Del Norte artist Karen Bonnie paints along San Francisco Creek during the 2012 art day for “Art for the Endangered Landscape” on Wolf Creek Pass. A second event is planned for this Saturday, with proceeds from sales of works created and inspired by the day going to the fight against development on the pass./Photo by Brian Perkins

Art to the rescue

Enviro groups, artists band together to save Wolf Creek landscape

by Stew Mosberg

With development on Wolf Creek Pass edging ever closer to reality, area environmental groups are taking a novel approach to calling attention to and protecting the threatened landscape. They are hoping art can help stop the bulldozer’s blade.

 “Art for the Endangered Landscape: Honoring Wolf Creek” is a multi-faceted program that kicks off with an “art day” on Sat., June 20, at Wolf Creek Ski Area. The event invites artists, as well as spectators, to the ski area to create, perform, paint, sculpt and otherwise express their connection to the area as well as wilderness in general. The art works created that day will be eligible to be part of a juried exhibit that will tour the area next fall in an effort to share the beauty and plight of Wolf Creek Pass with the public, according to organizers.

“The day is more than a celebration, it’ll be a happening – a day of creativity and personal expression through painting, prose, drawing, photography, videography, songwriting, sculpture, printmaking, poetry, and dance artists focused on expressing and sharing the connection to this wild and pristine location,” longtime Village at Wolf Creek opponent Peter Meisler said. “Considering that plans to build an outlandish high-elevation luxury Village at Wolf Creek are once again ramping up ... this event will also serve to raise awareness of the struggle to save the keystone Alberta Park from the developer’s bulldozer.” 

The event is being coordinated by the San Luis Valley Ecosystem Council in connection with Colorado Creative Industries, Adams State University, the San Juan Citizens Alliance and Rocky Mountain Wild.

Now in its second iteration (the first was in 2012), at the heart of the event is the Forest Service’s recent decision to approve a land exchange that will pave the way for Texas developer Red McCombs long-stalled Village at Wolf Creek. The village has been vehemently opposed by area environmental groups, who decry the Forest Service’s latest decision. According to the San Juan Citizen’s Alliance, in its latest move the Forest Service ignored court orders and “continues to illegally conceal 13,000 pages of emails related to undue influence and manipulation of (their) analysis.”

Internationally recognized Colorado photographer John Fielder, who has explored and shot the area extensively, will be among this year’s participants.

“The connectivity of the South San Juan and Weminuche wildernesses creates one of Colorado’s most important ecosystems,” Fielder said in a press release. “It is already victim to the traffic of the Highway 160 corridor and the massive beetle kill of its magnificent old growth forests. The construction of the Village at Wolf Creek may very well send it into a death spiral.”

In addition to the blight on the land that a substantial vacation complex would cause, it would threaten endangered lynx by blocking their habit corridor, according to the environmental groups.

Using art to draw attention to the plight of Wolf Creek was the idea of Dave Montgomery, projects and program coordinator for the San Luis Valley Ecosystem Council. He said the goal of the project is to highlight the skills of regional artists and translate inspiration from nature into solutions for land management that will preserve natural scenic resources.

The inaugural 2012 project was more of a learning experience, which Montgomery admits was successful but ultimately put a strain on SLVEC’s limited resources to manage. “We needed to get support funding, sponsors and more volunteers in order to proceed without unduly impacting our meager staff and other programs,” he said. Fortunately, they were able to obtain grants from Colorado Creative Industries (a merging of the state’s former Council on the Arts and Art in Public Places program) and soon joined forces with the aforementioned nonprofits.

Monte Vista painter Evelyn Sprouse Rowe was one of 30 regional artists who participated in the art day in 2012./Photo by Brian Perkins

San Juan Citizens Alliance Outreach Coordinator Erika Brown said another intention of the June 20 art day is to give exposure to area artists. “Artists are invited to come and engage in their creative process and share the experience with each other as well as with visitors,” she said. 

Pre-registration for artists is encouraged and there is a $30 entry fee that will allow access to the scenic vistas and a catered lunch (lunch will also be available to the general public for a donation.) The art day is not a competitive event, and artists are encouraged to just come up and be part of the experience, even if they do not necessarily produce a piece for the upcoming show and sale.

In addition, outreach volunteers will be on hand throughout the day to speak with the public and offer handouts on the impacts associated with the proposed development.

Phase two of the project kicks off in the fall with the travelling art show, which will feature works inspired by the art day. The exhibit will open at the Pagosa Springs Art Center on Sat., Sept. 26, and then travel to Durango’s Taylor-Raymond Gallery with an opening reception Thurs., Nov. 5. Following that, the tour will head east, where it will wrap up at Adams State University’s Community Partnerships Gallery in Alamosa, on Fri., Dec. 4. During the tour, all art will be for sale with proceeds going toward the continued fight against the Village at Wolf Creek.

The juror for acceptance into the touring show will be Alamosa plein air painter  Coni Grant. Montgomery said he recommended her because of her merit as an artist, designer and teacher. “I find her to have an excellent and discriminating eye,” he said.

The former Bay Area resident who later moved to Alamosa where she earned her Master’s in painting from Adams State, owns her own studio and is a member of the Plein Air Painters New Mexico, High Desert Painters and San Luis Valley Painters. Prior to moving to Colorado, she was a graphic designer in California for nearly 20 years. Explaining the criteria for acceptance into the touring exhibit, Grant said art should reflect the theme of the landscape. “Beyond that I will be looking at formal elements such as composition, use of color and value, how the medium is handled and overall design,” she said.

The 2012 show included 40 pieces and six sculptures by 30 artists, which sold any

where from $50 to $2,500. Montgomery is expecting this year’s show to be similar, depending on the exhibition space. Artists may submit one large piece or two smaller works, and anything that doesn’t sell will be returned to the artists. Artists whose work is accepted into the show will receive 60 percent of the sale, with the balance going to the cause.

For additional information about the art day, the touring exhibit or to register, email www.slvec.org or call Dave Montgomery (719) 580-5574. For more on the fights against the Village at Wolf Creek, visit no  villageatwolfcreek.blogspot.com or sanjuancitizens.org/lands-protection/.