Altitude (æl·te·tüd)
October 16, 2026, 8:30–10:00 AM
Center for Contemporary Arts (CCA) | Muñoz-Waxman Gallery
1050 Old Pecos Trail, Santa Fe, NM 87505
Artist Willy Bo Richardson was the featured speaker at CreativeMornings Santa Fe, held at the Center for Contemporary Arts. The event followed the global monthly theme, ALTITUDE, presented by Adobe.
Richardson shared the journey that shaped his practice: growing up in Santa Fe, working in the late-1990s New York art scene when critics were once again declaring that “painting is dead,” and a pivotal moment in graduate school when he turned his canvases to the wall and started completely over. He also revealed a deeply personal source of inspiration with an unexpected connection to altitude.
Watch the Talk
Watch Richardson’s full presentation:
On the Radio
Before the event, Richardson and CreativeMornings Santa Fe host Tracy Sprinkle joined Honey Harris on 98.1 Radio Free Santa Fe to talk about ALTITUDE and preview the gallery talk.
Listen to the interview on Radio Free Santa Fe
Event Details
Center for Contemporary Arts (CCA) | Muñoz-Waxman Gallery
1050 Old Pecos Trail, Santa Fe, NM
Doors opened at the Center for Contemporary Arts to coffee and pastries, with live guitar and vocals from Jono Manson. Then came the main event: Richardson’s talk and Q&A. The morning closed with door prizes. Attendees folded their entries into paper airplanes and launched them, and winners were drawn from the planes. Two took home signed copies of Richardson’s monograph, Music to Drive To, and a third won a $200 gift certificate to Ten Thousand Waves.
You can read the official event recap and view the photo gallery on the CreativeMornings Santa Fe Blog: CreativeMornings Blog Post
Jono Manson
The guest musician for this event was Jono Manson, an internationally acclaimed singer-songwriter, instrumentalist, and storyteller whose career spans more than five decades, from the dive bars of New York City to the stage at Madison Square Garden and beyond. Based in Santa Fe since 1992, he is the founder and chief engineer of The Kitchen Sink recording studio and a seven-time Producer of the Year at the New Mexico Music Awards. His genre-bending work draws on roots, rock, soul, pop, and country, and over the decades he has shared stages and studios with artists from Pete Seeger and Bo Diddley to John Popper, Warren Haynes, and Eliza Gilkyson. He continues to write, record, and perform his own music far and wide.
Local Partners
The City of Santa Fe Economic Development Department supports the local economy by fostering entrepreneurship, supporting businesses, and promoting innovation. Its initiatives help build a community where creativity and commerce can flourish.
The Center for Contemporary Arts Santa Fe (CCA) is a community-supported arts center featuring cinema, contemporary chamber music, immersive theater, contemporary art, poetry, and more. It offers a year-round schedule of activities, and many events each week are made possible by the nonprofits that call CCA their Santa Fe home.
Chatter creates adventurous, approachable musical experiences by blending new and traditional classical music in intimate, unconventional venues. Chatter North brings this programming to Santa Fe at CCA, pairing music with poetry and community connection each week.
CrashMurderBusiness, the 2026 coffee partner, is a whimsical cafe with a serious passion for community and great coffee. Its name came from a playful chat about animal group names and the community among our animal friends, and it reflects the cafe’s mission: a gathering spot that sparks conversations about everything from ferrets in ties to deeper topics like equity and kindness, all over a perfect cup of coffee.
The Venue
CreativeMornings Santa Fe meets each month at CCA in the Muñoz-Waxman Gallery. CCA is just west of Old Pecos Trail, behind the New Mexico Military Museum and the Santa Fe Children’s Museum. Free parking is available in several lots onsite.
What Is CreativeMornings Like?
CreativeMornings Santa Fe is about community and inspiration, so come for both. Doors open at 8:30 AM with coffee and a light breakfast, and coffee time is a great chance to meet other attendees. The talk starts at 8:55, followed by Q&A.
Learn More: CreativeMornings ALTITUDE
Photo credits: Kerry Kehoe and James Johnson. Video by Monty Montgomery