Claimed: Land Use in Western America

Exhibition

Kate Meyer, curator

South Balcony, Spencer Museum of Art, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas

This selection of photographs, prints, and drawings from the Spencer’s permanent collection documents aspects of westward expansion and development as it emphasizes the notion that we treat nature as a commodity. The exhibition draws inspiration from the teaching and scholarship of Professor Donald Worster, Joyce & Elizabeth Hall Professor of U.S. History at the University of Kansas.

One theme that drives the exhibition and is integral to Worster’s research is the notion that American environmental history can best be understood as a function of political and economic culture. Natural resources are identified and exploited through diverse practices: mining, irrigation, cultivation, excavation. The marks we make upon the land take many forms: offices, reservoirs, parking lots, furrows, fences. These marks reveal the challenges, failures, and aspirations of a destiny made manifest in the land west of the Mississippi.

Exhibition images

Works of art

Adrian D. Clem (1906–1977), Construction Work Boulder Dam #4 — Construction Work Boulder Dam #4

Adrian D. Clem

1934

George Charles Miller (1894–1965); Grant Wood (1891–1942); Associated American Artists (active 1934–2000), In the Spring — In the Spring

Grant Wood, Associated American Artists, George Charles Miller

1939

Edward Weston (1886–1958), Windmill, Taos — Windmill, Taos

Edward Weston

1937

Lewis Baltz (1945–2014), New Irvine Industrial Parks, No. 12 — New Irvine Industrial Parks, No. 12

Lewis Baltz

1977

Robert Adams (born 1937), Newly Occupied Tract Houses, Colorado Springs, Colorado — Newly Occupied Tract Houses, Colorado Springs, Colorado

Robert Adams

1968

Terry Evans (born 1944), Cemetery, February 1991 — Cemetery, February 1991

Terry Evans

1991

Terry Evans (born 1944), Terraced Plowing with Grass Waterway, April 1991 — Terraced Plowing with Grass Waterway, April 1991

Terry Evans

1991

Gordon H. Coster (1906–1988), untitled (aerial view of a field) — untitled (aerial view of a field)

Gordon H. Coster

mid 1940s

Robert Berkeley Green (1909–2007), Earth Song — Earth Song

Robert Berkeley Green

1988

Abraham Walkowitz (1878–1965), untitled — untitled

Abraham Walkowitz

1945

David Wing (born 1947), Sunland, California — Sunland, California

David Wing

1970

James Lyle Enyeart (born 1943), Butler County, Flint Hills, No. 1 — Butler County, Flint Hills, No. 1

James Lyle Enyeart (born 1943)

1971

George Andrew Tice (1938–2025), Miner's Union Hall — Miner's Union Hall

George Andrew Tice

1971

Hampton F. Shirer (1894–1977), Erosion - Dory Hill Cemetery — Erosion - Dory Hill Cemetery

Hampton F. Shirer

1950

Frank Gohlke (born 1942), Grain Elevators, Minneapolis I — Grain Elevators, Minneapolis I

Frank Gohlke

1972

Larry Schwarm (born 1944), Kansas — Kansas

Larry Schwarm

1978

William Henry Jackson (1843–1942), Cañon of the Rio Las Animas — Cañon of the Rio Las Animas

William Henry Jackson

circa 1880s

Roger Minick (born 1944), Freeway Rain, San Bernardino, California — Freeway Rain, San Bernardino, California

Roger Minick

1977

Mark Goodman (born 1946), Kansas — Kansas

Mark Goodman

1976

Jon Blumb (born 1956); Joseph Judd Pennell (1866–1922), Andrew Engstrom Corn Field — Andrew Engstrom Corn Field

Jon Blumb, Joseph Judd Pennell

1914

Jon Blumb (born 1956); Joseph Judd Pennell (1866–1922), Tom Flanagan's Monument — Tom Flanagan's Monument

Jon Blumb, Joseph Judd Pennell

1898

William Henry Jackson (1843–1942), Moraines on Clear Creek, Valley of Arkansas, Colorado — Moraines on Clear Creek, Valley of Arkansas, Colorado

William Henry Jackson

1873

Mark Klett (born 1952); JoAnn Verburg (born 1950), Clear Creek Reservoir, Colorado — Clear Creek Reservoir, Colorado

Mark Klett, JoAnn Verburg

1977

John Vachon (1914–1975), Texhoma, Texas. Wheat Storage in the Northern Panhandle — Texhoma, Texas. Wheat Storage in the Northern Panhandle

John Vachon

1942

Robert Frank (1924–2019), U.S. 285, New Mexico — U.S. 285, New Mexico

Robert Frank

1955

Keith Jacobshagen (born 1941), Irrigation Ditch, East of Ashland, All Souls Day 1982, A Drive with Paula — Irrigation Ditch, East of Ashland, All Souls Day 1982, A Drive with Paula

Keith Jacobshagen

1982

Grant Arnold (1904–1988), Texas #1 — Texas #1

Grant Arnold

1980

Adolf Arthur Dehn (1895–1968); Lawrence Lorus Barrett, Boulder Damn [sic] — Boulder Damn [sic]

Adolf Arthur Dehn, Lawrence Lorus Barrett

1946

Peter Hurd (1904–1984), Stock Well at Dusk — Stock Well at Dusk

Peter Hurd

1971

Mervin M. Jules (1912–1994), Dust — Dust

Mervin M. Jules

1935–1936

Louis Lozowick (1892–1973), Granaries to Babylon — Granaries to Babylon

Louis Lozowick

1933

J. Jay McVicker (1911–2004), Oklahoma Twilight — Oklahoma Twilight

J. Jay McVicker

1940

James Milford Zornes (1908–2008), The Pattern Makers — The Pattern Makers

James Milford Zornes

1936

Wanda Hammerbeck (born 1945), Evidence of Water Not Seen — Evidence of Water Not Seen

Wanda Hammerbeck

1995

Patricia DuBose Duncan (1932–2021), Threshing Wheat at the Agricultural Hall of Fame — Threshing Wheat at the Agricultural Hall of Fame

Patricia DuBose Duncan

1975

Albert Bierstadt (1830–1902), A Western Landscape — A Western Landscape

Albert Bierstadt

late 1860s or 1870s

Edward Ruscha (born 1937), Every Building on the Sunset Strip, Los Angeles — Every Building on the Sunset Strip, Los Angeles

Edward Ruscha

1966

Events

June 8, 2007

Talk

Images of the Plains: Culture, the Land, and its Uses

5:30–7:30AM

309 Auditorium

June 28, 2007

Social

Claimed: Land Use in Western America

5:30–6:30PM

309 Auditorium

July 12, 2007

Screening

Documentary Films: The Plow that Broke the Plains and The River

7:00–9:00PM

309 Auditorium

August 28, 2007

Talk

Claimed

309 Auditorium

Resources

Audio

Didactic – Art Minute

Episode 107 Jun-2007, Kate Meyer I’m David Cateforis with another Art Minute from the Spencer Museum of Art. Which force is more prevalent, the influence of culture on the landscape or the influence of the landscape on culture? A summer exhibition at the Spencer grapples with this question, offering a consideration of land use acknowledging our treatment of nature as a commodity. Claimed: Land Use in Western America draws inspiration from the teaching and scholarship of Donald Worster, Joyce & Elizabeth Hall Professor of U.S. History at the University of Kansas. A driving theme of Worster’s research and this exhibition is the perception that American environmental history can best be understood as a function of our political and economic culture. The photographs, drawings, and prints in the exhibition, by such artists as Grant Wood, Ed Ruscha, and Terry Evans, reveal aspects of land use and regional identity. Short texts accompanying the images offer additional thoughts about the use of natural resources and the challenges inherent in the land itself. The selected images and texts are intended to give viewers a variety of perspectives on American land use and misuse. Claimed is on view at the Spencer through August 12. With thanks to Kate Meyer for her text, from the Spencer Museum of Art, I’m David Cateforis.

Exhibition images

Works of art

Events

Resources

Audio

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Claimed: Land Use in Western America

Exhibition Overview

Exhibition images

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Events

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