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Article about the Dairy


Meadowsweet Dairy

By John Jackson and Karen Forni

There are no animals and no natural food products are produced at Meadowsweet Dairy in Corte Madera, although there is still a urine trough visible outside the onetime barn.

Still, the former dairy is home to a group who are close to the environment and cherish the earth every bit as much as the ranchers who operated the dairy until 1942.

Working out of what was once the cowshed for the dairy, a collaborative group of sculptors use driftwood from coastal beaches, stone from quarries, rivers and beaches and steel to create artwork that ranges from indoor pieces from small to large that are shown in galleries to outdoor "site-specific" artwork created in mostly public places.

"We walk around and try to come up with something that makes sense," Henry Corning explains of the artists' concept of "site-specific."

Corning bought the dairy complex in 1991 and is one of the collaborative group that includes Dan Ustin, Sam Bower, Glenda Griffith and Alan Leavitt that uses it as a studio.

It is the collaborative that creates the art - from finding the material to fashioning it and evening naming the finished work. And in their exhibits, the pieces are attributed to the Meadowsweet Dairy, rather than a single artist. "We work together on all the stuff. No one can say, I did this. And no one can say, I didn't do this," notes Corning.

"In the beginning, people always wanted to put Meadowsweet Dairy and then, in parenthesis, our names," chuckles Bower. "But it's pretty much accepted now."

The benefits of working collaboratively are considerable, say members of the group. "It's much less lonely, and much more fun work work collaboratively," says Leavitt. "Plus you come up with many more ideas...it opens up new avenues."

Although the complex, which has been a school and now includes four apartment units (none of the artists live on site), has long since quit being a working dairy, the feeling of earth and rural living is still very evident even though the dairy is just a hop from busy Tamalpais Avenue and even busier Highway 101.

At times it can be very busy - and more than a little noisy - as the sculptors use a crane and power tools to work on the large pieces that adorn their barn-sized studio; the outdoor work area bears little resemblance to how most people would imagine an artist's workshop. "It's more industrial," admits Corning.

But always the materials, the earth and the environment are respected to the point of reverence.

"We specialize in finding and presenting extraordinary natural objects as art," the artists explain on their web page. We use driftwood and forest fire debris as well as stone and recycled steel which are cleaned and then modified slightly (if at all). This same process is extended to our site-specific work. We bring together materials found on site, the natural landscape and volunteer labor from the surrounding community. These projects all pay attention to interesting natural features or processes and help address environmental concerns."

Before we do anything, we go to a site and walk around. We look for something that will make sense to be there," explains Corning.

The idea is to make their work not only blend with, but also complement, its natural surroundings.

"We share a deep commitment to the notion that art has a job to do," the artists explain. "Much of our work aspires to be both aesthetically powerful and practical.

"We clean up neglected, trash-filled areas and make their beauty accessible through our site pieces."

"We try to give back to the environment," explains Griffith.

"It's my hope that people look at the environment more thoughtfully [after viewing the artwork]," says Leavitt. "That they'll think about what's out there."

One of the projects for which the artists are most proud is on Southeast Farallon Island where they stacked concrete rubble into a sculptural form to create bird nesting habitat and a blind from which scientists may study the birds' behavior.

The same philosophy is reflected in the work done in the studio.

"The roots, logs, fragments and stumps we select for our studio sculpture show the cumulative effect of forest fires and chainsaws, the waters that scattered and brought them to us, and the sandy, rocky shores which rounded and scoured them," the artists explain.

"Most of them are pretty much as we found them," confirms Bower.

The idea is not to alter nature, but to enhance it.

"It's been a gradual learning process to learn how not to do things. A lot of things are pretty perfect as is," explains Bower.

"The less we do to a naturally beautiful piece the better," agrees Corning.

"Our sculpture seeks to reveal and connect to the natural world using found natural forms. Seeking and collecting these materials corresponds to the process of drawing to a painter. Our sculpture arises from intimacy with these materials and the systems which create them, combined with a profound respect for the natural world and the ways that we too, fit into it all."

Corning says the cowshed of the former dairy is "a wonderful place to work. We are lucky to have it. The cost of housing is affecting artists just like everyone else."

And, when your artwork can involve cranes and chainsaw, a big space is definitely needed.

Meadowsweet Dairy, and what is now the workspace for its artists, has been swallowed by community. Where once cows munched contentedly, now people scurry busily. But, according to the artists, this has never been a problem.

"We have fantastic neighbors," says Corning. "We have never had a problem that wasn't immediately solved."

While the artists at Meadowsweet Dairy work on a grand scale and work collaboratively, the artistic process, the elations and the frustrations, are common to all artists.

"When we finish a project, you find the same joy as when you're newly in love," observes Griffith,

Bower points out there is also a great deal of satisfaction in having others appreciate what they are doing.

"I know what I like and I don't like," says Bower. "I really like the stuff we're doing and it is great when other people appreciate it too."

"I'm never sure whether I'm right or wrong," observes Corning. "It helps to have people tell me I'm right."

"What we're after is more than just approval," adds Bower. "What we want is to have our art work on multiple levels."

Perhaps Griffith puts it best. "In life, you become blinded to beauty around you." Meadowseet Dairy is pleased to offer its work as a creative antidote.

© 2008 greenmuseum.org