PAST
“You’re gonna be the start of somethin’ new, and you’ll call yourself ‘Saint EOM,’ and you’ll be a Pasaquoyan - the first one in the world.”
- St. EOM
Eddie Owens Martin, a self-taught Southern artist, drew inspiration from many colorful cultures to develop the 7-acre, internationally recognized visionary art environment known as Pasaquan.
Martin’s artistic journey started at age 14 when he left his hometown of Buena Vista, Georgia, to embark on a hitchhiking adventure to Atlanta and Washington, D.C., before settling in New York. In the Big Apple, he worked as a street hustler, bartender, gambler and drag queen. He even gave fortunetelling a try at age 37.
In 1957, after the death of his mother, Martin came home to Georgia and continued his fortunetelling flair for pay. Donning ravishing robes and feathered headdresses, Eddie moved into his mother's old farmhouse and used his oracle occupation to help fund his vision of Pasaquan.
Martin also changed his name to St. EOM (pronounced Ohm) and became the first Pasaquoyan. He continued to work on the art environment for 30 years, creating six major structures, mandala murals and more than 900 feet of elaborately painted masonry walls.
Pasaquan lavishly fuses African, pre-Columbian Mexico and Native American cultural and religious symbols and designs, along with motifs inspired by Edward Churchward’s books about “The Lost Continent of MU.”
After a few years of declining health, St. EOM committed suicide in 1986. Pasaquan began to fade — literally and figuratively. For 30 years, the Pasaquan Preservation Society (PPS) worked tirelessly to preserve the site. During 2014, philanthropic organization Kohler Foundation Inc., PPS and Columbus State University partnered to bring the visionary art site back to life.
PRESENT
“I built this place to have something to identify with. Here I can be in my own world, with my temples and designs and the spirit of God. I can have my own spirits and my own thoughts.”
- St. EOM
Today, Pasaquan is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is considered among the most important visionary art environments in the United States.
CNN dubbed Pasaquan one of "16 Intriguing Things to See and Do in the U.S. in 2016.”
To revitalize the site, philanthropic organization Kohler Foundation Inc., PPS and Columbus State University partnered to restore the artistic masterpiece. After two years of restoration, Kohler gifted Pasaquan to CSU’s foundation.
Columbus State University faculty, staff, students, and alumni have been directly involved in documentation of Pasaquan, the organization of archives and assisting with the conservation process. CSU alumni and students have worked with professional conservators from International Artifacts (Houston) and Parma Conservation (Chicago).
FUTURE
“Pasaquoyanism has to do with the Truth, and with Nature, and the Earth, and man’s lost rituals."
- St. EOM
For St. EOM, Pasaquan represents the future. It is his personal utopia, where all cultures and ethnic groups can come together in harmony and connect with the earth and the universe.
At Pasaquan, St EOM incorporated both spiritual concepts from ancient cultures and futuristic ideas of levitation transportation. In the end, St. EOM was able to communicate the traditions of Pasaquoyanism to the viewers of the future with colorful, pluralistic designs that cover the entire site.
Connecting to his genius to unite cultures and the universe around them, Columbus State University developed a mission, vision and education goals that celebrate and champion the humanitarian values Eddie Martin exhibited in his work.
CSU will also host performances, retreats, tours, artistic workshops and various education-focused programs and activities at Pasaquan to introduce visitors to St. EOM’s extensive body of creative work for years to come.
ABOUT
Mission:
Columbus State University's priority is to preserve, maintain, provide access to and assist in the interpretation of Pasaquan.
Vision:
We aspire to give visitors a unique insight into the intuitive artistic process by engaging them through diverse programming, interdisciplinary workshops, lectures, seminars, retreats and performances.
Pasaquan Education Goals:
MEMBERSHIP
Become a Pasaquoyan: While Pasaquan is open to everyone, you can join and enjoy St. EOM’s member events. All donations and membership fees will assist Columbus State University with the programming of this internationally recognized environmental art site.
Membership Opportunities:
Neophyte: $25
Neophyte (student) members will receive newsletters and invitations to special members-only events.
Individualist: $35
Individualist members will receive the same benefits as the Neophyte membership.
Co-conspirators: $100
Co-conspirators membership includes up to four family members. Members will receive newsletters and invitations to special members-only events as well as invitations to family activity days, and Pasaquan coloring pages included in the newsletters.
Technicolor Dreamer: $500
This is a patron-level membership and includes one-year unlimited admission, newsletters, invitations to special members-only events and one private tour a year for 20 of your family and friends.
Pasaquoyan: $1,000
This is a lifetime membership. It includes unlimited admission, newsletters, invitations to special members-only events and one private tour a year for 20 of your family and friends.
Donate: All donations will assist Columbus State University to maintain this national treasure. Your support provides essential funding that will help preserve St. EOM's utopian vision of the future into the future.
Help us maintain St. EOM’s Pasaquan by becoming part of the movement to preserve this otherworldly historical site.
EVENTS
January 11th at 7:00pm at the Atlanta Contemporary
Join us for a rendition of a Pasaquan opera to be performed at Atlanta Contemporary. “Eddie’s Stone Song: Odyssey of the First Pasaquoyan,” brings together the visual, musical and theatrical arts to portray the life of Eddie Owens Martin, also known as the self-anointed “Saint EOM” and Pasaquan’s founder. Composed by James Ogburn, a resident artist at Pasaquan, the opera explores the self-taught artist’s journey from his upbringing as a sharecropper’s son to his life in New York to his return to Georgia to create Pasaquan.
Librettist: Scott Wilkerson
Soprano: Michelle Murphy DeBruyn
Stage Direction: Becky Becker
Pianist: Mengyao Sun
Costume design: Kimberly Garcia.
Video Production: Charles Fowler
at Intuit in Chicago
December 22, 2017-March 11, 2018
Opening Reception: Friday, January 5, 5:30-8:30 p.m.
This exhibition features a large selection of never-before-seen original drawings, sculptures, paintings, regalia, adornments and other examples of art by St. EOM. Through the use of original art, informational text panels, and vintage and contemporary photographs, this colorful exhibit tells the incredible story of the life of the creator of Pasaquan.
at the Atlanta Contemporary from January 11 – March 11, 2018
This exhibition a small selection of paintings picked by Dan Fuller.
January 18 - 21, 2018
Metropolitan Pavillion 125 W. 18th streetNew York, NY 10011
Hours: Thursday, January 18, 2018
VIP Early Access Preview: 2:00 PM - 6:00 PM
Vernissage: 6:00 - 9:00 PM
Open to the Public:
Friday, January 19, 2018: 11:00 AM - 8:00 PM
Saturday, January 20, 2018: 11:00 AM - 8:00 PM
Sunday, January 21, 2018: 11:00 - 6:00 PM
info@outsiderartfair.com
The Outsider Art Fair has revealed the exhibitor list for the 2018 edition of its New York fair. Now in its 26th year, the fair will once again return to Chelsea’s Metropolitan Pavilion, where 63 galleries from seven countries will show work by outsider artists. (The fair also alights annually in Paris.)
In addition to the main section of the fair, the artist Saya Woolfalk will contribute a project. She plans to make a work in response to Eddie Owens Martin’s environment Pasaquan and his artwork.
CONTACT
238 Eddie Martin Road
Buena Vista, Georgia 31808
Friday, Saturday, and Sunday: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Suggested Contribution: $10 Adults, $5 Seniors, $3 Students
Closed during federal and bank holidays and the months of December and July.
Michael McFalls, Director of Pasaquan
706-507-8306
Email
Charles Fowler, Caretaker
Email
238 Eddie Martin Road
Buena Vista, Georgia
706-507-8306
Email
Friday through Sunday:
10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Closed during federal and bank holidays and the months of December and July.
St. EOM, Tom Patterson, Jonathan Williams, Roger Manley, and Guy Mendes. St. EOM in the Land of Pasaquan: The Life and times and Art of Eddie Owens Martin. Winston-Salem, NC: Jargon Society, 1987.