CONNECTION. CREATIVITY. COMMUNITY.
For years, Santa Fe Magazine has talked to the artists, mystics, scientists, outlaws, and visionaries who make Santa Fe the Creative Capital of the US. The Santa Fe Magazine Festival is bringing those stories alive by gathering the most interesting minds to talk about what really matters right now.
On June 12–14, on the historic campus of St. John’s College, this inaugural festival brings together our community of dreamers, doers, and disruptors for intimate conversations, charged debates, immersive art, live performances, and unexpected encounters.
As the world teeters on the brink of tectonic change, the weekend is built around connection. Being in the rooms together; diving into the ideas shaping our culture right now; listening closely, asking deeper questions, and having powerful conversations that will expand our imaginations and curiosity.
Community and Conversation that Connect us. Art and Ideas that Provoke us. Music and Food that Fill us. A Setting that Awes us.
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 Owen Lipstein on what this landscape unlocks in us that nowhere else can.
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.
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 open to all festivalgoers.
SPONSORED BY VLADEM CONTEMPORARY
Schedule subject to change. More sessions coming soon.
SESSIONS
Steven Spielberg’s new epic depicts what happens when the world is presented with proof of UFOs. This panel — featuring Marc Barasch — explores how New Mexico’s high security facilities have actually been sites of historic UFO incursions.
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 and the experience.
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 on the lore, the landscape and why New Mexico keeps calling people back.
Peter Zandan, Jason Mercer and Vince Kadlubek on the question that actually matters: not whether AI will take your job, but what it means to be human right now.
Alexis Corbin leads a conversation with James Robinson around the American premiere of Lili Elbe — the Santa Fe Opera’s most anticipated production.
Tania Katan will show you how to transform monotony into novelty and be more energized in your work and in the world.
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.
The five original founders tell the story the press releases never told, moderated by Maggie Fine.
Jesse Roach, Juliana Ciano and Sara Dant — a climate conversation that runs on evidence.
Nocona Burgess, Will Riding In, and Scott Hale on the Indigenous art market and what it looks like now that Native art has earned its seat at the table.
Raul Pacheco isn’t just performing — he’s teaching you how to write a song. Then, catch him live on stage that evening.
UNEXPECTED ENCOUNTERS
Morning Blessing
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.
The Scent of Creation
Join artist and perfumer Ria Leigh Res Extensa for an intimate sensory experience where scent becomes a doorway into memory, imagination and creative expression. Each guest receives a personalized aromatic composition to explore on site or take home.
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
Making of Dark Winds
Jessica Matten, Deanna Allison, and Tina Elmo discuss the making of one of New Mexico’s iconic series.
Dan Flores and Sara Dant make the case for rewilding, ecosystem restoration and a future that still has wolves and bison in it.
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.
Angela Ellsworth, founder of the Museum of Walking, leads a walk through the arroyos behind St. John’s campus. Not meditation, not exercise — something harder to name.
UNEXPECTED ENCOUNTERS
The way we walk…
The way we walk 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.
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
Brunch from Mata G Kitchen, followed by a guided meditation with Sat Gurumukh in a curated setting. Hosted at Sukhmani.
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 FESTIVAL
$499
THREE DAY VIP
$999
Single-day passes will be released May 1.
THE VENUE
PHOTO ST. JOHN’S COLLEGE
Set in the foothills of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, St. John’s College gives the festival a setting 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 enduring questions — about knowledge, human nature, character and the life of the soul — making it an especially fitting setting for a weekend of conversation, ideas and an immersive cultural atmosphere that unfolds across the grounds.
SPONSORS
Presenting Sponsor
Presenting Partner
Piñon Sponsors
Cottonwood Sponsors
Juniper Sponsors
Partners
