art.wikisort.org - Sculpture

Always Becoming is an artwork created in 2007 by Nora Naranjo-Morse, a Native American potter and poet. The artwork groups five sculptures made with natural materials, which allows them to gradually change over time. The National Museum of the American Indian selected and commissioned the artwork to be exhibited by one of its entrances in 2006.

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Always Becoming
Artist	Nora Naranjo-Morse
Year	2007
Type	Dirt, sand, straw, clay, stone, black locust wood, bamboo, grass, and yam vines.
Location	National Museum of the American Indian, Washington, D.C.

Description

The sculpture consists of five separate sculptures, that make up a family.

Grounded in figures from Santa Clara Pueblo oral tradition the sculptures are named:

• Father
• Mother
• Little one
• Moon Woman
• Mountain Bird

The sculptures were built in-situ over the summer of 2007. Nora Naranjo-Morse worked with her niece, Athena Swentzell Steen, and her husband, Bill Steen, natural material sculptors, and the family of Don Juan Morales (Tepehuan) from the Mexican state of Durango, as well as many volunteers including museum staff and visitors.

Being strangers at the beginning of this journey, we came from distant places with the intent to build sculptures, and in the process built a family as well.

— Nora Naranajo-Morse, 2007 [1]

Materials

The sculptures are made entirely of natural materials: dirt, sand, straw, clay, stone, black locust wood, bamboo, grass, and yam vines. These natural elements were selected to take on a life of their own, allowing the sculptures to change over time. In this way the materials ensure the forms are 'always becoming'.

Dimensions

The five sculptures range in size from seven and one half feet (7.5' / 7 1/2') or seven feet six inches (7' 6") to sixteen feet (16') tall.

History and Location

On May 24, 2006, the National Museum of the American Indian announced that Naranjo-Morse had won its outdoor sculpture design competition. "Always Becoming" was selected unanimously from more than 55 entries submitted by Native artists from throughout the Western Hemisphere.[2]

During the summer of 2007, on the grounds of the National Museum of the American Indian, Washington, DC, Naranjo-Morse built a family of clay sculptures. The commissioned work is located on the 'Native landscape' at the museum's south entrance on Maryland Avenue S.W. near 4th Street and Independence Avenue S.W., Washington, D.C.

A public dedication, officially opening these public works of art, took place on September 1, 2007.

The sculptures are intended to disintegrate over time. The lives of the sculptures, from conception throughout the continued process of stewardship, are being documented by filmmaker Dax Thomas (Laguna/Acoma). As the sculptures disintegrate, the films of their lives will form a more permanent record of their existence and are therefore an essential part of the artistic process and the work of art itself.[3]

Native culture and the environment served as the inspiration for the sculpture design. 'Always Becoming' will reflect themes of growth and adaptation and represent indigenous peoples' unique relationship to the environment, ... The sculpture's metaphor of home and family not only conveys a universal theme to all peoples, but also enhances the visitors' experience that they have entered a Native place when they step foot [sic] on the museum grounds.

— Nora Naranajo-Morse, 2007 [4]

See also

• List of public art in Washington, D.C., Ward 2
• Sculpture

References

External links

• Always Becoming Official Website at the National Museum of the American Indian
• Always Becoming blog
• NMAI Announcement of Always Becoming as the winner of the Outdoor sculpture Design Competition
• indianz.com Announcement of the NMAI’s outdoor Sculpture Design Competition Winner
• Canelo Project
• Smithsonian Institution ‘Native Networks’
• Native Networks entry for Dax Thomas (Laguna/Acoma) the film maker making the film of the project
• Nora Naranjo-Morse entry on Native Networks
• Tanasi Journal
• Voice of America News: "Five New Sculptures Welcome Visitors to American Indian Museum"
• Follow.xt.pl: Blog entries about the videos by Dax Thomas
• Go Smithsonian
• Home Sweet Farm: Cultivating Stewardship, Growing Righteous Food (blog): Always Becoming
• Southwestern Association for Indian Arts: Board of Directors ‘Nora Naranjo-Morse’ Biography
• Smithsonian Magazine Article: Sculpting Her Vision. By Nicole Wroten 'Smithsonian.com' October 31, 2007
• Dig your Hands in the Dirt: Making Art of the Earth Together (Blog) Friday, February 8, 2008 Always Becoming – Story and photos (except where noted) by Bill Steen

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