Open Space Alliance presents Burque Bioneers, 2011!
Event schedule subject to change – please check back often for updates.
Events listed in alphabetical order.
Food/Roots: From Foodshed to Homestead. (Saturday, 2:45pm) Moderated by David Ondrik, photographer/author of Arid Harvests. This panel is an introduction to the New Mexico foodshed, followed by a discussion on different scales and styles of farming in the Albuquerque area. Discover the diversity of food production in the Albuquerque area, and how it fits into the larger scheme of New Mexico’s foodshed. Panelists: Richard Brandt co-founded Dragon Farm at South Valley Academy in 2007. He currently serves as the executive director of Project Renaissance: Art and Agriculture, and director of the Youth Food Action Project. Robin Seydel is a consumer advocate and food, health and environment community organizer. For nearly 25 years she has worked on building the alternative economic system at La Montanita Coop as newspaper editor and membership, community outreach and education coordinator. Patrick Staib-Flores is Coordinator for Agri-Cultura Network, a farmer-owned brokerage based in the South Valley that markets and sells ultra-local, organic produce year-round. Zoe Wilcox has studied and taught Permaculture 2000. Since 2007, she runs Mother Nature Gardens, a demonstration urban farm and classroom with husband Bard Edrington.
From Parts to Whole: Re-integrating the Design Process. (Saturday, 11:15am) How does the way we design impact what we design? Rapid advancements in technology have been central in moving us into highly specialized and often compartmentalized roles in the building design process. What happens if we return to a whole systems approach of integrative thinking within a dynamic, interactive process? Leslie Buerk is an architect, permaculture practitioner, and owner of Kalyx Studio, specializing in design through natural systems. She teaches with the Permaculture Institute.
Gathering the Clouds: A Discussion of the Impact of Puebloan Water Settlements. (Saturday, 11:15am) There is extensive documentation surrounding the litigation that has determined the flow of water in New Mexico, but little describing the human impact of this litigation. This panel explores the stories and history of the Pueblo People’s relationship to water, and how it continues to shape our relationship to one another and to all of New Mexico. Presented by the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center.
Journey of the Universe. (Saturday, 11:15am) This 2011 documentary features masterful storyteller Brian Thomas Swimme connecting big picture issues: the birth of the cosmos 14 billion years ago, the invisible frontiers of the human genome, and our current impact on Earth’s evolutionary dynamics. Through his engaging and thoughtful observations audiences everywhere will discover the profound role we play in this intricate web of life. From the Big Bang to the epic impact humans have on the planet today, this film is designed to inspire a new and closer relationship with Earth in a period of growing environmental and social crisis.
Learning from our Agricultural Mentors: Media Projects from the 2011 UNM Summer Foodshed Field School, with Bruce T. Milne, W.K. Kellogg Endowed Chair; Sustainability Studies Program Director; UNM Biology Professor and Jessica Rowland, Sustainability Studies Program Lecturer. (Friday, 11:15am) A diverse group of UNM students came together this summer to explore New Mexico’s unique cultural and agricultural landscape, and to gain firsthand knowledge about the state’s foodshed. Their media projects are illustrations of our state’s farmers, ranchers and communities committed to building and maintaining a thriving local food system. Student presenters include: Kimberly Barnett, Kelsy Dotson, Brittany Herrera, Valerie Gurule, German Martinez and Crystiana Baca-Bosiljevac.
Accounting for Water in the Middle Rio Grande (Friday, 11:15am) Moderated by Michael Jensen of Amigos Bravos. In Albuquerque, the water that flows, the water we drink, and the water that lies under our feet are the result of a complex interplay among natural forces, legal doctrines, political decisions, and engineering projects that inevitably link the Gulf of Mexico with Northern California. A panel discussion with: John Fleck, Albuquerque Tribune Science Writer and expert on Western water policy, Fleck provides a big picture overview of what residents need to know about Albuquerque’s waters. Elaine Hebard helped write the Middle Rio Grande regional water plan and advocates for accountability and transparency in water matters, Hebard will discuss Albuquerque’s water budget, the San Juan Chama Drinking Water Project, and plans for aquifer storage and recovery. Kathy Verhage, Albuquerque Stormwater Management, will talk about stormwater issues for the City and region and what residents can do.
Meinrad Craighead: Praying with Images. (Friday, 2:45pm) This 2009 documentary features North Valley artist Meinrad Craighead, whose work spans time and distance to combine imagery from Catholicism, Native American shamanism, and ancient myths, bringing to light an expanded image of God as Mother. Of particular relevance is a series of paintings she created after the traumatic 2003 fire in the Rio Grande bosque.
Making Our Querencia: Building an Albuquerque Green Neighborhoods Movement. (Saturday, 2:45pm) Querencia Green is jumpstarting an Albuquerque green neighborhoods movement. Learn about QG’s programs to connect neighbors and foster exchange, production, and access to sustainable goods and services. Hear inspiring stories about collaborative projects on the ground. Contribute to a dialogue about how to deepen “querencia,” love of home, across Albuquerque. Tami Brunk has 17 years of experience in sustainability advocacy as a naturalist, writer, nonprofit coordinator, and co-founder of the Marda Permaculture Farm in Palestine. Joanne McEntire works with organizations as a community planner and program coordinator, with a commitment to healthy and sustainable communities. She is a co-founder of Querencia Green.
One Million Bones (Studio open all day, Friday & Saturday) is a large-scale social arts practice, using education and hands-on art making to raise awareness of genocides and atrocities going on around the world, this very day. The one million bones collected from across the country will be installed on the National Mall in 2013, offering a visible petition to remember victims and survivors, to bring awareness to the issue and to call upon our government to take much needed and long overdue action.
Open Space Trail Rehabilitation and Bosque Clean-Up. (Friday and Saturday, 2:45pm) For those of you who want to get outside…. Help us leave the bosque in better shape than it is when we arrive. Join other volunteers and Joshua Willis from the Albuquerque Open Space Division for an afternoon in the Rio Grande bosque! With support from REI, we will be working on a series of service projects including trash collection and trail maintenance, while learning about the diversity of plant life (native and exotic) that sustains and threatens the Rio Grande bosque.
Scarred Lands & Wounded Lives: The Environmental Impact of War. (Saturday, 2:45pm) This 2009 documentary reveals the unprecedented scale of environmental damage caused by war over the last half century is. Falling water tables, shrinking forest cover, declining species diversity – all presage ecosystems in distress. These trends are now widely acknowledged as emanating from forces of humanity’s own making: massive population increases, unsustainable demands on natural resources, species loss, ruinous environmental practices. Ironically, war, that most destructive of human behaviors, is commonly bypassed.
Spirit, Story, and Ritual: Women Celebrate and Heal our Changing Planet. (Saturday, 2:45) This workshop integrates an understanding of the Sacred Earth Community within the context of the challenges of global warming and water. Beginning and closing with interactive prayer rituals, the presenters will share information, stories, art, poetry and sacred practices. Patricia Malcolm is an artist whose images of animals and nature honor the life forms she meets in waking time, in dreams and in journeys. Her intent is that once again animals, trees and all life forms will be revered as we learn to see them as sacred. Joan Brown, osf, is an Ecology Minister bringing together spirituality, religion and earth beauty and concerns to engage people in healing and sustainable living within the Sacred Earth Community. She is Executive Director of New Mexico Interfaith Power and Light and Animator of Partnership for Earth Spirituality.
Summer of Sustainability, Culture, and Bicycling: Lessons from the Field. (Friday, 11:15am) A presentation on the partnership between Cycles of Life and the Querencia Institute, which explores our communities by bicycle, utilizing the natural and cultural landscapes as well as innovative socio-environmental initiatives across New Mexico as spaces to learn, share, and reflect. During this summer they were able to learn from tribal, social, and environmental leaders to further sustain and enrich our lives and the lives around us. Through these experiences, we hope to collectively vision a future where love, respect, compassion, faith, balance, and service direct our intentions and actions. Henry Jake Foreman is a member of the Absentee Shawnee tribe of Oklahoma and of Filipino decent. He is also an avid “contemplative cycle tourist” and a graduate student in the Community and Regional Planning with an emphasis in Indigenous Planning at the University of New Mexico. Dr. Maceo Carrillo Martinet is an ecologist and educator and presently works with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. He works on various community-based environmental education projects, serves on several environmental boards, and is a co-founder of an educational program called Querencia Institute, which helps expose students to various sciences through a creative interactive curriculum.
Terrain First! (Friday, 2:45pm) Weaving together diverse learnings from Permaculture, water conservation, erosion control and horticulture, forms a new way of seeing and caring for our terrain. This is critical to our healthy future. Come, be inspired and empowered to affect change right where you are in this insightful lecture. Jim Brooks, president and founder of Soilutions, Inc. dedicates his vision and energy to remediating desertification in the American Southwest.
To Drive or Not to Drive? (Friday, 11:15am) It’s hard to deny…the car is king. The automobile has reigned as the ultimate vehicle, symbol of utility and status. But many people are choosing to walk, bike, bus, train and reduce their car use. What are the possibilities, and are they happening now? Our panel of speakers will recognize the challenges and celebrate individual change-makers, programs and street-level projects that support mobility options for all people in Albuquerque. Mindy Grossberg bikes, walks or buses to work at ArtStreet, a program of Albuquerque Health Care for the Homeless. She has one year clean of car ownership! Chuck Malagodi is the program manager for the City of Albuquerque’s Bike Safety Education program. He developed a school safe cycling curriculum that services over 10,000 youth per year. Joanne McEntire works with organizations as a community planner and program coordinator, with a commitment to healthy and sustainable communities. She is a co-founder of Querencia Green. Robert Nelson is the Interim Director of UNM Parking and Transportation Services and leads UNM’s alternative transportation initiatives. He rides the 790 Rapid Ride bus from the NW Transit Center to UNM. John Shaski bikes to work at Soilutions, Inc where he promotes food waste diversion and recycling. He makes his home in Nob Hill with his wife and two children.
Vital Roads: Community Homesteading on the Urban Edge. (Friday, 11:15am) Vital Roads is an organization that addresses the needs, goals, passions, and creativity of the community it serves, and as such looks different in each place. The basic tenets are to cultivate a culture of expectation for service to members and broader community, a culture of co-operation and partnership, respect, admiration, and gratefulness for each member’s contributions. Sunny Hill’s experience ranges from Chef/Restaurateur to Holistic Ranch Manager, to Business Incubator Manager, to General Manager for a Construction Publishing company, to partner/operator of Dos Lomas Goat Co. and Sunny’s Garden.
Yoga for Earthlings: Honoring the Renewable Resources Within Ourselves. (Saturday, 11:15am) Our yoga practice helps us tune into our deeper awareness; of our breath, our bodies, and of our connection to this world we live in. If we are to be stewards of the earth around us, we must nurture not only our physical being, but also our renewable resources of creativity, courage and community. In this practice, we’ll open both the physical body and the creative self through gentle yoga sequences and pranayama (breath control) practices. Experienced yogis and newcomers are all welcome. We’ll end with a guided group meditation dedicated to strengthening our connection to the earth and it’s community. Jennifer Dominique has taught yoga for over six years, and currently offers classes at the Albuquerque OSVC. She specializes in Hatha Vinyassa yoga, linking the breath with a playful physical practice.
