This morning we (the other artists and me) took a walking tour of the overall property. Bob Rauschenberg (everybody calls him “Bob” so I will, too) first aquired a little property on Captiva in 1970 when much of the island was jungle-like. Wanting to keep it that way he continued to acquire property as it became available and thus saved it from the touristy/sunbird development that is generally seen on much of the island. This is an amazing place, and the property is huge. Most of the buildings on the property are original 1940s-ish small houses—very different from the modern coulda-been-anywhere houses that have been recently built. Maybe more on them later.

However, Bob also built the most amazing studio I’ve ever seen.

The picture hardly gives a clue as to how big the place is. Maybe I’ll find actual dimensions later and post them. At the far end in this picture is my workspace.

Just to be very clear, this is a deeply meaningful experience.

Imagine going to Beethoven’s house and playing music on his piano.

I managed to unpack some of my materials and do a little work.

I’m expecting a shipment of materials on Wednesday so I can get to work on the project I have in mind.

We had a welcome dinner for everyone this evening. As I get to know everyone more I’ll post about them…and more about the place…and what I manage to do here.