Local artists Nicholas Reti and Ivy Walker received a Paid to Create grant in Fall 2017 for their project called “The History of Art in Crested Butte” with the goals of uncovering, discovering, and archiving our local art history. The project quickly demonstrated that Gunnison Valley had a longer and deeper art history than many imagined. Through their research, Reti and Walker realized that the earliest art in the valley can be traced to the first U.S. Geological surveys of the area that occurred concurrently with the mining boom of the 1870’s. Reti compiled months of research and purchased a small number of historical prints and photographs to build the foundation for the project while Walker took the lead as project manager. Additionally, Peggy Morgan Stenmark volunteered hours of research to the project. Lastly, Shaffer J Nickel, created this video about the film featuring animation by Ryan Sullivan

Art History in the Gunnison Valley from Hereiam Creative on Vimeo.