October 2008 Progress Report

The Academy is continuing to make great progress on our new center, caretaker’s and art studio.

We have been laying all the underground ductwork for the ventilation on the first floor of the Center. We’ve padded, foamed and covered all the ductwork on the second floor and have even backfilled a good portion of the courtyard. So we can get a real feel of the spaces.

More underground work has been laid with our plumbing and electrical lines. Soon conduit will also be laid for all the Academy’s computer and data needs.

South and east of the Center we have been working the site and making foundations for the caretaker’s quarters and the art studio. And further south and east, work is well underway on our geothermal wells. We will derive our heating and cooling from the constant below ground temperature of the earth. We have a steady 55 degree year round temperature 6 feet below ground. Our geothermal wells, 39 in total, are drilled to a depth of 250 feet each. A closed loop tubing runs up and down each of the 39 wells. This is an extremely efficient way to heat and cool our buildings.

Off site, a great event that also took place in October was the opening of the kids art work of El Otro Lado. The opening was at The Santa Fe Art Institute. The Academy has a working partnership with the Art Institute, which provided us the space to hold our summer workshop with the kids.

We will have more updates in the months ahead on the progress of our new home and all the wonderful programs