Long range view. Photo credit: Emily KenCairn.

Long range view. Photo credit: Emily KenCairn.

 
 

Origins

The vision to create Mountain Water first arose in the mid-1980s. During that time Robert Spellman and Joan Anderson were the caretakers of a small meditation retreat place in very rural southern Colorado. Their move from Boston - and the din and grime of an old east coast city - to a silent, pristine mountainside was abrupt and welcome.

The ancient and universal refuge of wilderness had an immediate and lasting influence on how they each practiced art and meditation, and the inspiration was born: people should be able to do this. Joan and Robert were able to purchase a 240 acre ranch down the road from that rural Colorado retreat center. The new land became Mountain Water.

The aspiration of Mountain Water Retreat is to provide a sanctuary for people to re-gather themselves through the means of meditation and artistic inquiry. The need and practice of refuge from the busyness of life is as old as humanity and our idea is not a new one. It does, however, offer the possibility of breathing new life into the overlooked potential of artistic practice to re-connect with the reverence and thrill of a childlike view.