Site Santa Fe's first Spread event resulted in Meow Wolf, an arts collective, winning $7,722 to finish a fantasy ship in less than two months.

"Spreaders," as the private museum's director, curator and emcee Irene Hofmann called those attending the inaugural event Friday night, packed the Santa Fe Farmers' Market building to eat barbecue, listen to eight proposals and vote on which one they thought was best.

The winner was the experimental arts collective, Meow Wolf, whose project is the only one currently under way.

The Due Return is to open on May 13 in the Muñoz Waxman Gallery, a former tank-repair shop at the old armory, now the Center for Contemporary Arts, 1050 Old Pecos Trail.

On Thursday, Meow Wolf members will begin assembling a 73-foot-long, two-story, 2,500-square-foot vessel with a lounge where drinks will be served. The structure will also include cave dwellings with glowing tree-like structures and an array of knobs, dials and joysticks that control the video surveillance system. The estimated cost is $20,000.

During Friday's presentation, Meow Wolf's Nicholas Chiarella said The Due Return is aimed at simulating "an alien landscape" and "interdimensional travel," among other objectives.

"Where's Johnny Depp?" shouted someone in the audience in a reference to the star of film series Pirates of the Caribbean.

"Johnny Depp's not part of it yet, but there are about 50 artists involved and that number keeps growing as we get closer to our opening day in May," Chiarella responded. "It's an opportunity for people to realize their ambitions by working together. It's as much of a project in community building as it is creating an art installation."

When Meow Wolf was announced as the winner at about 9 p.m., "We laughed and we hugged each other," troupe member Sarah Bradley said. "We were so excited. We've been working on it since July. So it's a long time coming. And we needed more money to finish up and this is going to do it."

Spread was inspired by Feast in Brooklyn, Incubate in Chicago and similar events in other cities where the proceeds from special meals go to art projects. SITE Santa Fe has scheduled two more events: June 24 (submission deadline is April 2) and Oct. 28 (submission deadline is Aug. 26).

About 250 tickets were sold to Friday's event. The first 150 went in 20 minutes when they went on sale at 12:30 p.m. Thursday at SITE Santa Fe. The rest were sold at the door on Friday. The sliding scale offered tickets at $15 for those on skateboards, $15 for bicyclists, $20 for those driving old cars and on up to $50 for those arriving by aircraft.

Apparently most paid the higher amounts because the initial take was $7,092, averaging more than $28 per person. Another $630 was rounded up in cash when a piggy bank was passed at the dinner.

There were 60 submissions for the inaugural Spread. A committee winnowed those down to eight finalists who were given five minutes each for their proposal on Friday. Some accompanied their presentations with photographs and drawings projected on a screen.

Madi Sato proposed to complete her third album of music with a song about her hometown of Sendai, which was devastated by the March 11 earthquake and resulting tsunami. She showed a photograph of her 97-year-old grandmother, who she said was evacuated from her nursing home.

Other proposals included Neal Ambrose-Smith's plan to teach schoolchildren printmaking using nontoxic materials; Cloacas with Flying Wall Studios' feature-length puppet film; Ben Haggard's series of impressionistic portraits; Willie Ray Parish's camera obscura in an Airstream trailer; Conrad Skinner's history of the Santa Fe Indian School's now-closed Paolo Soleri Amphitheater; and Rebecca Holland's candy coatings of exterior spaces.

Site Santa Fe did not release a tally of votes, done via secret ballot. At the last minute, a rule was instituted banning artists from voting because the multi-member teams would have had an advantage.

Most who attended were impressed.

"It's a wonderful way for artists to fund their projects and get community support and feedback," said Susan Tweet of Santa Fe, who attended with her 2-year-old daughter, Sarabrianka Tweet.

Richard Becker, who sold Blue Sky Natural Beverage Co. to Hansen's in 1996, came in for the event from his home in Manhattan. "I think it's a great way to get the community involved because they all feel like they have a stake in it now," he said.

"I thought it was a great success — a lot of fun," said Lisa Wederquist of Santa Fe. "I'm really proud of the generosity of our community."

The Whole Hog Cafe provided barbecued beef brisket, pulled pork, coleslaw and baked beans. Second Street Brewery provided ales and beers. Allsup's and Coca-Cola provided soft drinks. Rocky Durham provided desserts.

Brett Ellison, who has been farming in Chimayó and Las Trampas for the last seven years and sells his produce at the Santa Fe Farmers Market, suggested incorporating locally grown food for the next Spread.

"This could very easily be all local and probably at close to the same price," he said.

Contact Tom Sharpe at tsharpe@sfnewmexican.com.