escapit

Olancha (Timbisha: Pakwa’ si) is a census designated place in California’s Inyo County. Olancha  37 miles (60 km) south-southeast of Independence, at an elevation of 3658 feet. Located in the Owens Valley next to the now mostly dry Owens Lake, the arid settlement is home to few.

Olancha was established by Minnard Farley, who came to the area in 1860 and discovered silver ore in the nearby Coso Range. The name “Olancha” is believed to be derived from the nearby Yaudanche tribe. For processing the ore, Farley built a stamp mill just south of Olancha Creek. The remains of a stone wall from this mill still exist and has been designated as a California Historical Site (marker #796).

Jael Hoffman decided Olancha was the perfect place to live with her child. After living in L.A. for about 5 years, she and her husband at the time found an opportunity to buy some land in the desert between L.A. and Mammoth. She wondered if it was an area she could live in. The answer was ‘yes’, although she says she had “no clue about extreme weather, bugs, rodents, etc, bought the land outright” and after two years of living in a small trailer with a little child, Jael and her husband had a well drilled and built a small house. 

The sculpture garden happened in response to the accumulation of a few sculptures that crowded her workshop and the proximity of the property to the 395 highway. Initially, she had no desire to be known, so she added more and more sculptures as the years went by, without any mention of her name. Then, one day someone put a note asking about the artist on an interactive sculpture in the garden, titled, “Give and Take.”  Her child (now 24 years old), convinced her to give up her anonymity and attach her website info to the Give and Take.  And Jael points out “since there is no pricing on my website, there was no commercial aspect to it. I have met some delightful people through the garden, who contacted me via my website, so it was the right decision.”

The Olancha Sculpture Garden is visible from Highway 395, west of the highway, about 1 mile south of the Highway 190 turnoff for Death Valley. 

The Sculpture Garden is open to the public and accessible via a dirt road off Highway 395, near the raven sculpture. 

Most of the sculptures in the garden are life-size or larger and are not for sale. Jael makes a living through substitute teaching and as an after-school art instructor. 

For more on Jael: www.jsculpt.com