Santa Fean Magazine

08/03/2021

Yum. That's City Different, alright! Thanks for sharing, santafe.org.

Our style never goes out of fashion.
| SantaFe.org
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08/03/2021

ENJOY A LITTLE ART WITH DINNER
Santa Fe Restaurants Boast Murals by Luminaries
By Emily Van Cleve


Tomasita’s, a restaurant in the Santa Fe Railyard that serves popular Northern New Mexican dishes, has been a mainstay in town since its founding by Georgia Maryol in 1974. Locals and out-of-town visitors who stop by for a burrito or enchilada can’t help but notice colorful murals in the restaurant’s lobby and dining room. Art and dinner go hand in hand at this well-known lunch and dinner eatery.
A surprising number of murals can be found in restaurants throughout town. The stories of how two restaurants, Tomasita’s and El Farol, came by theirs are as fascinating as the artworks themselves.
Santa Fe painter William Vincent (1939-2004) created the murals at Tomasita’s. Born in Florida, he studied art with Alfred Morang (1901-1958) after he moved to Santa Fe in the 1950s. He loved painting landscapes, as is evident from viewing the murals in the restaurant.
“He was my mom’s boyfriend,” explains George Gundrey, Georgia Maryol’s son and the current owner of Tomasita’s. “They were together for twelve years. I doubt he was paid anything to create the murals. I think he just did them.”
Two smaller landscape murals by Vincent also can be seen at El Farol, a Canyon Road restaurant that has been serving traditional Spanish tapas since 1835. They adorn the restaurant’s tapas room. Restaurant manager Monica Walsh says Vincent painted a number of murals in El Farol, adding, “I think he did the murals in the tapas room as a tribute to his teacher [Alfred Morang].”
Morang, who was born in Maine and moved to New Mexico in 1938, was a well-respected American painter, author and art critic who co-founded the Transcendental Painting Group with several notable artists of his day. His studio, which burned down in 1958 with him in it, was on Canyon Road, close to El Farol.
“The story is that Morang painted the murals in El Farol to pay his bar tabs,” says Walsh. “The other murals in the restaurant have been done by artists paying homage to him.”
The most noticeable mural in El Farol — a very large work of flamenco dancers and musicians — was created on a wall in the flamenco room by Santa Fe artist Sergio Moyano. Born in Argentina in 1934, Moyano initially studied art there but later traveled around world to live and continue his studies.
Other murals at El Farol were done by Stan Natchez (Shoshone/Paiute), who is known for paintings inspired by Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns and other pop artists. El Farol’s walls also feature work by Roland van Loon who, according to the artist’s website, first experienced live flamenco when he attended a performance at El Farol. His paintings capture the excitement and intensity of the dance through his use of vivid colors.
While diners El Farol will see murals by a number of artists, the lunch and dinner guests at Plaza Cafe Southside, which is in San Isidro Plaza on the southside of town, will see work by only one artist, Robb Rael.
Rael, who works as a picture framer as well as a fine artist, was asked to paint a large mural above the restaurant’s bar area in 2009 when the eatery opened its southside location. “The owner [Leonardo Razatos] saw my work in a display at the Albuquerque Sunport and called me to see if I could create a mural for his new restaurant in a week and a half,” says Rael. “I was doing picture framing full-time, so I had to come to the restaurant at five p.m. and work there until two a.m. for six nights straight to get it done.”
Rael was given free rein when it came to what he painted. He made some sketches of scenes of New Mexico’s four seasons and thought he would use them as the basis for the mural, but when he started painting, the images in the sketches just didn’t seem right. “They didn’t speak to me, so I picked up my brush and just started painting whatever came into my mind,” says Rael. “Mr. Razatos often sat at a table quietly and watched me work.”
Two years later, Razatos asked Real to paint two additional murals above the bar. These painting sessions took place while customers were eating dinner. All of the murals feature images of Santa Fe churches, people, cacti, mountains and more. Some may wonder if Real was thinking of the Day of the Dead when he painted faces that look like those of skeletons, but it’s just Rael’s style.
“Having these big murals in Plaza Cafe Southside is like having my own museum at a restaurant,” Real says.

Image: Sergio Moyano mural in the flamenco room at El Farol.

08/01/2021

(Bowie in the background) "We can be heroes, just for one day." Sunday love from Opuntia Cafe.

07/27/2021

People, Places, Things > FILL ’ER UP—WITH NEW OCCUPANTS!

Long-Ago Filling Stations Get New Leases on Life

If you’ve ever wondered about the curious architecture of some present-day downtown establishments, it may well be because they were once “filling stations.” If you were around in the 1940s or ’50s, you probably remember trips to the filling station and hearing the familiar ding-ding when the tires rolled over the black rubber hose that signaled a customer’s arrival. Friendly attendants appeared instantly to greet you. While one attendant filled the car, another cleaned the windshield, checked the oil level with the dipstick and measured the air pressure in each tire. They looked smart in their caps and uniforms, which had the oil company logo and their first name stitched in cursive on the top left side of their shirt front.

Until these full-service gas stations began to disappear in the 1970s, such stations abounded in downtown Santa Fe. All things change, including the occupants and uses of those long-ago stations, all situated on what have become prime locations.

We are working on this story for you.

Below: One once-gas-station-now-restaurants-or-bars include Del Charro Saloon, whose entrance is set on the diagonal at the corner of W. Alameda at Don Gaspar.

Image courtesy of Albuquerque Journal.

07/27/2021

What did you get @ Market?

Artist David Santiago
Instagram.com/stjameart

07/24/2021

Saturday @ Spanish Market, before the downpour!

Santos by Catherine Robles-Shaw (CO).

07/22/2021

TONIGHT: Tom Palmore's "Other Earthlings" show opens at LewAllen Galleries today > Friday, July 23rd, through August 21, 2021. OPENING RECEPTION is 5-7 pm.
Read Tom's story online > https://santafean.com/2021/07/tom-palmore-other-earthlings-at-lewallen-galleries/

​1613 Paseo de Peralta
Santa Fe, NM 87501
505.988.3250
[email protected]

Image" "Tiger Eyes," Tom Palmore. Courtesy of the artist and LewAllen Galleries.

07/17/2021

Treaure hunt! Gently used items abound in the city's fine consignment shops. Read more in HOME + DESIGN online: story by Joshua Rose of Santa Fe Art Auction >

Many fine consignment shops in Santa Fem carry treasures that won't put a big dent in your pocketbook. From rugs and furniture to nostalia, and even jewelry, you can stumble on real finds around town.

07/17/2021

Guess where.

07/14/2021

PEOPLE we love: Edward Friend + Lamartine Neto of Lust and Fond. Stlylin' vintage wear > read up: https://santafean.com/lifestyle

Image courtesy of Lust and Fond Vintage, Santa Fe, at White Sands National Park. Lust And Fond

07/13/2021

Take a look at a contemporary remodel of a Hyde Park Road home by Santa Fe native Erica Ortiz-Berke, owner of NeuBleu Interior Design. https://santafean.com/2021/07/home-highlight-home-remodel

Room artwork by Shakti Kroopkin. Article: Paul Weideman. Photography © Kate Russell