View source for Always Becoming

{{Short description|Artwork by Nora Naranjo-Morse}}
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{{Infobox Sculpture
 | image  = [[Image:Always Becoming Facing West.JPG|200px]]
 | title  = Always Becoming
 | artist = [[Nora Naranjo-Morse]]
 | year   = 2007
 | type   = Dirt, sand, straw, clay, <br />stone, black locust wood, <br />bamboo, grass, and yam vines.
 | city   = [[Washington, D.C.]]
 | museum = <br /> [[National Museum of the American Indian]]
}}

'''''Always Becoming''''' is an artwork created in 2007 by [[Nora Naranjo-Morse]], a [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]] [[Pottery|potter]] and [[poet]]. The artwork groups five [[Sculpture|sculptures]] made with natural materials, which allows them to gradually change over time. The [[National Museum of the American Indian]] selected and commissioned the artwork to be exhibited at one of its entrances in 2006. 

==Description==

The sculpture consists of five separate sculptures that make up a family. Grounded in figures from [[Santa Clara Pueblo, New Mexico|Santa Clara Pueblo]] oral tradition, the sculptures are named Father, Mother, Little One, Moon Woman, and Mountain Bird.

The sculptures were built in situ over the summer of 2007 by Nora Naranjo-Morse, her niece Athena Swentzell Steen and her husband Bill Steen, natural material sculptors, and the family of Don Juan Morales ([[Tepehuan]]) from the Mexican state of [[Durango]]. Many volunteers including museum staff and visitors also contributed to the construction.

{{quote|Being strangers at the beginning of this journey, we came from distant places with the intent to build sculptures, and in the process built a family as well.|Nora Naranajo-Morse, 2007 <ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.nmai.si.edu/alwaysbecoming/AlwaysBecoming.html|title=NMAI: NORA NARANJO-MORSE-ALWAYS BECOMING MALL SCULPTURE PROJECT|website=www.nmai.si.edu|access-date=2017-01-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170106005120/http://nmai.si.edu/alwaysbecoming/AlwaysBecoming.html|archive-date=2017-01-06|url-status=dead}}</ref>}}

==Materials==

The sculptures consist solely of natural materials, such as dirt, sand, straw, clay, stone, locust wood, bamboo, grass, and yam vines. These materials were deliberately chosen for their dynamic and changeable qualities.

==Dimensions==

The five sculptures range in size from 7 feet 6 inches tall (~2.29 meters) to 16 feet (~4.84 meters) tall.

==History and location==

On May 24, 2006, the [[National Museum of the American Indian]] announced that Naranjo-Morse had won its outdoor sculpture design competition.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.nmai.si.edu/press/releases/2006-05-24_outdoor_sculpture_release_final_1.pdf|title=Press {{!}} National Museum of the American Indian|website=www.nmai.si.edu|access-date=2017-01-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170113033318/http://www.nmai.si.edu/press/releases/2006-05-24_outdoor_sculpture_release_final_1.pdf|archive-date=2017-01-13|url-status=dead}}</ref> During the summer of 2007, on the grounds of the National Museum of the American Indian in [[Washington, DC|Washington, D.C.]], Naranjo-Morse built a family of clay sculptures. The opening of these public works took place on September 1, 2007.

The sculptures are intended to disintegrate over time. The lives of the sculptures, from creation until they have decayed, are being documented by filmmaker Dax Thomas ([[Laguna Pueblo|Laguna]]/[[Acoma Pueblo|Acoma]]). As the sculptures disintegrate, the films of their lives will form a more permanent record of their existence, and are therefore an essential part of the artistic process and the work itself.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://vimeo.com/quatica|title=quatica|website=Vimeo|access-date=2017-01-10|archive-date=2022-10-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221020171659/https://vimeo.com/quatica|url-status=live}}</ref>

{{quote|Native culture and the environment served as the inspiration for the sculpture design.  'Always Becoming' will reflect themes of growth and adaptation and represent indigenous peoples' unique relationship to the environment, ...

The sculpture's metaphor of home and family not only conveys a universal theme to all peoples, but also enhances the visitors' experience that they have entered a Native place when they {{sic|step foot}} on the museum grounds.|Nora Naranajo-Morse, 2007 <ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.caneloproject.com/pages/currrent%20projects/smithsonian.html|title=always becoming|website=www.caneloproject.com|access-date=2017-01-10|archive-date=2016-07-21|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160721150241/http://www.caneloproject.com/pages/currrent%20projects/smithsonian.html|url-status=live}}</ref> }}

==See also==
* [[List of public art in Washington, D.C., Ward 2]]
* [[Sculpture]]

==References==
<references/>

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20080927043059/http://www.nmai.si.edu/alwaysbecoming/AlwaysBecoming.html ''Always Becoming'' Official Website] at the [[National Museum of the American Indian]]
*[http://alwaysbecomingfilm.blogspot.com/ ''Always Becoming'' blog]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20090417113802/http://www.nmai.si.edu/press/releases/2006-05-24_outdoor_sculpture_release_final_1.pdf NMAI Announcement of ''Always Becoming'' as the winner of the Outdoor sculpture Design Competition]
* [http://www.indianz.com/board/topic.asp?ARCHIVE=true&TOPIC_ID=21369 indianz.com Announcement of the NMAI’s outdoor Sculpture Design Competition Winner]
* [http://www.caneloproject.com/pages/currrent%20projects/smithsonian.html Canelo Project] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160721150241/http://www.caneloproject.com/pages/currrent%20projects/smithsonian.html |date=2016-07-21 }}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080516005729/http://www.nativenetworks.si.edu/ENG/orange/always_becoming.htm Smithsonian Institution ‘Native Networks’]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080724094909/http://nativenetworks.si.edu/eng/rose/thomas_d.htm Native Networks entry for Dax Thomas (Laguna/Acoma) the film maker making the film of the project]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080719195227/http://www.nativenetworks.si.edu/ENG/rose/naranjo_morse_n.htm Nora Naranjo-Morse entry on Native Networks]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20071015163939/http://tanasijournal.com/main/index.php?option=com_content Tanasi Journal]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20071025055056/http://www.voanews.com/specialenglish/archive/2007-09/2007-09-18-voa1.cfm Voice of America News: "Five New Sculptures Welcome Visitors to American Indian Museum"]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20160303210043/http://www.follow.xt.pl/?s=always+becoming Follow.xt.pl: Blog entries about the videos by Dax Thomas]
* [http://www.gosmithsonian.com/museums/national-museum-of-the-american-indian/nmaidc-exhibits.html Go Smithsonian]
* [http://homesweetfarm.blogspot.com/2007/10/always-becoming.html Home Sweet Farm: Cultivating Stewardship, Growing Righteous Food (blog): ''Always Becoming'']
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080927122739/http://www.swaia.org/board.php Southwestern Association for Indian Arts: Board of Directors ‘Nora Naranjo-Morse’ Biography]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080705032004/http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/200711-sculpting.html ''Smithsonian Magazine'' Article: Sculpting Her Vision. By Nicole Wroten 'Smithsonian.com' October 31, 2007]
* [http://digyourhandsinthedirt.blogspot.com/2008/02/always-becoming.html Dig your Hands in the Dirt: Making Art of the Earth Together (Blog)] Friday, February 8, 2008 ''Always Becoming'' – Story and photos (except where noted) by Bill Steen

{{Public art in Washington, D.C.|state=collapsed}}

{{coord|38|53|17|N|77|0|59|W|type:landmark|display=title}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Always Becoming}}
[[Category:American contemporary art]]
[[Category:Outdoor sculptures in Washington, D.C.]]
[[Category:2007 sculptures]]
[[Category:Sculptures in the Smithsonian Institution]]
[[Category:Contemporary works of art]]
[[Category:Digital art]]
[[Category:Native Americans in Washington, D.C.]]
[[Category:Pueblo art]]
[[Category:Preservation (library and archival science)]]
[[Category:Southwest Federal Center]]
[[Category:National Museum of the American Indian]]