Cross the Ruins Bridge and Visit Our Fairytale

Sometimes, all we have in common in this fairytale is moss.

A fairytale world with red dog stairs and curated moss by Erika Johnson

If you have visited The Ruins in person over the last five years, you will have heard your tour guide announce firmly that you are welcome to touch the mosaics but please leave your politics at the door.

You might think to yourself, that’s a bold ask.

How can a place that makes art about coal mining not have politics? How can a place that tells stories about immigration and the environment not have politics? How can a place with anything important to say at all in this decade, not have politics?

If you listen to the words we use carefully, you will notice that we are not asking you to not have politics. We are asking you to leave your politics at the doorstep for your 1.5 hour visit to this sacred space. You can retrieve them on your way back across the bridge, stuff them back into your purse or your pocket. I am picturing a dirty pile of politics, heaped up next the firepit, behind the shipping container. Your red…