Salina Art Center

Full citizenship entails leadership, whether it unfolds quietly within a library, in a noisily youthful classroom, or more publicly, heading an institution or as part of government. It involves a lifelong effort at fully informed and thus insightful mindfulness, sensitively aware of the many elements woven into the fabric of our complex social, political and economic American experiment.

Full citizenship seeks a careful knowledge of the past, by way of the many important lessons buried within our recorded and unrecorded histories, from the heroic to the domestic; even as it is also profoundly grounded in the present. It always questions and analyzes the many obvious and subtle forces that have historically brought us to this moment; supporting or respectfully dissenting, as part of the democratic spirit.

Ultimately, in this back and forth dynamic between the past and the present, full citizenship is visionary, and therefore, approaches the prophetic.

In developing the many layers of the Becoming the Land exhibition project, we sought to find a way through which to visually profile a sample of citizenship at all levels, within the context of a contemporary art gallery.

Therefore, we selected 12 individuals from our community, requesting their 12 most-formative readings and sample writings. And making use of conceptual sculpture, sometimes constructed through found objects, and of wall installation art, we thought of presenting bundles of books, in an old fashioned way, displayed on shelves, by way of creating metaphors for "embodied" knowledge. We also wanted to communicate the fact that we are beginning a journey into the 21st century, and this inheritance may be a most precious guide.

An online copy of the general bibliography is available, combining all these wonderful readings -- seek them at your local libraries and bookstores. We also hope that you can participate in an upcoming series of lectures by some of these remarkable individuals.



						BACK TO Becoming the Land
				Full citizenship entails leadership, whether it unfolds quietly within a library, in a noisily youthful classroom, or more publicly, heading an institution or as part of government. It involves a lifelong effort at fully informed and thus insightful mindfulness, sensitively aware of the many elements woven into the fabric of our complex social, political and economic American experiment. Full citizenship seeks a careful knowledge of the past, by way of the many important lessons buried within our recorded and unrecorded histories, from the heroic to the domestic; even as it is also profoundly grounded in the present. It always questions and analyzes the many obvious and subtle forces that have historically brought us to this moment; supporting or respectfully dissenting, as part of the democratic spirit. Ultimately, in this back and forth dynamic between the past and the present, full citizenship is visionary, and therefore, approaches the prophetic. In developing the many layers of the Becoming the Land exhibition project, we sought to find a way through which to visually profile a sample of citizenship at all levels, within the context of a contemporary art gallery. Therefore, we selected 12 individuals from our community, requesting their 12 most-formative readings and sample writings. And making use of conceptual sculpture, sometimes constructed through found objects, and of wall installation art, we thought of presenting bundles of books, in an old fashioned way, displayed on shelves, by way of creating metaphors for "embodied" knowledge. We also wanted to communicate the fact that we are beginning a journey into the 21st century, and this inheritance may be a most precious guide. An online copy of the general bibliography is available, combining all these wonderful readings -- seek them at your local libraries and bookstores. We also hope that you can participate in an upcoming series of lectures by some of these remarkable individuals.