黑料不打烊

Across Common Grounds proclaims that some of the most engaging and relevant artwork being made in or about America today relates to places that often exist outside of exclusive urban art centers. This art ties us to others and to the land around us. 

Confronting assumptions placed on rural living regarding scarcity, authenticity, tradition, or simplicity, these artworks foster questions, critiques, stories, and celebrations about belonging within rural spaces that don鈥檛 fit easily within stereotyped boundaries and binaries. They also question assumptions on contemporary art as typically for the elite and wealthy living in large urban centers and able to travel internationally. This art instead deals with themes that are vital to aspects of our daily lives today. For instance, the relationship between migration and belonging shows that movement is not limited to cities and that rural locations are not as isolated as they have been portrayed. Artists also meld aspects of class and craftwork into their artworks to denote the history of materials and forms. Bodies in landscapes touch on gender identity and queer communities as connected with our earth in various ways. Subjects around the extraction of natural resources and colonization give way to exuberant reclamations of placekeeping strategies meant to hold up and preserve community knowledge. 

Together, these compose an initial statement regarding the vibrancy of rural places where caring for both communities and land is unified, literally, across many common grounds. This exhibition seeks to update how we think about these aspects of the rural with contemporary making鈥揳sking what and where is the center, and what and where is outside? How do creatives fit their practices within these places and concepts today?

Across Common Grounds is Assistant Curator Samantha Sigmon鈥檚 first major organized exhibition at Bates College Museum of Art since moving to Maine from her home region of Northwest Arkansas in early 2023. 鈥淚 came from generations of farmers, quilters, and builders. Working in the arts away from international cities and art fairs made me feel passionate about contemporary art that isn鈥檛 often seen as part of the wider art world, or is, but is not interpreted regarding the context of rural cultural landscapes. I want folks to see that artists can create communities and engaging artworks in and about anywhere. There are many more nuances and layers to rural America and art that addresses it than we might think. It proclaims that we all can contribute to our creative communities on various scales to tell our own stories.鈥� 

Presenting this theme in the rural state of Maine initiates another dialog with the area鈥檚 rich history of regional modernists of the early and mid-twentieth century. Interpretation also draws interdisciplinarily on rural studies fields through thinkers such as Wendell Berry, bell hooks, and Rebecca Solnit, and into recent scholarship for a multifaceted look on this theme. A special art magazine will be available featuring scholarship, poetry, and artwork related to this exhibition.