Day #9 - Art for Lent: Rick Bartow's "We Were Always Here" #Lent2016

ART + RELIGION
By Aaron Rosen

"We Were Here Always" (2012) by Rick Bartow. Carved cedar wood poles, height 240 in. Installation view, National Museum of the American Indian, Smithsonian, Washington, DC

'The Welcoming Bear and Raven, Healer and Rascal sit atop the sculpture poles,' explains Bartow, 'one, slow and methodical, fiercely protectives of her children, the other a playful, foible-filled teacher of great power....On each pole are repeated lower horizontal patterns that symbolize successive waves, generations following generations, an accumulation of wisdom and knowledge. The tree used for the sculpture is approximately 500 years old...[embodying] our sacred and precious natural resources.' [page 32]

Lent is the annual Christian preparation for Easter. "Today's Art for Lent2016" features artworks that illustrate the Christian "Battle between Carnival and Lent."