TBD…

On November 29, 1864, a great act of violence was perpetrated on the innocent Cheyenne and Arapaho peoples and left a lasting scar on the soul of Colorado. Wails and Whispers is a reaction to, and reflection of that day. This project compels visitors to confront the violence of the Sand Creek Massacre as they enter through the cacophonous ringing of steel on steel, evoking the violence and chaos which suddenly erupted that morning. Imposing vertical steel tubes, like the barrel of a gun, interrupt the horizon and entraps the visitor in an enclosure of domination. The only escape is to flee into and through open prairie grass. As the threshold from industrial militarism to natural harmony is traversed, the discordance of the past fades and is replaced by the peaceful whisper of grass, swaying in the winds of the plains. The grass speaks to us of the past and urges remembrance of the memories of those who were silenced in history. At last, One would reach the memorial’s center. Standing encircled but remaining, are cracked and faded wooden posts. Each with unique features and flaws that are felt through hands placed upon them. A final reminder that the massacre was not just an event in the past, but one in which individual people must not be forgotten.