Film property bought by state for Robert Redford projects hardly used; $1.75m in stimulus funds spent

Bill Richardson & Robert Redford

Capitol Report New Mexico - The Albuquerque Journal published a story Sunday (April 29) reporting that the Los Luceros property in Santa Fe that the state bought during the Bill Richardson administration — aimed at work with actor Robert Redford’s famous Sundance Institute to create and expand training programs in film, arts and the environment — has hardly been used after the state allocated $2.5 million to renovate the structure. From the Journal: [The state's Cultural Affairs Secretary Veronica] Gonzales said there has been no money for programming, but she is about to hire a company to perform a $50,000 audit to show how the state can either fund or seek a public-private partnership to bring more programming to the site. Her department has money to maintain the property, she said, but not to offer programming. A film institute, helmed by Redford, was planned for the site years ago but has had programs there only a handful of times. The department has not been in contact with the actor’s consultants in months, according to Gonzales. Messages sent to Redford through his publicists were not returned. An email from a publicist stated the actor was out of the country and was not available to comment. Capitol Report New Mexico reported on this story back in October of 2010 and mentioned how then-Gov. Richardson allocated $1.75 million dollars to the Los Luceros project with stimulus funds, which state Sen. John Arthur Smith (D-Deming) didn’t approve of. Sen. Smith said the stimulus cash from the federal government could have been better spent on social services across the state. Read More News New Mexico

Film property bought by state for Robert Redford projects hardly used; $1.75m in stimulus funds spent