Brianna L. Hernandez Baurichter Anticipatory|Después  Esencial  Video 2 minutes

 Project Update February 22, 2024: We're ecstatic to share the news of our latest collaboration with multidisciplinary artists Hope Sandrow and Ulf Skogsbergh as we unveil the "Nourishing Reciprocity" partnership, which expands our residency program capacity in Shinnecock Hills, a portion of Shinnecock Nation ancestral territory. This groundbreaking program is located at "The Cottage,"  which Hope and Ulf stewarded and historically preserved. It was once the 1891 - 1914 carriage gate house of American impressionist painter William Merritt Chase. This newly established residency offers a quiet retreat to a sanctuary for creativity and reflection while offering close access to Ma's House and the surrounding area.

Project Update May 10, 2023

Kelly: “In residency at Hope’s open air studio Shinnecock Hills, I’m creating art in a former carriage house that was plein air painter William Merritt Chase’s (1891-1914) when he lived, painted, taught nearby. Our great Aunt his subject in the oil painting ““Shinnecock Indian Girl” (1897). To inform my art making as well as our collaboration:  I’m researching historical records in consideration of territorial land-use and pre-colonial significance of chickens and birds in Shinnecock and local Indigenous culture and agriculture. Including our customary gift sharing for survival with plants and animals. Of interest is identifying the residual effects of fertilizers, pesticides such as temik chemicals used by potato farmers on leased Shinnecock Territory (1970s) for consideration of remediation plans. As we pursue tribal food sovereignty projects from local food resources, including for chickens such as kelp and seaweed (also for insulation as at the turn of 20th century) with Shinnecock Kelp Farmers.”

Jeremy, Brianna and Kelly: Our efforts for keeping chickens on an Indian reservation within Shinnecock Tribal Territory and sharing eggs with tribe members will help support food sovereignty efforts; reduce food waste; provide organic fertilizer. Lowering the carbon footprint by reducing transportation, minimize pesticide use and support local food production. Promoting sustainable agricultural practices benefiting our environment by raising chickens for eggs, residents can produce their own food locally and reduce the environmental impact associated with industrial agriculture. Overall, providing a sustainable source of food and reducing waste.

Jeremy and Brianna: “Excited to have chickens at Ma’s House, who are consuming ticks that overrun our environment. Traditionally we did controlled burns to manage overgrowth but the large density of modern-day houses, along with our natural environment being a sanctuary to wildlife, has also brought ticks that can cause lyme disease which many tribe members suffer. The sixteen chicks we hatched from Hope’s Padovana’s Hen’s eggs (October 2022) live in the initial stages of a sustainable outdoor art installation we created onsite Ma's House. Which will develop, be in process as we learn, creating a safe environment for the chickens to thrive amidst weather-related events, facts-on-the-ground. We’re sharing with tribal members and community members our new found knowledge along with Hope’s advice and experience of open air studio Shinnecock Hills, a living record of climate change and restoration, during public engagements, workshops and an exhibit.

Hope: “(re)consideration of our relationships to nature and the natural world unfold on these ancestral lands. Our collaboration brings a new communal resource of chickens and eggs to the Shinnecock Tribal members at Ma’s House. In addition to my flock of seventy chickens, our first efforts toward re-wilding on the Shinnecock Reservation/Territory with mine ongoing in open air studio Shinnecock Hills - are under study as seasons unfold. The NYTimes article “Snarl, Your on Candid Camera” suggests that wild animals of different species were more likely to lead overlapping lives in human-altered landscapes … that interspecies squeeze could have effects such as making it harder for prey (ie our chickens) to evade predators, intensifying competition for resources or increasing the risk of interspecies disease transmission. My founding of and chairing the Town of Southampton Arts and Culture Committee in which Jeremy is a member, highlights the important role of artists in our community.

Jeremy Dennis, Dream of a New World  20” x 40” Metal Print 2019

Jeremy Dennis, We Are Still Here, 2016, Metal Print 40” x 60”

Denise, Brianna, Jeremy, and Kelly:

Our art-making, including restoring habitat for chickens is first in our process of re-wilding, on our Indian reservation within Shinnecock Tribal Territory. In support of food sovereignty efforts, sharing eggs and information about soil and water testing using organic fertilizers with Shinnecock Kelp Farmers, ensuring health and safety for all including marine and wildlife. Lowering the carbon footprint by reducing transportation, minimizing pesticide use, and supporting local food production and a community garden. Promoting sustainable agricultural practices benefiting our environment: raising chickens for eggs and growing vegetables, residents can produce their own food locally and reduce the environmental impact associated with industrial agriculture. Overall, providing a sustainable source of food and reducing waste.

Hope:  Sharing advocacy for the preservation of wildlife on ancestral lands and local food production, including Hen’s eggs, nourishes interconnections with neighboring Shinnecock Nation. Our relationships to nature and the natural world unfold within our living art installations that inform our community. The NYTimes article “Snarl, Your on Candid Camera” (January 6 2023) suggests “that wild animals of different species were more likely to lead overlapping lives in human-altered landscapes … that interspecies squeeze could have effects such as making it harder for prey to evade predators, intensifying competition for resources or increasing the risk of interspecies disease transmission”.