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A BRIEF
HISTORY:
Mark was born January 13, 1951, in Davenport, Iowa, to
Dr. William Hugh Rendleman of Davenport, Iowa, and
Muriel Libby Evans Rendleman of Chicago, who were
residents of Santa Fe, New Mexico, at the time. Mark had one older sister,
Sarah Jane Rendleman, born April 7th, 1947, who
drowned  in Oxnard,
California, in 1974. 
Dr. Rendleman (a.k.a.
"Doc") had been stationed at Holloman Airforce
Base, N.M., because of his experience as part of the first crew sent into
Hiroshima after the Bomb was dropped. Basically no one really knew much about
radiation and its effects, so he was considered an expert (a.k.a. guinea
pig). At one point the base was quarantined and Muriel (a.k.a.
"Mimi") took off with Sarah and ended up spending the night at
Bishop's Lodge, just north of Santa Fe. They fell in love with what was then
a funky, dusty, poor adobe village, unlike any place in the USA, and made Doc
move there. He gave up practicing medicine (except on friends and family) and
started hammering nails at the going rate ($0.40 per hour) for Allen Stamm and Associates. He worked with Allen for about 15
years up until the effects of the Bomb overtook his health and he had to
retire. Doc was a very serious, proud and intelligent man and a very strong
and strict father.
Mimi, from a humble family in Chicago, and the daughter
of a minister, was the subject of several artists, and enjoyed being one of
the  most
attractive women around, as well as a kind, loving and generous mother. Her
life, following her nursing background, was centered on health and fitness
and raising Sarah and Mark. She would swim a mile every morning after
cleaning the house and preparing breakfast before waking the kids for school,
up until her brain tumor and stroke partially paralyzed her when she was 45
years old.
The Rendlemans lived a few
years on Canyon Road, and Kathryn Place, then in a new Stamm
home in Casa Alegre at 2004 Kiva
Road. Then in 1958 they moved into a new home that Doc built for the Stamms at 125 Mateo Circle which Mark and the family
still maintain as the family home.
 After
kindergarten at Mrs. Applebee's, Mark attended his first three grades at
Salazar. By chance, Mark was the very first student to enroll in E.J.
Martinez where he studied through sixth grade. He attended junior high school
through ninth grade at Harrington which was later torn down. He went away for
high school at New Mexico Military Institute (NMMI) in Roswell where he
graduated in 1968. He did his undergraduate work at the University of
Washington where he received his Bachelors degree in Psychology and Art in
1972. He then received his Masters and Masters of Fine Arts degree at the
University of California in Santa Barbara in 1974.
Mark always succeeded in his academic work,
staying within the top 10% throughout his academic career. At Harrington he
was elected to be president of the Santa Fe chapter of the National Junior
Honor Society. While at NMMI he received more awards than any other high
school cadet including honorary scholarships. He was the only cadet who
attended all three years to be named to every academic honors list for every
semester, including Dean's List, Superintendent's List, Military Science List
and Commandant's List, which means he did not receive one demerit while he
was there. He was elected as both the Junior and Senior Class President and
the class representative to the Honor Board all three years. He won the
competitions for Best and Outstanding Cadet and the Outstanding Science
Student Award. He was selected Regents Scholar and Student Rotarian of the
Year and was the first Captain of the NMMI Ski Team.
In college Mark also received honorary scholarships and a Regents
Fellowship. He was a Lambda Rho Scholar and was elected to serve on the
President's Advisory Board and as representative of the School of
Engineering. He won numerous awards in his fields of Art and Psychology.
He worked his way through school at a variety of jobs including: WSI Ski
Clinic Instructor and Director, Psychology Lab Research Assistant, Instructor
at the Experimental College, U.W., Art Model, Masseur and Massage Teacher,
Art Lab Assistant, Teaching Assistant, Apartment Manager, and even a
Lifeguard at the La Fonda and the Townhouse. During this time he also
completed his first real estate transactions and building rehabs.
Mark enjoyed being a student, so after graduating he accepted teaching
positions as an Art Professor at California State University in San Diego for
two years and at Middlebury College in Vermont for four years. During this
time, in the 70's, Mark's Art career as a painter took off. He had numerous
shows, mostly in California and New York, and won many awards at competitive
exhibitions. With his earnings, Mark began his investing career, and most of
his  wealth has
been generated in this way.
Beginning in the late 70's, Mark created and developed several businesses in
arts, entertainment, historical rehabs, and real estate. In Vermont he
designed and built an arts nightclub called the
Alibi at Starr Mill which he ran for seven years. It was during this time
that he became increasingly involved in film, video, experimental music, and
the performance arts, both academically and publicly. He worked mostly with
colleagues and friends, such as: Bill Kirby, doing performances in Vermont;
with long time companion from California, Nancye
Ferguson, doing performances in Vermont and California; Beth Yancy, Ottmar and Stefan Liebert in Boston as a group called R.E.D.; and various
others in New York City and Vermont. He worked as an art consultant or
videographer on several music videos and experimental films as well as
programs for TV.
It was during this period that Mark was needing to
fly back and forth to Santa Fe on a regular basis to care for his ailing
parents. Doc's health was deteriorating to the point that he could no longer
care for Mimi who had been an invalid since her brain tumor and stroke in the
60's. In the mid-80's Mark sold his businesses and home in Vermont and moved
back to Santa Fe to care for his parents full time.
 In the
process of investigating the possibility of creating a multi-media art center
in Santa Fe, and while serving on a panel for the New Mexico Arts Division,
Mark became aware of the Center for Contemporary Arts and decided it would
make more sense to assist them in their work than to start from scratch. He
was invited to serve on the Board of Directors, which he did for over eight
years, including five years as the Treasurer and as chairman of the Mater
Planning Committee. He was also one of the primary fundraisers and founders
of the CCA Teen Project, now known as Warehouse 21.
In 1986 Mark bought land in Embudo, on the Rio
Grande, and began building his house and his underground cave sculpture known
as the Caves. He also bought the Embudo Station
which he renovated and developed in partnership with Preston and Sandy Cox
into what it is today. He became involved with several charities that support
environmental protection, including Amigos Bravos that fights for protection of New Mexico's
rivers. He used his Embudo property for fundraising
events and environmental awareness.
After moving back to Santa Fe, Mark's life began to be more oriented around
family and less on his work, and he had to stop painting altogether to
fulfill his responsibilities. It was in the mid-80's that his daughters, Jasmine Moonfire
and Tiffany Mia Rue (now Mia Barbosa), began visiting him in New Mexico, coming
from their families on opposite sides of the Country. Mark had been able to
know Jasmine as a child over a several year period when she and her mother
Deborah Davidson moved to Vermont. But he had only met Mia and her family in
California a few times up until she was a teenager. As teenagers, Mia and
Jasmine visited more and more until Jasmine and then Mia moved to Santa Fe.
Leslie Drobbin, a friend from Boston, moved out to
Santa Fe in the mid-80's. In 1990 they had a child
together named Scarlet.
Scarlet, Jasmine and Mia, and their extended families, have formed the center
of Mark's life over the past several years, and have been the source of his
joy and gratitude. They have also been the inspiration for what may be his
greatest creation, the cave house in Embudo.
 Mark's
early religious orientation came from a mix of his father's and grandmother's strong German Judaism background and his
participation in the Episcopalian Church with his mother. But growing up in
the sixties gave him a more eclectic Eastern orientation and not aligned with
any particular church. It was not until he encountered a religion in his
forties that he found the value of group practice and "church".
This religion, with its center in Brazil, through a concentrated practice of
questioning and examination, brought him to focus on his purpose and
spiritual evolution, as he also witnessed for so many others. His primary
recognition was man's ultimate duty or function is to care for the life of
this planet. Mark had a clear vision that the most immediate and important
need was to protect the forests, and in particular the Amazon, that are so
quickly being destroyed by man's unconscious and unnecessary consumption. He
dedicated himself to this work, and started making regular trips to Brazil to
research and work with a group within the church who is dedicated to the
preservation of Nature in the Amazon. It is on these trips that he met his
wife, Jocelma Coelho da
Silva, from Manaus, Amazonas. They were married on September 24th, 1999 in
Manaus, Brazil. Today, they live in Santa Fe, New Mexico and are raising two
healthy boys named Ari Omar and Jose Amaro.
You may address questions or comments to: MER
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