Draft:Guadalupe-Nipomo Dunes Center

• Comment: In order to establish notability, we ask that users cite, using inline citations, to: published, reliable, secondary sources that are entirely independent of the topic and provide significant coverage of it beyond its mere trivial mention. You are adding more and more inappropriate content with zero sources. Theroadislong (talk) 20:19, 19 April 2025 (UTC)
• Comment: Just blatant advertising by an employee. Theroadislong (talk) 17:51, 19 April 2025 (UTC)
• Comment: Fails WP:NORG - The Guadalupe-Nipomo Dunes Center website and press releases by the center are primary sources and not independent. All information should include an inline citation referencing reliable independent secondary sources. Dan arndt (talk) 01:43, 16 April 2025 (UTC)

• Comment: In accordance with the Wikimedia Foundation's Terms of Use, I disclose that I have been paid by my employer for my contributions to this article. MoonlitDunes (talk) 03:44, 26 March 2025 (UTC)

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The Guadalupe-Nipomo Dunes Center is a museum dedicated to the preservation of the Dunes along the California coastline. The museum hosts tours and classes, along with the museum docents hosting hikes and educational events for adults and children.

Currently located in a restored Victorian home in Guadalupe, California, in the United States of America, the Dunes Center boasts several informative and educational exhibits, including a collection of artifacts from the filming of Cecil B. DeMille's first filming of Ten Commandments.

Founded in 1999, the mission statement of the Dunes Center is to promote the conservation and restoration of the Guadalupe-Nipomo Dunes Complex through education, research and the support of cooperative stewardship. The primary purpose of the Dunes Center Museum is educational and introducing people of all ages to the Dunes and their unique ecology and geography.

The dunes have been the location of the filming of several movies throughout cinematic history.

Displays and Artifacts

The displays fall into three categories; historical, ecological, and cinematic.

Historical Displays include exhibits featuring Chumash artifacts and history, exhibits featuring Katherine Goddard-Jones and her work to preserve the Guadalupe-Nipomo dunes, along with geographical history of the entire Nipomo Mesa area. The museum also carries materials about the Dunites, a group of bohemian style artists, musicians and beatniks who chose to live out in the dunes, living off the land without modern conveniences, creating their own unique forms of art and poetry.

The Chumash lived out in the dunes as early as 10,000 years ago, in a semi-nomadic lifestyle. They had unique canoes that were often treated with naturally occurring tar (where the name for Pismo Beach comes from, Pismu being the word for tar) that enabled them to trade with people living on coastal islands, and to travel greater distances. When the European explorers, such as Gaspar de Portola and his crew made their way through the Guadalupe region, at first things started out somewhat friendly with mutual trade, but they did not stay that way for very long.

It is highly likely that there were people living in the area much earlier, however with the waterline changing as the last Ice Age ended, much of the evidence that would have been left behind has likely been lost due to the rising water levels washing it away.

Kathleen's Corner, featuring her favorite typewriter, her hat, and a painting of her in her signature hiking gear.

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Ecological Displays include exhibits such as a tank of live rainbow trout fry, a fully intact sea otter skeleton, a wall of sand from around the globe that visitors can contribute to personally, pelts and skulls of various local species and more to educate about the flora and fauna of the Central Coast. There is also a great deal of information available about the introduction of various invasive species, plant and animal alike, and how they affect the native flora and fauna and the people who live in the area, such as invasive plants that were used to prevent erosion or to provide fodder for cattle which were not controlled and spread.

An intact sea otter skeleton

An example of invasive wildlife, an Electric Blue Crayfish native to Florida

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Cinematic Displays include artifacts unearthed from the site of the Cecil B. DeMille's Ten Commandments, including photos, videos and documentation of the excavation that took place at the filming location to uncover the Sphinxes and other artifacts, and information about many other films also employing the California Dunes as a filming location.

• The Sheik (1921)
• The Ten Commandments (1923)
• The Light That Failed (1923, considered a lost film)
• The Thief of Baghdad (1924)
• The Iron Mule (1925)
• Son of the Sheik (1926)
• The Silent Lover (1926, considered a lost film)
• She's a Sheik (1927, considered a lost film)
• Beau Sabreur (1928, considered a lost film)
• The Water Hole (1928, considered a lost film)
• Morocco (1930)
• The Last Outpost (1935)
• Strange Cargo (1940)
• Sahara (1943)
• G.I. Jane (1997)
• The Odd Couple 2 (1998, also featuring the Far West Tavern)
• Rocky and Bullwinkle (2000)
• Hidalgo
• Pirates of the Caribbean At World's End

The recovered and re-assembled side of one of the sphinxes

Nora, an intact head of a sphinx from the original production of Cecil B. Demille's Ten Commandments

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Education

The Guadalupe-Nipomo Dunes Center does extensive work with the schools to educate children on the wonders of the natural world around them and how they can appreciate and preserve it for themselves and future generations. Weekly hiking groups, classes, and other projects help guide children of a wide range of ages to learn about the ecology and geography of the land, with a large focus on wildlife native to the area. There are several areas of the Guadalupe-Nipomo Dunes that are not open to the public, and are only accessible through guided tours.

Along with tours through the museum itself and through the dunes, there is also information available about other locations, hikes, and groups such as the Sierra Club that people who want more in-depth experiences can connect to. Field trips and classes are also provided, both at the museum itself and other locations, for low-income schools in the district, along with educational materials to be loaned out as needed.

Artwork done by some of the children educated by the Dunes Center

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The Dunites

The Dunites were people from all walks of life who chose to live a more bohemian, natural lifestyle out in the Dunes. Largely spiritual, artistic, and seeking unity with nature, they came from a wide array of backgrounds and lifestyles. The cabins were largely built out of whatever they could find, though a lumber barge running aground provided an opportunity for them to obtain better-quality, cut lumber to build their homes with.

They had a small, loose community living off the land for many years, starting in the 1920s. One of the most notable members of the Dunites was Gavin Arthur, grandson of U.S. President Chester Arthur. What remains of his cabin is currently housed at the Oceano Train Depot, along with other notable historical pieces.

As they aged, most of the Dunites moved back in to town, unable to keep up with the physical demands of living off the land and having to climb the dunes daily to get fresh water and food. The last holdout passed away in 1974, his cabin being burned down by youths shortly after, as was the fate of many other buildings out there, with others claimed by the sands.

Most Dunite art is in the hands of private collectors, though some is on display in various locations. The Dunites also wrote a great deal of poetry - a staple of their poetry was the inclusion of natural elements, praising the wind, the water, the sands, and all the beauty within. Much of their artwork also encompassed natural elements, with many of them being landscape pieces, however many of them also dabbled in more colorful, abstract art in a style similar to impressionism.

While many of them lived in a sort of spiritual commune lifestyle, many kept more to themselves and preferred a more solitary lifestyle. The buildings ranged anywhere from relatively comfortable cabins, considering the lack of electricity or running water, to ramshackle tents put together from driftwood and seagrass.

Far Western Tavern

The Guadalupe-Nipomo Dunes Center currently owns what was previously the Far Western Tavern, another location with a long history in the town and in cinema. There were plans to renovate, however those have been cancelled and the building is currently being used for storage as renovation would require an expansive budget. Currently, it will most likely be sold or torn down due to the expenses involved in attempting renovation. A newer version of it, opening as a restaurant in 2012, now exists in Orcutt, California.

The Far Western Tavern was a major business location during Guadalupe's youth, and was featured in multiple films due to the beauty and classic Old West feel of the tavern's interior design, including velvet wallpaper and hand-carved woodwork. Many films took advantage of it's style, including The Odd Couple 2.

References

Fish and Wildlife Services - Guadalupe-Nipomo Dunes

The Guadalupe-Nipomo Dunes Center

Guadalupe-Nipomo Dunes

Santa Maria Times

Nature.org

VisitSlo

PBS SoCal

Santa Maria Valley

The Guadalupe-Nipomo Dunes Center through the Santa Maria Valley Chamber of Commerce

Guadalupe-Nipomo Dunes Center in Guadalupe, California