Body, Land, and Mark-Making: A Conversation on Ana Mendieta
Join us for a special conversation presented in conjunction with Fundamento de Palo Monte: Silueta Series (Gunpowder Works) by Ana Mendieta, on loan from Art Bridges. In recognition of Earth Day, the panel will reflect on themes throughout Mendieta’s work and consider relationships between body, landscape, and artistic process.
Indianapolis‑based interdisciplinary artist Shamira, Ohio‑based writer Rebe Huntman, and Associate Curator at Des Moines Art Center Ashton Cooper, will speak to Mendieta’s work within a broader art historical context. The conversation will explore how creative approaches from performance, ritual, and land‑based practices can shape our understanding of body, land, and mark‑making.
Advance tickets required
$15 Members & $18 public
Fundamento de Palo Monte: Silueta Series (Gunpowder Works) by Ana Mendieta
Meet the Panelists
Shamira
Shamira Wilson is an interdisciplinary artist passionate about ethnobotany, herbalism, and geology. Her work focuses on connections with our environment, ourselves, and each other. Her compositions are inspired by patterned textiles and their shared messages across time and generations. Wilson is the founder of the research, art, and design studio Wilson Art Lab. She holds a BA in Psychology from Johns Hopkins University and studied Furniture Design and Woodworking at the Herron School of Art and Design.
Rebe Huntman
Rebe Huntman is the author of My Mother in Havana: A Memoir of Magic & Miracle, which tells the story of her search to connect with her mother among the gods, ghosts, and saints of Cuba. A former professional Latin dancer and choreographer, for over a decade Rebe directed Chicago’s award-winning Danza Viva Center for World Dance, Art & Music, and its resident dance company, One World Dance Theater. A Macondo fellow and recipient of an Ohio Individual Excellence Award, she holds an MFA in creative nonfiction from The Ohio State University and lives in Delaware, Ohio and San Miguel de Allende, Mexico
Ashton Cooper
Ashton Cooper is the Associate Curator at Des Moines Art Center. Previously, she held positions at the Hammer Museum, MOCA, and the Getty Research Institute, all in Los Angeles. Cooper earned her PhD from the University of Southern California and B.A. from Barnard College.
Generous support for this project provided by Art Bridges.
Image credit:
Ana Mendieta (1948-1985), Fundamento de Palo Monte: Silueta Series (Gunpowder Works), 1980, super-8mm film transferred to high-definition digital media, color, silent, duration: 5 minutes, 56 seconds. Art Bridges. © The Estate of Ana Mendieta Collection, LLC, Courtesy Galerie Lelong & Co. Licensed by Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.
