Maggie Faralla

MAGGIE FARALLA MAGGIE FARALLA, born in Washington, DC, on March 24, 1943, died at home in Santa Fe on December 21, 2014, with those who loved her at her side. An artist at heart, it took Maggie some time to find the right medium to best express her unique form of creativity. Growing up in Hollywood, she spent the first 15 years of her professional life as a rock and roll press agent, acting as publicist for such artists as the Eagles, Steely Dan, KISS and Tony-award winner Rupert Holmes. Fleeing the L.A. music business, she decided to turn her love of fine food into her next career and apprenticed with Michael Roberts, chef/owner of Trumps, an iconic West Hollywood restaurant at the forefront of the California culinary scene in the early 1980s. The chef started her in the pastry pantry--something she didn't particularly enjoy. "My goal at that point," Maggie liked to say, "was to be a chef, not a baker." From Trumps she moved on to Spago, another nationally recognized Hollywood restaurant. When Maggie moved to Santa Fe in the mid '80s, she first worked the line at the then-fledgling Santacafe, then founded the bakery at the Zia Diner. After a number of years as a high-production pastry chef for Walter Burke Catering, she decided it was finally time to pursue her own art---and Maggie's Cakes, a design studio focusing primarily on one-of-a-kind wedding cakes, was born in 2000. Constructing cakes allowed her to practice another of her passions, architecture, and the fondant finish provided a canvas for her art. "Fondant," she said in an earlier interview, "is an actual gesso canvas. It's a piece of sugar clay that you can roll out and shape and form and color any way you like." The artist had found her medium---and her life's work. Maggie is survived by Zara Southard and Malia Kant‚ of Santa Fe; Zachariah, Zayden and Zaniel Southard of Albuquerque; her former partner Charley Southard; and her stepmother June Faralla of Seattle, Washington. She was preceded in death by her parents, William and Marguerite Faralla, her uncle, the artist Richard Faralla, and her beloved dog Willa. Maggie had a large and generous heart, and believed in giving back to her adopted hometown, donating birthday cakes for Kitchen Angels' homebound clients, museum openings and other community events. She brought light and love and laughter to every room she entered; her wit, wisdom and indomitable spirit will be greatly missed by all who knew her. Because her final illness moved so quickly that she had no time to say goodbye to her many friends, a celebration of Maggie's life will be held in early spring. If you would like to be notified of the date and place, send an email to celebratemaggiefaralla@gmail.com