​CINDY ZIMMERMAN’S GROTTO PROJECT
 
I will be in residence at Desert Dairy early January and again in April to create a grotto in the 5’ wide x 9’ long x 8’ high milk storage room of the former dairy barn. The dairy is a remnant of the decade or so in the early 20th century when it rained a lot in the Mojave. The rest of the barn is now a studio and gallery complex, and my grotto will be situated in the lean-to portion of the structure. 
 
All my life I have been working in tight spaces and bunker-like environments, by choice and by necessity: side rooms, back rooms and closets, tiny studios, the hallway of a rec center, a pillbox on a former military base, an oversize wooden crate, a sandbag cubicle, and most recently, the Cooler Room at Art Produce Gallery in San Diego.
 
The cave-like Desert Dairy space will become an ornate, maximalist chamber, with an altar made of concrete garden features, fake rocks, niches, weathered wood, a vintage milk can, and the illusion of flowing water. Cave paintings will feature a bestiary of lactating animals and carnivorous birds. An imagined portal opposite the door will lead into the cosmos, with heaven painted on the ceiling.
 
The space I will create is more like the chapels you would find in an airport or a hospital, a place to go while engaged in other pursuits, for reflection, taking a pause, setting intentions, maybe creating your own private rituals. The grotto will not be religion-affiliated; it will be sacred and profane, casual rather than formal, and not purporting to have any particular wellness or occult benefits for the visitor. I will continue to return as this project unfolds, and to enjoy the solitude and validation of the visionary experiences that enable my art.

Susan Roden will be a resident at the Desert Dairy in Spring 2021. She's got a kickstarter to support her project. Please support if you can. Plus you can get a beautiful little painting from her!

​https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/roden/a-desert-sculpture-painted-depiction-of-natures-fragility?fbclid=IwAR3XuQIKo6CIh_D571YMWqZWJ8iPHbf-vgS3HhrOmE93E1DdcwfR13Gs4s4

Arthur Siprut is a young costume designer, sculptor, and muralist. At the Desert Dairy he painted two murals and created an installation on the dune. We call it "The Bus Stop." Arthur will start college in the fall.

Click here to view Arthur's video, directed and edited by Ted Meyer.

​Linda Litteral is a multi-faceted artist working alternately with ceramics, bronze cast and clay sculpture, oil and acrylic paint on canvas, pen and pencil on paper, wood, and three-dimensional mixed media sculpture.  Linda earned her MFA from San Diego State University (SDSU). Her thesis was an exploration of art as a way to expose and heal childhood abuse. Past teaching experience includes SDSU, Mesa, Miramar, Grossmont, and Southwestern Colleges. She currently teaches art healing classes to inmates at Las Colinas Detention Center and Donovan State Prison. Recently, she facilitated a similar class at New York City’s prestigious Bluestocking’s Bookstore. She is a member of Allied Craftsman and is co-dierctor of the Feminist Image Group. Her work has been seen extensively in Greater San Diego and is included in the collections of Museu Brasileira De Escultura, (The Brazil Museum of Culture) in Sao Paulo, Brazil and Jingdezhen Ceramic Institute in Jingdzhen, China. Litteral curated the Feminist Image Group (FIG) show, Don’t Shut Up!  at City College. She travelled to New York City to represent the artists and their movement at Ceres Gallery.  She has shown her work at Grafiska Sallskapet and Krogen Amerika in Sweden. Litteral was also chosen for and attended a coveted two-month residency at Centre Pompadour in France for women artists creating social change through their art in 2018.  As an artist she is passionate about making the world a safer place for women and children.  She uses her art to educate and heal viewers. Her classes help people of all ages open to healing themselves and their communities. 

Click here to see Linda's video, directed and edited by Ted Meyer.

The religious tradition I grew up in told stories of saints and ascetics who went out in the desert to look for god. By means of narrative painting, I am making up my own religion, and the desert wanderer in my story is a particular version of Mary Magdalene. Recently she has absconded and I’m going to Desert Dairy to look for her.

In my long experience being an artist, I have made photos, paintings, parades, adobe monuments, and circuses, just to give a few examples. I have seven sisters, a couple of kids, some grandkids, a husband, friends, colleagues, and, well you get it, my life is crowded and full of distractions.

The last time I visited Desert Dairy, I was with a group of women, and we had some amazing experiences, Yet I knew I needed to come back, solo. To sustain my work, I need solitude, and permission. I know I can find that here, in this beautiful place and nurturing space.

​-Cindy Zimmerman

Click here to see Cindy's video, directed and edited by Ted Meyer.

Lori Lipsman is an artist and designer in San Diego CA. She earned her Bachelor’s and Masters degrees fine art at the California College of the Arts, Oakland CA and then studied design at Mesa College in San Diego.

Embedded within her practice are experiment, play, experiences and learning. Her process includes a studio practice, performance, public art and collaborations. this manifested as temporary installation indoors and out, gallery exhibits, her free art project and and curatorial projects for art spaces and community.

www.lorilipsman.com

Click here to view Lori's video, directed and edited by Ted Meyer.

Click here to view Michele's video, directed and edited by Ted Meyer.

photo by Erik Graham