DC | Always Becoming: Next Chapter

About this event

Venue: American Indian Museum DC Location Icon: Washington, DC,Online Event Location: Outdoors, Level 1: Potomac Atrium, L evel 3: imagiNATIONS Activity Center Cost: FREE Categories: Celebrations,Demonstrations,Films,Gallery Talks & Tours,Kids & Families,L ectures & Discussions,Performances,Webcasts & Online Accessibility: ASL-interpreted program,Captioning,Wheelchair accessible

Join artist Nora Naranjo Morse (Kha'p'o Owenge ([Santa Clara Pu eblo]), creator of Always Becoming, and the communit y that cares for the museum's ephemeral outdoor sculpture family, to learn about the project's evolution over the past two decades, and what the future holds. Learn about the art of clay, traditions of sustainability in Pueblo building techniques, and more. Visitors can enjoy family-friendly art activities, dance performances by the Zuni Olla Maidens, watch a short film, and multiple opportunities to hear from t he artist, her family, and museum experts that have contributed to the care and revitalization of the sculptures.

*Portions of the day's programming, marked with an asterisk, will be streaming live on line at americanindian.si.edu…

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

Level 1, Outdoors

10:30 AM | Welcome Ceremony

Join the artist, her family, museum leadership, and tribal elders for a ceremony to honor with a song and brief remarks. ASL and CART Captions (CC) provided.

11:30 AM, 2:30 PM | Closer Look: Caring for Always Becoming

Join museum experts in Conservation and Collections Management as they discuss evolving techniques for the care and restoration of Always Becoming. Meet our experts just outside the Rasmuson Theater. ASL provided for the 2:30 PM program.

Level 1, Potomac Atrium

11 AM-4:30 PM | Always Beco ming Cultural Connections Cart

Museum educators will share the story behind the family of sculptures that make up Always Becoming with items from the museum's Teaching Collection.

11 AM-1 PM, 2R 10;4 PM | Hands On: Pinch Pots

Visitors will learn about pottery techniques and create their own clay pinch pot with help from museum educators.

11:15 AM, 1 PM, 3:30 PM | Zuni Olla Maidens*

Enjoy performances by the Zuni Olla Maidens, a venerated dance troupe from Zuni Pueblo in western New Mexico, equally well-known for singing, drumming and their trademark dance balancing pottery on their heads, as well as being an all-female troupe. The Zuni Olla Maidens were honored by the National Endowment for the Arts as National Heritage Fellows in 2024. (ASL provided for interpretation between dances during the first performance at 11:15 AM.)

12:15 PM | Art in Landscape: Redesigning Our Gardens*

Landscape architects LaShannon Begay (Diné) and Lauren Brandes (Smithso nian Gardens) discuss native landscaping and share some of the inspiration behind the plans for the gardens surrounding Always Becoming over the coming year. ASL and CART Captions (CC) provided.

1:30 PM | Creating the Future: Next Chapter*

Artist Nora Naranjo Morse (Kha'p 217;o Owenge ([Santa Clara Pueblo]) and artist and educator Eliza Naranjo Morse (Santa Clara Pueblo), reflect on creating the future and the lineage of Always Becoming. ASL and CART Captions (CC) provided.

Level 3, imagiNATIONS Activity Center

11:15 AM | Story Time

Families are invited to an interactive story time featuring Shaped by Her Hands: Potter Maria Martinez by Anna Harber Freeman and Barbara Gonzales. Then they're invited to engage with objects from the museum's Teaching Collection such as photographs, textiles, or natural mater ials that can deepen their understanding of the community represented in the story, along with a craft or other activity. *Due to limite d capacity in our spaces, tickets may be needed to enter the Activity Center and therefore the Story room (limited to 25 persons max). Please see staff at the entrance desk of the imagiNATIONS Activity Center on Level 3. **Recommended for visitors ages 3-9 years old accompanied by an adult caregiver. ASL provided.

Level 1, Rasmuson Theater

11:30 AM, 2:30 PM | Film: Always Becoming (2007)

Watch a short documentary film created during the initial construction of Always Becoming on the grounds of our museum in Washington, D.C. Runtime: 30 min., open captions

Filmmaker Kalin "Panther" Steen and t eam discuss documenting the evolution of Always Becoming over the past year and share reflections on growing up alongside the sculptures and what comes next. Episodes of the newest documentary on the sculptures and the community around them will be screened publicly for the first time. ASL and CART Captions (CC) provided.