Santa Fe has a vibrant civic organization lighting up Northern New Mexican urban atmosphere in the form of Creative Santa Fe, and it’s now hosting it’s third annual FANTASE Fest, a major collaborative community event on June 20, 2015 from 6pm – midnight. FANTASE Fest is a free multimedia interactive light festival including art installations, local bands, performances, food trucks, a lowrider car show and more. Central to CrSF’s mission is bringing the community together to create projects that create vibrancy and sustainability for Santa Fe. Creative Santa Fe’s FANTASE Fest transforms downtown Santa Fe into an extravaganza of light, art, music, and vitality and celebrates the multitalented creative community that truly makes Santa Fe The City Different.
Creative Santa Fe strengthens Santa Fe’s economy by cultivating thought leadership and by spearheading collaborative projects at the intersections of art, culture, technology, education, and industry. Creative Santa Fe is committed to strengthening the creative economy of our city. It does so by identifying key issues, bringing together stakeholders, and catalyzing discussion, agreement, and action. CrSF is joining communities and organizations throughout the world to adopt a new mindset for achieving large-scale change through collaboration and building public/private partnerships. This kind of cultural exchange, bringing communities together, are the wonderful examples the Campbell Consultants Group seeks out as models that deserve recognition and replication across the country for their excellence.
We asked Cyndi Conn, Executive Director of Creative Santa Fe, to say why FANTASE has been so important for her organization. “Year after year, FANTASE Fest demonstrates the vital role that creativity plays in the life of a community. FANTASE showcases Santa Fe’s amazing talent in a fusion of art, technology, food, dance, and music. It is a model for collaboration, innovation, and inclusion in a shared experience that helps to shape and nurture our creative economy.”
Through the support of New Mexico Arts, CrSF awarded $20,000 to artists throughout the state for site-specific installations. Over 2,000 people attended each of the previous FANTASE festivals. On average, 90% of the festival’s audience is under the age of 44 and from all over New Mexico. 82% of the budget goes directly back into the local creative economy – to artists, musicians, culinary experts, and creative techs! Together, the last two festivals have given back approximately $64,000 to the creative workforce in New Mexico with an additional estimated $30,000 contribution this year.
2014 Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQtBem0VzDw
This event is sponsored By: New Mexico Arts, New Mexico True, New Mexico Rail Runner Express, Molecule Design + Furniture, Santa Fe University of Art + Design, SantaFe.Com, Santa Fe Audio Visual, and the Street Food Institute.