07/22/2025
🌊 Water Woman Festival of Art & Ecological Design
📅 October 1–4, 2009
📍 Joshua Tree Lake Campground, Joshua Tree, California
🌟 Festival Overview
The Water Woman Festival was a landmark four-day gathering celebrating the fusion of ecological design, sacred art, and community ritual, grounded in the powerful archetype of Water Woman — the feminine spirit of renewal, creation, and nature’s flow.
Held in the stunning high desert landscape of Joshua Tree, the festival brought together artists, builders, musicians, and cultural visionaries to co-create an interactive village rooted in sustainability, natural building, permaculture, and spiritual ecology.
👤 Key Creators & Leadership
Role Name
🎨 Artistic Director / Founder Ray Cirino
🎥 Executive Producer Paul Cohen
👩💼 Associate Producer Sandra Weinstein
🛖 Featured Natural Builder Sun Ray Kelley
Ray Cirino, a renowned eco-artist and inventor, designed the festival as a living canvas, anchoring it with eco-pods, rocket stoves, water altars, and hands-on structures made from recycled and natural materials.
Sun Ray Kelley, known for his flowing organic temples and whimsical natural homes, led the construction of a sacred wooden GodUs temple onsite.
🛠️ Art & Ecological Design Highlights
Eco-Pods – Mobile, dome-shaped dwellings constructed from reclaimed billboard vinyls, showcasing portable, off-grid living.
Cob Structures – Hand-built benches, ovens, and shelters formed from earth, sand, and straw.
Rocket Stove Cooking Station – Created by Cirino, combining function and eco-design.
The Goddess Dipping Pool – A ceremonial water altar space.
Permaculture Zones – Demonstrations of solar design, greywater systems, and regenerative principles in action.
🎵 Headline Musical Acts
Wayward Monks – Ceremonial tribal-fusion band whose live sets energized nightly rituals and dance.
Maetar – Visionary world-jazz ensemble featuring brass, percussion, and ancestral soul, offering deeply spiritual performances.
📺 Media Appearance
The festival was featured on Ed Begley Jr.'s green living program on the Discovery Channel, where the show highlighted Water Woman’s integration of sustainable art, alternative architecture, and earth-centered community.
🎥 Watch the Movie
📽️ THE WATER WOMAN MOVIE (YouTube) https://youtu.be/RAQi9JRWSx4
Captures the vibrant creativity, soulful rituals, and pioneering spirit of the 2009 gathering.
🌱 Legacy & Cultural Impact
Water Woman became a blueprint for modern eco-art festivals, blending:
Natural building education
Artistic co-creation
Permaculture immersion
Feminine earth spirituality
…into one regenerative community experience.
It remains a touchstone for ecological artists, natural builders, and cultural activists seeking to live in harmony with the land.
WaterWoman Festival 2009 Joshua Tree CaliforniaOfficial video first edit.Joshua Tree Lake CampgroundCobbing, Drumming, Permaculture & Community BuildingEco V...
