Always Becoming

Always Becoming
Artist	Nora Naranjo-Morse
Year	2007
Type	Dirt, sand, straw, clay, stone, black locust wood, bamboo, grass, and yam vines.
Location	National Museum of the American Indian, Washington, D.C.

'Always Becoming' is an artwork created in 2007 by Nora Naranjo-Morse (born 1953), a Native American Potter and poet. She currently resides in Española, New Mexico, just north of Santa Fe and is a member of the Santa Clara Pueblo.

The sculpture consists of five separate sculptures, that make up a family.

Grounded in figures from Santa Clara Pueblo oral tradition the sculptures are named:

The sculptures were built in-situ over the summer of 2007, Nora Naranjo-Morse worked with her niece Athena Swentzell Steen and her husband Bill Steen who are experts at building structures with natural material, and the family of Don Juan Morales (Tepehuan) from the Mexican state of Durango, as well as many volunteers including museum staff and visitors.

-- Nora Naranajo-Morse, 2007

The Sculptures are made entirely of natural materials: dirt, sand, straw, clay, stone, black locust wood, bamboo, grass, and yam vines. These natural elements were selected to take on a life of their own and thus affect the sculptures over time. In this way the materials ensure the forms are 'always becoming'.

The five sculptures range in size from seven and a half to sixteen feet tall.

On May 24, 2006, the National Museum of the American Indian announced that Naranjo-Morse had won its outdoor sculpture design competition. “Always Becoming” was selected unanimously from more than 55 entries submitted by Native artists from throughout the Western Hemisphere.

During the summer of 2007, on the grounds of the National Museum of the American Indian, Washington, DC, Naranjo-Morse built a family of clay sculptures. The commissioned work is located on the 'Native landscape' at the museum’s south entrance on Maryland Avenue S.W. near 4th Street and Independence Avenue S.W., Washington, D.C.

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