Greetings From Yucca Fountain!
It’s not a mirage… it’s the immersive art installation by Boston-based artists Helen Popinchalk and Andrew Bablo.
This 1950s-atomic era soda fountain was once lost to history but was brought back to life in the Campus Commons Gallery at the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley. Yucca Fountain was open for six months – from September 19, 2019 to March 14, 2020.
In its heyday, Yucca Fountain was the watering hole and gathering spot of the Amargosa Valley community. It beckoned travelers emerging from the desert with the promise of a cold, sweet milkshake. It was a place to watch the not-so-distant mushroom plumes expand into the firmament and get a malt until it was damaged by a suspicious fire in 1958. Like so many other small-town slices of Americana around the United States, Yucca Fountain had vanished into obscurity… until now!
Visitors entered the gallery through a dark curtain and immediately heard the crunch of gravel beneath their feet. To the left, one could explore the Nevada desert-scape at twilight. A mysterious travel trailer once belonging to avid Yucca Fountain patron Bert Tuttle, sat parked in the far corner of the gallery. Inside the trailer, guests were encouraged to peruse Bert’s collection of treasured oddities (among other hidden surprises and his harebrained theories). Adjacent to the trailer, an abandoned campfire ring, a half-buried hatch leading to a nuclear fallout shelter and a mysterious phone booth enticed guests to look and really discover the secrets buried at Yucca Fountain’s doorstep.
Once your eyes were adjusted to the dimly lit gallery, illuminated almost exclusively by the flashing neon “Yucca Fountain” sign above the diner’s façade, you could approach the threshold of the restored diner. This restoration of the 1950s-atomic era watering hole seated forty people between the counter and booths, featured the original soda fountain appliance, a 1948 refrigerator and so much more. Visitors could venture through the Fountain to find the gift shop, filled with “Yucca swag” ranging from bumper stickers, mugs, postcards, penny candy and even original artwork!
In mid-September, UNC Galleries celebrated the opening of Yucca Fountain, serving almost 900 students, faculty, staff and community members on opening night alone. Gallery visitors were transported back in time to the famed desert hideaway on the edge of the Yucca Flat atomic test site. Guests enjoyed diner fare at 1950’s prices: $ .25 hotdogs, $ .10 sodas and $ .25 ice cream sundaes!
Since opening night, we had over 10,000 visitors explore the Gallery, breaking all withstanding attendance records.
About Our Restoration
Yucca Fountain totally transformed the UNC Campus Commons Gallery over five weeks during the summer of 2019. What began as an 1800 square foot white-walled gallery was converted into a desert-scape and life-sized diner diorama.
The diner build-out included installing a sub-floor and linoleum tiling, a drop ceiling, an entire building façade and interior wall, a 14-foot counter, 9 bar stools and 6 booths and tables.
Outside the Fountain, visitors could explore the Nevada desert at twilight. 9 tons of “squeegee” gravel, tumble weeds, a fire pit, a mysterious telephone booth, a bomb shelter hatch and a 12-foot travel trailer enticed visitors to investigate the mysteries of Yucca Fountain.
We look forward to bringing this installation to other galleries and museums around the country. Each full build out will be uniquely tailored to the available space.
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