"Homestead Obsession" at Fi-lox-See

Homestead Obsession was a four-artist exhibition and the flagship show for the Wonder Valley Homestead Cabin Festival, February-March 2008 at Fi-Lox-See. The opening reception on February 9 featured performances, presentations, kids activities, and a history exhibit.

EXHIBITION: The artists featured at Homestead Obsession have each made the homestead cabins a major subject of their work. Robert Arnett, Chris Carraher, Perry Hoffman, and Scott Monteith are all Wonder Valley residents, and the exhibition features highly personal interpretations of a land and a unique community with which they are intimate. Works on view include oils, acrylics, pastel, ink, photography, assemblage, and sculpture. The exhibition is open at Fi-Lox-See weekends 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. through March 30.

RECEPTION: The reception for Homestead Obsession opened the Festival on February 9 with presentations and performances by Kim Stringfellow, Ellie Greenwood, and Cathy Allen, as well as a history exhibit and music by the Wonder Valley Extraodinaire!

“Homestead cabins and the people who love them had a day of good art, good people and good fun at the Fi-Lox-See Gallery in Wonder Valley. Artists Scott Monteith and Andy Woods created a friendly “good vibe” setting for the Homestead Cabin Festival at their digs on Fi-Lox-See. There were two galleries on the site. In their home proper were special presentations and a long craft-working table for kids and other artists.” – Rebecca Unger, Hi-Desert Star.

ABOUT THE PRESENTERS:

Kim Stringfellow gave a historic presentation from her upcoming book Jackrabbit Homestead: The Small Tract Act of 1938 in Southern California’s Morongo Valley (Spring 2009, Center for American Places). A special invited guest, Kim is an artist and educator living in San Diego and focusing on ecological, historical, and activist issues related to land use and the built environment.

Ellie Greenwood presented Balls Out, a light hearted look at the role of the cabins in creating unique local cultural mythology. Ellie lives in Wonder Valley in a “biltmore” cabin onto which she is, herself, building more.

Cathy Allen presented Ode to a Shack, a humorous lament to a shack that had to come down. Cathy is an assemblage artist, and an art professor at Copper Mountain College.

Scott Monteith provided an informative display of Jackrabbit Homestead Cabin designs and diagrams, homestead tract information, grants and parcel development requirements from the homestead acts. For $1.25 per acre (tax) the desert could have been yours.