The Pueblo of Acoma in New Mexico 

Curator: Thomas Moran’s rendering of "The Pueblo of Acoma in New Mexico" presents us with more than just a landscape. He utilizes oil paint to bring this location into being. Editor: Immediately, I get a sense of awe. That massive mesa just *looms*, crowned with what looks like a fragile settlement. Makes you wonder how they even got up there! Curator: Moran, known for his romanticized portrayals of the American West, often depicted Indigenous settlements within these grand landscapes, and here, it is critical to consider how his paintings also functioned within the political contexts of westward expansion and colonization. Editor: Politically charged, yes, I see it. And from a pure design perspective, he uses those clouds as literal spotlights, doesn’t he? Drawing your eye right up to that mesa top, almost like it’s floating. Gives a feeling of simultaneous vulnerability and permanence. Like, that place has always been, and always will be. Curator: Exactly. This composition invites us to ponder how identity, resilience, and history are embedded within the land itself, especially considering the pueblo’s continuous habitation for over a thousand years. We have to ask ourselves about Moran's role in representing a people’s history. Editor: Makes you consider the gaze, doesn’t it? Like, were we meant to feel wonder, or… entitlement? As a painter myself, I wrestle with that constantly. This conversation definitely needs to include what perspectives are absent, and what silences exist. Curator: Right, we can't disconnect this aesthetic romanticism from its relationship to settlement, a practice that resulted in the displacement and oppression of the Acoma people. But consider too that we, here, are looking, now, today, at the painting, what might we do with that moment, to inform a practice of anti-colonial action and awareness? Editor: And honestly? The sheer beauty. It grabs you first. Even acknowledging the complexities, you can’t deny it's... arresting. Thanks for helping me contextualize all these swirling emotions and impressions! Curator: It's about the constant renegotiation with art's ability to wound, and its ability to offer alternative understandings, or as yet unimagined futures. A real journey, and a good conversation.