Odd Day #3 would be best called visual overload..... OMG. Spent mostly in Lucas Kansas:
1. The Garden of Eden by S.P. Dinsmoor
I first learned about this place in "Naives and Visonaries" a book I bought over 25 years ago. I have wanted to see it in person ever since. This is deservedly one of the most famous outsider art sites in America. In a town that currently has a population of 450 sits this amazing "home". It was built in 1907 and added on to until his death in 1932 at the age of 91. It was intentionally built as a "tourist attraction" but one in which he and his family lived. His biblical themes were intertwined with social opinion and quirky takes on history. Inside the house we saw his woodworking skill and creative floor plan - part home, part museum, part tourist trap. The stone house was designed to be a stone version of a log cabin. In the backyard there were cages for animals (no two headed calves but wonders like badgers, hawks and weasels). When his first wife died, he married the 20 year old housekeeper (he was 81) and had two more children. He worked on the sculptures 'til his dying day. We were simply blown away. See a very small taste below.
2. The Grassroots Art Center
Due to Mr. Dinsmoor's and the Garden of Eden's appeal and draw, other folks in the area were compelled to create. At some point, certain individuals sought a way to honor outsider artists and the Art Center was born. Incredible and growing connection. Our guide Wendall took us on a 1 and half hour tour and regaled us with the tales of their many artists. Eye boggling it was. There was the wall of name puns - one side for male names the other for women. Art all made from "junk" dredged from a lake. Throughout the area there is the ubiquitous use of limestone - from miles of fence posts to homes and of course art. One elderly woman named Inez Marshall started carving art out of the free material. You can see a shot of part of the room filled with her work. It would have been a daunting task to make the work out of wood or ceramics but stone.... crazy I tell you.ps. That car and motorcycle are made out of beer pull tabs.
3. The Deeble House
Wendall then walked a couple of blocks away to a house that is part of the Art Center's domain. Owned by Mrs. Deeble, it was purchased by the center upon her death so that they could save her backyard environment. There were versions of places she visited - like Mt. Rushmore, Estes Park, Oak Creek Canyon etc. All made of concrete, stone, shells and found objects. The interior was pretty "normal" until another artist was invited to live there. Mari-Pilar within a couple years of full-on OCD passion transformed it into "ReBarb." The house was absolutely filled with thousands of art recycled and altered/embellished "Barbies" along with other dolls and found objects. There was room of "dark" Barbies. Another room where they were all silver or gray. It was UN-#*%$#@*-BELEIVABLE! See a very tiny taste below.
Later we visited a ceramic artist named Eric Abraham who has transformed an old auto dealership into a clay and glaze wonderland. He and his wife moved to Lucas a few years back simply because it was a small art supportive community and, as he put it "Way cheap man." See just a couple of his pieces in photos below - work was wild whimsical and quirky; kind of like Eric Hmmmm?
We were inspired, awed and overwhelmed. Like a day in a visual amusement park and after having eaten way too much eye-candy we reluctantly left The Wonderful World of Lucas in our rear view mirror well knowing that we will surely return. Our recommendation: GO! GO SOON!
Love and Barbies Gone Bad,
Rodney and Susan
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