Business View Civil and Municipal | September 2022

118 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 3, ISSUE 9 engaging with more arts collaborations, art collectives to do artist residencies.” When Kamiyama says throughout the city, she means it. The city worked with the Santa Fe Art Institute in previous years to place artists everywhere, including within the fire department’s mobile health unit. “We are really honoring art that takes place in non-traditional spaces,” Kamiyama explains. “And that’s what gives the city some depth.” Santa Fe works hard to foster that creativity, and to also channel it into ways that can benefit its residents and the economy. They are currently working with a group called Americans for the Arts to participate in a yearlong study called “Arts and Economic Prosperity.” “We are looking at how culture impacts the economics of the city and we hope to use that data to leverage more funding and to ensure that art is not just something that is stagnant. It is living it as culture.” Kamiyama explains. “It’s more than just making something, but it’s that process. It’s a social practice part of arts. And I think that’s what makes the city so exciting and vibrant because that’s basically the essence of the foundation that got us to this point, and we look forward to the future.” One of Santa Fe’s biggest employers is a creative entity. Meow Wolf is an arts and entertainment company that creates immersive and interactive art installations for people of all ages. “Meow Wolf is a really great example of youth that came together, figured out a business plan and now are under the parent company of Disney and have got places all over,” Kamiyama says. Further fostering the arts in Santa Fe is New Mexico’s first net-zero-energy multi-family project called Siler Yard Arts+Creativity Center. Siler Yard is a combination of affordable housing, workspace and economic development.