Elise Boulanger, 𐓍𐓘𐓤’𐓟𐓤𐓣𐓵𐓟 (Be good to one another)

Elise Boulanger (Osage Nation)
𐓍𐓘𐓤’𐓟𐓤𐓣𐓵𐓟 (Be good to one another)
Porcelain-stoneware clay, red iron oxide

I invite you to write a note of kindness to your ancestors or relatives (left), Fort Lewis boarding school students (center), and current Fort Lewis College students (right). Then leave your note in the pot with good thoughts.With this piece, I hope to promote the importance of taking care of ourselves and each other through compassion, and to provoke moments of reflection on how fortunate we are to exist with one another.

My uncle often says “Today, we as people don’t tell one another ‘I love you’, ‘I care about you’ enough. That’s what our old Osage ways teach us.”

Thank you very much to Jay Dougan in the Fort Lewis College Art Department for assisting me in using our campus ceramics facility, and to Nick Schlau of Colorado Clay Studio for his guidance.

Notes from the three pots (to ancestors or relatives, Fort Lewis boarding school students, and current Fort Lewis College students), courtesy of museum visitors.