What began as a pile of dirt, rubble, and cement in rural Niland, California, just east of the Salton Sea, eventually became one of the most beloved landmarks and roadside attractions in the region. “Salvation Mountain,” Leonard Knight’s vibrantly painted, three-story mound made of adobe and straw, stands as a tribute to one man’s tenacity and desire to spread a message, topped with its instantly recognizable slogan, “God Is Love.”“Salvation Mountain” is just one of countless artist environments around the U.S., illustrating the unique style, drive, and vernacular of creative builders. Often driven by religious or spiritual fervor, these self-taught artists use whatever materials are at hand, from salvaged metal and concrete to rocks, shells, glass, and more. Northern Wisconsin artist Fred Smith, for example, built a sprawling “Wisconsin Concrete Garden” that’s populated by figures and animals embellished with fragments of beer bottles and other found objects. And Philadelphia’s Magic Gardens are a visual cacophony of mosaics, passageways, arches, and niches made from a huge array of materials and knick-knacks.Leonard Knight, Salvation Mountain, Niland, California. Photo by Jo Farb HernándezA new book forthcoming from Tra Publishing titled Architectural Fantasies: Artist-Built Environments chronicles some of the most enduring examples of these vernacular treasures—even if they only now exist in photographs. The vibrant volume is authored by Jo Farb Hernández, Director Emerita of SPACES (Saving and Preserving Arts and Cultural Environments), whose work revolves around documenting and preserving one-of-a-kind, artist-constructed places.Gathering decades’ worth of research and documentation, the book includes spectacular photographs by Fred Scruton and highlights the remarkable diversity of hand-built environments. Free from academic or architectural conventions, these buildings range from castle-like houses to folk art churches to intergalactic time travel machines—think Dr. Evermore’s Forevertron.Thanks to enthusiasts and curators like Hernández who shine a light on these idiosyncratic creations, many have been carefully documented, catalogued, and conserved. Some have also been removed—at least in part—to museums, such as the John Michael Kohler Art Center’s Art Preserve in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. Many have been dismantled, typically after the owner-artist died or the family moved on from the property, while others are lovingly maintained and open to the public.Often categorized as “outsider art,” which describes work made by people who are self-taught and encompasses much folk art, artist environments are truly their own genre. And Hernández has long criticized the label. Its implication that the work is less significant or worthy of study when compared to other “high” forms of art, such as academic painting and sculpture, disregards that its makers improvise and play by their own rules—and do so extremely independently.