Acres of Pearls is approximately 83 acres of land outside Sedona, Arizona. Pilisa is currently laying the infrastructure for this future project, with access roads and low water crossings or bridges being carefully planned and situated. So far, Pilisa has the basic infrastructure of the main road, pond, orchard and crop areas laid out.
A small well is already in place to provide sufficient water for the future community and plans are underway to restore a historic pond, created decades ago for cattle grazing. The pond will be initially filled by the well, and will also allow the community to collect rainwater and groundwater from the surrounding acres.
Pilisa has recently found a farm manager, who will oversee the creation of a truly sustainable organic farm, ensuring that the natural aspects of the land are respected and we are working in harmony and partnership with the landscape.
The name Acres of Pearls is a play off the old book Acres of Diamonds in 1915. That book tells the rather tragic story of a man who went searching the world for wealth, when had untold wealth right in his own backyard in the form of a large diamond mine. Since my initials are PURL, it seemed fitting to change diamonds to pearls. PEARLS also stands for Purposefully Engaged, Artistic Real Living Spaces.
The Acres of Pearls story
Acres of Pearls is the brainchild of Pilisa Rainbow Lady, a fused glass artist currently living and working in Sedona.
Pilisa first began to imagine this project during a year of intense personal development work in 2011-12. Initially, she was very resistant to the vision that popped into her mind! In the past, Pilisa had built a software company with some friends in the eighties, then went on to grow first a successful non-profit working with indigenous healers around the world, then a retail craft supply store, and now her current glass art business. Given this background, the thought of building an intentional, completely self-sustaining community from scratch seemed a very big leap.
But over the course of twelve months or so, the vision kept returning. She even sketched the space in one of her workshops. Looking at the sketch and comparing to the aerial map of the first parcel of land she purchased yielded a lot of eerie similarities.
In Pilisa’s words, “Every time I’d do some vision work, either with the healers associated with the non-profit or on a personal development seminar, a vision of this community would pop into my head!”
Eventually, the call became too strong to ignore. Pilisa began to consider it on a practical level – where would the funds come from for such a vast project? And where would she find the land? One day, she mentioned her idea to a real estate agent friend who told her “I have just the place for you!”
It couldn’t hurt to go take a look, could it? The very first time she walked onto the land, Pilisa recalls, “I knew it was perfect. The energy there was wonderful – actually it was off the charts – and that place is such a beautiful piece of land, with wonderful vistas. It was really clear from the moment I walked onto it: This is the place.”
So she made a deal with the universe. “OK, I’ll do it – if you show me the means.”
As if in answer, just a few weeks later an unexpected windfall came in from an investment Pilisa had long since written off. “I thought it would never produce another dime” she remembers, “and yet there it was – the very sum I needed to buy that first parcel of land.”
The pattern would repeat itself twice more, providing the means to buy the next plots of land, to work with architects to develop the vision and evolve it into plans, and to get started on the infrastructure for the community.
Acres of Pearls is slowly coming to life organically – and though no doubt many more challenges will arise as the project evolves, she is looking forward to solving them in collaboratively, creatively, and in partnership and harmony with nature.
To find out more or get involved, contact us here .