Grandma Prisbrey's Bottle Village
Encyclopedia
Grandma Prisbrey's Bottle Village, also known as Bottle Village, is a folk art
piece, located in Simi Valley, California
.
This assemblage is one of California
's Twentieth Century Folk Art Environments. In 1956, Tressa Prisbrey, then 59 years old, started building a "village" of shrines, walkways, sculptures, and buildings from recycled
items and discards from the local landfill
. She worked for 25 years creating one structure after another to house her collections. Bottle Village is California Historical Landmark
number 939. It is also a Ventura County
Cultural Landmark, and has historic designation from the City of Simi Valley
. It was listed in the National Register of Historic Places
in 1996.
It was officially closed in 1984 and severely damaged during the 1994 Northridge earthquake. As of 2011 it is maintained by the Preserve Bottle Village committee and is open to the public by appointment.
Prisbrey's original idea was to build a wall to keep away the smell and dust of the adjacent turkey farm and to simply create a structure where she could store her 17,000 commemorative pencils. They spend all their money paying for the property so she resorted to visiting a local dump where she found thousands of colored bottles. She started with a wall and continued to build until she had constructed 23 buildings and structures made of glass and assorted other materials, a mosaic sidewalk, the Leaning Tower of Bottle Village, the Dolls Head Shrine, Cleopatra's Bedroom, the Round House, and more. Each building was constructed around a specific theme. As of 2011, there remain three houses fully intact.
Prisbrey sold the property in 1972, but two years later took up a position as a caretaker at Bottle Village. At the point, her work was being exhibited in the United States and Europe.
In 1981 Prisbrey received an eviction notice from Ollie Phillips, her landlord. He fenced the property and threatened to destroy Bottle Village. Just after agreeing to sell the property for $87,500, Phillips was fatally wounded in what was later described as an “accidental shooting.”
Prisbrey left the Village due to failing health in 1982 at the age of 86 to take up residence with her sole-surviving child in San Francisco. In July 1986 the property was gift deeded to the Preserve Bottle Village committee. Tressa Prisbrey died in 1988.
introduced "The Bottle Bill", "To prohibit Federal funding for earthquake-related repairs or restoration of Bottle Village in Simi Valley, CA." It did not become law but FEMA funding was withdrawn.
.
It has been the subject of scholarly inquiry.
’s chart-topping single Mexican Radio
in 1982.
The Village inspired a 32 page children s book Bottle Houses: The Creative World of Grandma Prisbrey by Melissa Eskridge Slaymaker.
"Naives and Visionaries", sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN
1975
"America Now", sponsored by the U.S. Information Agency (traveling European exhibition)
1976
"Grandma Prisbrey", Woman's Building, Los Angeles, CA (solo exhibition)
1977
"In Celebration of Ourselves", Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA
1979–1981
"A Look at the Art of the 70's", sponsored by the International Communication Agency (traveling exhibition)
1984
"Visions of Paradise", Beyond Baroque, Venice, CA
"Bits and Pieces: The Dream-builders of California", Chevron Art Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1985
"Divine Disorder: Folk Art Environments of California", Triton Museum of Art, Santa Clara, CA (traveling exhibition)
1985–1986
"A Time to Reap", Co-sponsored by Seton Hall Univ. NJ, & the Museum of American Folk Art, NY (traveling exhibition)
1986
"Cat and a Ball on a Waterfall: 200 Years of California Painting and Sculpture", Oakland Museum, Oakland, CA
1988
"Not so Naive: Bay Area Artists and Outsider Art", San Francisco Craft & Folk Art Museum, San Francisco, CA
1989
"Forty Years of California Assemblage", UCLA Whyte Gallery, Los Angeles, CA (traveling exhibition)
"Women in American Architecture", Pacific Design Center , Los Angeles, CA (traveling exhibition)
1990
"Ageless" , the Woman's Building, Los Angeles, CA
1992
"Reflections of Bottle Village", Simi Valley Cultural Center, Simi Valley, CA
1995
"Visions from the Left Coast" Santa Barbara Contemporary Arts Forum, Santa Barbara, CA
1996–1999
"Recycled-Reseen" Santa Fe Museum of Art, Santa Fe, New Mexico (traveling)
2000
Outsider Art window display, Hennessy + Ingalls, Santa Monica, CA
Folk art
Folk art encompasses art produced from an indigenous culture or by peasants or other laboring tradespeople. In contrast to fine art, folk art is primarily utilitarian and decorative rather than purely aesthetic....
piece, located in Simi Valley, California
Simi Valley, California
-2010:The 2010 United States Census reported that Simi Valley had a population of 124,237. The population density was 2,940.8 people per square mile...
.
This assemblage is one of California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
's Twentieth Century Folk Art Environments. In 1956, Tressa Prisbrey, then 59 years old, started building a "village" of shrines, walkways, sculptures, and buildings from recycled
Recycling
Recycling is processing used materials into new products to prevent waste of potentially useful materials, reduce the consumption of fresh raw materials, reduce energy usage, reduce air pollution and water pollution by reducing the need for "conventional" waste disposal, and lower greenhouse...
items and discards from the local landfill
Landfill
A landfill site , is a site for the disposal of waste materials by burial and is the oldest form of waste treatment...
. She worked for 25 years creating one structure after another to house her collections. Bottle Village is California Historical Landmark
California Historical Landmark
California Historical Landmarks are buildings, structures, sites, or places in the state of California that have been determined to have statewide historical significance by meeting at least one of the criteria listed below:...
number 939. It is also a Ventura County
Ventura County, California
Ventura County is a county in the southern part of the U.S. state of California. It is located on California's Pacific coast. It is often referred to as the Gold Coast, and has a reputation of being one of the safest populated places and one of the most affluent places in the country...
Cultural Landmark, and has historic designation from the City of Simi Valley
Simi Valley, California
-2010:The 2010 United States Census reported that Simi Valley had a population of 124,237. The population density was 2,940.8 people per square mile...
. It was listed in the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
in 1996.
It was officially closed in 1984 and severely damaged during the 1994 Northridge earthquake. As of 2011 it is maintained by the Preserve Bottle Village committee and is open to the public by appointment.
History
In 1956 Tressa "Grandma" Prisbrey and her husband Al Prisbrey purchased one-third of an acre on Cochran Street. In an attempt to permanently "ground" her and her husband Grandma Prisbrey leveled the land, parked her trailer and removed the trailer's wheels and hid them.Prisbrey's original idea was to build a wall to keep away the smell and dust of the adjacent turkey farm and to simply create a structure where she could store her 17,000 commemorative pencils. They spend all their money paying for the property so she resorted to visiting a local dump where she found thousands of colored bottles. She started with a wall and continued to build until she had constructed 23 buildings and structures made of glass and assorted other materials, a mosaic sidewalk, the Leaning Tower of Bottle Village, the Dolls Head Shrine, Cleopatra's Bedroom, the Round House, and more. Each building was constructed around a specific theme. As of 2011, there remain three houses fully intact.
Prisbrey sold the property in 1972, but two years later took up a position as a caretaker at Bottle Village. At the point, her work was being exhibited in the United States and Europe.
In 1981 Prisbrey received an eviction notice from Ollie Phillips, her landlord. He fenced the property and threatened to destroy Bottle Village. Just after agreeing to sell the property for $87,500, Phillips was fatally wounded in what was later described as an “accidental shooting.”
Prisbrey left the Village due to failing health in 1982 at the age of 86 to take up residence with her sole-surviving child in San Francisco. In July 1986 the property was gift deeded to the Preserve Bottle Village committee. Tressa Prisbrey died in 1988.
Earthquake
The 1994 Northridge earthquake struck eight miles away and badly damaged the Village. Because of the severe damage, the Preserve Bottle Village committee applied for FEMA funding, receiving almost US$500,000. In January 1997, Simi Valley's Congressman and former Mayor, Elton GalleglyElton Gallegly
Elton William Gallegly is the U.S. Representative for , and previously the 23rd and 21st, serving in Congress since 1993. He is a member of the Republican Party.-Early life, education, and pre-congressional career:...
introduced "The Bottle Bill", "To prohibit Federal funding for earthquake-related repairs or restoration of Bottle Village in Simi Valley, CA." It did not become law but FEMA funding was withdrawn.
Recognition
In 1979 Bottle Village was named a Ventura County Cultural Landmark. In 1981 it was declared a California State Historical Landmark National Register. In 1996, two years after the Northridge earthquake and still in ruin, it was placed on the National Register of Historic PlacesNational Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
.
It has been the subject of scholarly inquiry.
Cultural References
The Doll Head Shrine has created a cult following and was reproduced on the cover of Wall of VoodooWall of Voodoo
Wall of Voodoo was an American New Wave group from Los Angeles best known for the 1983 hit "Mexican Radio". The band had a sound that was a fusion of synthesizer-based New Wave music with the spaghetti western soundtrack style of Ennio Morricone.-Formation:...
’s chart-topping single Mexican Radio
Mexican Radio
"Mexican Radio" is a song written and performed by the band Wall of Voodoo, and produced by Richard Mazda. The track was initially made commercially available on their 1983 album Call of the West. The song peaked at #58 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the U.S...
in 1982.
The Village inspired a 32 page children s book Bottle Houses: The Creative World of Grandma Prisbrey by Melissa Eskridge Slaymaker.
Exhibitions
1974–1976"Naives and Visionaries", sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN
1975
"America Now", sponsored by the U.S. Information Agency (traveling European exhibition)
1976
"Grandma Prisbrey", Woman's Building, Los Angeles, CA (solo exhibition)
1977
"In Celebration of Ourselves", Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA
1979–1981
"A Look at the Art of the 70's", sponsored by the International Communication Agency (traveling exhibition)
1984
"Visions of Paradise", Beyond Baroque, Venice, CA
"Bits and Pieces: The Dream-builders of California", Chevron Art Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1985
"Divine Disorder: Folk Art Environments of California", Triton Museum of Art, Santa Clara, CA (traveling exhibition)
1985–1986
"A Time to Reap", Co-sponsored by Seton Hall Univ. NJ, & the Museum of American Folk Art, NY (traveling exhibition)
1986
"Cat and a Ball on a Waterfall: 200 Years of California Painting and Sculpture", Oakland Museum, Oakland, CA
1988
"Not so Naive: Bay Area Artists and Outsider Art", San Francisco Craft & Folk Art Museum, San Francisco, CA
1989
"Forty Years of California Assemblage", UCLA Whyte Gallery, Los Angeles, CA (traveling exhibition)
"Women in American Architecture", Pacific Design Center , Los Angeles, CA (traveling exhibition)
1990
"Ageless" , the Woman's Building, Los Angeles, CA
1992
"Reflections of Bottle Village", Simi Valley Cultural Center, Simi Valley, CA
1995
"Visions from the Left Coast" Santa Barbara Contemporary Arts Forum, Santa Barbara, CA
1996–1999
"Recycled-Reseen" Santa Fe Museum of Art, Santa Fe, New Mexico (traveling)
2000
Outsider Art window display, Hennessy + Ingalls, Santa Monica, CA