Category: Current

Kansas Field Arts Forum. Kansas, USA. Summer 2022.

The Kansas Field Arts Forum took place over three weeks in June, 2022. This experiential program was directed by M12 Studio in collaboration with Kelly Yarbrough of Kansas Creative Arts Commission. KFAF was designed as an entry level learning opportunity for emerging practitioners in Field Arts. Taking a closer look at art and ecology, the rural arts, and social and environmental artwork while living in southern Kansas, participants visited numerous sites of significance. From Turner Enterprises Z Bar Ranch to the MT Liggett Art Environment this group sampled offerings across the High Plains and Tablelands of Kansas while increasing their appreciation and understanding of the complexities found throughout the landscape. KFAF provides access to unique locations, cutting edge curriculum and guest faculty, writers and artists and ultimately culminates with an exhibition and community art loop at the Vernon Filley Art Museum in Pratt, Kansas.

Image courtesy of the The Vernon Filley Art Museum
Image courtesy of the The Vernon Filley Art Museum

The Tap: Visioning the Ogallala Aquifer on the Llano Estacado. Landmark Arts Gallery at Texas Tech University School of Art and the Museum of Post-Agriculture at At’l Do Farms. Installation and Exhibition. 2021–2022.

The Tap: Visioning the Ogallala Aquifer on the Llano Estacado or The Tap is an artwork and gallery installation, presented by Landmark Arts at Texas Tech in Lubbock, Texas and at the Museum of Post-Agriculture at At’l Do Farms in Shallowater, Texas and is the first in a series of works that will focus on the Ogallala Aquifer. The piece is comprised of two cast polished brass water taps; one displayed at the Landmark Arts Gallery and the other connects directly to the Ogallala Aquifer, pumping water to a site at the Museum of Post-Agriculture. The exhibition includes moving image and sound material collected hundreds of feet below the ground level, as well as graphic displays of well data, an amplified stock tank full of aquifer water, and short clip from Gene Autry singing “Cool Water” from the Gene Autry Show in 1950. The Tap challenges viewers to think overtly and relationally about this water, about sustainable futures in our communities and throughout our commons.  

 Image courtesy of At’l Do Farms and Eric J. Simpson

Rural Environments Archive (REA). Boulder, CO. Ongoing.

The Rural Environments Archive (REA) is an evolving collection of photographs and artifacts from rural place’s worldwide. Presenting matter of fact documents of budding rural life as well as neglect and abandonment, the collection covers a large variety of what makes up the rural. REA contains over 10000 photographs from Europe, Australia and the Americas along with additional objects such as tools, books, and other ephemera. If you are interested in contributing to the collection or would like to request additional information please email REA@m12studio.org.

Conejos Fieldwork Site at Rancho la Florida. La Florida, Conejos County, CO. Ongoing.

The Conejos Fieldwork Site is located outside of Antonito, Colorado, on a 10-acre historic adobe ranch between the Rio Grande river and BLM land. The site is part of a multi-generation family ranch of nearly 500 acres, where the Rael family grows hay, grazes cattle, manages historic acequias, and preserves historic adobe structures. In collaboration with architect Ronald Rael and Rael SanFratello Architects, M12 Studio utilizes the Conejos Fieldwork Site to work in and with the living material around Conejos County, one of the five poorest counties in Colorado, but, culturally one of its richest. In addition to residential and studio infrastructure for M12 and visiting project contributors, the site hosts several historic adobe structures, outbuildings, and basic camping grounds. The unique physical geography, cultural and economic diversity, and extraordinary environmental phenomena all enhance our work in the lower San Luis Valley region.

Thanks to the Rael Family