Ken Kesey's Farm - Veneta, Oregon
43.989880° N, -122.935692° W
Pictured above, Kesey and his family [1]
Pictured above, 2018 students participating in the Kesey poetry summer workshop [1]
As a Place
Place is an expression of a location, typically expressed in Absolute Location or Relative Location. Absolute location is an exact point with specific coordinates like longitude and latitude. On the other hand, relative location usually pairs a number of locations in reference to one another. [2]
Absolute Location: 43.989880° N, -122.935692° W pictured above [3]
Relative Location: Kesey's farm is a fifteen minute (13 mile) drive from the city of Eugene. The city of Eugene is home to the University of Oregon, where Kesey went to school and eventually taught creative writing. Eugene also has an area of called Kesey square, with a statue of Kesey [3]
Ken Kesey's Farm, as a Space, Throughout the Years
Space - "The spatial perspective, and answering the question of “where,” encompasses more than just static locations on a map. Often, answering the question of “where” relates to movement across space. Diffusion refers to the spreading of something from one place to another, and might relate to the physical movement of people or the spread of disease, or the diffusion of ideas, technology, or other intangible phenomena. Diffusion occurs for different reasons and at different rates. Just as static features of culture and the physical landscape can be mapped, geographers can also map the spread of various characteristics or ideas to study how they interact and change." [4]
Ken Kesey was an author, activist, and 1960s countercultural pioneer. In addition to general artistry, Kesey is best known for his composition of "One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest" and being the charismatic leader of the Merry Pranksters, presented by Tom Wolfe in the famous novel The Electric Kool Aid Acid Test [3]. In 1969 Ken Kesey inherited a large piece of land that would serve as a music venue, dairy creamery, artist retreat, and a symbolic expression of the thriving counterculture in the Pacific Northwest United States and a firm reflection of "Humbead's Map of the World" [5, p. 60].
After serving a prison sentence in 1965 and living in California for a handful of years, Kesey moved to Oregon to live on the Kesey family farm, a piece of land that Kesey would inherit in 1969. [5, p. 59].
- 1969 - After Ken Kesey's prison sentence for cannabis and evading arrest, Kesey moves to the Kesey family farm and inherits the land. Kesey begins to share the land communally with his brother-in-law, sister-in-law and extended Merry Prankster "Family". The Merry Pranksters, aboard the infamous Furthur, embark on a voyage to Kesey's farm and extend the reach of extend their family "forge" [5, p. 59].
- 1970 - Kesey's farm begins operations as "The Springfield Creamery". The Creamery begins joint operations by Ken's brother-in-law and sister-in-law. The Creamery specializes in Nancy's Honey Yogurt, with a label designed by the Merry Pranksters. [5, p. 59]
- 1972 - The Springfield Creamery begins to struggle economically as local school districts, who held the creamery's long standing contracts, pull out of deals. The school districts made this choice due to "hippies" and increased skepticism amid " new fangled electric" yogurt cultures. [5 p. 59]
With the Creamery in danger of going bankrupt, Ken Kesey and the Grateful Dead hold a benefit. The benefit would come to be known as the "Sunshine Daydream" Grateful Dead show.
The show was a point of convergence for Americana and American "hippie" culture. The Oregon Renaissance Faire in Veneta was held in the same area as the benefit, thus, cultural trade between American psychedelia and Pacific Northwest "genuine wood-living freaks" established long-lasting cultural effects on Americana memory. For example, modern association between psychedelia and "farm fresh foods", crystals, and homeopathy is largely due to the convergence between psychedelia and Renaissance culture at the 1972 benefit.
Upwards of 20,000 folks gathered to watch the Grateful Dead perform to save the family Creamery. The music would go down in Grateful Dead history and the dairy farm would be saved. By the end of the benefit, the farm had raised $13,000. [5, p. 62]
"The backstory reads like a psychedelic exploitation musical: small town hippies market new fangled organic yogurt, run afoul of the squares, need to save the family farm, call in the Dead. And that's exactly whats playing out on this insane sweltering day here in the field with all these naked tripping people" [5, p. 59]
Ultimately, the farm has been a home to host folks like Allen Ginsberg, Gary Fisher (the inventor of the Mountain Bike), and the Grateful Dead. [1] In the present day, Kesey Farm is a registered non-profit organization. College students makeup the space at Kesey's farm now.
The primary focuses of Kesey Farm now include
- Writing and Poetry Summer Workshops
- Experimental and Creative Teaching Training [6]
Environment
Video Contains Nudity, Footage of the 1972 Benefit to Save the Creamery
- The Jessie Jarnow writes,