Serpent: The Borrego Springs Serpent is the most popular of the metal sculptures in Galleta Meadows. The serpent appears to rise above the ground with the arches portion of the sculpture leading up to the serpent’s head. The largest of the sculptures, the serpent is 350 feet long with the head and body on one side of the road and the remainder of the body and tail across the road. The body arches are about 15-20 feet tall. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com
Jeep: A Willys Jeep sculpture complete with a driver and a passenger appear to be climbing rocky terrain in Borrego Springs, California. The Jeep is the actual size of a Willys Jeep and the passengers are life size as well. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com
By GARY WARREN
Photographer
Formerly of Los Alamos
Borrego Springs, California is a small town in the southern California dessert south of Palm Springs, Calif. The Anza-Borrego Desert State Park is a major attraction in this remote desert town but in recent years giant metal sculptures have attracted a lot of attention and visitors.
There are now large metal sculptures scattered among the sandy desert. The works of art are all the created by one man, Ricardo Breceda. Breceda is known as the “Accidental Artist” as his profession was a construction worker. However, a construction accident made it impossible to continue in the trade.
Breceda began selling cowboy boots following his construction career. A customer offered to trade a welder for a pair of boots and Breceda agreed. He began teaching himself how to weld with his newly acquired welder. When his six-year-old daughter asked for a dinosaur for Christmas, Breceda welded his first dinosaur, a 20-foot-tall Tyrannosaurus Rex.
Dennis Avery, heir to the Avery Label company, saw some of Ricardo Breceda’s work and commissioned sculptures to display in the desert near his home in Borrego Springs, Calif. Avery’s property is known as Galleta Meadows and the first two sculptures were installed in 2008. Galleta Meadows now displays 130 of Breceda’s sculptures.
The collection of metal sculptures at Galleta Meadows in Borrego Springs is massive. Visitors should drive from sculpture to sculpture because they are scattered through the desert. Maps with locations and directions are available in Borrego Springs. The sculptures are free for the public to view at any time of the day or night. My wish during our next visit is to photograph some of the sculptures at night.
We first visited Borrego Springs in 2018 and always enjoy our time in the southern California desert. The metal sculptures are spread over about three square miles and takes a long day or more to see them all. Seeing these works of art in the desert always makes me smile! While the town is in a remote desert location, it is only about two hours south of Palm Springs and about just a little longer drive from San Diego.
Editor’s note: Longtime Los Alamos photographer Gary Warren and his wife Marilyn are traveling around the country, and he shares his photographs, which appear in the “Posts from the Road” series published in the Sunday edition of the Los Alamos Daily Post.
Prospector and Horse: A prospector pans for gold as his horse waits nearby. There are 130 of the metal sculptures scattered in the desert at Borrego Springs, Calif. all created by Ricardo Breceda. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com
Spanish Padre: Spanish Padre Pedro Font was an early explorer of this area of California. This sculpture represents Font and his dog in the Borrego Springs desert. This sculpture is unique in that it also features the use of wood and rocks in addition to the metal. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com
Grape Harvesters: This sculpture is comprised of several pieces, which show grape harvesters at work in a vineyard. Nearby pieces show the grapes in boxes beside another harvester and other parts of the harvest. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com
Tortoise: A desert tortoise sculpture appears to be conversing with another tortoise to his left. The sculptures scattered about in Galleta Meadows began with the dinosaurs and other creatures that once roamed this desert. Later, Breceda began adding sculptures of other contemporary animals, items and people that represent local history, as well as some whimsical and fantasy creatures. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com
Scorpion and Grasshopper: The scorpion appears ready to jump on the grasshopper in this two piece sculpture in Borrego Springs. Galleta Meadows is open desert and is open to the public at no charge any time of the day or night. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com