The Santa Fe Scottish Rite Book Release, June 24
The entire reason for my journey to Santa Fe, New Mexico, has been to participate in a special event: the book release for “The Santa Fe Scottish Rite Temple: Freemasonry, Architecture and Theatre” (Museum of New Mexico Press, 2018). We started the day with a technical rehearsal for that afternoon’s program. From the beginning, we wanted much more than four contributors signing books around a table. One of the things that I lobbied for was showing as many theatrical scenes as possible to those attending the event. We finalized the “scenic spectacle” portion of the program on the morning of the event with a series of six scenes that would be presented over the course of ten to fifteen minutes. Each scene included costumed participants, props, and organ music. We wanted to provide a unique experience for local residents who had never entered the Scottish Rite or witnessed the magic of historical scenery. Many of the people who showed up for the event had never been in the building before.
The event started with bagpipes at 4:00PM, organ music in the theater at 4:15PM, and the hour-long author presentation and scenic spectacle program from 4:30-5:30PM.
From 5:30-6:00PM was the first round of book-signing and hors d’oeuvres. The theater program began with Bert Dalton making a general housekeeping announcement and the Deputy of the Supreme Council for New Mexico, Wes Thorton, welcoming the audience.
Jo Whaley discussed the project and how the book came to be, this wonderful collaborative effort that came to be over the course of four years.
Then all of the contributors spoke about their chapters: Rick Hendricks about the arrival of Freemasonry to New Mexico; Khristaan Vilella about the Moorish-Revival style architecture; and me about the historic theatre, scenery lighting and costumes.
It was a family affair as both my husband and son worked backstage for the event. My husband also donned two costumes for the treasury scene and King Solomon’s apartments.
After the scenic spectacle, the program concluded with a piper emerging from the Solomon’s Temple Ruins scene and leading a procession into the ballroom where the book signing took place. F you didn’t know, bagpipes are a big thing at Masonic events.
The second program ran from 6:00-7:00PM with a book signing and hors d’oeuvres at 7:30PM. Over two hundred books were sold over the course of four hours. More than 100 had been sold before the actual event. Amazon stopped selling the book as their stock had run out a few days prior to the event. This first print run is only 2000.
The event could not have been more successful from a variety of standpoints. First and foremost, the Santa Fe Scottish Rite is once again very visible within the local community. Hopefully, this will lead to increased rentals and the subsequent income for the necessary maintenance of the building. Secondly, the Fraternity is collaborating with the local community. For any historic venue to survive, it must have the support of a local community; it has to be not only appreciated , but also recognized as a culturally significant landmark. To survive into the future, a Scottish Rite must become recognized as a community treasure, this will help the venue survive membership decline. With the book release, the Valley of Santa Fe may have just secured a safety net for their future. Granted, there is a lot of hard work yet to do, but they now have a book that showcases the internationally significant cultural aspects of their building.
This entire experience has been absolutely wonderful. I was fortunate to be selected as a contributor and as volume editor. Although the book is something that I am extremely proud of, the journey was worth far more than the final product. Working with Rick Hendricks, Khristaan Vilella, Jo Whaley, Dan Irick, George Watson, John Adams, and the rest of the crew will remain a highlight in my career as a scenic artist and scholar.
To be continued…
