Call to Action: Preserve Grandma Prisbrey's Bottle Village in California

The late "Grandma" Tressa Prisbrey's Bottle Village, situated in Simi Valley, just north of Los Angeles, California, is one of the boldest and most dynamic art environments ever made by a woman. The incredible, 15-building site is under threat from the elements this winter. Back in 1979, local people formed the non-profit Preserve Bottle Village to acquire and restore the property, which was later damaged in the 1994 Northridge earthquake. 

Tressa Prisbrey at the Bottle Village ca. 1981. Photo by Roger Brown.

This winter, Preserve Bottle Village is raising funds via GoFundMe to protect the site from further deterioration due to winter rains, as part of an ongoing overall preservation campaign. Read their call below:

Help protect Simi Valley folk art environment, Bottle Village from winter storm damage.Please support the efforts of Preserve Bottle Village, a non-profit organization made up of a small group of volunteers dedicated to the preservation and conservation of this irreplaceable example of American Folk Art. 

 

One of only a few folk art environments created by a woman, Bottle Village hums with creator Tressa “Grandma” Prisbrey’s unique sense of humor and perspective. "Anyone can do something with a million dollars. Look at Disney," Prisbrey once said. "But it takes more than money to make something out of nothing, and look at the fun I have doing it." The self-taught artist started building in 1956, at the age of 60, and worked until 1981. Prisbrey constructed the site’s 15 buildings and many site features using found materials, including tens of thousands of multicolored bottles set in cement mortar. Colorful walkways of broken tiles and crockery wind through the one-third acre site. 

 

Preserve Bottle Village is working on long term restoration plans with ARG Conservation Services, the San Francisco firm that restored Los Angeles’s Watts Towers. In the short term, each of Bottle Village’s structures must be temporarily protected with tarps, plastic sheeting and wooden braces until actual stabilization work may begin. The heavy rains and strong winds of projected El Nino storms add urgency to this work. Your generous donation will help Preserve Bottle Village to safeguard the magical world and rare vision of Grandma Prisbrey for future generations.

Be sure to donate today via their GoFundMe campaign page to help preserve and conserve this special site in Southern California. The effort is led, in part, by Tanya Ward Goodman, the daughter of Tinktertown's Ross Ward. 

The Bottle Village. Photo by Roger Brown, ca. 1981.

Finally, head over to Folkstreams to watch Allie Light and Irving Saraf's excellent 1982 short film on Grandma Prisbrey,  Grandma's Bottle Village: The Art of Tressa Prisbrey to catch wind of Prisbrey's wonderful wit, humor, and strength.

Click on link to take you to the film on Folkstreams.org http://www.folkstreams.net/film-detail.php?id=102