Let's Talk New Mexico 8/16 8a: Did you know that you can check out cake pans, WiFi hotspots and ukuleles from Albuquerque Public Libraries? You can skip expensive gym bills and work out for free—lift weights, get on a cardio machine—at some community centers. What do you know about that's free? What free resources do you find useful? What do you wish was offered for free? Email LetsTalk@kunm.org, tweet with #LetsTalkNM or call in live during the show.
Watch films, like "Howl's Moving Castle" and "Hidden Figures," outdoors on the big screen on Civic Plaza without having to pay for a high-priced movie ticket.
Pick up a pass for your whole family that will get you into historic sites and state museums for free at any public library in the state.
We're devoting the show this week to free stuff—resources and events that cost $0 all around New Mexico.
GUESTS
- Diana Delgado, community outreach coordinator, Albuquerque’s Cultural Services Department
- Linda Davis, asssistant director, Albuquerque and Bernalillo County Public Libraries
- Charlotte Jusinski, calendars editor, Santa Fe Reporter
- Sylvia Ulloa, reporter, New Mexico In Depth
- Shelley Thompson, director of marketing and outreach, New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs
Here are all the free things we talked about:
- Zoo and museum passes
- Cake pans in specialty shapes and sizes
- Ukuleles and jam sessions at the Rudolfo Anaya, Juan Tabo and Erna Fergusson branches.
- WiFi hotspots can be checked out for three weeks
- Packages of seeds
- Lynda.com tutorial and how-to videos for almost anything (web development, design, business, photography, etc.)
- Fake news guide: How to tell if your news is real or fake
- Audio books, music and other digital media
- Sick houseplant diagnosis by master gardeners
- Community baby showers with gifts, punch, and midwife groups and hospitals from around town
- Who’s who political directory, free to take at libraries, includes listings of politicians and their contact info, public meeting schedules
Albuquerque / Bernalillo County
- Chatter at The Albuquerque Museum: Chamber music and extended museum hours
- Free Entry to Albuquerque Museum: Every first Wednesday, every third Thursday during extended after-work hours, and every Sunday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
- Free Entry to New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science: First Sunday of every month, free to residents
- Full boxing gym, including three rings, speed bags, heavy bags at Jack Candelaria Community Center
- Lots of BernCo community centers have gyms with cardio machines and weights. Call the one near you to find out what’s available.
- Movies on Civic Plaza (through Sept. 28)
- Prado Exhibit on Civic Plaza: 92 full-scale replicas from Spanish National Museum of Art. On Aug. 21, from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. Albuquerque artists of all types will choose a piece and respond to it.
- Esperanza Bicycle Safety Education Center: Bike repair tools and parts, classes on repair, classes on biking around the city
- Open Space Events at Bachechi with Cottonwood Gulch Expeditions: Every Sunday from noon to 5 p.m., families can check out backpacks and use microscopes, grape harvesting on Sunday, Aug. 20
- CodeClubs offers coding clubs to girls who are in middle and high school in Albuquerque. Registration open now. They start meeting next week.
- OffCenter Community Arts has open studio hours. It’s for everyone. Materials provided. They also do skill-building groups, an exhibit space, workshops on art-based businesses.
- El Chante: Casa de Cultura Low-Writing Workshops first and third Tuesdays
- UNM Campus Observatory—View the cosmos on Friday nights during the semesters. Open to everyone.
- APS Community Clothing Bank offers clothes for kids—including uniform necessities. They also take donations
- Rio Grande Food Project: Free groceries No one is turned away. Monday, Wednesday, Friday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays from 9 a.m. to noon. At Rio Grande Presbyterian Church (600 Coors Blvd., 87121)
- Silver Horizons popup markets for seniors, with no signup required. Seniors pick out groceries, pet food, toiletries.
- Free spay and neuter for cats, plus shots. Call 311.
Around The State
- Museum passes for as many as six people to any state museum or historic site available for checkout at public and tribal libraries
- State residents with ID can get into any Albuquerque and Santa Fe state-run museum on the first Sunday of every month
- Every Wednesday, admission is free at state museums and historic sites for N.M. senior citizens
- Animal Humane runs a pet food bank in New Mexico, for pet owners who can’t afford to feed their pets one month. Part of an effort to help families avoid surrendering their pets to a shelter.
- Veterans with VA medical cards can ride the Rail Runner for free
- Business consultations for entrepreneurs at the New Mexico Small Business Development Center
- WESST helps New Mexicans get their businesses off the ground. They’ve also got a whole bunch of free templates for people starting businesses, so that’s business plans, marketing worksheets, pricing plans and more.
- NMSU’s Cooperative Extension Service has offices in every county in the state, and they offer expert answers to everyday questions. They’ve got experts on plants, consumer information, economics, animals, nutrition, food safety, social media literacy, chronic disease management—the list goes on.
- Safer N.M. offers free child seat fitting stations all over the state
- Los Alamos: Concert Association offers free tickets to people ages 6-18
- Española: Jazzercise classes for people ages 16-21
- Las Cruces: Organ Mountains Desert Peaks National Monument
- Santa Fe: Poetry Trails open mic at Teatro Paraguas (first Monday of every month); Tumbleroot open mic (Wednesdays); About the Music open mic (Thursdays);
- IAIA artists-in-residence open studios (sometimes with dinner!)
- Madrid: Mineshaft Tavern open mic (first Thursday of every month)
