Home Stead is a photographic study of contemporary expressions of colonialism in Midwestern landscapes. Beginning from her familial history and homestead, Sampedro examines ways American exceptionalism and manifest destiny remain embedded in Midwestern cultural narratives. Raised in a fifth-generation German-Irish immigrant farming family in southwestern Minnesota—on the traditional lands of the Očhéthi Šakówiŋ and Yankton Nations—Sampedro works within the layered histories of homesteading, land seizure, and U.S. expansionism. Using photography, research, and archival exploration, this project investigates historical and ongoing systems of dispossession.

This work is on-going and is supported by the Jerome Foundation, the Puffin Foundation, and Minnesota State Arts Board.