Mixed media art presentation seeks cultural, environmental solutions
The Yellowstone River as it passes through West Creek Ranch in Emigrant, Montana
Mountain Time Arts presents “Standby Snow: Chronicles Of A Heatwave, Chapter Two,” a new outdoor, place-based public art work premiering at West Creek Ranch in Emigrant, Montana, Aug. 20, 21 and 22. The work brings together video, architecture, music and live performance with historical narratives and environmental lessons in the Yellowstone region.
“Standby Snow” was created by Shane Doyle (Apsáalooke), musician, writer and indigenous scholar; Ben Lloyd, architect, designer and media artist; Shakira Glenn (Apsáalooke), singer; Michael O’Reilly, dancer, singer and choreographer; Alayna Rasile, textile artist and costume designer. Laine Rettmer, visual artist and opera director; Mary Ellen Strom, writer, performance and video artist; Rachel Tang (Diné), researcher and art historian.
Central to its themes are the reversing of settler ethics that continue to damage indigenous communities and the region’s environment. The work seeks to restore cultural histories and to imagine ways to reverse the devastation caused by drought and fire.
Mountain Time Arts cultivates relationships between artists, scholars and community members to conduct research and produce artworks about social and environmental justice in Southwestern Montana as a means to generate knowledge and work toward solutions for all. Projects propose solutions for an equitable community and a renewed environment.
The research-based project is being produced with regional advisors, including Native Studies scholars, a fire scientist, environmental scientist, climate data analyst, ranchers and firefighters from Southwestern Montana. The work will examine the cultural and economic complexities of human values that shape restoration goals and practices.