What's Brewing at Las Chivas

Featured Artist | Special Events

LOCAL ART, MUSICIANS AND AUTHORS:The Las Chivas Coffeehouse is a place where the community from Eldorado and surrounding areas gather to exchange information, learn about activities and relax. Las Chivas supports local artists, musicians and authors in Eldorado, New Mexico, just outside of Santa Fe. Our community is a plethora of imagination and talent and Las Chivas recognizes the opportunity to showcase community accomplishments through its rotating monthly art and photographic exhibits, book signings and musical appearances. Visit our coffeehouse. See the article about us in the Pecos River Gazette

Gilbert Candelaria. Converting mundane objects into whimsical works of art. www.candelariasart.com

Gilbert officially started recycling junk in 1993. While living in Phoenix, he saw an exhibit where a trashed toaster was laying in a pile of junk and inside was a broken light bulb. He kept thinking about this image, then a few weeks later he borrowed his roommate's tools and voila - a Candelaria art piece was born. Since then he has been expanding his creations to incorporate scrap steel, glass objects and lamp parts. Gilbert always painted on various surfaces except canvas; he painted on textured surfaces or incorporated an idea based on the shape of the object. He says that the constant challenge has made it a wonderful journey.

"Gilbert is an artist who found Magic in creating art from found objects,junk and trash. He loves the challenge of creating art out of something someone would consider trash or junk. All of the art is created one-at-a-time and once the piece is sold a new adventure begins in search of another blank canvas.(Gilbert loves garage sales, swap meets and large trash bins!)"

Upcoming Event: 15 years of Las Chivas 1995-2010!! 
Help Us Celebrate Our Quinceñera (15th Birthday): A Year of Celebration!!

February 2010
February 14, 2010: We LOVE our customers!!  Thank you for making us a success!!
Booksigning Event Alex Diaz "Of All the Stupid Things! 1 – 3 p.m.
Live Music with Flautist Danny Wilding

December 2009
Las Chivas celebrates a Season of Giving with Music, Massage and a Message of Giving!!

Las Chivas customers’ generosity bought raffle tickets for a Basket of Tea or Coffee Raffle and raised over $800 for deserving children. 
Many Thanks to our customers who bought tickets!!

Las Chivas is proud to support the CENTRAL ASIA INSTITUTE (CAI) and the KIDS of KILIMANJARO! 
WE ARE SUPPORTING TWO EXEMPLARY NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS THAT SERVE 1,000’s OF KIDS IN AFGHANISTAN, PAKISTAN AND TANZANIA. 

ABOUT Central Asia Institute - Greg Mortenson, co-founder and Executive Director, began his work in northern Pakistan in 1993.  Central Asia Institute community projects focus primarily on remote, underserved regions where few organizations serve. Since 2005, CAI has focused on rural education and literacy, especially for females, including ongoing teacher training programs, establishing libraries, and providing temporary education in regions of natural disaster or crisis. CAI also pioneers and promotes education in regions where there few or no education opportunities.

As of 2009, Central Asia Institute has successfully established 130 schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan, providing education to over 51,000 students, with an emphasis on girls’ education.

Peace and Hope Begin With Education: One Child At A Time - Greg Mortenson is the co-author of the #1 NY Times Best Seller Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace, One School At A Time. It recounts the journey that led Mortenson from a failed 1993 attempt to climb Pakistan’s K2, to successfully establish schools in some of the most remote regions of Afghanistan and Pakistan. By replacing guns with pencils, rhetoric with reading, Mortenson combines his unique background with his intimate knowledge of the developing world to promote peace with books, not bombs, and successfully bring education and hope to remote communities in central Asia. www.ikat.org/

Las Chivas Coffee offers this book for purchase at the coffeehouse and all proceeds are donated back to CAI.

ABOUT The Kids of Kilimanjaro   The primary purpose/objectives of Kids of Kilimanjaro are:
.  To encourage, promote and foster an in-school meal program for the children of Tanzania,
.  To provide support relating to extracurricular/co-curricular school activities for the benefit of the children,
.  To engage in fund raising  and sponsorship of special events to support the above activities 

In the shadows of Mt. Kilimanjaro of Tanzania, students wake up every day and walk miles to school without breakfast. They attend a school that often fails to provide basic supplies. They struggle to receive the education that could propel them and their families out of poverty. Before Kids of Kilimanjaro, these students also did not receive a lunch. Since 2005, the Kids of Kilimanjaro school lunch program has grown to feed over 13,000 students a nutritious lunch every school day. The results have been striking: Attendance at participating schools is at 100%! The lunch consists of maize cereal, sugar and milk for pre-school and additional rice and beans for elementary school students.  With this nourishment, the students are increasing their capacity to learn and schools have extended the school day by an hour to teach more! The government will be opening 15 additional schools in this upcoming school year to accommodate demand.

It costs only $29 to feed one child FOR AN ENTIRE SCHOOL YEAR!
For such a small amount, you can have a huge impact on a student’s life! 
Founder George Namkung pays all administrative fees out of his own pocket! 
 www.kidsofkilimanjaro.org

100% of raffle tickets purchased at Las Chivas went to feed 10 kids for a FULL YEAR!
Las Chivas supports others who have dedicated so much of their lives to kids’ well-being!

 

 

Courtesy of World Drums, Paul Namkung, Three Ravens Coffeehouse, Tierra Amarilla, NM.

October 2009
Talie Morrison Slide Presentation – “Exploring Antarctica”
Sunday, October 25, 2009 12-1 p.m.

Talie Morrison spent 14 months in Antarctica at McMurdo Station from August 20, 2007 to October 10, 2008. Talie's slides give you a feeling of what life "on the ice" is like -- from dorm rooms and cafeteria food to Search and Rescue adventures. Feel the experiences of isolation, the joy of the sun coming back after 4 months of darkness and the beauty of the skies and the wonders of the continent on the bottom of our planet.  

 

 

Talie Morrison in Antarctica

August 2009
Las Chivas Coffee Celebrates
A Room of Her Own Foundation (AROHO) 2009 Writers Retreat
August 10 - 16, 2009
Over six days, workshop participants drank Las Chivas coffee, discussed and practiced the craft of writing with award-winning writers and professionals in the publishing field.  80 amazing women gathered to share their talent and Las Chivas was the lucky recipient of their hospitality and acceptance.

AROHO is dedicated to furthering the vision of writer Virginia Woolf, who wrote that creative women had a problem: Not enough money and not enough locked rooms in which to work.  AROHO changes the lives of creative women by rewarding and showcasing their important voices to our own community as well as the marketplace. AROHO is committed to bridging the gap between a woman’s economic reality and her artistic creation. http://www.aroomofherownfoundation.org/. 
Las Chivas is a proud supporter of AROHO’s 2009 writer’s retreat! 

June 2009
Jim Bellamy Photo Presentation - African Landscapes: Through the Eyes of a Naturalist
Friday, June 19, 2009  4 – 5:30 PM
Jim Bellamy traveled for four months in Africa, creating a pictorial account of landscapes from Tanzania to Namibia. 
His keen eye and knowledge of the region made this presentation a must see!

COFFEE CONTINENT IN FOCUS: AFRICA

Coffee was first consumed in the ninth century. Discovered in the highlands of Ethiopia, it then spread to Egypt and Yemen, and by the 15th century, had reached Azerbaijan, Persia, and Turkey. From the Muslim world, coffee spread to Italy, the rest of Europe, Indonesia, and on to the Americas.

Since Africa is the birthplace of coffee, Las Chivas is focusing on getting our customers better acquainted with the people behind the coffee they drink every day. Village life in Rwanda is being highlighted in the June Photo Exhibit, "Portraits of Rwanda" at Las Chivas Coffeehouse in Santa Fe, NM.

Las Chivas is proud to sponsor the Solar Electric Light Fund (self.org). All proceeds from the June Photography Show on African Village Life in Tanzania and , with matching funds from Las Chivas, will be donated to The Solar Electric Light Fund.

The Solar Electric Light Fund (SELF) is fighting climate change and global poverty with solar power. With our and your support, families can lift themselves out of poverty by having clean, safe water to drink; food to eat; vaccinations to prevent disease; light to study and work by; computers at school to help them learn; and power to increase their income. Change a village ... Change the world.

Las Chivas is proud to support their work in Africa through donations for projects in BENIN (CHECK OUT www.self.org/benin2), BURUNDI (CHECK OUT www.self.org/burundi1), LESOTHO AND OTHER AREAS IN SOUTH AFRICA www.self.org/lesotho1 and www.self.org/southafrica2), and RWANDA (www.self.org/rwanda1).

Come celebrate the successes of this organization with us and work with Las Chivas to continue these excellent projects with a generous donation for future projects! Donate now at www.self.org/donate1

We now offer Pura steel-walled water bottles. Disposable plastic water bottles are a critical threat to our planet. 38 billion water bottles go into landfills every year and sit there for hundreds of years before they even begin to decompose. In fact, if these bottles were laid end to end they would circle the Earth 150 times…every year!! If this pace keeps up, where are we going to put the one trillion plastic bottles that will be produced in the next couple of decades? As good stewards of our planet it is our responsibility to stop this insidious non-organic pollution and to start using bottles that can be safely refilled and reused. The water bottles come in 3 sizes - .6 liter ($15.99), .8 liter ($18.99) and 1.2 liter ($22.99).

March 2009
• March 1 - 28, 2009: Jim Jennings Oil Landscapes.
Opening Reception March 1, 2009 1-3pm. Live Music: Celtic Harp by Kate Shane
• Special sales for "Wild Earth Guardians" with artist Victoria Seale

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

December 2008
Las Chivas Holiday Open House
Wed, December 10th and Thurs, December 11th from 6-8pm
Live Music, Free Food/Coffee

Artisans’ Work:
• Weavings by Lynne Coyle
• Pottery by Bob Coyle
• Quilts by Isabel Mooney
• Recycled Art by Gilbert Candelaria
• Clay Companions by Joretha Hall
• Barrio Tinwork by Tomás Maes
• Earrings by Elena Junes
• Meteaphysical Jewelery by Brian Commerford
• Bolos by Carmen Bisel
• Book Gift Baskets by the Avenida Vista Public Library
• Photographs by Mary Fredenburgh

Live Music:
Wed. 2-5 pm: KATE SHANE, Celtic Harpist
Wed. 5-8 pm: PAUL RICE, Jazz Piano
Thurs. 2-5 pm: LEO SANCHEZ, Folk Guitar
Thurs. 5-8 pm: KATE SHANE, Celtic Harpist

October 2008: Halloween Fundraiser for Eldorado Elementary School

August 2008: Ice Cream Social Fundraiser for Avenida Vista Grande Public Library

May 2008: Eldorado Kinder and First Grade Art Program Fundraiser. Raised $500

April 2008: Environmental Fundraiser for Avenida Vista Grande Public Library

ENVIRONMENTAL FILM Series: November 4, 11, and 18, 2007 at 4:00-5:30 pm

November 4, 2007: "The Great Warming" depicts changes around the world to reveal how a rapidly changing climate is affecting the lives of people everywhere. Neither political nor negative, the film is visually beautiful, uplifting and unique in suggesting that climate change is not only a scientific and economic challenge, but a growing moral, ethical, and spiritual issue.

November 11, 2007: "Who Killed the Electric Car?" is a film with a murder mystery plot: Running only on electricity, General Motors' fleet of EV-1 electric vehicles were so energy-efficient that they were on the brink of altering the future of driving in America – perhaps the world. So why did The General have them abducted from their drivers and killed? You get to be the judge and jury.

November 18, 2007 -- DOUBLE FEATURE:
"Kilowatt Ours" follows Filmmaker Jeff Barrie from the West Virginia coal mines to Florida solar panels as he explores solutions to America's energy-related problems. Along the way we'll see how everyday people are finding ways to harness power from the sun and wind. The film also explains how we all can reduce our own energy bills. "Dimming the Sun" is a NOVA (PBS) documentary that explores the climate scientists' Catch-22 dilemma of air pollution – poor respiratory health –versus increased sun radiation – global warming, climate change. This has led some scientists to suggest that the earth's climate is heating up much faster than was previously predicted. You can be the judge of this unexpected phenomenon.