katz is a big smile, a huge heart, and the laugh you hear from the other room. Her passion for social emotional learning and emotional intelligence is grounded in the foundation of self-awareness. During her career, she has developed and coordinated various programs for teens and adult learners, and loves developing meaningful experiences for personal growth. Her background in psychology, Native American Studies, and counseling inspired her to train as Rite of Passage guide through the School of Lost Borders and to study Eco-psychology through the Pacifica Graduate Institute. She has studied the art of storytelling, the practice of “white awake-ness” and is a certified yoga instructor.

Namira Shahriar, a student at United World College-USA, has been a witness to gender violence in her home country of Bangladesh, and has been a proponent for systemic change in how the country responded to rape cases. After Bangladesh made rape a crime punishable by death—a sentence that would never be carried out—Namira has been inspired to fight for something much larger and more powerful: a national shift of consciousness of how women are viewed by society.

Kevin Bowen is a progressive leader who was instrumental in establishing Pilates as a profession in the US through the creation of the Nationally Certified Pilates Teacher (NCPT) Credential. He is an advocate for accessibility for all to have the ability to enjoy a healthy lifestyle. Kevin took over as the president of the Santa Fe Human Rights Alliance (HRA) in 2019 and has begun to reestablish the organization through a year-round emphasis on PRIDE, a history timeline for the LGBTQIA community in New Mexico and Santa Fe ‘The Shoulders We Stand On — Our Proud History’, and a vocal and supportive ally for the LGBTQIA & BIPOC communities and their rights.

Jesse Roach P.E. Ph.D. is Director of City of Santa Fe Water, a position he has held since July 2019. During his tenure Jesse has pushed to more aggressively tell the remarkable story of the past, present, and likely future of water development and use in Santa Fe. He has pushed for data-driven decision making, led development of a Water Resources Indicator to guide seasonal conservation policy, led a strategic planning effort, led development of a long range water resources planning process, and provided leadership in support of new water resources development. Jesse grew up in Santa Fe and holds Bachelor and Master’s degrees in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Stanford, and a Ph.D. from the University of Arizona in Hydrology and Water Resources. He worked at Sandia National Labs from 2006 to 2014 as a senior member of the technical staff focused on building system level simulation models, and as a Senior Water Resources Engineer at Tetra Tech Inc. from 2014 to 2019.

Studying architecture and design at Pratt Institute, and sensing the vitality of the times, Richard Lowenberg began creatively using photography and film in the mid-1960s. Bucky, McLuhan, Zen and early Cybernetic influences naturally led to use of electronic media systems by 1970, including video and audio synthesis, performance and holography. The relevance of arts/sciences collaborations, design and ecological understandings were an early and ongoing part of a personal creative path.

Selected work examples include: founding team of the Kitchen in NYC, NASA-Arts/Sciences Collaborations, Telluride Regional Master Planning and Telluride Institute (InfoZone) Director, TechnoCulture Studies Professor at UC Davis, New Mexico 1st-Mile Broadband Initiative, rural community network planning throughout the US, with First Nations in Canada, in Japan, Tyrolean Alps, Majorca, Corsica, Argentina and for the UN+ITU.

Writings have been widely published and artworks have been exhibited internationally, including at the Whitney Museum, San Francisco MoMA, NTT Tokyo, Santa Fe CCA, Venice Biennale and Centre Pompidou.

Richard lives/works at his studio in La Mesilla, on the edge of San Ildefonso and Santa Clara Pueblo lands, along the Rio Grande.

Tina Mion was born in Washington, D.C. She has traveled extensively from India to Kenya. In 1996 Tina staged the first internet election of all the past United States presidents; “Virtual Election” traveled to many museums. Tina has exhibited or lectured at the Riverside Art Museum, Tucson Museum of Art, Nelson Atkins Museum, Albrecht-Kemper Museum, Addison Gallery of American Art, University of Chicago, Phoenix Art Museum, LA County Museum of Art, Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery etc. Tina has been featured on NPR’s Morning Edition, Arizona Highways television, American Public Media, CBS News, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Associated Press, Boston Globe, etc. Her work is in many public collections and museums. Tina’s next solo show, “Holy Ghosts,” opens 7 October 2022 at Kouri+Corrao Gallery in Santa Fe. Tina and her husband have resurrected many historic buildings including La Posada Hotel in Winslow AZ, and the Castaneda and Plaza Hotels in Las Vegas NM.

Annmarie McLaughlin’s writing portfolio includes drama, fiction, personal essay, and creating ceremony. She has lived many lives, including ones as a filmmaker, a grantwriter, a dishwasher, a truck driver, a bartender, a peace facilitator, a mentor for the PEN Prison Writing Project, and a team member with the Alternatives to Violence Project in Northern New Mexico. Her favorite adventure, by far, is being a mom to her sons—Harlan and Ryan.

Her mission in life is to inspire people to love fiercely and share our stories with the people we cherish.

Tania Katan is a storytelling savant, bestselling author, and co-creator of the globally viral social impact campaign #ItWasNeverADress; a social movement that has inspired over 100 million people to see, hear and celebrate women for the superheroes they are. Her visionary way of formulating ideas led to her bestselling book, “Creative Trespassing: How to Put the Spark and Joy Back into Your Work and Life” (Penguin Random House, 2019). As an inspirational storyteller, Katan has been on some of the biggest stages in the world, including CiscoLive!, Talks at Google, TED Talks, Comedy Central Live, and more.