​“I summon Aristotle and Aurelius and what soul I will, and they come all graciously with no scorn nor condescension. So, wed with Truth, I dwell above the veil. ”
— W.E.B. DU BOIS

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Mission Statement

​The Santa Fe Soul Festival presents African-American performing, visual, and other African-American art forms to the Santa Fe community.

The specific objectives are:
To present and teach African-American music and dance.
To present and teach African-American visual art forms.
To provide opportunities for disadvantaged area residents
to attend performances and classes.

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Board of Directors

Madeleine Wright, Ph.D., President of the Board
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Dr. Wright founded the African Dance Society in Houston and organized dance workshops at Houston Community College.  Dr. Wright hired guest artists from major dance companies such as the Katherine Dunham Company, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Dance Theater of Harlem, Philadanco, The Chuck Davis African Dance Ensemble as well as independent dance teachers Blanch Brown, Professor Kariamu Asante of Temple University and Mark Sunkett of Arizona State University. She also mentored Professor Shani Sterling, who founded the Akwaaba Dance Festival at Houston Community College creating a more than thirty year legacy of African and African American Dance to Houston. Dr. Wright plans to use her experience and skill at collaboration to continually expand the Santa Fe Soul Festival.

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Gregory Ghent
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After completing coursework in Arts Management at Golden Gate University in San Francisco, Gregory became very active in many Bay Area arts organizations.  For eight years he was president of the Friends of Ethnic Art, an educational non-profit that sponsored monthly programs and events.  
He was elected chair of the advisory board of the Saint Mary’s College Art Museum, Moraga, CA, where he curated exhibitions and catalogs that featured African art, including the award winning African Alchemy: Art for Healing in African Societies.  For many years, he was a board member of the San Francisco Museum of Craft and Folk Art where he produced the exhibition and catalog for Emblems of Passage which featured masterpieces of African art. 

He also served as chair of the board of Gamelan Sekar Jaya in Berkeley, CA.  Currently Gregory is a professional art appraiser and curator of the African art collection at the Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, CA.  
Aside from several other museum catalogs, he has published in African Arts and Arts d’Afrique Noire magazines.  
For many years, he rented a house in Accra, Ghana, where he studied firsthand the music, dance, and visual arts of West Africa.  He remains an enthusiastic student and supporter of ethnic arts, now from his home in Santa Fe.

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Aaron Payne

Aaron Payne is a private art dealer with over three decades of experience in the acquisition and sale of Modern, Postwar and Contemporary Art.  He founded Aaron Payne Fine Art in 2000 after working over a decade for other prominent American art dealers.  Aaron has had galleries in New York City and Santa Fe.
 
Aaron Payne was born and raised in Los Angeles.  His love of art comes from his parents and growing up in a home surrounded by the artworks of Romare Bearden, David Hammons, Jacob Lawrence, John Outterbridge, Betye Saar and other contemporary African-American artists.  His parents were some of the earliest collectors of David Hammons and other Brockman Gallery artists and many weekends were spent either at the gallery or entertaining artists in their home.  

Shortly after his graduation from Harvard, Aaron moved to New York to begin his career in the art world. During this time, Aaron worked with The Romare Bearden Estate, Faith Ringgold, the Alma Thomas Estate and many others.  His areas of specialty include American Modernism, the Stieglitz Circle, Western Art, Postwar, Contemporary and African-American art.
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As an advisor to private, corporate and public collections, Aaron has placed seminal works by important American artists and also set private sale and auction records for many artists in the process.
Aaron is also a collector of African-American art and currently manages his family's collection of African-American art. He has lent artworks to numerous exhibitions including Now Dig This (2011) and the recent Soul of a Nation (2017-2020).
 
Currently, Aaron serves on the board of the Santa Fe Art Institute and uses his experience in the art world to try and facilitate better access and opportunities for young artists of color.
 
Aaron holds a B.A. in History & Literature from Harvard College. Most importantly, he is a father to two daughters, and also an Ashtanga Yoga and paddle boarding enthusiast. ​

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Marilyn Hill
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Marilyn is a native New Mexican who has spent her entire adult life in public service.
Born and raised in Las Cruces, Marilyn earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration and a master’s degree in public administration from New Mexico State University. She began doing research on black life in New Mexico during college and has been involved in many organizations that promote historical education and community service.  She was Deputy Cabinet Secretary for several state agencies and she was the Deputy State Treasurer .She was an adjunct professor at a local college; a past president of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. – a public service organization; a Big Sister in the Big Brothers Big Sisters program; and she has works in the Habitat for Humanity building program.  

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Elise Gent
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Elise an ex-officio member has taught dance in Santa Fe for over twenty years and owns the Railyard Performance Space, which will serve as a venue for the Santa Fe Soul Festival. She has sponsored and supported several Santa Fe Dance and Drum Festivals and numerous guest artists, Elise consistently collaborates with Santa Fe dance and music groups to provide an attractive state of the art facility at a very affordable price.

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Maura Kintzer
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Although born in the “Land of Enchantment”, Maura was raised in San Diego, California, where she opened her first women’s consignment business at the age of 22. After selling her business following thirteen successful years, she moved to San Francisco, an opportunity arose to move to Sendi, Japan, where she willingly jumped at the chance of an incredible 2-year adventure. Upon her return to San Francisco, Maura worked for over 20 years as a sales representative for several national title companies, where she collaborated with realtors, mortgage brokers, developers, attorneys, and individuals. Ultimately she became a professional organizer, utilizing her keen sense of design, business knowledge, and personal ethics. In 2017 she returned to her roots in Santa Fe and became a docent at the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, where she met Madeleine Wright, and was asked to serve on the Board of Santa Fe Soul Festival. Maura’s effervescent personality and outgoing nature make her the perfect addition to this cultured, spirited group.

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