Echoes of the Cordillera

Dawn beyond the Rio Grande by Jim Bones

Echoes of the Cordillera: Attitudes and Latitudes Along the Great Divide

January 13 – March 25, 2018

Photographs by Jim Bones of the Continental Divide from Alaska into Mexico were displayed alongside ekphrastic poetry, poems written after reflecting on an objet d’art, by 39 poets from Texas and New Mexico. Scroll down the page to see all 52 images.

The Opening of the exhibit on January 13 included readings by the poets. Click here to view a video of the event.

A full-color softcover book of the anthology Echoes of the Cordillera: Attitudes and Latitudes Along the Great Divide is available. It contains 52 photographs by Jim Bones with accompanying poetry by the following 39 poets:

Mike Alexander, Gloria Amescua, Jenny Browne, Stan Crawford, Sarah Cortez, David E. Cowen, Carolyn Dahl, Robin Davidson, Margo Davis, Kelly Ann Ellis, Carolyn Tourney Florek, Priscilla Frake, John Gorman, Lucy Griffith, Ann Howells, Cindy Huyser, Sharon Klander, Gordon Magill, Wade Martin, David Meischen, John Milkereit, Laura Peña, Elina Petrova, Lee Robinson, Nelson Sager, Varsha Saraiya-Shah, Rebecca A. Spears, Sandi Stromberg, Larry D. Thomas, Chuck Wemple, Mary Wemple, Sasha West, Marilyn Westfall, Allyson Whipple, Scott Wiggerman, Connie Lane Williams, Jerald Winakur, Judith Youngers and Vanessa Zimmer-Powell.
Click here to view biographical information about Jim Bones and all of the poets.

A low resolution copy of the book can be viewed here.

Here are reviews of the book by 3 of the participating poets:

I received Echoes of the Cordillera in today’s mail, and am overwhelmed by the beautiful merging of poetry and photography in its pages. It is a book which I shall return to time and time again, and which I shall always cherish.
—Larry D. Thomas

Biggest thanks go to you and your staff for the momentous work you all did to create such a terrific opening of Jim’s superb photos and launch of the beautiful anthology. The crowd was astounding and their appreciation so wonderful to experience first hand. Hopefully, this will be a great boon for the museum as well. Recipients will certainly treasure this book for years to come, whether they’re keen on poetry, or not.
—Sandi Stromberg

This is an extraordinary collection of photographs and an equally extraordinary collection of poems. To paraphrase Jim, this event was truly greater than the sum of its parts. A perfect marriage of two arts! Everyone should be rightfully proud!
—Scott Wiggerman

Denali, “The Great One,” Tallest Peak in North America (20,310 feet), Alaska Range by Jim Bones

This I Believe

For me, the beautiful resides in the physical, but it is spiritual. I have never heard a sermon as spiritual in either phrase or fact as, “Waters on a starry night are beautiful and free.” No hymn lifts my heart higher than the morning call of the bobwhite or the long fluting cry of sandhill cranes out of the sky at dusk.

Not all hard truths are beautiful, but beauty is truth. It incorporates love and is incorporated by love. It is the goal of all great art. Its presence everywhere makes it free to all.

— J. Frank Dobie

Village Girlfriends, Sierra Madre Occidental, Chiapas, Mexico
Paper Seeds, Leaves, Cicada, Sierra Madre Occidental, Chiapas, Mexico
Monkey Ear Acacias, Dry Tropical Forest, Sierra Madre Occidental, Chiapas, Mexico
Rio Moctezuma, Sierra Madre Oriental, Querétero, Mexico
Stanhopea Orchids, Cloud Forest, Sierra Madre Oriental, Tamaulipas, Mexico
Oak, Fig, Fern, Cactus, Cloud Forest, Sierra Madre Occidental, Chiapas, Mexico
Scarlet Runner Flowers, Lichen, Fog, Sierra Madre Oriental, Tamaulipas, Mexico
Lichen, Pine Needles, Sierra Madre Occidental, Chihuahua, Mexico
Dry Pines, Rio Conchos, Sierra Madre Occidental, Chihuahua, Mexico
Agaves, Karst Limestone Erosion, Sierra Madre Oriental, Tamaulipas, Mexico
Folded Seabed, Sierra Madre Oriental, Tamaulipas, Mexico
Burro Bluff, Rio Grande Lower Canyons, Texas-Mexico
Marfa Lights Grasslands, Davis Mountains, Texas
Adobe Ruins of Johnson Ranch, Rio Grande Valley, Big Bend, Texas
Horse Heads Crossing, Lobo Valley, Texas
Camels, We Were Here First, Fort Davis, Texas
Heliotrope, Pecos River Valley Gypsum Dunes, Monahans, Texas
El Paso, Rio Grande Valley, Juarez, Monte Cristo Rey, Texas-Mexico
Still Pool, Catfish Falls, Rio Pecos, New Mexico
Endangered Rio Grande Silvery Minnows, New Mexico
Trinitite Hand, Trinity Atomic Bomb Site, White Sands, New Mexico
Radiation Baby, Ground Zero, White Sands, New Mexico
Pueblo Kiva, Pecos National Monument, New Mexico
Ancient Ones Petroglyphs, San Juan River Basin, Utah
Lion Rock Tinaja, Glenn Springs Draw, Big Bend, Texas
Angel Peaks Badlands, San Juan River Basin, New Mexico
Twilight, Northern Pacific Coast Range, Crescent City, California
Iceplant, Magdalena Island, Pacific Ocean, Baja California Sur, Mexico
Salt Lake Playa, Sagebrush Desert, Great Basin, Nevada
Salt Pans, Bad Water Lake, Panamint Mountains, Death Valley, California
Saguaro, Ocotillo, Acacia, Larrea, Sonoran Desert, Arizona
Sunset Narrows, Colorado River, Grand Canyon, Arizona
South Rim Sunrise, Grand Canyon, Colorado River, Arizona
Autumn Aspens, Sangre de Cristo Mountains, New Mexico
Pinnacles, Fog, Wildflowers, Mount Sneffels, San Juan Mountains, Colorado
Willow Creek Silver Mines, San Juan Mountains, Creede, Colorado
Clepsydra Geyser, Yellowstone Volcanic Caldera, Wyoming
Grand Teton Mountain Sunrise, Lake Jackson, Wyoming
Giant Sequoia, Pine, Fir Friends, Sierra Nevada, California
Granite Boulders, Mount Whitney, Sierra Nevada, California
Sasquatch, Mount Saint Helen’s Visitor Center, Washington
Pacific Ocean, Olympic Coast, Hoh Temperate Rainforest, Washington
Three Grizzly Bears Salmon Fishing, Katmai, Alaska
Coastal Peaks, Chugach Mountains, Cordova, Alaska
Volcanic Ash Layers in Matanuska Glacier, Lake and River, Chugach Mountains, Alaska
Volcanic Ash on Matanuska Glacier, Chugach Mountains, Alaska
Lichen, Folded Metamorphic Rock, Chugach Mountains, Alaska
Cloud Wraiths, North Slope Tundra, Brooks Range, Alaska
Tundra Lichen, Moss, Dryas Flowers, North Slope, Brooks Range, Alaska
Denali, “The Great One,” Tallest Peak in North America (20,310 feet), Alaska Range
La Cordillera emerges from the Pacific Ocean, Baja California, Mexico
Dawn Beyond the Rio Grande