Eileen Gregory, who worked in television and film in the United States, talks about her love for the area and the sculpture park she began building with pieces by artists such as Tania Candiani, Pía Camil, Betsabeé Romero, and Claudia Fernández:
“After much thought, one day we decided to sell everything we owned and start traveling. My husband wanted to make wine, so we started thinking about a place to retire and fulfill Phil’s dream. A friend told us about the valley, and we didn’t hesitate; it was love at first sight. When we opened the hotel, there were about 12 rooms in the valley, and now there must be over 6,000. I don’t know, it’s grown a lot, and that’s been 20 years.”
Villa del Valle is the home of a dreamer like Eileen; every piece of furniture, paintings, books, everything has been arranged to make guests feel at home, of course, with a pool, a signature restaurant, and various surprises.
“It’s a privilege to live in the valley. It’s a magical place, a paradise with a close-knit community where we all help each other. It’s an honor to have been one of the first here and to continue working with and protecting the community,” he adds.
Phil Gregory assures that the place is a reminder of his dreams:
“My only dream was to retire, lying outside a camper with a beer in my hand, and well, no, now I have Vena Cava and I work every day experimenting and producing wine.”
Now, Eileen and Phil Gregory decided to create a sculpture park on their property, open to the public.
Three sculptures are part of VENA, a program launched in 2018 curated by Pablo León de la Barra and artists Tania Candiani, Claudia Fernández, and Pia Camil, who were inspired by the valley’s landscape and territory to create unique works and develop cultural activities.
“The Valley has everything: gastronomy, wine, and various activities, but it lacked an art center or residencies. This is how artists come, stay for six weeks, and are invited to reflect, research, and produce in relation to the local context. The projects are connected to the landscape and territory, as you can see in the park,” explains the interviewee.
Works that dialogue with the environment
Amidst stones, a dirt road, and the impressive landscape of Valle de Guadalupe, it turns out to be a spectacle.
The first work is by Claudia Fernández, who intervened in a huge rock, one of the many that inhabit the landscape, to create an ergonomic observatory that serves to contemplate the sky and functions as a place of rest and observation.
Pía Camil developed Baby Lover’s Rainbow, a rainbow symbolizing rain and fertility, which was even replicated at the Coachella Festival:
“I buy all the works to be in the sculpture park, and Phil, my husband, is also an artist, and I created one, and so they’ve been joining in. In fact, we have the artist who will create the next piece; his name is José Dávila. He’s a great artist and has a very interesting body of work that we hope to have here soon,” says Eileen Gregory.
Proposals by Tania Candiani and Betsabeé Romero
Tania Candiani took three abandoned boats to intervene, set them up in the area, and give them artistic and sonic life thanks to small threads in the installation that are activated by the wind.
The most recent work in the sculpture park is by Betsabeé Romero, called “Veletas al viento” (Weather Vanes in the Wind), signs the artist created that warn of the passage of migrants on the highways and are located on the same line as the border between the United States and Mexico.
“It’s a tribute to the mothers and children who migrate alone. Mothers and children who cross and return. Their footprints fly and illuminate their memories. Fleeing alone, turning in the wind. With a map adrift. And laws without cardinal points. With coordinates that they can’t accept.”
“These are wills forced to try again, like weather vanes in the wind. Divided and broken families that migrate and turn, searching for a yes and always finding a no, rejection, and the way out. With the winds and compasses against them. Small beings exposed to the sun and the drought. Vulnerable but resilient mothers. Always steadfast and facing the sun, even in the desert where we live,” explains Betsabeé Romero.
Eileen Gregory concludes by mentioning that the artist turns out to be a friend and faithful companion:
“Betsabeé is my friend, and she designed the label for the anniversary wine my husband produced for our twentieth anniversary here. I hope many people join this sculpture park project. We have plenty of land; I’m not going to build any more. I want all of this to grow, because it’s something unique and beautiful in the Guadalupe Valley, and it’s open to all who want to come and enjoy it.”
Amidst vineyards, rocks, and dirt roads, the sculpture park is consolidating itself as a new cultural attraction in the Guadalupe Valley, uniting art, community, and nature.
Source: milenio
