Enclose, Enact, Embody: The Creation of Spanish Colonial Sacred Space

I will travel to either the Sierra Gorda in Mexico or Tucson, Arizona, both sites of architecturally significant Spanish missions built by Franciscan friars in the 18th century. This project provides comparative context for my dissertation on the Spanish California missions, which analyzes the interplay of architecture, enforced spatial practice, and the material culture of religion in the efforts to Christianize indigenous people. I also look for evidence of local resistance and cultural persistence in the visual, material, and textual documents of the period, making an effort to include scant but important native perspectives.