CONNECTION. CREATIVITY. COMMUNITY.
For years, Santa Fe Magazine has interviewed the artists, mystics, scientists, outliers and visionaries who make Santa Fe the Creative Capital of the US. Now, we’re bringing the stories off the pages and into our Festival by gathering together our community of dreamers, doers and disrupters for intimate discussions, charged debates, immersive art, live performances and interactive encounters.
For three days, the Santa Fe Magazine Festival creates a setting for powerful dialogues that expand imagination and curiosity. It is an opportunity to experience the community and conversations that connect us, the art and ideas that provoke us, and the music and food that fill us.
June 12–14, on the historic campus of St. John’s College
SCHEDULE
SESSIONS
Andrew Weil on the creativity and curiosity that led him to popularize integrative medicine — now practiced at over 70 health centers worldwide.
Peter Zandan ran the numbers. The answer wasn’t New York or LA. Santa Fe is the Creative Capital of the U.S. He sits down with Mayor Michael Garcia, Elisa Montoya and David Perez.
Director Kristin Goodman and actors Cassidy Freeman and Alexandra Renzo on building careers, shaping stories and reclaiming narrative in the New Mexico film industry.
SPONSORED BY BUNNY TERRY
Henry Shukman and Garrett Peck on what is it about New Mexico that changes people — and, in turn, changes culture?
Gallery owner Pilar Law, photographers Tony Floyd and Maria Markus on the craft, intuition and human connection behind powerful photography.
One of America’s most sought-after personal matchmakers Julie Ferman on why we withhold love, what fear costs us and how to walk into a room full of strangers and leave with people who matter.
LIVE MUSIC +
UNEXPECTED ENCOUNTERS
Man Boy Brown is the solo project of Raul Pacheco — vocalist, guitarist and co-founder of the three-time Grammy-winning band Ozomatli.
PAINTING NOTES FROM THE INFINITE
Nikki McCauley, an intuitive painter, finds images in paint splatters — watch notes from the infinite emerge live.
Virgil Ortiz and Eric Garcia have activated the Vladem Contemporary as a site of temporal collision — clay, painting, fashion and light folding 1680 and 2180 into an immersive experience. All festival pass holders enjoy free admission to Vladem Contemporary through the festival weekend.
SPONSORED BY VLADEM CONTEMPORARY
More Artists To Be Announced…
Schedule subject to change. More sessions coming soon.
SESSIONS
Founder and Editor-in-Chief Owen Lipstein sits down with Marc Maron: the man who turned a garage, a microphone and a bottomless well of neurotic self-examination into the gold standard of the interview form.
Ellen Petry Leanse leads Bill Broyles, Marisa C De Baca, Larry Leeman, and Gay Dillingham on the science, the experience and the changing thought of the psychedelic renaissance.
Anna Sofaer and Cecile Lipworth discuss Anna’s new film, From the Mind’s Eye, revealing striking parallels across four ancient cultures honoring sun and moon through elegant monumental geometries.
Hampton Sides and Dan Flores — two of the American West’s most celebrated authors and historians — on the lore, the landscape and why New Mexico keeps calling people back.
Peter Zandan, Jace Mercer and Vince Kadlubek explore the collision of artists and AI — how human creativity and machine intelligence are coming together to reshape how we understand ourselves and tell stories.
Jen Sincero, Tania Katan and Julie Ferman on the moment the worst thing becomes the funniest.
Alexis Corbin leads a conversation with James Robinson around the American premiere of Lili Elbe — the Santa Fe Opera’s most anticipated production.
Be forewarned! In this interactive session with Tania Katan, you might experience laughter, collaboration and joy.
Co-founders Benji Geary, Caity Kennedy, and Vince Kadlubek talk to Maggie Fine about the stories the press never told: the moment they almost lost everything, what it feels like to become the institution you once painted over and if the original fire is still burning.
Marc Barasch, Jesse Roach, Juliana Ciano and Sara Dant — a climate conversation that runs on evidence instead of dread.
Nocona Burgess, Will Riding In and Scott Hale discuss the Indigenous art market and what it looks like now that Native art has earned its seat at the table.
Raul Pacheco, co-founder of Grammy-winning Ozomatli, is teaching you how to write a song. No experience necessary. Catch him live on stage Friday night.
Santa Fe’s cultural architects Catherine Oppenheimer, Maggie Fine, Jamie Lenfestey and Tim Franke — from stages to streets to digital platforms — explore how placemaking through the arts builds connection, access and lasting community impact.
LIVE MUSIC +
UNEXPECTED ENCOUNTERS
Grant Knoxlyn
With soaring melodies, raw poetic storytelling and evocative live performances, this Americana singer-songwriter brings the spirit of the open road to life as a charismatic, well-traveled troubadour.
Garry Blackchild
Taos-based Afro-Indigenous country-blues artist whose “Rebel Folk” sound blends Southwestern grit with Southern roots. With raw, outlaw-style ballads and soulful guitar work, his music channels the spirit and stories of life in New Mexico.
El Sendero del Abuelo
A powerful multimedia journey through memory, war, faith and identity, this project weaves the World War II journal of Roberto Lucero with original songs by his grandson, Robert L. Lucero, Jr. Blending live music, film and photography, the performance moves seamlessly across Latin genres — from son and bolero to ranchera, cumbia and trova — bringing history vividly to life.
Begin the day with a reflective morning blessing led by JP Granillo, rooted in Santa Fe’s spirit of place, community and renewal. This intimate gathering offers a moment to step into the day with intention.
Mario Garcia, Education Director of the Santa Fe Raptor Center, introduces several magnificent birds — each with a story of injury and survival — and the remarkable work behind their recovery.
Artist and perfumer Ria Leigh Res Extensa for an intimate sensory experience where scent becomes a doorway into memory, imagination and creative expression.
More Artists To Be Announced…
Schedule subject to change. More sessions coming soon.
SESSIONS
Representative Andrea Romero joins investigative reporters Sally Denton and Clara Bates to examine Zorro Ranch, silence, complicity and the long struggle for accountability in New Mexico.
Andrew Weil and Chip Conley on aging well, midlife reinvention and why the second half of life is a beginning, not a decline.
SPONSORED BY SANTA FE ART AUCTION
Marc Barasch will convene a high-level conversation about paradigm-shifting secrets and the profound implications of letting this cat out of the bag.
The Indigenous Film Academy
IAIA President Dr. Shelly C. Lowe and Jessica Matten, lead actress on Dark Winds, discuss Matten’s initiative designed to train and employ the next generation of Indigenous creators.
Making of Dark Winds
Jessica Matten, Deanna Allison and Tina Elmo discuss the making of one of New Mexico’s iconic series.
Godfrey Reggio, filmmaker behind Koyaanisqatsi, joins Jacques Paisner to reckon with cinema’s troubled present. What he has to say may unsettle you.
Chip Conley and Jeff Hamaoui on why the second half of life isn’t a retreat. This session isn’t about aging gracefully, it’s about aging ambitiously.
Anna Sofaer, Richard Friedman and Elena Ortiz in an intimate deep dive into the Sun Dagger — the astronomical system at Chaco Canyon that precisely marks the solstices and equinoxes.
Dr. Jason Hao, one of only eight grandmasters of scalp acupuncture in the world, practices in Santa Fe. He’ll discuss the cases and recoveries that have to be witnessed to be believed.
Dan Flores and Sara Dant make the case for rewilding, ecosystem restoration and a future that still has wolves and bison in it.
Neurologist Ellen Petry Leanse on the neuroscience behind creative thought — and the insights into your own mental process that will stay with you long after the session ends.
Author Kirk Ellis joins Miranda Viscoli, Executive Director of New Mexicans to Prevent Gun Violence, in what promises to be a provocative dialogue touching on the history of the Second Amendment and the ways in which popular culture — rather than history — has shaped the American myth.
LIVE MUSIC +
UNEXPECTED ENCOUNTERS
A contemplative soundwalk led by Museum of Walking, Angela Ellsworth and KB Thomason, calls our attention towards a deeper listening experience through diverse forms of traversing physical space while tuning into the terrain of the everyday.
MEA presents a morning of stillness in one of Santa Fe’s most sacred and historic spaces.
More Artists To Be Announced…
Schedule subject to change. More sessions coming soon.
THE VIP EXPERIENCE
Front-row seats all weekend and five exclusive experiences that don’t exist anywhere else. This is the festival up close.
THURSDAY
PRESENTED BY CENTURY BANK
The weekend begins here. Drinks in the Great Hall with speakers, editors, and the people behind the festival.
FRIDAY
SPONSORED BY THE VLADEM CONTEMPORARY
A private viewing and talk with renowned artist Virgil Ortiz before the exhibition opens to the public, followed by a reception. Hosted at Vladem Contemporary.
SATURDAY
SPONSORED BY COYOTE CAFE
Chef Mark Miller, founder of Coyote Cafe, talks food, culture, and red versus green chile on an iconic rooftop in the Plaza. Hosted at Sunset Terrace.
SUNDAY
As part of the Santa Fe Magazine Festival, we invite you into a special Sacred Sunday gathering at Sukhmani — an experience designed to restore, ground and reconnect.
SUNDAY
A private screening of Dr. Andrew Weil and filmmaker Scott Garen’s new documentary on Japanese culture, spiritual tradition and the craft of matcha, followed by conversation. Hosted at Midtown Sky Cinema.
PASSES
THREE DAY PASS
$499
THREE DAY VIP
$999
NM LOCALS SINGLE DAY PASS
*NM RESIDENT EXCLUSIVE
$135
THE VENUE
PHOTO ST. JOHN’S COLLEGE
Set in the grandeur of the Sangre de Cristo Mountain foothills, St. John’s College encompasses an atmosphere that feels both intimate and expansive. This historic Santa Fe campus was shaped by the influence of architect John Gaw Meem and folk artist Alexander Girard. Known for its Great Books curriculum and small, discussion-based classes, St. John’s is a place shaped by timeless questions — about knowledge, human nature, character and soul — making it an especially fitting setting for a weekend of discourse, ideas and immersive cultural experiences.
SPONSORS
Presenting Sponsor
Presenting Partner
Piñon Sponsors
Cottonwood Sponsors
Juniper Sponsors
Partners
