The first SPREAD dinner, a fundraising event for artists sponsored by SITE Santa Fe, will take place 7 p.m. March 18, at the Santa Fe Farmer's Market at the Railyard. SPREAD: Community Nourishing Creativity is a recurring public dinner designed to generate community-driven financial support to fund artistic innovation for New Mexico-based artists and creative thinkers of all disciplines at any stage in their career.

"It's about the artists and getting together with a large cross section of the community," says Irene Hofmann, Phillips director and chief curator of SITE Santa Fe. The dinner will be banquet style with long tables, but the environment will be relaxed and casual.

Second Street Brewery will serve up its own Rail Runner Ale, Kolsch, Cream Stout, and its flagship beer, a hoppy India Pale Ale. Whole Hog Café, which is slated to move into the former location of Café Dominic on Guadalupe Street, will provide barbecue pulled pork and beef, coleslaw, baked beans, and rolls. A vegetarian entrée will also be available, and Allsup's and Coca Cola will provide non-alcoholic beverages.

Inspired by FEAST in Brooklyn and InCUBATE in Chicago, SPREAD seeks to provide micro-grants for innovative projects conceived by New Mexico-based artists. "SPREAD creates an ongoing granting program for artists, and it all can happen for the price of a dinner," Hofmann says.

Out of the 50 applicants, the selection committee representing professionals from the fields of art, music, film, poetry and performance chose eight artists to make short, 7-minute oral presentations to diners using a PowerPoint slideshow. After the diners cast their ballot and the votes are tallied, the artist with the idea that wins the most votes will get the grant (generally $1,000-$2,500) that evening in the form of cash collected for dinner entry at the door. The first round of SPREAD finalists includes musicians Damon and Sabrina Griffith; artist Ben Haggard, Rebecca Holland, Willie Ray Parish, Neal Ambrose-Smith, and Meow Wolf arts collective; singer/songwriter/poet Madi Sato; and designer Conrad Skinner.

Though every cent of ticket funds is donated to the winning artist, the cost of the dinner is sponsored by Santa Fe
businesses and through individual donations.

Selected proposals are evaluated by artistic innovation, administrative skill and feasibility, writing and work sample quality, and community impact.

"All kinds of creative disciplines have applied," Hofmann says. "It's artists at different points in their career." The dinner is expected to sell out at 200 guests, with everyone who purchases a ticket receiving dinner and one vote. SPREAD is affordable, too. Ticket prices are based on a sliding scale, with a minimum price set at $15, the cost of a modest meal in town. However, people are encouraged to pay as much as $50, or whatever they can at the door.

"We want it to be really successful, and plan to do this three times a year: summer, winter, and fall," says Hofmann. The news of the first grant recipient is sure to inspire more artists to apply to SPREAD with their own unique projects at future dinners.

"The successful proposals are ones that are realistic," says Hofmann. "These grants might be for artists who have been working on a project for years." The grants can also be for new projects that are well thought-out. "Successful grants about large projects will be about finishing them," she says.

But whether the project is new or continuing, the bottom line is that the committee wants to see results. This is why the first winner is required to return to the next SPREAD dinner to talk about the progress of the project in front of the next gathering of artists and diners. "There's a lot of amazing work going on that doesn't always show up in galleries or have a venue," Hofmann says.

SPREAD grants are project-specific and not to be used for the artist's general work or in support of a gallery. The winning project does not need to result in a public exhibition, either. However, SITE Santa Fe is open to showcasing winning projects in its gallery, though SPREAD is not officially connected to SITE's exhibition program.

Judging from the success of similar programs that inspired SPREAD, there is every reason to expect similar results in Santa Fe. According to FEAST Brooklyn's website, since 2009, the program has held nine dinners, funded 21 projects, and raised $13,756 in grant money.

For more information about SPREAD, please call 505-989-1199, or visit www.sitesantafe.org.