The role of artists in communities is the focus of an artist residency project, the Lewis & Clark Arts Corps, supported by the National Endowment for the Arts in cooperation with the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies and the New England Foundation for the Arts. The artists participating in the residency are using their talents to not only bring their perspective to the commemoration of the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial, but also engage local residents in the creative process.

Last fall, lead artist Karen McCoy worked with choreographer Melli Hoppe in Louisville, Kentucky, to create "rammed earth" sculptures, which incorporated earth from different places to reflect the expedition's interest in the physical world and the various home places of each of the expedition members. In this second residency in the St. Louis region, McCoy visited Pawhuska, Oklahoma, to learn from the Osage the use of marker trees as guides to special places, paths and water. The Osage once lived in the St. Louis and lower Missouri River region and to McCoy the symbolic use of a living tree, adapted for special guiding purposes, seemed an ideal metaphor for St. Louis' Three Flags Signature Event. In collaboration with Ed Red Eagle, McCoy and local artist Matthew Dehaemers have designed a new tree planting and branch tethering ceremony.

The artists chose a site in the Kennedy Forest near the St. Louis Art Museum. The site centers on the hollow trunk of a large red oak, which has a natural doorway large enough to walk into. Within the trunk, a young Osage orange will be planted and one low growing branch will be drawn through a slot cut in the east side of the trunk. This branch will be manipulated and tethered in the old way of the Osage so that it will form a marking arm directing our gaze in an easterly direction. The Osage consider that they are always traveling in an easterly direction on their life paths. The aim of the project is to "re-root" and honor the ancient Osage presence in the St. Louis region. The living and growing tree will create a place for people to visit, contemplate and gain greater understanding of our history and future.

The dedication of the site has been set for mid-March, with Chief Jim Gray and other members of the Osage Nation, as well as national and local sponsors of the project, attending. The St. Louis residency will be the final one under this NEA initiative. The residency coincides with the signature events being held to commemorate Lewis and Clark's journey west and their return journey to St. Louis. For more information on the residency and on the Lewis and Clark ArtsCorps, contact Liesel Fenner at the New England Foundation for the Arts (NEFA), or visit NEFA's Web site. Complete information on the bicentennial can be found at www.lewisandclark200.org.