"Grandma's Bottle Village: The Art of Tressa Prisbrey" - Full Movie

(30 minutes) In 1956, Tressa Prisbrey began construction of her now-famous bottle village. Her first building was just a small structure to house her collection of 17,000 commemorative pencils. The result of 25 years of work is 15 buildings which now make up the glittering visionary environment. In this film, Grandma Prisbrey is captured at 84, a vivacious guide to her brilliant houses crammed with objects scavenged from the county dump. At her wittiest, she sings, jokes with her older sister, and combs through the dump. The movie is produced & directed by Allie Light and Irving Saraf and has been called by American Visionary Art Museum founder and director Rebecca Hoffberger as "the finest film ever made on any visionary artist."
On August 20, 2020, the museum hosted a virtual screening followed by a Q&A with Allie Light, moderated by Rebecca Hoffberger. To view the post-film Q&A visit • Q & A with Filmmaker A...
"Grandma's Bottle Village: The Art of Tressa Prisbrey” is produced & directed by Allie Light and Irving Saraf. Light-Saraf Films, San Francisco 1982. The film, and The Visions of Paradise series of which it is a part, is the generous gift of Allie Light to the American Visionary Art Museum. To view the other films in the series, visit • Visions of Paradise fi...

[@kimeddy4743]

What a couple of characters those sisters are They're funny God bless them all

[@internetdrummer]

I grew up in Simi and we went passed the bottle village more times than i can count. What a great find to see her interviewed and seen. Should be many more comments on this page. but the best are not known till many years after they are gone. Great going Grandma Prisbey! Nice to see you again after 4 decades.

[@Bfresh99]

I love this. The national endowment for the arts funded this project, if I remember right.

[@effieinglish]

What a charming lady. I live a few minutes from there and I'd never heard of this bottle village. I wonder if it's still there. I sure would like to see it. Would've been nice to meet her. I'm sure she's gone by now.

[@stephaniekurtz5520]

Aunt Hattie was the coolest !!! Grandma tressa was so creative but still not as cool as aunt Hattie . Keep in mind folks … grandma tressa is my REAL grandma and aunt Hattie was my true great aunt 😍💜💜💜

[@effieinglish]

Wow! Lucky you, those two are a hoot! I could listen to those two grand ladies banter all day!

[@saltshakerrefill6087]

People were more charming and creative back then. God bless you and your family.

[@tressamusicanderson1312]

She was my great grandmother, I was named after her. My mother’s grandma, she helped her all the time at the bottle village and has so many great stories about her 😊

[@stephaniekurtz5520]

My mom was Sallie and her mom was Mickey (Florence) and mickeys mom tressa

[@TRACELHENTZ]

I WANT to meet this brilliant artist!

[@stephaniekurtz5520]

I bet

[@stephaniekurtz5520]

Been dead since the 80s. But I’m her great granddaughter

[@effieinglish]

I wish I could meether too. So lucky they made this film because this is about all we're gonna get.

[@effieinglish]

@@stephaniekurtz5520 Is the bottle village still there?

[@CauseImSmokingYourMenthols]

@@effieinglish That’s what I’m wondering as well. What’s become of this?