Mayor Javier Gonzales (D - Santa Fe, NM)

2018 Honoree - Local Arts Leadership Award

Biography

Within 60 days of taking office, Mayor Gonzales convened over 100 community leaders to frame his administration’s work in arts and culture. Throughout his term, the focus has been on protecting, preserving and growing the Santa Fe brand; fostering broad collaboration; ensuring the arts were present in the lives of young people; and securing inclusive access to cultural institutions for the Santa Fe community.

Mayor Gonzales called for Santa Fe’s first cultural planning process. More than a plan, it was a civic process for developing a more equitable community through culture. Nearly 2,000 people participated in assemblies, conversations, interviews and surveys. The picture that emerged was of a community facing significant challenges. Mayor Gonzales stood firm, insisting that Santa Fe’s creative talent and deep-rooted culture hold transformative power. The resulting document, Culture Connects Santa Fe: A Cultural Cartography, recognizes that art and culture have the potential to connect Santa Fe. At the heart of Culture Connects are notions about protecting our cultural heritage, traditions and diversity while understanding that growth comes from evolving our thoughts and actions. Mayor Gonzales shepherded the plan through city council with unanimous approval. He championed the creation of a full-time position to support the work, along with $125,000 in additional first year funding for its initiatives.

Under Mayor Gonzales, annual local government support for the arts has exceeded $1.5 million. An impressive amount for a community of 83,875. Highlights of this support over the past four years include approximately $900,000 in direct arts grants to nonprofits yearly; $300,000 in collaborative arts grants; and over $200,000 in small public art acquisitions and $150,000 in infrastructure-related public art.

Santa Fe Mayor Javier M. Gonzales receives the 2018 Americans for the Arts and The United States Conference of Mayors National Award for Local Arts Leadership for cities with a population under 100,000.