photo: early years of the land rights council, courtesy of dana maestas
The exhibition, La Sierra, served as the capstone for the participant research, community engagement, and subject interviews conducted under Adams State University's Social Practice Arts Residency Program, with support from the National Endowment for the Arts' Challenge America Grant. The exhibition captures a fragment of the depth of community and social discourse I had the privilege of experiencing throughout my residency. Working alongside members of the San Luis Land Rights Council, we focused on collecting stories from the beneficiaries of the 1844 Sangre de Cristo Land Grant, issued under the Mexican land grant system. Dana Maestas and I filmed the personal stories of nine grant heirs concerning the decades-long litigation battle for land rights to the mountain range the community calls La Sierra in southern Colorado.