QCC Hires First Executive Director
On the heels of Questa’s best studio art tour ever this past August, the Questa Creative Council is becoming better known and appreciated as a valuable asset for this community. One of five main categories identified for economic development after the Moly Mine closure was The Arts, and the increased number of the tour’s artists and visitors attests to the benefit of this and other QCC events highlighting the creative talent in our community.
It takes a lot of combined effort to keep an arts council such as the QCC going. This non-profit is 5 years old now, and can thank its success on many volunteer hours, an increasing ability to fund professionals for specific work, and now we are proud to announce that we have hired our first-ever executive director, Sierra Hedberg!
Ms. Hedberg and her young family are new residents to the Questa area. She most recently lived in Taos and was the Taos Farmers Market Manager for several years. Enthusiastic to lend her skills to her new community, Sierra has been a fan of the QCC’s work. Her management skills, interface skills with students, writing and grant-management, and budgeting abilities, as well as a keen interest in the arts, will be great assets for the QCC.
Sierra’s job was previously tag-teamed by Board Chair Alberta Bouyer and Betsy Irwin, the most recent funding manager.
In addition, Sierra will bring a community outreach component that has been missing in the last few years, as volunteers covered more essential duties to keep us up and running. This means we can look forward to increased collaboration with area nonprofits to work together and support one another.
Alberta reports that this level of the QCC’s success is thanks to the energy of Peggy Trigg and Roger Harrington, who founded the nonprofit—no easy feat. The founding board members are almost all still active, and proud of the relationships they’ve built with local, state, and federal funding agencies. It takes years of work building confidence to fund this level of administrative expense that can keep our popular projects and events going.
New executive director Sierra says, “I feel it is an inspiring time to be invited to serve my community. I give thanks to the many hands and hearts who’ve invested so much energy toward growing the QCC into what it is today. I am excited to join in the fun now and bear witness to the growth to come!”
Active Questa Creative Council projects include: the the Questa Studio Arts Tour, Questa History Trail, and the Questa Chamber Music Series of performances at Yoga Sala (see upcoming concert Oct. 28, described below), workshops for all ages held at the Cisneros Youth and Family Center, and a new literary project, P3: Pandemic Poetry, that will build a focus on expression through words for our area youth and adults, with dynamic performances envisioned. Learn more about us on our web page, www.questacreative.org, and join us! Contact us at questacreativecouncil@gmail.com.
What: All Souls Concert
When: Friday, October 28, 6 – 8 pm
Admission: At the door, sliding scale $10-20
Dinner for an additional donation: $10-20
Where: Yoga Sala, 2331 State Hwy 522, Questa, NM 87556
Who: Bone Orchard (Carole Morgan-Eagle,vocals, and Daniel Pretends Eagle, guitar and vocals), with Mark Dudrow, cello, and Martha Shepp, piano
Contact: Martha Shepp (575) 776-7579
More: To protect the wood floor we ask you to leave your shoes at the door and welcome you to bring slippers.
This collaborative event is hosted by Yoga Sala and sponsored by the Questa Creative Council. Yoga Sala is a yoga studio, hosting expressive arts, dance, and music events.
Live Music! All Souls Concert at Yoga Sala Oct. 28
The Questa Chamber Music Series is pleased to present a concert to celebrate Halloween, All Souls Day, and Dia de los Muertos. Many traditions recognize and mark this time of the year. With honesty and even humor, we present this concert (with a dinner option!) to honor this season of transition, when the veil is thin, and the souls of those who have gone may be close.
Let us gather our souls together in community, in sharing a simple meal and listening to the deep and beautiful offerings of these musicians.
The Musicians
Bone Orchard: Husband and wife duo Carole Morgan-Eagle and Daniel Pretends Eagle have been writing and performing music together for over 20 years. After meeting in the music scene of Los Angeles in the 1980s, they moved to Taos, NM, where the inspiring beauty of the vast landscape and rich history of the southwest found their way into their music.
“One of New Mexico’s most exciting acts… Bone Orchard symbolizes the romanticized spirit of the west… and finds the hidden beauty amongst the sand and the stones, redefining Americana.”
—Gabe Gomez, The Santa Fe New Mexican
Mark Dudrow, cello and Martha Shepp, piano: These local musicians will perform reflective and haunting tunes by Latin American composers on piano and cello, to take you on an inner journey of reflection and resolution.
