The Road Less Traveled
Nationality
American
Artist Dates
1930-2010
Preview
Date of Work
ca. 1976
Medium
35mm slide, digitized 2020
Collection/Provenance
James Smith Pierce Collection: Folk and Outsider Image Collection
Status
Stored
Location
UND Art Collections Repository
Artist Bio
Born in Brooklyn, New York, James Smith Pierce received his PhD in art history from Harvard University. During his career as a professor, Pierce also became an accomplished artist, whose artworks were included in important exhibitions (including a show on land art at the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington, DC) and books on contemporary earthworks and site-specific sculpture. Pierce was also a photographer, exhibition curator, and art collector.
Additional Information
Tressa “Grandma” Prisbrey (1886-1988) lived in many different cities throughout her lifetime, including Minot, North Dakota; Seattle, Washington; and Simi Valley, California. While in California, Grandma Prisbrey created what is now known as “Grandma Prisbrey’s Bottle Village.” Her village was made from discarded materials she obtained mostly from a nearby dump, which she upcycled into very unique structures on the plot that she lived on. She used materials such as dolls, glass bottles, pencils, and anything else that she thought would add well to her art. She created the bottle village as a way to memorialize her family, friends, and even life events. She also wanted a place to store all of her things. Her art has drawn much attention for the resourcefulness and eccentricity of it – after all, there aren’t many places where you can find sticks protruding from the ground with dolls heads on top and shacks made of old bottles and handmade cement. She created fifteen structures, but she didn’t stop there. She also handmade a road of stepping stones consisting of recycled items that she liked, flower planters, a shrine of recycled materials made to look like a rose garden, fountains, and even wishing wells.
Unsurprisingly, this village has attracted much attention since it was constructed, but it is not in the same state that it once was. An intense earthquake in 1994 damaged the village, but what is left of the site still stands. Grandma Prisbrey’s Bottle Village is still available for touring, but an appointment must be made in advance to see this eccentric wonder.
She made several buildings like this out of glass bottles, which looked especially beautiful when the sun shone through.
Image is provided for educational purposes only. © University of North Dakota. All rights reserved.
Condition Notes
35 mm slide in excellent condition.