The deer farm is the embodiment of an ancient dream of the artist-architect Nikolai Lavdansky. Near Kirzhach, it was implemented largely because it was here, in the Vladimir forests, that Nikolai's parents, also artists, went in search of inspiration together with their comrades more than 30 years ago. In the village of Fedorovsky, just opposite the current location of Beko plant, they purchased a cottage. And Nikolai, who was born in the centre of Moscow near the Garden Ring, already from childhood began to dream about life in the village and his own livestock.

Growing up, he finally realized that nature is more enjoyable for him than the capital city. He decided to settle on the Kirzhach land. Here he implemented his childhood dream. He opened his own farm. Built a house.

– There are different approaches to life, – says Nikolai. – One of the most common ways can be conditionally called analytical when a person plans his life in everything, calculates the pros and cons, profits and losses. My way is different. I'm an artist. And for me, the fundamental thing in life is beauty, the inspiration for some kind of compositional perfection. There was no commercial idea in relation to deer at all. They are just beautiful animals that you look at and the eye rejoices. We did not plan to start a farm to raise deer. On the contrary, when we decided to create a deer forest eight years ago and brought fifteen deer from Altai, we gradually came to the idea of the need to open a farm that would help keeping them.

Today, a huge number of urban citizens strive to be closer to nature. The creators of the "Art Collective Farm" offer guests not only to see representatives of wild fauna but also to touch them – in the truest sense of the word. Many inhabitants of the deer forest are really almost hand-raised, you can hug them, pat them, take pictures with them.

Today, Nikolai's family who lives here is engaged in the maintenance of the farm. Teenage volunteers from neighboring villages come to the deer forest and help with the farm activities and get unique experience of communicating not only with domestic but also wild animals. Gradually, a friendly team of enthusiastic, like-minded people was formed around the "Art Collective Farm". Not only visitors from neighboring districts and the capital city but also guests from quite remote regions of Russia who find themselves in this amazing place often call and ask how they can help. When the fire broke out in the farm about a year and a half ago, many caring people responded with offers of help.

– Our plans are to create a full-fledged agro-tourism complex on the basis of the farm, - Anastasia Neverova, Nikolai's wife, shares her plans. – So that the guests coming to the "Art Collective Farm" could live here for a while, plunge into the farm life and do some work. In the meantime, we cannot provide them with such an opportunity. Today our format is having strolls around the farm. On foot and horse ridings. Interaction with deer, horses, goats. It might be surprising but modern realities are such that many of our visitors have never seen real goats in their lives. And many people are very delighted not just to see deer but to interact with them.

Since initially there was no commercial plan for the development of the "Art Collective Farm", many things here appeared spontaneously. So, guitar gatherings around the campfire gradually turned into a traditional Saturday event. Now every week musicians come to the meadow specially designed by Nikolai with their instruments and perform in front of the visitors or sing together with them. And these Saturdays on their own attract the large number of those who love author songs to the farm.

Also, mysteriously, various creative people and unique specialists are attracted to this place by themselves and now they friends with the Art Collective Farm. For example, doctors engaged in animal therapy, treatment of psychological problems in children with special needs, as well as physiological rehabilitation of toddlers and teenagers with muscle-skeleton disorders. The owners of the farm treat such people with special attention and are always ready to cooperate with them and help in their noble cause.

Recently, organized groups of schoolchildren began to come to the farm more and more often, the Art Collective Farm was visited by children from the Kirzhach Complex Centre of Social Services for the Population who got into difficult life situations, as well as pensioners from the "Veteran" District Centre. They all leave with beaming smiles and great desire to return here.

There is another feature of this Kirzhach farm, which is extremely appreciated by those who are devoid of the consumer philosophy. Unlike other deer farms that breed animals for meat, antlers and supplies of young animals for hunting farms, the local livestock has never been used for such purposes and will not be used.

According to Nikolai Lavdansky, if local young deer go somewhere from the "Art Collective Farm", then only to similar farmlands created for admiring these animals.
– We are absolutely not afraid of competition, – Nikolai smiles. – Our peculiarity is that we tame our pets. They become contact, non-dangerous. A human is a relative for them since they have been interacting with people since childhood. At the same time, our pets live in the forest, albeit fenced. The leader of their herd, John is wild because he has to teach young deer to lead forest life and it is already impossible to tame an adult deer.

Over time, this farm may well turn into the agro-tourist Mecca with guest houses, its own exhibition gallery and the concert venue, craft workshops and souvenir shops. And for some reason, there is no doubt that the special spiritual atmosphere created by the owners of the deer forest will remain with the Art Collective Farm for all times.

The "Art Collective Farm" is located in the forest between the villages of Ilyinskoye and Nikiforovo of Kirzhach district.

Farm's opening hours:
on weekdays – from 10:00 to 16:00,
on weekends – from 10:00 to 18:00.

The "Art Collective Farm" Group in "VKontakte"