The dream began with a call from a close friend who was facing the task of cleaning up the kitchen after a gallery show somewhere. I'm not sure if she was in an art museum or a sales gallery that had hosted an First Friday type event, but that wasn't important. What was important is that the kitchen needed cleaning, specifically the oven where something had run over and burnt onto the floor of the unit. My friend, Cathy, was quite upset, and I did what I could to calm her, including taking apart the oven and letting the pieces soak overnight. Everything would look better in the morning.
The next morning a group gathered at Cathy's house, men and women of roughly the same age, 25-30, some parents, some not. We were standing around her kitchen counter and talking about the task at hand. Somehow, in the manner of dreams, we no longer seemed to be as concerned with the cleaning of the kitchen and talk turned to introducing children to art. Cathy had a medium sized screen with various images and e-books, and was going through them as she talked. She opened one image, and quickly closed it back down. I was standing across the counter from her, and noticed only the image of a Devil's Tower shaped formation, or possibly it was something from southern Utah or eastern Arizona--you know the type of red rock formation I'm talking about.
Watch for (Red) Rocks
Sedona, Arizona
Dec. 3rd, 2010
The picture was a cover photo of a book and there was text as well of which all I could read was the title, The West. As I said above, Cathy had no sooner opened the image on the screen than she set it down. I spoke up. As we were talking about introducing children to art, and their reactions to that, I felt it important to point out that we needed to make sure that children understand that our words might not mean the same thing in different contexts. As an example, I chose to talk about the meaning of "The West." Mind you, I have no children, have never had children, and was very clear about that. But inside my 25 year old head (and in my head and heart, I am 25--I have no idea who that 68 year old man is who looks back at me from the mirror), I could remember being a little boy, growing up in Montana. And to this little boy, I pointed out, "The West" meant cowboys and indians. What will a child think if we talk about the West, and instead of showing him action, we show him rocks? The first example that came to my mind was a photo I took near Perma, Montana that I named "Iconic Montana." It is a scene of a group of horses caught running across a hillside on the Flathead Indian Reservation. It seemed to me, that as a young boy, this image would much more likely jump to the fore as an image of "The West."
Iconic Montana
Perma, Montana
April 15th, 2013
No cowboys or indians, but how can you have either without horses? But not more than a couple miles away I had taken another picture that surely could be considered "iconic Montana." This picture, captured just east of mile marker 102 on Montana Highway 200 shows the Flathead River in the foreground and the Mission Mountains, covered in snow in the back. I grew up knowing that one of the nicknames for Montana is "The Land of Shining Mountains," and even before I knew that "Montana" is the Spanish word for mountain, I knew that the native people had used "shining mountains" to describe my homeland. Still, it seemed to me that this image would appeal to adults more than to children.
The Flathead at Mile 102
Perma, Montana
April 22nd, 2017
Another image came to mind as we discussed the topic, one that I had captured roughly fifteen miles east of the first two. This image, which I have named "Montana Amish," was taken at the Amish owned Mission General Store at St. Ignatius, Montana. And while most people probably don't think of the Amish as typically Montana, a horse and buggy tied to a hitching rail, certainly conjures up life from the 1800s, doesn't it? Couldn't this image as well signify "The West"?
Montana Amish
St. Ignatius, Montana
March 11th, 2014
As I thought about the three images, I suggested that, at least for a boy, the scene with the horses would probably come first, the buggy second, and the mountains third in any discussion of how do we envision "The West." My guess is that a young girl would probably put things in the same order, while an adult might well choose the mountain image first. I'm open to anyone trying to change my mind on that.
Just before I woke up, I thought of a fourth image (I'm ignoring Sedona for now). One that I think would capture a young boy's imagination even more than the running horses. Definitely a scene from "The West," this photograph screams, to me at least, "look where we are now!" I took this photograph during the Homesteaders' Day parade in the small town of Hot Springs, Montana, in 2013. but I've seen the same parade entry in other years.
The Modern Indian
Hot Springs, Montana
June 9th, 2013
Again, ignoring the original scene from Sedona, Arizona, the rest of the pictures were all taken within a 25 mile radius, all in Montana, all on the Flathead Indian Reservation, and, to my mind at least, all signify "The West." And at that point, I awoke.
