Staging Area: A Barn Raising in Two Parts (Part One), Erin Besler
March 15–June 8, 2025
Art Omi
Few structures have been as intensely labored over as the barn. From community raising weekends and feminist pedagogical projects to back-to-the land conversions and acts of preservation, across the rural United States barns are sites where commonly held distinctions break down: between amateur participants and expert practitioners, nature and culture, individuals and collectives, manual trades and intellectual pursuits, and the discipline of architecture and the practice of building.
While American barns are often tied to romantic myths of isolation, self-sufficiency, and pragmatism, the collective efforts of barn raisings emphasize exchange, skill sharing, and more ubiquitous building practices. Here, catering kitchens, woodcraft workshops, and informal childcare unfold at the edges of the building process, weaving everyday life into construction. These practices challenge conventional notions of property and innovation, instead fostering systems of reciprocity and community over individualism and profit.
Curated by Julia van den Hout for Art Omi, Staging Area unfolds in two parts and through an ongoing, layered program of events. Over the course of five months, visitors are invited to join in social gatherings, site-specific interventions, and creative activities, including raising suppers, barn model workshops, and lumber parades.
