Spirit of the Land is a love letter to the plants, animals, geology, history, and people of the East Mojave landscape at the southernmost tip of Nevada. Displayed in the UNLV Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art and at two satellite venues, the Laughlin Library and the Searchlight Community Center, the exhibition features work by more than forty artists, musicians and writers, and scores of community members who have chosen to celebrate the country around Spirit Mountain, the highest peak in the Spirit Mountain Wilderness.
Curated by Kim Garrison Means, Checko Salgado, and Mikayla Whitmore, the exhibition features work from tribal artists, artists from regional communities, artists from Las Vegas, and national artists who are familiar with the East Mojave landscape.
Highlighted in the Laughlin Library exhibition is artwork from Maria Volborth, Sharon Schafer, cyanotype prints from middle school and high school students at Equipo Academy in Las Vegas, and postcard-sized artworks created by regional artists and community members.
Spirit of the Land reflects on the continuing spiritual importance of this revered wilderness area and the past and future of nearby rural communities such as Searchlight, Nelson, Cal-Nev-Ari, and Ft. Mojave, all of which are searching for pathways that will carry them forward into a sustainable future. Through painting, photography, sculpture, video, and more, the exhibition offers visitors glimpses of the complex beauty of this unique desert terrain.
The exhibition also gives viewers an opportunity to investigate the current land issues of this region, such as the long-term strengths of landscape tourism, the threats posed to threatened species and local economies by large-scale industrial proposals, and local and national efforts to turn 450,000 acres of the region into a permanently protected public area, Avi Kwa Ame National Monument.
Spirit of the Land Exhibition Dates:
Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art: March 25 - July 23, 2022
Laughlin Library Gallery: April 10 to June 25, 2022
Searchlight Community Center: March 25 - July 23, 2022
More information at www.spiritoftheland.org
Support for this exhibition is provided by Nevada Humanities, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Nevada Conservation League, Clark County Parks and Recreation, the Las Vegas-Clark County Library District, the Wilderness Society, the Searchlight Betterment Organization, the Conservation Lands Foundation, and the Las Vegas Special Projects Native Plant Nursery
Land Acknowledgement: Spirit of the Land refers to the name of the major geological feature of this region and the name of the proposed new National Monument -- Avi Kwa Ame -- Spirit Mountain in the Mojave language. This mountain and the lands surrounding it are considered sacred to at least twelve different local tribes, including the Mojave, Hualapai, Yavapai, Havasupai, Quechan, Maricopa, Pai Pai, Halchidhoma, Cocopah and Kumeyaay, Nuwuvi (Southern Paiute) and Hopi. For the ten Yuman-speaking tribes, Spirit Mountain is considered their origin place.
The organizers of this exhibition wish to acknowledge and honor the Indigenous communities of the Avi Kwa Ame region and the exhibition sites: University of Nevada, Las Vegas, the Searchlight Community Center, and the Laughlin Library. We offer our gratitude for the land itself, for those who have stewarded it for generations, and for the opportunity to study, learn, work, and be in community with this land.
On exhibit at Laughlin Library from April 10, 2022 through June 25, 2022
Monday: 10:00AM – 7:00PM
Tuesday: 10:00AM – 7:00PM
Wednesday: 10:00AM – 7:00PM
Thursday: 10:00AM – 7:00PM
Friday: 10:00AM – 6:00PM
Saturday: 10:00AM – 6:00PM
Sunday: 1:00PM – 5:00PM
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