“Let’s keep it simple. Don’t get complicated with love.” Leonard Knight
Over a period of almost three decades, Leonard Knight used hundreds of thousands of gallons of donated paint to create a landmark dedicated to spreading the message of God’s universal love. Knight’s creativity, devotion and open-hearted energy magnetized people to the middle of nowhere in the California desert, to experience this truly unique, colorful, and spiritually-provocative spectacle.
At the peak of its popularity, after being showcased in Sean Penn’s acclaimed 2007 film Into the Wild, Salvation Mountain drew over a hundred visitors to the isolated area daily. As his work and message grew in notoriety, Leonard would spend up to 9 hours a day with visitors. Painting, expanding and repairing his work was his morning ritual while the rest of his time was devoted to giving tours around the three story, technicolor “mountain.”
Knight came to Niland, CA in 1984 with the idea of painting a hot air balloon that read “God is Love.” After having a personally impactful religious experience years before, he made it his mission to serve God in this creative way. As he tells it, he came for a week and didn’t end up leaving for almost three decades. After multiple deflated upsets with the hot air balloon, he turned his sights to an old riverbank where he gradually grew an eight-foot sign to the size of a football field. Initially using concrete and paint, the first few years of his work on the mountain collapsed into rubble when the concrete became too heavy for the land beneath it. A true testament to his exceptional perseverance, Knight started over using adobe that he learned to craft from the area’s natural clay.
The famous landmark was designated a National Folk Art Site worthy of protection and preservation by the Folk Art Society of America in 2001. The following year it was entered into congressional record as a national treasure. Leonard lived on site in a broken-down fire truck or a hammock with only a modest income check from the VA. Salvation Mountain is located down the road from Slab City where others also live off the grid in RVs and tents. Leonard’s monument is a shining light revealing the best intentions of the spirit of freedom and spiritual seeking that seem to draw people to this largely forgotten area.
Unfortunately, since Leonard’s passing on February 10th, 2014 at 82 years old, and perhaps also in the wake of last year’s pandemic, the monument has endured significant areas of erosion. Constant repair with thick layers of paint is required to stave off the eroding effects of mother nature on this one-of-a-kind art installation and it is only because of the hard work of volunteers that it generally remains intact.
At the end of Knight’s life, his good friend Dan Westfall helped set up a board of directors and a non-profit 501c3 organization called Salvation Mountain Inc. The organization hires caretakers to live and work at the mountain for a small stipend. The organization’s website calls for donations and volunteers and there is always the possibility that volunteers will restore the site to its full glory.
In today’s digital age, perhaps it isn’t all that important to make a pilgrimage to the middle of the desert to see Leonard’s work in person. Knight wanted his message of love to reach the whole world and knew that the internet was the best way to do that. There is no telling how many people have been touched by his message thanks to his work’s appearance on the big screen, in YouTube videos, and with images and stories shared across social media. Thankfully, the internet provides us a portal to timelessly witness the beautiful spirit of a man whose home, life’s work and faith were so artfully and soulfully intertwined.
“It was the purest ministry I’ve ever seen. He didn’t have a 401k or a crystal cathedral. He had nothing, but he was happy, and he was joyful, and he was loving.” Dan Westfall (Knight’s friend and co-founder of Salvation Mountain Inc.)
Jeff Perkin is a graphic artist and Integrative Nutrition Health Coach available at WholySelf.com
