Inside the DAM: Roxanne Swentzell, Mud Woman, and The Whisper of the Land
Sometimes, the most memorable moments for an artist or writer are hidden. Sometimes our work itself is hidden. Several weeks ago Roxanne Swentzell told me over dinner and a glass of Blue Moon that she had inserted a PVC pipe into Mud Woman’s center to stabilize the 10-foot-tall sculpture. “But now I have this space that runs from her head to her heart,” she said. “I need to put something special in it. Maybe you have a poem about Denver?” Mud Woman is monumental—certainly not hidden. The Denver Art Museum commissioned Roxanne to create the piece for their new Native American exhibit and, after months of planning, Mud Woman is coming to life. The sculpture, officially named Mud Woman Rolls On , is the first thing that greets visitors when they step off the 3 rd floor elevator of the DAM, Denver ’s world class art museum. Roxanne, a world class sculptor, will be working on the piece all spring and summer . Rox is from the Santa Clara Pueblo in New Mexico . Her roots