Fort Ord – once the largest military base in the American West – was a vital center during the twentieth century. It is now decommissioned and in transition. More than a million people lived and worked at Fort Ord, embedding the current architectural ruin with layers of murals and traces of their lives. Planet Ord explores the contemporary experience and historical echoes of this abandoned city, relating it to the many lost places in present-day America.
With support from CalIFORNIA Humanities’ Community Stories grant program, CSU Monterey Bay Professor Enid Baxter Ryce and a team of students, assisted by historians and veteran and community advisors, have curated material from Ryce’s decade-long documentary project into a multimedia exhibit, now open at the Santa Cruz Museum of History and Art, which will run through July 20. The exhibit, which includes still and moving images, as well as graphic and textual stories, is augmented with an array of public programs, including film screenings, discussions, and a walking tour of the historic site. For more information, click HERE.