Keeper of Fire 2016
ALMA artwork narrative – Summer 2016
On a cold winter night, friends and families huddle close to a bonfire, sharing stories and singing songs around the fiery blaze. Like people all over the world, generations before them have gathered on winter nights. The Pueblo of Laguna and a snow covered Mount Taylor sit on the horizon.
Overhead, snowflakes dance in the sky and gently fall onto forest trees. These trees offer protection for small woodland creatures.
In the starry night, the constellations Orion and Sirius are brought to life and depicted as guardians protecting the earth from above. The figure of Orion represents an ancestral warrior guardian with deep, intuitive wisdom. In one hand he holds a spiral galaxy as his shield, and in the other a comet shooting across the heavens. Sirius is portrayed as a wolf, the ancestor of modern domestic dogs and humanity’s most loyal companion.
High above these celestial figures, the Pillars of Creation nebula invites us to contemplate our histories and connections.
Lead Artists:
Vanessa Alvarado, Staci Drangmeister, Margarita Paz-Pedro, Cassandra Reid
Lead Apprentices:
Karly Catron-Cardell, James Long, Helen Atkins