New city historian sees second stint in the role as chance to share Santa Feans' stories

Mar. 23—Andrew Lovato had served as Santa Fe's city historian in 2018. But when he saw the position emerge again with a focus on the theme of storytelling, he couldn't resist applying.

"I love the idea of storytelling," Lovato said. "That's one of the things I wanted to do with my radio show, have people tell their stories."

Lovato is the host of KSFR's weekly Our Santa Fe, a show that airs from 6:30 to 7 p.m. each Thursday.

He was unanimously appointed by city councilors earlier this month to a term as city historian through the end of 2024. The position is under the auspices of the Arts and Culture Department and comes with a $10,000 honorarium.

City Arts and Culture Director Chelsey Johnson described Lovato as a "natural storyteller" in a news release the city issued announcing his appointment.

"Andrew Lovato brings to this role not only a deep historical understanding of Santa Fe and its cultures but great emotional intelligence and empathy and a bridge-building, collaborative approach," she said in a statement.

Lovato received a Ph.D. in communication from the University of New Mexico in 2000 with a focus on intercultural communication and was a 2008 Fulbright scholar, according to city records. He has taught at Santa Fe Community College and the former College of Santa Fe and is the author of two books: Santa Fe Hispanic Culture: Preserving Identity in a Tourist Town; and The Year Zozobra Escaped.

He also has contributed to several other books about New Mexico history and culture and conducted a number of other public engagements, including several TEDx talks, and he is the chairman of the Santa Fe Arts Commission.

Lovato is the first city historian since Valerie Rangel, who was appointed in 2021. A search process conducted last spring, which took place when the city was between arts and culture directors, did not result in a selection. After Johnson was hired in the director's position in the fall, both the poet laureate and city historian roles were switched to align with the calendar year instead of the fiscal year.

A lot has changed since Lovato's first tenure, including a once-in-a-generation pandemic and multiple local clashes over the public depiction of culture and history, including the toppling of the Soldiers' Monument on the Santa Fe Plaza and vandalism of a federal monument to Kit Carson, and a shooting in Española that erupted during a protest at the site of the planned reinstallation of a statue of Juan de Oñate.

Lovato, who has both Pueblo and Hispanic ancestry, said he believes a better understanding of the region's history can help bridge divides.

"We need to ensure that everybody's voice is heard," he said. "There's no substituting for dialogue and communicating with each other."

He believes different cultural groups in New Mexico have "more in common than not."

Old Santa Fe Association Executive Director Adam Fulton Johnson, who has a doctorate in history, was one of the members of the committee that selected Lovato.

Lovato's extensive experience as a public historian gives him the ability "to bring together different perspectives and give Santa Feans a rich understanding of our shared history," Johnson wrote in an email.

The other committee members were Johnson and Deputy Arts and Culture Director Sharla Russell.

During his previous term, Lovato developed a lecture series he called "Santa Fe's Forgotten Voices." In his new term he said he wants to continue to expand what people think about when they think of Santa Fe history.

"It's important not to take culture for granted — not just for Hispanics but all cultural groups in Santa Fe, it's important to have a connection with our culture and our past and our history," he said.

"We've talked about Santa Fe as a tri-cultural city. I think now it's more of a multicultural city," he continued. "It's important for us to acknowledge that there's a variety of cultures here, whether that's Jewish or African American or Middle Eastern."

Lovato said he hopes to leverage his work in audio to share the stories of Santa Feans through a radio or podcast series, whether directly through the city or in partnership with KSFR or the community college. He encouraged people who have stories they want to share or ideas of people he should interview to reach out to the radio station or the city's Arts and Culture Department.

Although he described his goals for this term as humble, he said he hopes he can play a part in making Santa Fe a more accepting city.

"I want to encourage people to share their stories through radio, podcasts, and video," he wrote in an email. "Perhaps if we hear each other's stories, we can come to understand another perspective, and empathy can take root and grow."