The past comes alive in this rustic but elegant nine-room cabin studio, where the Jokis live. They invite visitors to enjoy the fine art and antiques that fill every room. Out back, the one room "Miner's Cabin" style building, constructed by Willard in 1923 and moved from his earlier studio site, is also open to the public.
As historians, the Jokis find common interest with Stephen Willard, who also captured the history of these early days through his photographs of the old town and mines adjacent to the studio. Further, the Gallery at Twin Lakes opens another window into the past retelling the story of the long forgotten original town site of Mammoth City, the historic Lakes Basin and Mining District and the early days of the area's pioneers.
Once again this summer, locals and visitors to Mammoth are warmly welcomed
to the historic 1934 studio gallery of photographer and painter Stephen H. Willard
(1894-1966).
For more than four decades in the early 20th century, Willard captured the
unique beauty of this majestic location through his art. He and his wife Beatrice
also provided a way station for travelers desiring information about the wonders
to be found in the High Sierra. Adele Reed, who chronicled the cultural history
of the area in her book, "Mammoth Lakes Memories," aptly set the scene:
"There is a little rustic studio in a lovely alpine setting just opposite the upper road into Twin Lakes. for over fifty years, gracious Beatrice Willard greeted all who came to the door...the large studio window framed one of Stephen Willard's pictures on an easel-a lake, mountain peaks."
says Hal Gould, pioneering proponent of photography as a fine art. Through his large-format photography and his unique paintings over enlarged photographs, Willard conveyed the drama and wonder of many high alpine lakes and peaks seen only by those who trek back country trails.