UNEARTHED PERFORMANCE with Cellist Ruth Boden: “Conversations with Our Roots”

About the event

Unearthed: Cello and Spoken Word with Ruth Boden

Wednesday, September 23, 2026 | 12–1 p.m.
Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art at Washington State University

What might a fallen tree tell us about the world around us?

Join us at the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art for a special performance with WSU School of Music faculty member Ruth Boden, who will respond to artist Jim Hodges’ Unearthed through cello and spoken word.

Unearthed is a monumental bronze cast of an uprooted tree stump. Powerful and haunting, the work evokes both the majesty of nature and the lasting impact of human intervention on the natural world. Hodges first presented the work in 2019 at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco, where it became the focus of music, readings, ritual, and community participation.

Now on view at the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, Unearthed offers a new opportunity for audiences in the Palouse and Inland Northwest to experience the work through music, movement, conversation, and shared reflection.

For this special performance, Boden will use the cello and spoken word to create a musical conversation with Unearthed. Visitors are welcome to drop in anytime between noon and 1 p.m. and stay as long as they wish.

This performance is part of a fall 2026 series of programs inspired by Unearthed, featuring music, readings, and dance.

About Ruth Boden

Ruth Boden is an Associate Professor in the WSU School of Music, where she teaches cello, bass, and music theory and coordinates the chamber music program. An active performer and passionate advocate for new and contemporary music, she has performed with orchestras and chamber ensembles throughout the Northwest and Southeast and has collaborated with acclaimed artists including the Vermeer, Juilliard, Miami, and Cavani String Quartets and the Diaz Trio.

Boden is also the creator of Music Outside Four Walls, a project that brings new music into the outdoors. An avid hiker and lover of the natural world, she has spent summers backpacking with her cello and performing new works commissioned for the project.

Free and open to the public.

LOCATION | The Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art WSU is located in the Crimson Cube (on Wilson Road across from Martin Stadium and the CUB) on the WSU Pullman campus.