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EVERLAND ART PARK by Arianna Balderrama Photos provided by Everland Art Park of four years, he placed his flag on the space Everland now is. The way Everland is set up is very intentional. The team worked with nature-based therapists and delved into philosophy in order to plan what Everland was going to represent. “We want to have a theme and prompt, allow people to individually create, but to keep it cohesive and not chaotic. So, calling in something that had meaning and intention that everyone can relate to.” Gathering inspiration for their archetypes came from the front range and local animals. The Compass Village is what the rest of Everland orbits around. Each direction represents something different:
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he question of our purpose in life comes up again and again. Often, the answer is never there. You may answer with chasing happiness, but truly, what does that look like?
Jonny Jenkins is a man with a bucket full of different experiences in many subjects. From working in community projects to real estate, he has now found his purpose within Everland. Everland is an immersive art park and retreat center, only an hour away from Denver. Immersive art is an art that simply immerses you, whether it is based on the size of the piece or the ability to interact with it. Immersive art allows you to become a part of it and connect with it, rather than being a being outside of the material. Jenkins quit real estate and later moved to Africa, where he was doing aid work in Uganda. For the next eight years, he was living abroad, searching for a way he could be of service to the world. Ironically, how Jenkins found his desire to create a safe place for all as a way to get in tune with nature began with an accident. “I had a near-death experience in a motorcycle accident. I launched myself three stories off a bridge and luckily landed in some water. I should be dead. I couldn’t walk for months. That was just the pattern of disruption, and, of course, correction. It really got me to ask myself, ‘OK, what is my highest calling be of service?’” Before his accident, when he attended Burning Man, Jenkins witnessed first-hand the kind of excitement that immersive art can bring. While incapacitated, he decided to create a place that reflects the awe he saw at Burning Man. Once he moved back to America, Jenkins started to look for land, and over the course
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North - Shaman’s Path - Alchemist, Divine Healer, Intention East - Inner Child’s Path - Discovery, Trickster, ParticiPLAYtion South - Steward’ Path - Craftsman, Maker, Positive Impact West - Visionary’s Path - Lover’s Nook, Riding Resistance, Collective Mindset Sky - Dreaming, Astrology, Ancient Future, Multiverse, Aliens, Legacy, Explorer Earth - Pachamama, Indigenous practices, Collective Mindset Inner - Inner Gifts, Innate Wisdom, Creator, Resonance, Genius Zone The compass divides the trails of the art park. Artists can come in and create based on a certain direction. Everland’s art park is still in the process of being built. However, the pieces are all planned out. The Earth trail will include a nature mandala, while the Inner, the area that focuses on “our inner vibration and our inner unification as we all are vibratory creatures,” will include a sound temple. This sound temple will be crafted of wind harps and deconstructed pianos, all of which will be tuned to different pitches. There are also webs used as places to rest through the entirety of the park. For the Wisdom trail, Tigre Bailando is creating a large bear. Bailando is an artist who mainly creates sculptures and immersive art as ways to reduce one’s eco-footprint. The meshing of the two worlds moves together like honey. With the vision of Everland and Bailando’s work, the pair is copacetic. “I fell in love with all their creations and who they are as a person in the way they show up. Tigre, from a design standpoint—they
