At the center, open up the space for all

On my first day in Santa Fe, I biked downtown from my St. John’s College dorm. Sailing down Cabra, gliding along Alameda, cruising Palace, I was inspired by the high-mountain air, friendly vibe and sense of beauty. I don’t recall having expectations about the Plaza, but I remember feeling disappointed by the central monument’s predictable shape and pallid hues.

Compared to the abundance of diversity, community and creativity around it, the obelisk seemed awkward, but it made an important point. New Mexico was a different kind of southern state: We beat back slavery from the West. On that level, it was a wonderful thing. Unfortunately, the words “heroes” and “savage” were engraved thereon, and forevermore the thing became offensive, particularly for people whose ancestors first found this awesome place.

We are at a point when a significant percentage of the Santa Fe community will dislike whatever we put there. Some have their hearts set on reerecting it — cracks and all — while providing a carefully written update from the conquerors’ descendants. At a Santa Fe City Council meeting last spring, someone said the council has never had a Native American member. I did not hear anyone disagree, but I did hear many people say that recent history would be repeated if it is ever rebuilt. Given how easily the monument topplers were let off in court, few would be surprised if it were attacked again. Friends, why invite strife? “We’re an art town,” yell a bunch of us, “so we need some pretty sculpture there!” Unfortunately, one person’s “pretty” is another’s “ugly,” so let’s not pretend that putting up “art” in the center of town would be a process free of serious fractures in our social fabric.

Some demand a water feature to excite people with life-giving liquid, while others think that would be an egregious example of waste. Do we really need more water fights?

Others think a tree makes sense. I’m a tree-hugger, so I could live with that, but why should tree-huggers impose their idea of what’s the best object to put in the center of a city as wonderful and diverse as Santa Fe? And would we all be happy by the species chosen? No.

A couple of years ago, local architect Greg Walke proposed we put nothing in the middle of the Plaza. I agree. And who wouldn’t want more room between loudspeakers when Nosotros, Peter Rowan, or J.J. & the Hooligans play a free concert? Make it open to everyone for conversation, dancing, listening, meditation, viewing performances, looking each other in the eye, shaking hands, circling arm-in-arm in friendship, and fully coming together as a healthy, vibrant and respectful community — without any symbols of hierarchy or dominance. Given the current level of stress the community is under, it seems obvious that our leaders should smooth out the situation with a circular, native stone patio.

If people want words about this enchanting community etched on the stones, great, but we’d want unanimous approval from the governing body and consensus among all constituencies on the wording. A QR code for detailed and updatable information about the full history of the Santa Fe Plaza could be an excellent way to monumentalize this moment without imposing some anger-generating symbol of our brief time on Earth.

Let’s reopen our hearts, minds, and the center of the Plaza and not let objects harm our blessed community.