Carmella Padilla is a journalist, author, and editor who explores intersections in art, culture, and history in the Southwest and beyond. Her books include A Red Like No Other: How Cochineal Colored the World, The Work of Art: Folk Artists in the 21st Century, El Rancho de las Golondrinas: Living History in New Mexico’s La Ciénega Valley, Low ’n Slow: Lowriding in New Mexico, and The Chile Chronicles: Tales of a New Mexico Harvest. She is currently at work on a book about 20th-century New Mexican furniture and a memoir. A 19th-generation native Santa Fean, Padilla is a co-founder of the Santa Fe International Literary Festival and a recipient of the New Mexico Governor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts.