Show features artwork opposing Desert Rock project
June 20, 2008By Karin L. Becker | Special to the Herald

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If you go
The opening reception for "Connections: Earth + Artist = A Tribute Art Show in Resistance to Desert Rock" will be held at the Center of Southwest Studies from 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday at Fort Lewis College. The show will run through Sept. 28.
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** Flier Attached

With titles like "Downward Spiral," "Short-term Gain" and "Do Not Build on the Sunflowers," the hostile sentiments of artists are obvious.

Their voices are expressed in "Connections: Earth + Artist = A Tribute Art Show in Resistance to Desert Rock," which will open Sunday at Center of Southwest Studies.

"It's a reaction to the power plant," said Julie Tapley-Booth, event coordinator/office manager for Center of Southwest Studies.

Desert Rock Energy Co., a subsidiary of Sithe Global Power, has proposed to build a coal-fired electric power plant south of Farmington on the Navajo Nation. Opposition to the power plant runs high, and this art show grew out of the need to voice this defiance.

As artist Gloria Emerson from Waterflow, N.M., writes, "It's a reminder to pay attention to these forces, which intend ill fortune, and to counteract them with positive actions."

Starting in January, curator Venaya Yazzie solicited submissions. To reach the younger generation, she created a MySpace page and posted the call for submissions on the Center of Southwest Studies homepage. From these efforts, she attracted more than 60 entries, with artists submitting from as far north as Minneapolis to as far south as Tucson, Ariz. Because of limited wall space, five jurors selected about half of the entries.

The artwork is diverse, varying from fiber sculpture and color and black-and-white photography to a sculpture made from juniper bark, gas pipe and a ski edge. A compelling mixed-media installation made of manila envelopes, photo transparencies and a large oil on canvas commands the center of the room.

The artwork is not for sale. Yazzie said the purpose is "not about selling work but about making a voice." She admitted that she lost some artists because of this philosophy.

Additionally, there is poetry, printed on translucent material and hanging from the ceiling.

Poet Christy Fenato won the third-place award for her poem "Dooda Desert Rock Triptych," which is written on vibrant blue paper to represent Father Sky. In her artist statement, she explains that she writes "to give voice to the tragedies and beauty of the Diné people and their land."

Cash prizes and ribbon awards will be given for best of show; first, second and third places; and honorable mention.

The best-of-show award went James Joe's oil on canvas, "Bleeding Sky," and can be seen on the promotional material for the show's opening. His painting features a Navajo family with backs against two metal monsters (electrical towers), standing alone against change. Joe, a Navajo from Shiprock, said in his artist statement that his piece is a depiction of the worst-case scenario if the coal plant were built.

Other artists share similar attitudes in their statements. Sonja Horoshko of Cortez calls our attention to the wise grandmothers resisting Desert Rock because they understand how to make up a future by desiring to dream. Her "Media-Land-Scape" won first place for a montage of laminated help-wanted ads with a typed poem inserted, representing the consequences of a barren dream.

Initially, Yazzie wanted to make this exhibit a traveling show on the Navajo Reservation, but she was daunted by the size and scope of such an ambitious plan. She has been approached by other artists to transform this show into a book.

"Maybe that will be the form that it travels in," she said.

Several events are scheduled during Sunday's opening at Center of Southwest Studies: a poetry reading from 2:30 to 3 p.m.; a multimedia show from 3:25 to 4 p.m., which will feature "This Beautiful World, a four-minute photo/video montage by Duran Washburn; and a 37-minute documentary titled "Poison Wind," produced by Jenny Pond and Norman Brown.

becker_k@fortlewis.eduKarin L. Becker teaches in the writing program at Fort Lewis College.