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September 2015
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Mesa Prieta Petroglyph Project

Mesa Prieta Petroglyph Project
The long-range weather forecast tells us we might be heading for a snowy winter here in Northern New Mexico. But right now we are enjoying beautiful weather, wonderful colors and a lot of activity at MPPP! If you are in the environs of Santa Fe, make sure you pick up a copy of Santa Fe Monthly to see their article about Katherine and the petroglyphs!
November 2015
Summer Intern Program
Ancient Roots of Sound
Public tours are over, Pláticas is wrapped up for the year, and just when we thought our events had finished for the year a fabulous opportunity came over the transom. Local artist and publicist, Angela Villa, and her partner, composer and musician Thollem McDonas, offered us the opportunity to share in the proceeds of a concert they are producing. Ancient Roots of Sound is a rare opportunity to hear a collaboration of four spectacular musicians: touring musicians Tatsuya Nakatani (Japan) and Michel Doneda (France), together with Albuquerque’s Mark Weaver and Española’s Thollem McDonas. Celebrating the acoustics of the Misión y Convento located on the Plaza de Española; these four living composers will be presenting compositions for solo, duo and quartet arranged specifically for the venue, the audience, and as a benefit for the preservation of the petroglyphs of Mesa Prieta. The Misíon includes a gallery that showcases the work of local artists. Tickets for the concert are just $10 for adults $5 for seniors (students attend for free) and are available online. The concert starts at 8pm, but you can meet the musicians before hand at 7pm to chat with them about their work. Please gather together some friends for what promises to be an amazing concert, and join us on the evening of Thursday, November 19.
Volunteer of the Month
Just over three years ago, Kay Lee saw a notice about MPPP on the Archeological Society of New Mexico’s list serve. She trained with Candie Borduin in 2012 and has been recording with us ever since.  With an undergraduate degree in Anthropology from the University of Houston and a Master’s degree in Archaeology and Heritage from the University of Leicester, Leicester, England, Kay is passionate about saving and protecting our archaeological resources. She especially values the ‘rescue archeology’ on the mesa because there is always the threat of those resources being compromised before MPPP can record them for future research. Another aspect she enjoys about the work is that the data recorded is going into the State's database for future research. Kay says that it gives the work a real purpose.
 Kay grew up in Amarillo, Texas, and spent summers with her grandmother in Ft. Sumner, NM and has relatives all around the state. Houston was Kay’s home for 25 years before she moved to Santa Fe six years ago where she lives with her rescue cat, Burke. She works at the Club at Las Campanas as the Director of IT Services. Kay recently trained as a docent to help with the Flute Player and other tours. Her other volunteer activities are with Site Watch where she is a Site Steward for the La Cieneguilla Petroglyphs and is the Treasurer of the Site Steward Foundation. 
Halloween Tour of Los Luceros
It’s not often that the outside world has the chance to visit the buildings of the Los Luceros hacienda and ranch, but on Halloween afternoon 40 people came and visited the property. Better known to supporters of MPPP as the location for our Pláticas lecture series, the visitor center hub was a-buzz with excited tourees munching Halloween cupcakes and drinking spiced cider. Los Luceros’ resident General Manager, CJ Law, led the tour – which went inside Casa Grande, the Chapel and the River House. Lynn Cravens and Marie Markesteyn were on hand to tell spooky stories, and attendees were invited to gather apples from the ancient orchard. The tour was a benefit for MPPP and we thank the Department of Cultural Affairs and CJ Law for their generosity! 
Final Plática of the Year
Our final Plática of the year saw Jemez Pueblo’s Marlon Magdalena presenting a talk on indigenous musical instruments of the Southwest. Marlon showed us examples of musical instruments used in the Pueblo dances, as well as instruments he had reproduced from images in museum collections and from archeological finds. Marlon also makes the most beautiful carved and painted flutes – decorative as well as useful. But most fascinating of all are the whistles and small flutes he makes from eagle bones – lovely little white objects that sound like an eagle call when played! Because of the large number of flute player petroglyphs on the Wells Petroglyph Preserve, Marlon showed us how ancient flute players adapted their flutes with gourds to change the sound. We’ll certainly have Marlon revisit us for next year’s Pláticas Presentations – which begin again on Tuesday, January 26, 2016
Fiber Rocks!
Last June, the Española Valley Fiber Arts Center put out a call for artists interested in a project called Fiber Rocks! During the summer, artists who were selected to participate in the project visited the Wells Petroglyph Preserve and made notes and drawings of the petroglyphs in order to create artworks inspired by the ancient images. Fiber Rocks! is a testimony to the wealth of local heritage through contemporary creative expression. This traveling exhibition will display the creative artwork of over 20 fiber artists from six states, who have been directly inspired by their visit to the Wells Petroglyph Preserve. Motivated by the images etched in rock, the artists have created distinctive works of art spanning a wide range of two and three-dimensional fiber art disciplines. The show will open at the Misión and Convento Gallery in Española on November 19th and tour to Santa Fe and Taos in 2016. Please join us for the Española reception on Saturday, December 12, 5pm – 7 pm.
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today!!
Flute player Tour
Our very favorite fundraising event of the year was held to rave reviews on October 18. Twenty guests arrived at our founder Katherine Wells’ house for an early morning hike to see up to 25 flute player petroglyphs. The Wells Petroglyph Preserve has a large collection of these images, and arguably the only collection of animal flute players in the region. As guests walked among the petroglyphs, guided by our archeologists, the haunting sounds of Taos Pueblo’s Patrick Mirabal’s flute could be heard floating on the hillsides. A magical experience indeed! Afterwards the guests congregated in the ‘lounge’ to be revived by Santa Fe Brewing Company beer and cold lemonade. When they were suitably refreshed they went through to the portal where they were served a sumptuous lunch of locally grown food, prepared by caterer Tanya Story and  assisted by MPPP Board President Steve Jenison and Adam Mackie, accompanied by local Black Mesa Winery wines. Our guests were treated to a mini concert of Patrick’s beguiling music, while MPPP volunteers, staff and board members served the meal and washed dishes behind the scenes.
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Maintaining the Terrain
We couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful day, or a more enthusiastic group of volunteers for our Terrain Maintenance Day last Sunday! Twelve intrepid volunteers put on their work gloves and got to work moving rocks, cutting branches, installing straw wattles (those long flexible snakes of straw) and straw bales with driven stakes. The volunteers improved the condition of the trails by creating horizontal stable standing areas, water bars, removing obstacles, creating alternative paths, and shoring up erosion channels by transplanting cacti and adding rocks and fill. The volunteers split up into two groups. One worked on trail one where they shored up a teetering boulder at the top of the arroyo and created steps on the inclines, and the other group worked on trail six where they flattened areas for viewing purposes and removed juniper branches. This work is imperative to ensure the safety of our guests as they tour the trails, and contributes to a comfortable and memorable experience for everyone. A big THANK YOU to our volunteers!
Don’t miss EVFAC’s
Fall Fiber Fiesta
November 20 – 22 at the Scottish Rite Temple,
Santa Fe
Petroglyph Platicas
Docent Training
On a sunny Sunday in October, over 25 seasoned and wannabe docents attended our Docent Training Session. As well as enjoying the amazing tamales that were served for lunch, docents went on special tours of the trails, learned how our internal tour organizing works, received new materials – including some wonderful updated ‘cheat sheets’ by Candie Borduin – and exchanged stories and tips. Docents who have given more than four tours this year received snazzy new backpacks with MPPP's logo on them. Over the past year docenting duties seem to have fallen on the shoulders of several dedicated (and overworked!) people - and so we hope this session will have re-engaged current docents and recruited new ones!
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Mesa Prieta Petroglyph Project

Since 1999 MPPP has preserved over 50,000 petroglyphs though recording, education of the local community and mentoring of youth.

Please visit the website to read more about the activities and people of MPPP and learn how you can help by volunteering, donating, and letting others know about this amazing cultural heritage site. 
Please Donate Now!
Copyright © 2015 Mesa Prieta Petroglyph Project, All rights reserved.
 
Our mailing address is:
PO Box 407
Velarde, New Mexico, 87582
USA
505 852 1351
www.mesaprietapetroglyphs.org