Art Garden at East Jesus, Slab City, CA
The entrance to The Art Garden at East Jesus is just north of Salvation Mountain. The outdoor gallery is open and free, sunrise to sunset, 365 days a year. It is the only art museum in Imperial County and is run solely on donations (http://eastjesus.org/art-garden/). It describes itself as an experimental, habitable, extensible artwork in progress.
Before you visit East Jesus, it is important to read the East Jesus Survival Guide (http://eastjesus.org/east-jesus-survival-guide). Here is one of my favorite sections that will help you understand why this is important:
“EAST JESUS IS NOT A FUCKING ASHTRAY. Smoking is permitted. Go ahead, they’re your lungs. IF WE FIND ONE SINGLE BUTT ON THE GROUND WE WILL FUCKING KILL YOU. That means you will be dead, and it will hurt like hell the whole time you’re dying.… If you knew how many times we’ve bent over to pick up butts, and how much it hurts when we do this, and how much the sight of cigarette butts on the ground fills us with murderous bile, you would understand.”
Upon our arrival, we were immediately met by one of the contributing artists. He explained that the inhabitants of East Jesus provide a refuge for artists, musicians, survivalists, writers, scientists, laymen and other wandering geniuses who are dedicated to providing a working model of an improbable improvised community at the edge of the world. I highly recommend you visit if you happen to be in the area. Actually, you’re never likely to just happen to be in the area, so go out of your way to visit.
On The Road, Summer 2022
We live in the beautiful Sonoran Desert, so when the temperatures consistently reach triple digits, we migrate and explore.
There is very little that is random on our itineraries since we strive to reach select wilderness destinations in the best light for photography. Coastal hikes often require low tides that correlate with sunrise or sunset and inland hikes to natural arches, waterfalls and other destinations that require long drives or hikes, often require pre-dawn departures to reach destinations before the light becomes too harsh and the temperatures too hot.
Even then, as Joni Michell wrote and Judy Collins first recorded, there are those pesky clouds:
“But now they only block the sun
They rain and they snow on everyone
So many things I would have done
But clouds got in my way.”
In mid-June, we headed west to the Colorado Desert in southern California, then up the California coast before cutting inland to Pinnacles National Park and Mt. Shasta. From there, we traveled across southern Oregon before dropping down into southeast Idaho, northeast Utah and across to western Colorado for a week in the Fruita area. Afterwards we stopped in Boulder, Denver, Littleton and Del Norte, Colorado before heading into New Mexico where we made stops in Taos, Las Vegas, Abiquiu and Counselor before crossing back into Arizona, and arriving home.
Details are within the slide shows, but thanks to our friends and relatives: Libby, Sarah and Jason, Jim, Guy and Lisa, Steven, Bonnie and Myra, Karen and David, Marilyn and Joel, David and Judy, Ross, Kate and Greg, Bob and Carol, another Carol and Peter who fed us, housed us, hiked with us and guided us. We loved spending time with you all.
