Rick's Art Environment: High Desert Regatta

(Photos by Rick McKinney)

I've known Rick McKinney for many years and while he's always creating something new with his art, and vehicles, he's remained true to his unique aesthetic of worn, weathered, scuffed, and lived-in materials. His incredible art vehicles, ("The Duke", "Werner's Dream", and  his newest creation, "Namaskar, and it's matching trailer, "Our Lady of Everlasting Travel") juxtapose the natural world with the man-made one, for instance putting live moss on cars along with coins, keys, and glass bits, or steamer trunks and deer antlers. His art tree house in Marin County, California is built  of  found wood, insulated with books, and shaped like a ship plying the sea of surrounding trees. All of these art pieces surround you like bubbles of past eras in which time slows down and a person can think.

For more than 20 years Rick has dreamed of creating a multi-functional art environment in the brown, rocky land of Joshua Tree, in Southern California.  If you've been there you know that Joshua Tree is a thriving, high desert, art town, near one of the nation's most beautiful desert parks. The area is a vast, rough and beautiful place with enough land for creativity to spread out freely. It's also a magnet for creative people and definers of cultural trends. The most well known art environment in the area is the, "Outdoor Desert Art Museum" started by Noah Purifoy when he moved to Joshua Tree in 1989. Also creating art, and installations there are, New York artist Randy Polombo, Shari Elf, (Art Queen), Perry Hoffman, (Mosaic Tile House), and Bobby Furst (creator of Furstworld to name a few.) Interestingly, Eames Demetrios created a faux historic monument at the location Rick first had his eye on for his own project.

Rick's art environment, (working title: High Desert Regatta) will start with a fleet of rescued sailboats, (often free to anyone who can transport them) each functioning both as a short-term residence for visitors, and an evolving art piece. It's a mad, wonderful idea and it brings together Rick's aesthetic and his years of living on a boat in San Francisco Bay.

In Joshua Tree, the land is very affordable and that's where we come in! Rick is committed to building this very special place and he wants friends, visiting artists, and people with open minds and sharing hearts to be a part of its creation. Rick needs our financial help to buy the land necessary to create his vision. If we help him build Desert Regatta, we can always have a small piece of the desert to visit. Our donations will enable Rick to purchase the land, and begin to make it a habitable area on which art can be created. Help me, help Rick McKinney build his longtime dream.

Thanks,
Emily Duffy


For giving a:

$15.00  Donation - You'll receive a hug and a thank you from Rick.

$30.00 Donation - You'll receive a signed "Duke" postcard.

$60.00 Donation - You'll receive a paper copy of a sketch, or original writing by Rick.

$120.00 Donation - You'll receive a small piece of art by Rick.

$300.00 Donation - You'll receive an art piece by Rick, and an early visit as soon as he's got the land.

$500.00 and up Donation - You'll receive everything above!