pasaquan

In the middle of rural Georgia stands a site dedicated to world peace and our future harmony through appreciation of the arts. And we'll have St. EOM (née Eddie Martin) to thank, for it is he who received divine inspiration to build this site, Pasaquan over his former farm. It took him 25 years to do this. It will take you an hour's worth of touring to thank him for it.The grounds is a mixture of indoor and out, Buddhist and Christian symbology, iconic and abstract representation, primitive and futuristic, arts and crafts. What it is purely throughout is inspired.Georgia is very blessed to have two visionary sites (with the more well-known Paradise Gardens by the Reverend Howard Finster in Summerville), and these photos give an idea but are no substitute for being there. That said, it's only open for the first Saturday of the month from April to October, along with a 2-day festival on the first weekend in November, so plan accordingly. Also plan ahead for lunch and money for admittance/souvenirs/donations, because there's nothing anywhere around except for you, a beautiful, sacred site, and some very shaky cell phone signals.

While St. EOM's place is defiantly off the beaten path, it most certainly is on your way to appreciating the power of vision and self-expression. Eddie Owens Martin's works hang in the Library of Congress, the Museum of Modern Art, and in the Smithsonian Museum of American Art, but for a few miles of Georgia rural traveling it is possible to see nearly all of St. EOM's life work. Pasaquan, a four-acre artistic treasure should be on your list of places to visit on any given first Saturday of the months of April through November 10 AM - 4PM. The modest entrance fee of $5 per person is used for preservation efforts of the site which is being respectfully preserved by the Marion County Historic Society and the Pasaquan Preservation Society. As you wander through the various buildings, you will be awestruck at the intricate details created with concrete and paint and the patient tooling of tin which encases each doorway, some of the walls and walkways.

Unfortunately Pasaquan closes for the winter, but I was able to view quite a bit from the road. Built by Eddie Owens Martin. It is quite an interesting artists's expression. I wish it would have been open to see some of the work up close.