ELAINE RITCHEL
Santa Fe Freestyle
Freelance writer Elaine Ritchel seeks out rich visual experiences to share with others, then uses her background in museum education to engage readers in the arts. “I like for people to feel as if they’re right there with me, whether I’m contemplating a painting, chatting with an artist, or exploring a compelling space, like Beverley Spears’ abode,” she says. Inspired by the magic of New Mexico, she launched Santa Fe Art Tours in 2015 to help visitors and locals delve into art and navigate the City Different’s creative scene.
S. DERRICKSON MOORE
Staging Area
“An invitation to Mark and Stephanie Medoff’s home is always a treat, and sometimes a once-in-a-lifetime adventure,” says S. Derrickson Moore, who scored numerous invitations to the playwright’s fantastical home during her two decades of covering the arts for the Las Cruces Sun-News. A Michigan native, Moore lived in Connecticut, New York, Germany, Jamaica, and Florida before falling in love with New Mexico’s blue skies. Author of the biography Tenny Hale: American Prophet and two works of fiction, she recently retired from newspapering to focus on traveling and freelance writing.
KATE RUSSELL
Staging Area
Santa Fe–based photographer Kate Russell shot three of the homes in this issue, including the Medoffs’ spread, which impressed her with its family-friendliness. “Mark’s grandkids stop by after school and disappear into the depths of the house. There’s a practice baseball field and even a zipline in the front yard.” Russell travels the world for publications that include the Wall Street Journal, Monocle Magazine, and T: The New York Times Style Magazine. One of her latest projects updates the classic trading card, with a focus on the artists behind Santa Fe’s monstrously successful Meow Wolf. See more of her work at katerussellphotography.com.