In the First Times, by Paul Jackson.
GALLERY ROUNDS: SPIRIT OF THE LAND
ARTILLERY MAGAZINE
“Spirit of the Land: Artists Honor Avi Kwa Ame” fortifies the work of activists—including the show’s curators, Checko Salgado, Kim Garrison Means and Mikayla Whitmore—who catalyzed the introduction of a congressional bill this year that would designate Avi Kwa Ame (Mojave for “Spirit Mountain”) and its surrounding 443,671 acres of public lands in Southern Nevada a national monument. Without such […]
Gallery director Tyler Stallings. (Don Leach / LA Times)
‘Spirit of the Land’ at Orange Coast College celebrates Nevada landscape and Native American heritage
LOS ANGELES TIMES / DAILY PILOT
On the southernmost tip of Nevada, south of Las Vegas, sits Avi Kwa Ame, the Mojave name for Spirit Mountain. The surrounding land is the place of origin for 10 Yuman-speaking tribes of the Mojave: the Hualapai, Yavapai, Havasupai, Quechan, Maricopa, Pai Pai, Halchidhoma, Cocopah and Kumeyaay, which […]
Photograph by Kyle Grillot.
Biden commits to honoring tribes by protecting public lands in Nevada
WASHINGTON POST
From the highway, Spirit Mountain — a 5,642-foot-high peak — appears gray. But, at times, it glows a majestic pink. For the Fort Mojave and 11 other tribes, these mystical rocks are the site from which their ancestors emerged. “There’s a spiritual connection that makes us Mojave people,” said Tim Williams, chair of […]
Dawn Watch, by Sharon Shaefer.
BARRICK MUSEUM’S ‘SPIRIT OF THE LAND’ HONORS AVI KWA AME THROUGH COMMUNITY PERSPECTIVES
LAS VEGAS WEEKLY
Shoes, beverage cans, shell casings, undergarments and fragments of holiday ornaments are piled up inside Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art. The mountain of trash represents Spirit Mountain, the main geological feature within the proposed Avi Kwa Ame national monument south of Las Vegas near Searchlight {…}
Sol Art, by Alan O’Neill.
UNLV museum exhibit dedicated to proposed Avi Kwa Ame National Monument
LAS VEGAS REVIEW JOURNAL
‘There’s been no lack of excitement, no shortage of people wanting to be involved,” artist Mikayla Whitmore says of “Spirit of the Land,” a recently opened group exhibit she helped curate that runs through July 23 in UNLV’s Barrick Museum. {…}
Mojave Spirit Dreaming, by Nancy Good.
Artists pay homage to spirit of wilderness area
BOULDER CITY REVIEW
“Spirit of the Land,” an art tribute to the plants, animals, geology, history and people of Avi Kwa Ame, is now open.
It is presented by the Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art and features work by more than 40 artists and musicians who have chosen to celebrate the country around Spirit Mountain, the highest peak in the Spirit Mountain Wilderness. Known in the Mojave language as Avi Kwa Ame {…}
Actors of Avi Kwa Ame by Julian Kilker.
Spirit of the Land:
Art, Activism, and Collaboration in Southern Nevada
SOUTHWEST CONTEMPORARY
The ability artists have—to make the unknown visible—is realized this spring in the Spirit of the Land exhibition series, a wide-ranging celebration of the East Mojave landscape of Southern Nevada. The main exhibition at the Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art in Las Vegas, combined with two satellite venues in Searchlight and Laughlin, is intended to raise awareness about public land issues around these small communities located south of Las Vegas while highlighting the ecological importance, community ideals, and {…}
Gila Monster by Maria Volborth.
Spirit of the Land: Honoring Southern Nevada’s Avi Kwa Ame through Art and Connection
NEVADA HUMANITIES
Once in a while, if we are lucky, we find an opportunity to be part of something wonderful – something that leaves a positive imprint on the world and in the hearts of all involved, something that transcends its stated goals and becomes a form of magic, weaving together individual stories and histories and perspectives into a tapestry of connections. Spirit of the Land has been like that for me.
Inspired by the landscape of Avi Kwa Ame (pronounced Avee-Kwah-Ahmay), the sacred mountain and its surroundings south of Las Vegas that a dozen tribes revere, and born from the vision of my co-curator, Checko Salgado, who {…}
Paul Jackson against a backdrop of Spirit Mountain. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
Mojave Desert tribes aim to turn a sacred mountain into a national monument
LOS ANGELES TIMES
The remote mountain from which Mojave Desert tribes believe the universe unfolds rises above a corner of southwestern Nevada defined by Joshua trees, outcroppings, and fortress-like gorges that change color by the minute.
For centuries, Native Americans have made pilgrimages to the 5,600-foot-high monolith they call Avi Kwa Ame, or Spirit Mountain, to seek religious visions and give thanks for Earth’s bounty.
On a recent morning, {…}
Kim Garrison Means, Mikayla Whitmore, Checko Salgado (2022) (photo by Mikayla Whitmore)
Nevada Artists Mobilize to Establish a Sacred Mountain Range as National Monument
HYPERALLERGIC
Typically in the item action list for most practicing artists, you will find a broad swath of activities: keep studio hours; generate new work; engage community members; curate an exhibition; and keep chugging along for that solo show or group exhibition. I feel comfortable asserting that a far less often checked box in the eclectic laundry list of creative endeavors is to make a substantial contribution to the establishment of a new national monument. But that is what {…}
Mikayla Whitmore, detail, Sunrise Sunset, two framed giclee metallic prints, 2022.
Honoring and Protecting Sacred Sites: Spirit of the Land Exhibition at the Barrick Museum
SETTLERS + NOMADS
How do you advocate over ownership over something that can’t be owned? This is the dilemma of sacred sites. When sacred land, like that of Avi Kwa Ame (Spirit Mountain), is under threat of defacement through private land bids, what is a sufficient way to advocate for something that can feel so intangibly powerful and culturally, spiritually important?
Spirit of the Land brings the desert to the Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art in Las Vegas, along with its history, memory, and experiences. Spirit of the Land, a group exhibition of more than forty artists, looks at {…}
Photo: Josh Hawkins/UNLV Photo Services.
MAKING A MONUMENT
MARJORIE BARRICK MUSEUM PODCAST
In this episode we talk about the importance of environmental mindfulness with two curators from Spirit of the Land, an exhibition that celebrated the East Mojave landscape around the sacred mountain known as Avi Kwa Ame. Spirit of the Land was on view at the Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art from March 25 to July 23, 2022. Kim Garrison Means and Mikayla Whitmore tell us what it was like working with rural communities to create their exhibition, how it feels when they hear people refer to their beloved desert as a wasteland, and why you should never decorate wild juniper trees with Christmas tinsel, even if you think it looks cute.
Watch: The Art of Community in Conservation
CONSERVATION LANDS FOUNDATION
oin artists and community organizers Checko Salgado and Mikayla Whitmore as they take us on a journey of protecting lands through the momentum of community, conversation, and an artistic approach. Their recent exhibition series Spirit of the Land is a remarkable example of how to mobilize artists and the community at large in the pursuit of gaining permanent protections for public land - in this case, protecting Avi Kwa Ame in southern Nevada as a national monument.
FOR RAIN SHADOWS AND
DARK SKIES
AYA LOUISA MCDONALD
PROFESSOR, ASSISTANT CHAIR
UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA, LAS VEGAS
