Vi seniors experience special art class

Rosalind Cook looks to advance self expression

BY HALEY LENA HLENA@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Accomplished sculptor Rosalind Cook breathes art and passion into Vi at Highlands Ranch by sharing her love for art through teaching classes that allow others to creatively express themselves.

As Cook and her husband got into their seventies, Cook sold her art studio and home in Tulsa, Oklahoma and moved permanently to Colorado.

With a home in the mountains and her children in Denver, Cook and her husband spend the winter at Vi at Highlands Ranch, a senior living community.

Taking her experience from teaching sculpting classes throughout the country, Cook recently taught an acrylic painting class at Vi.

“I thought, you know what… they have this great art studio at Vi and they’re just a few people that come in and do a little watercolor and I thought, I want to shake things up a bit and do some big sort of impressionistic acrylics,” said Cook.

Hoping to let people loosen up, laugh and have fun, participants were also served wine, ice tea and appetizers.

Cook was so inspired by the class that she plans to do an art class each month at Vi, including a class for the sta .

“People just loved it and laughed and every one of them felt so good about their own work,” said Cook.

“A gentleman in there who has had a stroke and he could only paint with one hand, it was one of the most creative of all the paintings.”

Cook encouraged each person to do what they felt like, which is why the class was based on impressionism, not realism.

“ e rst thing I have them do is have an imaginary trash can, so all the ‘I can’ts’ or ‘I won’t be able to compare mine to someone’ - all that gets put in an imaginary trash can and taken out of the room and then we can start having fun.” said Cook.

Cook’s passion for art, especially sculpting, began after she had her rst child and she started taking classes.

“I describe it as the ‘aha’ of my life,” said Cook. “It was like something I knew was going to be a part of my life.” of a summer in Italy, studying the work of famous sculptors.

While raising three children, sculpting was just a hobby. As the children got older, Cook took the medium more seriously and began studying sculptors such as Glenna Goodcare, who did the Vietnam Women’s Memorial.

Cook’s art career started when she entered some art shows and soon got accepted into some galleries.

“ en I wanted to move into lifesize work and so I had to go back and ll in some empty holes,” said Cook.

Faces, emotion and movement were captured in Cook’s 30 year career.

Among many tremendous sculptures, Cook has done com- life-size sculptures for Compassion International in Colorado Springs as well as for the Cleveland Heart Clinic.

“It’s like there was something so intrinsically ful lling,” said Cook. “I always feel like my work is coming through me and not from me.”

Rep. Marshall applauds result

BY MCKENNA HARFORD MHARFORD@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

A number of trans and non-binary athletes rallied to defeat legislation that would have required athletes to participate in sports based on sex assigned at birth.

On Feb. 13, the State, Civic, Veterans and Military A airs Committee killed HB23-1098, or the Women’s Rights in Athletics bill, in an 8-3 vote. e bill would have required Colorado sports organizations to offer male, female and coeducational teams, restricting athletes to the team that matches their sex assigned at birth.

Speaking against the bill, Brayden Parsons, a Douglas County student, said he felt it would hurt athletes of all identities by introducing unnecessary obstacles.

“I’ve learned that a team is a place for everyone to come together, a place for people to push each other and a place where everybody makes themselves both a better athlete and a better person,” Parsons said. “I can tell you from experience that a team is not a place for barriers and it is not a place for hate. A team is not a place for discrimination, homophobia or transphobia.”

Sponsored by Douglas County Representatives Brandi Bradley and Lisa Frizell, the Women’s Rights in Athletics bill claimed to protect female students’ rights in athletics.

Frizell and Bradley said the intent is to support Title IX and insisted the bill wasn’t discriminatory.

“ is is a bill about fairness and women being able to compete in sports on a level playing eld safely and successfully,” Frizell said. “I worry that in many sports the physical and physiological di erences of post-puberty trans women give them an unfair advantage over biologically-born women.”

Bradley said she brought the bill forward because of biological di erences between sexes, asserting that “sex determines win-share.”

If approved, the bill would have prohibited a governmental entity from investigating or taking action on complaints of discrimination against trans or nonbinary athletes. It would also allow athletes to sue organizations that allow trans and nonbinary athletes to compete on gendered teams.

A handful of people spoke in support of the bill, including Ri- ley Gaines, an NCAA swimmer who competed and tied against Lia omas, a trans athlete, in the 200-meter race last year.

“Although the NCAA claims it acted in the name of inclusion, its policies in fact excluded female athletes,” Gaines said.

After two hours of testimony, a majority of legislators opposed the bill. Rep. Kyle Brown, D-Boulder, said it would further stigmatize and discriminate against trans and nonbinary athletes.

A recent survey done by the Trevor Project found that 85% of trans and non-binary youth say legislation targeting their rights has negatively impacted mental health.

In a public statement, Douglas County’s only Democratic representative, Rep. Bob Marshall, D-Highlands Ranch, said the bill was misnamed as it had no legitimate purpose and it addressed no real issue or problem regarding women’s rights in athletics.

He said that the primary sponsors could not provide a case where the bill would apply in Colorado, calling it a solution searching for a problem.

“It’s disappointing that the entire Douglas County GOP State House delegation sponsored a messaging bill meant to attack transgender kids’ right to exist,” Marshall said in a press release.

Marshall added that the bill was a distraction from the necessary work that needs to be done such as increasing teacher compensation, improving water quality and ensuring equal treatment for disabled veterans.

Reporter Haley Lena contributed to this article.