AwA - Spotlight on Pueblo

COLORADO STATE FAIR 2022 MARKED THE 150th anniversary of the inception of what has become the Colorado State Fair in Pueblo, Colorado. This year propelled Pueblo into the future in true style as the ‘fine art competition’ made national headlines for the first place award in digital art. The award went to a piece of art generated by artificial intelligence, provoking the question of what is art? See article, “(Art)ificial Intelligence” on page 43 of this issue.

While AI stole the spotlight, the turnout of submissions was strong with 600 artists submitting work in categories including photography, painting, digital arts, sculpture and textiles. Some

of cooperation to showcase Colorado talent. I keep coming back because sometimes the State Fair is the first place folks are exposed to a gallery situation–and usually once they come it becomes a tradition and then they go out in the world and are not afraid to see other galleries and art shows,” said Karen. “The fair gallery demystifies and makes available a whole new world.”

LARGEST MURAL IN THE WORLD Celeste Rodriguez walks down the wall of the levee holding onto a rope with her paint cans attached by carabiners to her belt.

Her skin is covered with a paint splatted long-sleeved sweatshirt

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artists have grown up through the state fair with their artwork maturing and becoming highly sought after. Karen Foglesong is one of those people who has grown through her years of involvement with the State Fair. After having two pieces accepted her first year, she was asked to volunteer in the Gallery. When the Gallery Manager left, Karen stepped in and recruited her partner in crime, Adele Aguilar. Today, they both work under the direction of Trisha Fernandez and are proud “to be part of such a fine tradition

and pants to protect from the sun. A straw hat casts shadows on her face. “It’s like painting in hell,” she says of the 90 plus degree days. The murals on the levee of the Arkansas River in Pueblo are painted year-round amidst heat, cold and rising and falling water levels. They are part of an effort for Pueblo to regain the Guinness world record for largest mural in the world, held until 2017 when the levee had to be rebuilt due to safety concerns. The three miles of murals on the levee that artists had put their blood, sweat

Photos courtesy of Dagny McKinley

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and tears into, were pulled out of the ground and literally ground into dust in front of their eyes. Only one was saved, a mural by Cynthia Ramu, the force behind the original attempt to establish the title and the woman who eats, sleeps and dreams about how to get the title back.

When that first mural was painted lookouts were stationed to alert if the police were coming. One night the cops came and although the artist and his friends were able to take off before they were caught, sleeping behind a friend’s bar for the night, the cops found an outline of the mural in the truck that was left behind.

Fortunately, the new District Attorney decided to make murals on the levee legal as long as they went through an application process.

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Early murals were sketched out with coal from the adjacent coal yard. To date, Cynthia has painted the most murals, but she’s almost ready to turn over her title. Cynthia’s focus these days is on inspiring groups and people young and old to “find what is in your heart and what you can put voice to,” that also reflects Pueblo’s history. When Cynthia moved to Pueblo, the mural project became her focus and her obsession. During the three hours of this interview, her mind was racing with new ideas for murals and who she could recruit to paint them. A former teacher, Cynthia knows the power of involving young artists in the levee project. “Once they paint on the levee, they are invested. This becomes part of their own personal story and when they grow up, they end up being the next generation of artists,” said Cynthia.

To regain the title of largest mural in the world, they first have to beat the largest mural in the US, a mural on a silo in Wichita, Kansas. Then they go up against the largest mural in the world— which is also on a silo—in South Korea. One of the benefits of working the levee is they have extra space to play with, whereas silos are limited to a set amount of space.

Celeste keeps her head down as she works gray paint into the walls.

She wants to take Cynthia’s record of having the most murals on the Art with Altitude

levee. Cynthia simply smiles. She has made her mark. Will they regain the record? In Cynthia’s own words, “anything is possible.”

TOP FIVE WAYS TO ENGAGE WITH ART IN PUEBLO FROM EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF PUEBLO ARTS ALLIANCE, KAREN FOGLESONG 1 Absolutely number one would be the Colorado State Fair.

It’s amazing this multicultural inclusive event has been going in our state for over 150 years–that’s artist/crafters and rancher/ farmer communities coming together to inhabit the same space and learn about one and another.

Pueblo, Colorado sits south of Colorado Springs.

Instead of mountains there are open skies and open spaces for the imagination to go wild.

2 The Pueblo Levee Walk.

It is beautiful to see so much huge scale art in one place. It is always changing. Always free.

3 Neon Alley, a private collection of neon signs in Pueblo’s Creative Corridor.

This alleyway is stunning—no matter the weather—of course you can stay longer when the the weather is mild but wow this place is stunning in the snow or after it rains and the lights reflect in the puddles. And it’s entirely free!

4 Bite Me Cake Company.

Some of the best cupcakes you will find. Creative flavors, gorgeous presentation, plus a cereal bar, old fashioned cokes in a bottle, a classic pinball arcade and on the weekends, a full on arcade is open in the basement.

5 All the Galleries.

A completely free activity, Pueblo has some incredible galleries– all very different styles–and most are free to the public all the time.

Make sure to visit Liminal Space, Steel City Art Works, BloBack, The Front Room, Artisan Textile Company, Radeaux’s, Last Leaf and the Sangre de Christo Art Center. AwA

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John Lanterman Photography

john@johnlanterman.com www.johnlanterman.com