FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SLV Social Practice Arts Resident comes to San Luis, CO

San Luis (October 1) - Visual artist Shelby Head is visiting San Luis and the surrounding communities for an extended period to help preserve the history of the 1843 Sangre de Cristo Land Grant through community participation and art.

Working alongside the Land Rights Council, Head will focus on collecting stories from the beneficiaries of the 1843 land grant issued under the Mexican land grant system. She will record, on film, the personal stories of seven grant heirs about the historic land rights to La Sierra. These stories will become large wall projections at an exhibition titled La Sierra at the Cloyde Snook Gallery on the campus of Adams State University in January 2020. 

The centerpiece of the exhibition is a 10-foot-by-6-foot shrine, designed and installed by San Luis sculptor Huberto Maestas, funded by donations from Costilla County residents. The shrine is dedicated to the spirit of La Sierra and to the generations of families who have used the mountain range for grazing, logging, wood, hunting, and fishing. The exhibition will travel to universities and museums in Colorado before finding a permanent home in San Luis.

Community participation is highly encouraged. Residences of Costilla County are invited to donate items for the shrine from today through December 31, 2019. Donation drop-off is at the Land Rights Council building in San Luis.