Day 4: Kanab to Arcosanti

The majority of the group was thankful to leave from the Treasure Trail Motel. Before departing from Kanab, Utah we ate breakfast at a local coffee shop and were told we would be going on a surprise trip. Shana and Brent told us they had done some research of the area the night before and wanted to take us to the Little Hollywood Western Movie Museum. It was conveniently within walking distance of the cafe. Apparently there had been a lot of famous movies filmed within that specific area. Most of the locals would take time off work in order to help participate in the extras needed in the films. Little Hollywood’s goal was to preserve the old sets used within movies that were cheaply and easily put together with nails, staples, foam, and fiberglass, etc. They were constructed this way to relocate the set to the appropriate scene after construction in Kanab. Once the movie producers had finished the filming process, the sets would be sent back to Kanab to be deconstructed or preserved for the public to view at the museum. The gift shop of the museum had jewelry with precious local stones made by local artists, Native American sand paintings, etc. Being that there was a long trip ahead of us, most of us decided to purchase post cards to write to our friends and families to occupy ourselves in the van.

Half way in-between our 288 mile trip to our next destination, we stopped at an overlook next to the Colorado River. The hill hadn’t eroded as much as the surrounding landscape leading to the water. There was a rich supply of flint stone on the hill which made me suspect there was a likely chance that the Native Americans had once inhabited this area. They would frequently use flint to make most of their weapons and other tools. If we would have had more time, I would have loved to hunt for artifacts. We were also able to view Page which was the town we had planed to stop at for lunch. In order to get to the town we had to travel over the Glen Canyon Dam. Most of the dams within the American southwest are constructed to supply bigger cities with water and to prevent the desert from flooding as much as it naturally does since the west has become more civilized over time. The canyon made it hard to understand its scale from the overlook. We were only able to understand its magnitude once we were passing over it to the city of Page, Arizona.

We finally made it to Arcosanti for the 6pm communal dinner. We had to travel off a half a mile on a gravel road in order to get to the facility. Once we had made it to the parking lot, it seemed very deserted. There were no vehicles in sight and the building appeared very small at first.

Once we had entered the building I was instantly in awe of the details within the architecture and the artwork presented. The people were few in number, and they all seem very close to one another. It was a buffet style dinner with healthy foods mostly grown from their own gardens. The chicken was delicious! It has been my favorite meal of the trip so far. Once we had finished eating, we were escorted through the community and taken to our rooms. (On a personal note, this is where I encountered the first scorpion seen on the trip. I squealed and Brent quickly came to take care of the problem. Brent said, “I am going to kill this here scorpion with this here shoe.” Phew!) We were so blown away by the self-sustaining community’s overall beauty that most decided to call the people that were closest to them and tell them about the place we had discovered. We were welcomed to roam around the community at our leisure and eventually found a music room where they had a TV. After watching the stars on the steps behind the amphitheater we decided to watch Vegas Vacation. The next morning we had packed the van and had eaten breakfast before our official tour of Arcosanti. Sadly the founder Paolo Soleri had died about a month ago, but we were thankful enough to walk his footsteps.

“Italian born architect Paolo Soleri came to Arizona in 1947 to study under Frank Lloyd Wright. Upon completing a 1 1/2 year apprenticeship, followed by the construction of an award winning desert home, he and his new wife Colly returned to Europe, where he was commissioned to build a ceramics factory on Italy’s Amalfi coast. While constructing this factory, which was recently designated an Italian historic building, Soleri first began creating ceramics. Returning to Arizona in 1955, they purchased this 5 acre parcel of land which soon became his architectural and craft studios, Cosanti, a nonprofit educational foundation dedicated to architectural research. Using ceramics skills he developed in Italy he began manufacturing earth cast ceramics, unique to the Sonoran desert, including wind bells, later produced in bronze as well. Many hundreds of art and architectural students from around the world have apprenticed here with Soleri and, while ”learning by doing”, helped construct these innovative “earth cast” concrete buildings used to shelter work spaces, offices, and architectural design studios. Soleri’s talents were soon recognized by the American Institute of Architects and he was awarded the A.I.A. Gold Medal for Craftsmanship in 1963, not only for his ceramic and bronze bells but also for Cosanti’s architecture. Cosanti is designated an Arizona Historical Site.” -Roger Tomalty

Arcosanti’s funding has mainly come from their profits off of the art they sell out of their gallery and online orders. During the tour we were able to see their process of reproducing the items within the gallery. Most of us were excited to see this being that the majority of our group specializes in the same field of sculpture with foundry and ceramics. After the tour we had purchased items from their gift shop to support their cause and headed straight to the beautiful swimming pool after eating another delicious healthy meal. After a couple hours of free time we sadly needed to get back in the van and drive to Tucson, Arizona to continue our travels. Nobody wanted to leave that beautiful place. We all had convinced ourselves we would return one day.

Once we had started traveling again, the average urban world seemed alien to us all because average homes were built to consume and not to conserve. The lifestyle of Arcosonti seemed to give us all hope for a better future, or even a future at all. I couldn’t help but feel ashamed of being a part of society that takes the environment which sustains us for granted. Arcoconti has inspired most of us to work harder towards making these ideas of conservation a reality in an avant-garde way. Three hours later we arrived in Tucson, Arizona where we stayed in a La Quinta hotel and played marco-polo in the swimming pool. SPLASH!

-Ayla Boyle