21 California Missions

Photographs, Painting, and Mixed-media

by Sandi Potter

My nostalgic exploration began in 2005 while taking a mixed media class when I made my first mission collage using photos from a visit to San Juan Bautista.  I decided that I would like to visit each of the California Missions, to expand my knowledge of California history and geography.  The next mission I visited was Mission Solano at the Sonoma. At that mission there is a display of watercolors of each of the missions that were made in 1906 and 1907 and was inspired to visit all the missions and create a piece of art from each one.

I was surprised to find so much variety, and also a certain consistency, at the missions.  Some of the old missions are in ruin, some have been restored, and many have active Catholic parishes and thriving schools.  The missions represent the variety of coastal and bay California landscape.  They are located in modern metropolis, small towns and rural areas. As I worked through this adventure I had a desire to represent archetype images that are the California missions – arches, tile roofs, crosses, angels, bells, grave markers, fountains, gardens and orchards.

My goal was not to make a depiction of each mission building, but to capture a unique aspect of the mission in its present day landscape.  As I visited missions and learned more about them I became interested in both the unique history of each place and the common images and themes. I became interested in how the missions had shaped their individual communities.

Today when I talk to friends about the missions and my project I get a mixed reaction – some enjoy them as a secular part of California’s rich history, others are sadden by the role they played in damaging Native American way of life, others identify with the sacred aspect of the Catholic church. I found the missions to be peaceful places to contemplate and often to be close to nature, even in big cities.

As I visited the missions I learned about their industrious and troubled past. The missions were founded in Alta California in the period between 1769 and 1823.  Conflicts between Spanish and Mexican explorers, missionaries, and native people were widespread. In 1834 the Mexican government secularized the missions and ownership reverted to local Californians. In 1848 California became a U.S. territory and gained statehood in 1850. Mission properties were returned to the Catholic Church in the period between 1855 and 1868.