Chris Gauthier, local filmmaker. Outdoor sneak peek screening “The Adobe Frontier” about Rael San Fratello Sat. June 5th (rain date Sun. June 6th) 8:00PM
The Adobe Frontier is a feature length documentary film (60 minutes) about Ronald Rael and Virginia San Fratello—of Studio Rael San Fratello—and their work to connect contemporary technology with the legacy of pottery making and adobe architecture in the Southwest United States. Mud Frontiers, the name of the project, uses 3D-printing technology to build adobe structures on Rael’s ancestral land in the San Luis Valley. Located in southern Colorado, the San Luis Valley is a remote and rural area with a distinct culture, language, and landscape; where indigenous and Hispanic communities have lived both in harmony and conflict with one another since the late sixteenth century. The tradition of adobe architecture—a building technique developed and adopted by both Native Americans and European colonists—stands as evidence of the complex socio-cultural history of the region.
Chris J. Gauthier is a documentary filmmaker and mixed media artist who lives in the Berkshire hills of western Massachusetts. With a background in anthropology, museum studies, and psychology, his prismatic approach to telling contemporary stories lives at the intersection of personal and social history. Most important for him are the social and cultural factors that impact the lives of the subjects with whom he works, and how those factors fit into the larger context of social relationships, racial reconciliation, and the history and potential future of the ever-bending arc of justice.