Neither of us had never heard of Arcosanti before 2020, but it’s been around (and known by many) since 1970 when Soleri began construction on the place. It took one of Hawke’s favorite bands having a concert there. We bought tickets, watched on the TV in our bedroom at the height of the lockdown and were awed by it all.
Puscifer Existential Reckoning Live at Arcosanti, AZ from Puscifer Entertainment on Vimeo.
Fast forward two years and we’re living on the road and coming through Arizona. On one of our last days in the Sedona area, I decided to check to see where Arcosanti was in comparison and turns out, it’s only an hour or so away and on our way to Phoenix. We didn’t get tour tickets because we weren’t sure of our timing, but I’d highly recommend you do. We could only do limited wandering without and there’s so much about the place we didn’t learn about. I’m putting it on the list for another round, and that time I’ll book a stay there, as well.
The landscape is dry and barren and beautiful, the ideal setting for a utopian community. Or so it was hoped. A community of artists continues to live and produce work there, including the well-known chimes produced for Cosanti Originals. I picked up a pair of earrings, a necklace, as well as a ceramic chime that I had shipped to my son for safe-keeping. One of the perks of traveling is finding beautiful things to buy along the way, but the con is not having a place to put things. Thank the gods for shipping companies.
Even though we couldn’t see much of the place, we walked where we could and checked it out. There were things that reminded us of our previous loft in an artist community and what we love about the desert and dreamers.
There are a few hiking trails around the area, but most of it is off-limits without a tour guide. Make sure you get one scheduled in advance. We bought the book and hope to learn more that way, but I’m sad we missed the personal tour–they are always so informative.
Find out more about Arconsanti on their website and their YouTube channel, but start with this lovely:
