Home!

It always seems like flying on an airplane will be the simplest and quickest way to get somewhere, but after adding up the hours it took to get from the hotel in Salt Lake City back - finally - to my house in Milwaukee, I realized I had been traveling for over 11 hours! Shuttling between modes of transport and waiting for departure times really adds up. Luckily, it was only one day out of two weeks of fun, excitement, curiosity, and wonder!

It's hard to sum up the myriad experiences and sights that made up this journey, and at this moment, I'm still too close to it all to even begin sifting through everything. Soon, I'll start reading back over my notes, paging through the books I bought, re-reading the map, and unwrapping various mementos of the trip.

This time, however, my primary way of creating meaning from this experience will not be an individual exploration. Rather, I'll be helping guide our group of students through their project proposals and eventual fabrication of an artwork (culminating in a public exhibition late in August). I am looking forward to seeing what our group of thoughtful artists does with all this information, and how their insights may influence mine...the next "journey" for us all will be to find a way to put experience into form.

-Shana McCaw

Day 12: Spiral Jetty

The conclusion of our southwest pilgrimage begins with a trip down the Death Strip. A 50+ mile stretch of straight flat highway.

I stare out at the surreal landscape trying to decipher the divide between land and sky; at some point I become convinced that there isn’t one. The mirage before me makes mountains levitate out in the distance. Masses weighing tons look like little rocks. The drive is smooth for the most part. The van buzzes with the usual amount of activity. At one point an ugly form posing as a monument with thick limbs and boulder-sized balls at each end comes into focus breaking my trance. I telepathically send my best to the driver for passing it without haste. We continue on, the landscape subtly changes developing more shrubbery. The a/c creates goosebumps on my arms that mirror the terrain. The drive continues at its usual pace. I stare from the very back of the van out at my surroundings, they soon become blurry and I drift into sleep.



We soon arrive at our first checkpoint for the day - a cute cafe in downtown Salt Lake City called The Rose. Sadly it is only a coffee stop so our almost instant infatuation with the place is short-lived. Our next checkpoint is the Golden Spike National Historic Site. I spend a few minutes perusing the gift shop but have a hard time focusing on anything knowing what happens next on our class agenda. Upon our departure I have a rejuvenated interest in the landscape and ready myself for Robert Smithson’s "Spiral Jetty".

Waiting excitedly to spot Spiral Jetty from afar I fidget in my seat letting strange noises escape in-between conversing. A hush hits the car and we see what we believe to be Smithson’s famous earthwork. It appears to be completely submerged. From the front of the vehicle I hear “Well, that’s it guys. Let's turn back.”

Feeling slightly crazed due to the amount of time I have spent in a van for the past two weeks it almost seems fitting that our last stop would be a complete bust. Giggles from the van assure me that this was just a false alarm. The jetty is still ahead. A few miles further Spiral Jetty enters the frame of the windshield, looking impressive despite its distance from us. We pull up slowly and pour out of the van. The familiar shuttering noises of cameras fill my ears as I take my own snapshots. Before long we are all treading down the rocky path to the stone spiral. I find myself at the tail of the spiral with shoes full of sand. I gaze out at the piece and begin to shed my footwear and roll my pant legs so that I may walk the Spiral Jetty. I trudge along the wet and winding path paying close attention to my feet. Each step became a meditation and the journey to the center a reflection of the entire trip. The trail to the center of Spiral Jetty was long and at times rough but so very valuable that any physical discomfort was overshadowed. Once in the very center we all took a moment of silence to truly engage ourselves in the moment. In that moment only birds, bugs, and tiny ripples penetrated our ears. Salt dried on our ankles and hands making our skin sparkle. We made our way back cutting across the jetty for our feet’s sake and hiked up past the van to experience the earthwork from afar. The piece became twenty times more stunning perched from a rock on the hillside. We spent a bit more time then headed out. I couldn’t have drawn a better close to this trip than a 15' 1" x 1,509' spiral in the Great Salt Lake and am eternally grateful for Smithson doing so.

-Brandon McGee

Day 11: Lucin and Sun Tunnels

Before traveling to "Sun Tunnels" created by Nancy Holt, as a group we had to make decisions as to how we would get there and prepare ourselves for the chance of getting a flat tire while traveling to our destination. Our first decision to make was either to take the bumpy and exciting route, or take the smooth path. Previously we came to the decision that having a harder pilgrimage to the destination makes the experience more fulfilling and creates a better appreciation for the piece. Therefore we decided the “more exciting route” was the way to go.

Sadly we found out our 15-passenger van also known as The White Whale might not be able to make it to the destination if we took “the more exciting route.”

We first came to a ghost town called Lucin to stop and eat lunch. It was literally a ghost town because there was nothing there besides an oasis surrounded by a desert full of shrubs. All there was to see were two underground shelters made to avoid bombs in the cold war along with random metal pieces, broken glass bottles and garbage left over from the old foundations and previous passers-by.

Ayla and I decided to create a sculpture in an open area. We had gathered objects we found to be interesting; we hardly spoke to each other and just followed our intuition.

After Lucin we went straight to Sun Tunnels, and it was quite the ride. The tunnels were in the open, but it was still hard to find the space. We had to use our macro lenses on our cameras to see where exactly the Sun Tunnels were.

I would say we had the most fun compared to any previous viewers that have come to visit the tunnels.

Once we were there our first reaction was to climb on top of them.

The experience gave us a sudden burst of energy. We decided to play tag around the tunnels. Soon after we realized that out of shape art students aren’t exactly made for a game with so much running.

After regaining our breath from an exciting game of tag we sat in one of the tunnels to escape the warm sun to have a discussion about Nancy Holt’s piece, and how we could relate as well as the other places we had visited.

Sadly we had to leave the Sun Tunnels, but as we were driving back we saw a strange object in the distance. We, of course, had to go find out what it was. We drove off of the beaten road, onto a less-traveled one to find random, unknown sculptures in the middle of the desert. Not only was the location strange, the objects were too.

After such an exciting day, our way back consisted of napping. Once we returned to the hotel we all went our own ways, found dinner, and later hung out in the hot tub to relax before our long drive to Spiral Jetty the next day.

-Amanda Stein

Day 10: Tour with Matt Coolidge

Wendover is a quirky little city that straddles the Nevada/Utah border. The two sides of the town exist in stark contrast with each other. The Nevada side could almost be described as opulent, boasting four large casinos. The Utah side of town pales in comparison.

We woke up to a welcome message from Brent and Shana, after what appeared to be a collectively restless night at the the Knights Inn Motel. It featured a collection of feral cats, cigarette burns on all available surfaces and even a sink that was cracked down the middle and caulked back together. Luckily, there was room in the trip budget to transfer motels to the Quality Inn so we only spent one night at the Knights Inn. The Quality Inn not only had clean rooms that didn't smell like cigarette smoke, but also a pool and a fantastic continental breakfast.

After dropping off our bags at the new hotel, we met Matt Coolidge from the Center for Land Use Interpretation. Also called CLUI, this is a group dedicated to the increase and diffusion of knowledge about how the nation's lands are apportioned, utilized and perceived. CLUI often works with artists to help them achieve their goals through a residency program in Wendover. At nine am, we went to an old military administration office turned into a museum which documented the history of land use in Utah.

After Matt Coolidge gave us a brief history of Utah we moved on to see a few other buildings on the base, such as the barracks and a nurses' center. A few of the other buildings on the property/base also belonged to CLUI, including the barracks buildings that had been turned into an exhibition hall and studio.

Lunch rolled around quickly after we finished our tour. Brent and Shana admitted that there wasn't much in the way of restaurants in Wendover other than the casinos. Luckily, Matt suggested that we visit the Taco Truck, a food truck that hangs out in the parking lot of a an adult lingerie and video shop. Their tacos might literally have been the best thing I have ever eaten and I believe that eating it on the curb might have actually made it better.

After lunch we drove to the Historic Wendover Air force Museum. Located inside this museum is the world's most accurate replica of the Little Boy bomb, which was carried by the plane, Enola Gay, whose original hanger is located in Wendover. My favorite part of the museum was probably the photographs of the fighter planes' illustrated nicknames and illustrations, which generally featured scantily clad women.

After the Air force museum we headed out to the Wendover Salt Flats. There is something incredible about the Salt Flats that I can't really do justice to in writing. One really has to visit them, to feel the salt encrusted lake bed give under the soles of your feet as you walk through the ankle deep water that is almost slimy from such high saline content. That description sounds absolutely disgusting, yet it was one of my favorite parts of the trip because they are just breath takingly beautiful, stretching on for miles. On top of that they are just so incredibly fun, really who doesn't want to bring photographs home in which they appear to be walking on water?

One of the students on the trip, Jenna Knapp, has been filming a series of choreographed dances based on illustrations from cards whose meanings are then interpreted by the dancers. The Salt Flats proved to be the perfect venue for one such dance. We began in a line, our arms out stretched so that they merged with the landscape from there we executed the dance moves that each member had imagined. While Jenna has yet to release the videos from the trip, in the photographs we made an impressive tableau. Too quickly we were called back to solid land to begin a search for food. We ended our day at the nearby Salt Flat Cafe for dinner, at which Matt Coolidge joined us. Shortly thereafter we parted ways and returned to our (nice, clean) hotel for a much needed night's sleep.

-Marika Wasscher

Day 9: To Wendover

Vegas to Wendover, Utah. 7 hours plus stops. Long, straight roads through remote country. 120 mile stretches without services. All day, low, intermittent clouds cast dark shadows over the hills, seeping like black ink across the surface of the land. Midpoint at Ely. After all of this talk about moving earth, we finally get a chance to see our copper mine. The scale is confusing. Each of these trucks is the size of a two story house. This is further complicated by direct childhood experience of these machines in miniature in the form of Tonka trucks. The scale of the operation makes Michael Heizer's "Double Negative" look like only the faintest pencil mark on this earthen canvas.  

As these massive machines continue their operations, one performs a near perfect reenactment of Smithson's "Asphalt Rundown", but this time in raw sienna earth instead of black tar. 

Later, a random stop along a scenic but lonely stretch of highway reveals our first view of the salt flats and a surprise...

Wild horses graze just beyond the hilltop.

-Brent Budsberg

Day 8: Nevada National Security Site

Part 1:

When I awoke in Las Vegas that morning, the feeling of heaviness seeped from my head into the very soles of my shoes. It was another lackluster night of sleep at the Travelodge Motel, but to tell the truth - I didn’t really mind. It’s a funny thing when you realize you’re just “used to it.”

Per usual, my “roommates” were busily grabbing at things and filling water bottles in record time. I feel like they are, or were, far more of the “morning” bunch than I am, though that did not mean they complained about it any less. I didn’t really mind that either, because, well, friends just get “used to it.”

As I struggled to get it together, I recall that I kept racking my brain as to how in the hell I was supposed to remember all of the details of the forthcoming events of that day. Grabbing the only tools that were “allowed” for the day, my day - my aforementioned heavy mind, a pen and paper, I made the mental note of: “For the love of god, Caitlin, stay alive.”

(The Nevada Test Sites is an extremely “closed lip” ordeal, as you all know)

Making it to the group van, at about one minute past the scheduled time, I buckled into the front seat, and sized up the tour guide. Unfortunately, for the life of me, I cannot remember this guy’s name - and as bothersome as it may be to me, I’ll take it as the true “spirit” of the place(s) we visited with him on that dry, desert day - - - seemingly anonymous despite it’s rather critical acclaim.

I remember feeling weak and inadequate in the van. I couldn’t, for the life of me, understand how Brent and Shana stayed so in tune and on the ball the entire time. Looking around me, my “peers,” accidentally dozing off due to the lack of quantity and quality of sleep, seemed more like fallen soldiers, as opposed to enthusiastic, college brochure ready, exemplary students of the year. We were all so excited for every day, talking wildly at night about events to come, those that had happened, and so on and so forth. But it was our lack of coffee that morning that had spelled out a slow death for the rest of the day.

And so I kept my head up, ears opened and...half shut eyes...well intact, because after all, I wanted to.

Part 2:

Post-Marika almost getting screwed for being from the Netherlands, we re-boarded the van and set forth onto a journey that would last for hours. It’s hard to really encapsulate this experience in mere words, because as far as any lush details of the landscape go, there were few and far in between. Tell me, someone, how do you explain vastness without actually experiencing it first hand?

But it was the landscape and its man made mysteries that struck me the most, after all.

Each object affected by the explosive bombs, appeared as a left-behind prop on a long since deactivated stage. A train bridge section, in particular, stood as a simple reminder of its horrific life span, even after I gave rational thought to its inanimate purpose. I had a hard time grasping how it all worked, even after being explained the various processes that are involved with the making, dropping, protecting, etc, of the bomb.

(Fast forward a bit)

Upon taking a moment to step beside Sedan, an incredible crater left behind as a result of a dropping, I felt as if my landscape were not real despite having recently seen natural crevices as large and/or larger. I wondered why this was, and decided that since this crater was man made, that my mind could not possibly wrap itself around its greatness. Human beings are miniscule, and yet that thing - that thing was wicked.

Part 3:

Something that I had been looking forward to on this trip, was of course, Area 51. I knew that there was absolutely no way in hell that’d I’d ever enter this location during the tour, however, that did not stop me from my own speculations and wonderment. Our tour guide was of course, tight lipped about the matter, however, he did slip and quickly mentioned something about a kooky engineer who had supposedly seen a great green orb shooting into the sky nearby ol’ Gate 700. This was a highlight of the trip for me, being that it’s comical context just about killed me.

I think our tour guide was trying to tell Brent the story in confidence, and of course, I was leaning out of my chair to hear. My needy action sparked the attention of the last row, and alas, the guy had to mic up his story. I wasn’t too sure if he was happy about it, but he seemed to be of good wit and went with it. I liked that guy.

Anyways, I digress -

We also made a halt at what I believe to be was an overlooked location: the test site rest stop. I say this not because the ice cream sandwich I purchased exceeded my expectations, (it was actually just “of par”), but because of it’s absolutely bizarre intricacies.

Let me explain:

1) Who the hell works there anyways? Scanning the cafeteria style building, I was more than amused by the staff’s expressions. Granted, we were a student group, intruding on what I’m sure is a pretty “low key” restaurant, but it just felt as if we were the first people that were mostly under the age of 25 to have entered the facility in, let’s say, 25 years. Having that noted, I began to obsessively question how an individual applies for that cafeteria job.

“Is this something posted on Craigslist? Nevada National Test Site Cafe Clerk?” “I think I have the credentials for that...”

2) Overhearing conversations: While at this rest stop, I think I over heard some muttered, private conversations. I won’t say that what I thought I heard, is “valid,” but it does pose the question of the employees imposition on such a private place. This again, further pushed my realized parallel between the desert and the stage and its performer.

3) The decor: Matching the desert’s bleakness, the decor felt reminiscent of a Harmony Korine movie, though I still believe Wendover, UT, was the actual home of the set of Gummo....though that’s another idea, in itself. I digress, again. The decor of the test site rest stop was a version of nice that isn’t actually nice. It was a mix of waiting room, cafeteria and simulated desert decor, that somehow made sense, after momentarily disagreeing with it’s “whack” nature. The bleak, pastel color schemes, reflecting that of Arizona’s, was complicated by the oddity of absolutely any apparent decoration at all in the building.

Think of a desert roadside plain - think of the feeling after driving 100 miles down that road with no real visual stimulation, only to find someone’s flip flop tossed on the side of the road like a reminder to the living that they aren’t really dead. This is what that decor felt like.

That interior decor wasn’t really as nice as it seemed, and the desert’s expansive nature can swallow you whole just as easily as it can give peace.

I left that day by settling into the eeriness of these extremities.

I guess I just got used to it.

-Caitlin Rooney

Day 7: Double Negative and The Valley of Fire

We finally made it to our first true “Land Art” location, "Double Negative" created by Michael Heizer. Located somewhere outside of Las Vegas, pretty much in the middle of nowhere, we had to do some off-roading in the van to reach our destination. The pilgrimage was worth it. Watch out for rattlers.

We climbed into the bull-dozed gash to explore and dance a little. It truly made me feel smaller to be inside of this man-made hole in the ground. There were some interesting questions raised about Double Negative especially in comparison to some of the other sites we have experienced so far. The weather was lovely and no one has yet to become severely sunburnt.



Aliens showed up there too.



Ya win some and ya lose some when eating on the road but this little gem was a beauty. Lunch at Tiffany’s (The Sequel). All we needed was a fresh sub and a little bit of Hawaiian shaved ice to get the gang pumped for a hike. The jukebox was free.



We finally found our petroglyphs in the Valley of Fire, a beautiful state park in Nevada, while walking down a hiking trail. Brent was so pleased. This trail was kind of strange in that not only was it full of big-horned sheep; there was also a large population of women with Chihuahuas.



These ancient drawings were strewn across the rock formations in the valley. Our group had looked for some on a previous hike but we were unsuccessful. The rocks were easy to scale and wildlife was everywhere. It is pretty interesting to see all of the wildlife that such a desolate environment can sustain. The herd of big-horned sheep came very near to our group and other hikers on the trail but did not seem threatened by our presence. They kept their distance and gazed at us with shared curiosity.



This is how close we were!

Overall we got to see interesting interventions in the Nevada landscape: "Double Negative", a purposeful displacement of the land by an artist
and
The Valley of Fire, a portion of land that had been sectioned off and protected by an institution.

Are these appropriate uses of the land? We have yet to answer this question definitively but, surely, through experiences to come we will figure it out. However...the question may be the answer.

Back to Vegas for the night!



-Zach Hill

Day 6: To Las Vegas

We anticipated the 8 hour drive between Tucson and Las Vegas to be long, hot, and grueling, but it turned out to be no problem, perhaps because of the scenic, winding Joshua Forest Parkway (there is no major interstate between Phoenix and Las Vegas), or maybe because we managed to stop and get out at pleasant intervals. Either way, we again had opportunities to explore desert life.

For lunch, we attempted eating at a rather dubious diner, but quickly opted for the Subway next door once a few of us perused their menu of greasy, gut-bomb style cuisine. When we emerged, the day had turned hot, and like so many desert creatures seeking shelter from the sun, I found the group spontaneously gathered in the thin shade of a parking-lot palm.

Later, we indulged in the opportunity to do a bit of off-road exploration and drove a ways into BLM territory, up a sandy trail. Here we did some walking, climbing, practiced the art of cactus and rock portraiture, and talked for a bit about the past few days' travels.

Our final destination today was Las Vegas, and though it represents an opposition to all that we've been experiencing in small towns and natural landscapes, it is also certainly a land intervention - an urban, sensory-overload kind of intervention. For research purposes, we put on our crinkly out-on-the-town clothes and went seeking cheap food. We never found the cheap, but did find food, in mass quantities, at the Luxor buffet, appropriately named MORE!

-Shana McCaw

Day 5: Biosphere and Titan Missile Museum

Today started off with Biosphere 2. We all sat excited in the van and peering out the windows ready to experience and investigate the site. We drove down a winding road that lead us to Biosphere 2’s location were we could see the glass utopia in the distance sunken into a basin. There were multiple buildings - all with their own unique design. The glass structure was made up of a triangle pattern, which became more detailed as we neared. The reality that we were really here began to sink in - a place we had only seen through images and read about in articles. Shana and Brent made sure we were educated about the Biosphere and its function prior to the trip starting, so we had knowledge of what the Biosphere 2 was like when functioning and what it was post-experiment.

The Biosphere 2 began in 1984 and is “the largest sealed environment ever created, constructed at a cost of $200 million - with in this structure there is a multiple climates with its own one million gallon artificial sea.” Biosphere was seen as the “first large habitat for humans that would live and breathe on its own." But it was seen as a expensive failure due to poor management resulting in some staff being escorted away by police, divides that grew between the human inhabitants, leaked information that an inhabitant had left and come back, and the fact that oxygen had to be brought in due to lack of air.

Opposite that, Bill Dempster, the project’s engineering systems director and designer of the Biosphere’s remarkable lungs, says that his team views the Biosphere 2 as “a tremendous success.” Even when the experiments “fail”, there is still a learning experience happening, right?



The entrance of the Biosphere 2 was what looked like a submarine door into an unknown world. From the exterior the buildings looked like futuristic chambers you would see in 1950’s fantasy sci-fi films. But after entering, walking through the different climates and exploring the basement (which held the water system and the “lungs”), it became more complex. The Biosphere 2 was an impressive idea full of visually beautiful habitats and experiments - but it seemed to be falling apart.

We left Biosphere 2 not satisfied with the tour: 1. The tour seemed to be scripted.
2. We came with many questions and curiosities about this experiment, yet left with no answers.
3. There was no maintenance of the different climates and they had diminished or were taken over by ants.
4. The structure of the tour was very controlled - like a secret experiment.
5. In all, the Biosphere 2 seemed to be in a state of denial and/or identity crisis.

Going back to the idea of the Biosphere 2 being a total failure - my thoughts are that even when an experiment fails, there is still learning happening and when mistakes are made you fix them and learn. It seemed like they were not accepting the failure as a simple error and were uncomfortable discussing what went on inside. The tour seemed very scripted and did the Biosphere no justice. Whenever someone asked a question the tour guide alluded away from the question and gave an unclear answer leaving us in a state of confusion. At times he seemed irritated with our questions. Overall the tour seemed very controlled and comparable to how controlled science can be. This unpleasing tour affected and changed our perceptions of the institution behind Biosphere 2 and made us frustrated. Even the art gallery in the visitor's center seemed to be a selective choice of artist.

It seemed the mindset behind the Biosphere 2 was that it was an expensive experiment they spent so much money on they did not want to get rid of it - resulting in an identity crisis from not having a set purpose or the ability to articulate their mission. This may have been from the multiple exchange of hands in ownership. For example, the million-gallon artificial sea was not being utilized - it was completely empty of life forms. The area near the viewing window was transformed into a childish under-the-sea exhibit that did not pertain to anything talked about on the tour. It seemed like a filler exhibit that was clearly not thought out.

The Biosphere 2 is comparable to a preteen person - awkward, transitioning through changes, and experiencing an identity crisis - resulting in being misunderstood.



Walking into the Titan Missile Museum, our second stop on Day 5, we first entered the gift shop like every other museum we had been in so far on this adventures road trip. The lobby was split between a missile artifact museum that filled your brain with every ounce of missile information and a gift shop that was stocked with fun toys and souvenirs. Many of the students ended up purchasing interesting items and trinkets, such as patches, pens, postcards, and books.

As I sat in the waiting chairs and waiting for our tour to start - I observed the museum and saw it as a classic tourist attraction. The tourists wore hats, cameras, high white socks, fanny packs, and pushed children in strollers. The Titan Missile Museum is defiantly a family destination. Many veterans were in attendance because of it being Memorial Day weekend.

We were welcomed by a older gentleman that reminded me of my dad and what he may look and act like in 20 years. The cute old man had us watch a short video that showed us the Titan military base when it was functioning. The video was meant to be somewhat serious but was seen humorous to us, as the host of the video had a bleach-tipped ponytail and the seamless editing was just was not working.

The museum is run on a volunteer basis and the volunteers were all knowledgable on the subject matter. Our tour guide answered our questions with pleasure.

Highlights of the visit:
- The Titan Missile Museum is the only missile silo of its kind left.
- It was one of the first units in the military to hire women.
- Jenna and Caitlin were chosen to "launch" the missile.
- Brandon, Zach, Brent, and Ayla had to wear hard hats because of their height and the low ceilings in the silo.
- Caitlin staged a photo shoot outside in front of old missile parts.





-Maeve Jackson

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