Who

Gaea McGahee
Owner
Born and raised in southern New Mexico, Gaea moved north in 2011 to live near mountains with streams and meadows. She has developed a deep love for this place and the community around Questa.

Gaea (BA, MA, Anthropology, New Mexico State University), is an adjunct anthropology professor for Doña Ana Community College (NMSU, since 2003). She teaches online, and has worked from South and Central America, the Philippines, Egypt, Germany, and Turkey (see her travel blog). She has worked as an archaeologist in Egypt with New York University. She created courses at UNM-Taos, looking at climate change and adaptation in past societies and exploring current adaptive strategies and community resilience.

With community resilience at heart, Gaea now works with Claire Coté, director of LEAP (see below)  in and around the community of Questa. She established the Questa Farmers Market to support the regeneration of the local food system, community health, and entrepreneurial endeavors after closure of the local mine. She is a yoga teacher and owner of Yoga Sala Questa.

Ethan Jackson
Renovation Foreman
Ethan Jackson is a designer, builder, and visual artist working with light, optics, and images. His creative projects include immersive optical installations in architecture, still and moving imagery about place and perception, interactive & generative digital works, photography, and video. (See his website for more information).

Ethan works in the many dimensions of light construction and  renovation; especially plumbing, electrical and radiant hydronic heating systems. He oversees and coordinates the many improvements taking place at La Sala.

Overview

Claire Coté
LEAP Director and La Sala collaborator
Claire (BA, MA) is an artist, educator, gentle instigator, mother and radical homemaker. She was born and raised a few miles north of Questa. Her interdisciplinary arts practice and education work take her on local and international adventures into nature, classrooms, galleries and beyond. She is the founder of LEAP, co-organizer of SEED Taos, and ongoing collaborator with English Artist, Anna Keleher. Born and raised north of Questa, New Mexico, Claire now lives in Sunshine Valley with her husband and daughters in their off-grid home. More…