Professor and Chair of Art Practice Ronald Rael was selected to design one of the 25 site-specific, newly commissioned installations for Making Home—Smithsonian Design Triennial at the Cooper Hewitt, which explores design’s role in shaping the physical and emotional realities of home across the United States, US Territories, and Tribal Nations. The exhibition is the seventh offering in the museum’s Design Triennial series, established in 2000 to address the most urgent topics of the time through the lens of design.
When announcing the project as part of the Cooper Hewitt Triennial, Rael wrote (Instagram): "For the past six years, I have been working on a project uncovering the complex history of my local community and the village of Los Conejos, Colorado. In 1855, a fortified adobe compound was constructed as a flagship for settling the western portion of Colorado’s San Luis Valley following the Mexican-American War. This site served as the Conejos Indian Agency and the home of Colorado’s first Lieutenant Governor.
At that time, Los Conejos was the seasonal home of the Ute people, with approximately 5,000 Ute living in the area alongside new settlers from the Genízaro and Hispano villages of New Mexico. The compound was owned by Lafayette Head, a former U.S. soldier who fought in the Mexican-American War and co-led the establishment of Conejos. Head was appointed as the Indian Agent to the Tabeguache Utes during the Civil War and was tasked by President Andrew Johnson with documenting all slave captives held in his region. This resulted in a list of 149 Indigenous people, mostly children, who were taken from their native communities and placed into servitude.
As part of the Cooper Hewitt Triennial, “Making Home,” I will be telling the complex stories of those whose homes were displaced, those who were violently taken from their homes, and those who found new homes in the borderlands of Southern Colorado. This will be done through images, found artifacts, and adobe made from the very earth that once comprised the Indian Agency."
See a selection of Rael's photos below and visit his Instagram account for more posts about this project @rrael. Also visit the Cooper Hewitt Triennial website for more information.
