Professor creates Fort Ord exhibit
Imagine shipping out to war tomorrow. What would your art look like today?
Fort Ord – once the largest military base in the American West – was a vital center during much of the 20th century. More than a million people lived and worked at the base, embedding the current architectural ruin with layers of murals and traces of their lives. Planet Ord explores the contemporary experience and historical echoes of their abandoned city, relating it to the many lost places in contemporary America.
This multi-media exhibition at the Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History is guest curated by Enid Baxter Ryce, who reveals the artwork and stories within this ever-changing icon of Monterey County. Partnering with students and alumni of California State University, Monterey Bay, Professor Ryce documents Fort Ord through film, photo, and carefully painted maps of this San-Francisco-sized military base. The Planet Ord exhibit – supported by War Comes Home, an initiative from Cal Humanities – will be on display from April 4 to July 20. The museum is located at 705 Front St., Santa Cruz.
Several special events will be held in conjunction with the show, including an April 11 screening of "Extraordinary Ord," a documentary by Eric Palmer. It has been screened at the San Luis Obispo Film Festival and won the top prize at the Monarch Film Festival. See the trailer below. Palmer is a 2007 graduate of CSUMB's Teledramatic Arts and Technology Department.
Related events:
• April 4 – Artist talk with Enid Ryce, chair of the Cinematic Arts and Technology Department at CSUMB and guest curator for the exhibit, 5:30 p.m.
• April 11 – Screening and discussion of "Extraordinary Ord," a documentary by Eric Palmer, 6:30 p.m.
• May 9 – Screening of CSUMB student films about Fort Ord, 6:30 p.m.
• May 26 – Annual Memorial Day Remembrance, 11 a.m.
Related links: Exhibit opening Exhibition