SEEING WHAT'S THERE: LIFE & LAND ALONG NM ROUTE 53
2025
El Morro, NM
Seeing What’s There was a research-based, multi-disciplinary project that aimed to enliven a sense of place along a 6-mile stretch of New Mexico Route 53. It was organized by Chri Snyder, a cultural anthropologist who lives within the geographic range, and developed with Erin Elder, as well as many other local and historic residents of the area.
Beginning with what is visibly recognizable in the landscape — a cemetery and schoolhouse; homestead ruins; the foundation of an airway beacon; a no-longer-used fire lookout; enormous rock outcroppings and lava flows — our research included mapping, walking the land, talking to people of the area, investigating place names, tracking patterns of human settlement, and making field drawings. The result was an exhibit at El Morro’s Old School Gallery that ran for two months. It featured story-rich text panels; 56 images, including photographs, homesteading documents, maps; and 13 field drawings by Erin Elder. A group of artists from El Morro Area Arts Council participated in a plein air excursion to Frank Jones’ house, one of the primary sites, and in a still life session with objects related to the exhibit; their artworks were displayed in the gallery as well. Two story-telling events animated the exhibit for audiences who came from near and far. A booklet was produced as well.
This project began as an effort to pull stories up out of the landscape; stories of a particular place — El Morro, New Mexico — as well as stories that tie this place to the wider processes of US colonial expansion and the materialization of American life. By starting with what can be seen within the physical environment and working with archives, books, and living people, we embarked on a study of what can be known. Our open- ended approach to research aimed to enliven the tapestry of topography, plants, animals, and people in a way that makes those sites distinct and distinguishable, meaningful, and available for future conscious recognition. Blurring boundaries between artistic practice, community engagement, fieldwork, and ethnographic research, Seeing What’s There learned and shared stories of the land in order to discern the unique life of this specific place and bring about deeper connections — to the past, to the future and to one another.
The project was possible with support from:
El Morro Area Arts Council & Old School Gallery Historical Society of New Mexico
New Mexico Humanities Council
Cibola County Historical Society & Museum Western New Mexico Airways Heritage Museum
Ramah Historical Museum
New Mexico State University - Grants Campus
Ucross Foundation
FIELD DRAWINGS //
EXHIBIT //
The opening reception included talks by artist Erin Elder and geologist Bob Schafer; a resource table manned by historian Susan Mayne; music by local musicians Lee Lambson, Duke Davis, Colleen Garden, and Nita Davis Schafer. The closing involved storytelling from Chri Snyder and Nixon Martinez.