Painter Rita Roberts at work on location.- photo by David Montgomery
Painters, writers, musicians and outdoor enthusiasts will convene on Wolf Creek Pass, Saturday June 20, 2015 for an all day celebration of the Art for the Endangered Landscape Project (AEL): Honoring Wolf Creek.
The Art Day will be an opportunity for artists and outdoor enthusiasts of all persuasions to honor the beauty and majesty of this high country straddling the Continental Divide. The public is also invited to observe the creative process as well as learn about threats to this scenic area.
Facilitation, orientation and amenities will be available from 10 am to 5 pm at the focal location for the event, in the Wolf Creek Ski Area Parking Lot.
Developers want to break ground for a 1,800 unit complex that would host up to 8,000 people. Opponents to “the Village” are concerned about project impacts, since those issues have still not been analyzed through any formal public process. The intent for the Art for the Endangered Landscape event is to highlight the esthetic assets of Wolf Creek Pass that will be compromised if the resort is built.
John Fielder, an internationally renowned Colorado photographer, will be a participant in the Wolf Creek Art for the Endangered Landscape project.
“I have explored and photographed almost the entire wilderness north and south of Wolf Creek Pass. The connectivity of the South San Juan and Weminuche Wildernesses creates one of Colorado’s most important ecosystems,” states Fielder. “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,” espouses Fielder.
“This event is in the tradition of artists, photographers and musicians advocating for protection of exceptional unspoiled landscapes in the United States,” according to event organizer David Montgomery. “Such painters as Thomas Moran and Albert Bierstadt and photographers like Henry Jackson in the latter 1800’s were pivotal in creating the first national parks within our young nation,” claims Montgomery, an accomplished San Luis Valley landscape painter.
“I think artists who glean their imagery from nature need to stand up and protect their subject matter when threatened,” asserts Montgomery. “Such is the case for Wolf Creek Pass.”
The AEL program will next promote a travelling art show and sale that will feature many of the creations from the Art Day on Wolf Creek. The traveling exhibition is scheduled for Pagosa Springs, Durango and Alamosa for the fall of this year.
Rita Roberts will be one of the many artists working their craft on the AEL Art Day at Wolf Creek. Based in Monte Vista, Roberts is a successful writer, illustrator and painter. She has lent her talents to help preserve the open spaces in the San Luis Valley for decades. “Wolf Creek is at the top of the Rio Grande watershed which feeds the entire San Luis Valley landscape. Visually preserving a piece of it is a small offering of gratitude and acknowledgement that this section of the planet is where much of my work and current life begins.”
Susan McCullough, Coni Grant, Jeremy Elliot, Kristian Gosar, Karen Bonnie, Victoria Coe and Rebecca Koeppen are also slated to be among the artists on the pass. Musicians Frank Scott and Deb Nichols will be playing and composing at timberline.
This is the second edition of the AEL program. The first installment in 2012 highlighted threats from fracking along San Francisco Creek, a sensitive tributary to the Rio Grande. AEL was sponsored by the SLV Ecosystem Council and the awareness and art sales donations contributed to assist SLVEC to continue standing up for the protection of our sensitive landscapes and aquifers.
AEL Honoring Wolf Creek is once again sponsored by the SLVEC as well as Colorado Creative Industries, Adams State University Community Partnerships, San Juan Citizens Alliance and Rocky Mountain Wild.
For more information please go to www.slvec.org or call SLVEC at 719-589-1518
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