The overlapping glow of multicolored LED lights permeates Relay, one of Santa Fe’s newest community-oriented, multipurpose warehouse arts spaces in Midtown. Here, an eclectic gathering of artists prepare for the inaugural Santa Fe Lamp Show—one organizers hope will become an annual tradition blending sculpture, workshops, lectures and performances—all centered on a human fascination with light.
In a city wrestling with how to sustain its reputation as an arts capital while making space for new voices, Lamp Show arrives as both playful spectacle and urgent experiment. It’s proof that community-driven art can shine as brightly as any institution, while inviting the public to immerse themselves in the glow of Santa Fe’s creative community.
Lamp Show was founded by artists and lamp-makers Juna Skënderi and Ilya Tinker, along with Relay overseer and former Meow Wolfer Aaron Geiser. The idea grew from a
mutual love and curiosity surrounding lamps as an overlap of vibe and utility. The show challenges Santa Fe’s traditional leanings by redefining sculpture through bold color, shadow and mood, always with a DIY spirit. Broadly speaking, this is the Relay ethos in a nutshell—to act as a platform for creativity without strict guidelines.
“A big theme of the space is experimentation,” Geiser tells SFR. “We want to provide a place where people can explore their ideas.”
Alex Monasterio
Step into Relay during Lamp Show and the space itself becomes part of the art with shadows stretching across sealed concrete and modular walls, colors bleeding into one another like stained glass and the low hum of electricity underscoring everything. A shaded lamp flickers with a nostalgic warmth in one corner while LEDs shine with futuristic precision across the room. The air carries not just light but mood, shifting as each installation reframes the room in its particular glow. Together, the pieces remind us how much we take for granted in the form and function of everyday fixtures; each work plays with the tension between utility and art, posing questions about where design object ends and sculpture begins.
“Santa Fe is such a DIY community,” Skënderi says. “When we first started planting the seed about doing a lamp show, people immediately said they had lamps they’d already made or had been waiting for a chance to make one. That excitement told us this wasn’t just our idea, it was something the community wanted, too.”
At its core, Lamp Show is also about reclaiming the everyday. Lamps, after all, are among the most common objects in our homes, and though they’re functional, they often become practically invisible. By pulling them into a gallery setting, the show asks audiences to reconsider design as a form of sculpture, repair as an act of sustainability and light itself as a language for connection. In an era defined by the glow of screens, lamps can offer something more tactile and intimate or serve as reminders that illumination can still be handmade, imperfect and deeply human.
“I hope people can see that lamps don’t have to be a certain thing,” Tinker explains. “Lamps can be a vehicle for supporting artists in your community rather than just something you’d buy at a big-box store.”
Since the closure of the Santa Fe University of Art and Design in 2018, the influx of new, young voices working in Santa Fe has slowed. To sustain an inclusive, forward-looking art scene, spaces like Relay have stepped in—even its attached neighboring space The DL carries a similar mission. DIY and community-driven outfits like these prioritize creativity and process over gatekeeping or defining who makes art, or what art even is. Lamp Show extends the conversation through lectures and participatory workshops designed to make artmaking accessible while encouraging dialogue about design, technology and even play.
The exhibition opens with a live light-and-sound performance by artist Eric Heep, followed by a DJ set from Chispa. Later that weekend, Skënderi and Christopher MacQueen lead a lampshade-making and lamp repair workshop that will transition into open studio hours. Participants are encouraged to bring their own lamp to repair, though practice lamps will also be available.
And it doesn’t end there. Later in October, Relay hosts a live essay by Shane Coffing exploring our understanding of light, followed by Light & Shape, a workshop with Caitlin LeMoine and Luke Dorman on using shadow to explore shape language. It will also feature a wearables workshop where participants can learn to incorporate LEDs into clothing or accessories using provided battery packs and strips.
Lamp Show concludes Oct. 25 with a closing reception, including an artist talk with Jeshaka, Ileana Alarcón and Josephine Wang, followed by a multisensory performance from Morgan Barnard and a DJ set by Autumn Attic. For nine nights in October, Relay won’t just be a DIY space, it will be a lighthouse for Santa Fe’s creative community, a beacon reminding us that art doesn’t just hang on walls. It glows and flickers and lights the way forward. Workshops and full details are available at linktr.ee/santafelampshow.
Santa Fe Lamp Show Opening: 7 pm Friday, Oct. 17. Free. Relay, 2873 All Trades Road, [email protected]
*Find details on other exhibit events at linktr.ee/santafelampshow
