VOL. 19 MYTHS

Christie Green has recently accepted offers from The University of New Mexico Press for her first three non-fiction books: Moonlight Elk, Salmon Dreaming, and The New Meridian, forthcoming in 2024, 2026 and 2028. With an educational background in History from UC Berkeley and a Master of Landscape Architecture from the University of New Mexico, Christie connects people and place with food and water as conduits. She cultivates food from her garden and hunts and fishes in her two home states, New Mexico and Alaska.

As a landscape architect and entrepreneur for 23 years, Christie teaches educational workshops and presents locally and nationally. Her regenerative projects are celebrated in numerous publications including: The Santa Fe New Mexican, edible, Green Fire Times, Seed Broadcast, TREND magazine and The Palo Alto Weekly.

Christie’s essays have been published in literary magazines and food-centric publications and she was a Resident in the Food Justice and Water Rights themed programs at Santa Fe Art Institute. Christie’s interactive installation, Moonlight Elk, was featured in the Liminal Landscapes group exhibition at North Fourth Gallery in Albuquerque in 2022. In May, 2023, Christie launched her Wild-inspired capsule collection featuring fabrics and garments inspired by the animals she hunts and fishes, and their habitats.

Thriving in the face of adversity has defined Valeria Alarcón’s life, especially during her childhood while growing up in inner city Boston in the 1980s. Her life experiences as an immigrant child, Latina-woman-of-color and three-time cancer survivor have shaped her in profound ways. As a result, Valeria is deeply committed to working on Social and Environmental justice, and catalyzing systems through Equity.

Valeria is a 25+ year career executive and social entrepreneur, with combined experience in the nonprofit arena, and the private and public sector. She’s a forward-thinking visionary, thought partner, effective strategist, and transformational leadership coach. Valeria established VIA Consulting LLC. in 2009 to provide expert and innovative solutions in high-level organizational design, systems change, strategic planning and implementation, and interim HR solutions to name a few.

Valeria achieved her B.S. in Organizational Psychology from the College of Santa Fe, is certified in Diversity and Inclusion Training by Cornell University, and is AADP certified in Integrative Nutrition and Life Coaching. She’s a Native of Ecuador, raised in Boston, MA and currently lives with her husband in “The Land of Enchantment,” Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Ray Valdez is an Artist, Contractor and Photographer who was born and raised in Santa Fe NM. Inspired at a young age by the local Las Fiestas and the annual Burning of the Pagan Effigy known as Will Shuster’s ZoZobra, Ray was the producer and builder of the famous Old Man Gloom from 1994 to 2012.

An avid local historian and storyteller, Ray has amassed a large collection of historical artifacts, photographs, memorabilia, and histories from one of Santa Fe’s most beloved traditions. The Burning of Will Shuster’s Zozobra over the years has helped raise millions of dollars in a one night event that goes back into the community in the form of grants to help the local youth programs and important nonprofits that benefit local children.

Ray produced the movie “Will Shuster’s Zozobra de Santa Fe,” a historical documentary that was submitted to the Library of Congress for the bicentennial commemoration in 1999.

Susan Wilhite has devoted 20+ years to conducting trailblazing user experience research in big tech (e.g., Microsoft, Google, Samsung, Intuit) generating requirements for human adoption of ethical and safe emerging tech. Susan now mentors in the LANL NM LEEP program and is a Santa Fe Design Corps member. She is an active community member at the Institute for the Future (IFTF), Near Future Laboratory, and RADAR. Susan’s research interests are driven by ecology and evolution, speculative futures, circular economics, regenerated tech, responsible design, the built environment, and the search for dark data.

Stephen Charles Smith is an experience designer, dramaturg, and creative strategist.

He is an alumni of and experience designer for the Columbia University School of the Arts’ Digital Storytelling Lab (DSL), where he collides storytelling and emergent technology to create social impact.

His creative work has been programmed at the New York Film Festival, The New Ohio Theater, The Armory, HERE Arts Center, SXSW and featured in the The New Yorker, Vulture Magazine, Broadway World, and Hollywood Soapbox.

He has recently relocated to Santa Fe for a Creative Strategy role at Meow Wolf!

Carrie Mae Rose is an American fine artist, known primarily for her sculpture, fabric painting, print, and performance work. Carrie Mae’s work is meant to expose, protect and decorate the female body while exploring the tensions between vulnerability and violence, purity and power, and reverence and revenge. Her art illuminates and deconstructs the domination and corruption that currently permeates US politics and mass media. Carrie Mae’s work seeks to create a new culture of feminine wisdom where each person feels safe to feel beautiful. ​

Carrie Mae has been invited to participate in events with MoMA NYC, Brooklyn Museum, Eyebeam Art & Technology Center, Microsoft Social Computing Symposium, Rockefeller Cultural Innovation Fund, NY Hall of Science, Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum, IgniteNYC, Princeton Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department and Parsons the New School for Design. She has exhibited work in numerous galleries and museums nationally and internationally. Rose holds a B.A. from Prescott College and an M.F.A. in Design & Technology from Parsons the New School for Design.

Lester Fu is a professional hypnotist based in Santa Fe, NM. At 17, Lester embarked on his own healing journey. He delved into talk therapy, psychology studies—all while nurturing his creative side through theater and philosophy. His quest for knowledge led him to renowned institutions such as Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, UC Berkeley, and St. John’s College.

Growing up in a restrictive environment, Lester’s journey to heal was ignited by emotional challenges resulted from generational suppression. Through hypnosis, he managed to break through these subconscious barriers and embrace self-love. This breakthrough inspired him to become a professional hypnotist, using what helped him to help others.

Today, Lester uses his understanding of the subconscious mind to facilitate healing, helping people become free from emotional baggage, change self-limiting beliefs, and tap into their true potential. His mission is to simplify and present healing as it truly is, and make healing available to everyone.

Eleanor Ryburn lives in Santa Fe, NM, where she makes illustrated essays and poems, teaches mindfulness and visual art, and practices Craniosacral therapy. She is also a morning walker, meditator, voracious learner, and lover of community, the natural world, and soul-satisfying conversations.

Eleanor earned a BFA in printmaking, book arts, and creative writing at Washington University in St. Louis and a Masters in Art Education at Portland State University. Through her art she explores healing, the climate crisis, community and interconnectedness, our relationship to the animate earth, and the interplay between destruction and creation. She makes art under the name Earthworm Studio because she is inspired by the earthworm and its ability to move through the world leaving things healthier and more fertile. She hopes to make art that feels connective, generous, and nutritious.