Main Street Sunset
Title: Main Street Sunset
Artist: Ann Weaver, Taos, New Mexico
Location: 3rd floor administrative offices, Town Hall, 150 Ski Hill Rd.
Medium: Watercolor
Source: Donated by Ann Weaver
Installation date: 2009
Audio Narration: Ann Weaver
Description:
Longtime local artist Ann Weaver donated her watercolor painting of historic Main Street Breckenridge in honor of the town’s 150th anniversary. Among other subjects, Weaver specializes in the architectural details of mining towns, painting from historic black and white photographs in addition to real life. Although she now resides in Castle Rock, she returns to the high country on a regular basis to participate in Wild About Colorado Art & Outdoor Festival, which benefits conservation initiatives of the Continental Divide Land Trust.
Kachina Steel
Title: Kachina Steel
Artist: Jack Hill, Taos, New Mexico + Denver, Colorado; formerly of Fairplay, Colorado
Location: On the bike path by the Breckenridge Recreation Center, 880 Airport Rd.
Medium: Steel and stone
Source: Donated by Susie and Rick Grossman
Installation date: 2005
Audio Narration: Marsha Cooper
Description:
Mohawk artist Jack Hill grew up in Arizona, where he spent time on the Navajo reservation. He created “Kachina Steel” based on Navajo spirit characters, his rendition a feather-adorned figure in steel and stone bearing a red-tailed hawk in one hand. Inside the arms he placed spring water—revered in his culture for containing the energy and memories of every living thing—from above tree-line on Wheeler Peak. After the piece won “Best in Show” in 2004 at the Sculpture on the Blue exhibit, Susie and Rick Grossman purchased it for the Breckenridge public art collection.
Colorado River Rock Bridge
Title: Colorado River Rock Bridge
Artist: Steuart Bremner, Denver, Colorado
Location: At Kayak Park, where Cucumber Creek intersects the Blue River, northeast of the Breckenridge Recreation Center at 880 Airport Rd.
Medium: Wood, steel, and stone
Installation Date: 2004
Source: Commissioned by the Town of Breckenridge
Audio Narration: Becca Spiro
Description :
An artful pedestrian bridge straddles Cucumber Creek just before the small tributary meets up with the Blue River, commissioned as part of an effort called “bridge as art” to provide easy passage for kayakers enjoying Breckenridge’s 1800-foot whitewater park. Hewn of wood and steel, the bridge by Steuart Bremner bears an inverted arch of river stones at its apex, each representing a tributary of the Colorado River—among them the Blue. An intensely place-based piece, it reminds us of our river’s role in the West’s grand watershed, and thus how we, too, are linked.
The Swing
Title: The Swing
Artist: Victor Issa, Loveland, Colorado
Location: Timberline Learning Center, 170 Valley Brook Rd.
Medium: Bronze
Installation date: 2009
Source: Donated by the Anilionis girls—Keri, Kristen, Katie, and Kelsie
URL: www.victorissa.com
Audio Narration: Laurel and Halle Belby
Description:
Victor Issa’s lifelike bronze sculpture of a smiling, barefoot girl on a swing graces the Timberline Learning Center, a childcare and early learning center on Valley Brook Road. Issa, who is active in the Loveland, Colorado arts scene, is well known for “creating living bronze” sculptures for public and private collections. His piece was donated to the Breckenridge public art collection by the Anilionis girls—Keri, Kristen, Katie, and Kelsie—from Greenwood Village, Colorado.
Bird Lady
Title: Bird Lady
Artist: Phillip Glashoff, Suisun Valley, California
Location: Breckenridge Recreation Center
Medium: Found metal objects, steel
Source: Donated by Cary and Marsha Cooper
Installation date: 2021
Audio Narration: Marsha Cooper
Description:
“Oh no. It happened again! “, shouted Marsha Cooper to her husband Cary from the deck of their home just below Baldy Mountain. It was the third time in the summer of 2001 that local Summit County bears had climbed the Coopers’ deck to tear down the bird feeders and drink the sugary syrup intended to attract and feed hummingbirds. Although they loved watching the birds hover and drink, the risk of bears was too high.
As luck would have it, that same summer the Coopers discovered the work of sculptor Phillip Glashoff, which reuses compressor covers, motorcycle tanks, fire extinguishers, and other rusted equipment from the artist’s ranch in Suisun Valley, California. Glashoff had just completed a life-sized sculpture titled Bird Lady, which reminded the Coopers of their recent “birds and bears” encounter. They purchased the piece and installed it on their property. Surprisingly, birds flocked to the sculpture and the bears stopped showing up!
Before leaving their Breckenridge home of 26 years, Cary and Marsha Cooper asked the Breckenridge Town Council and Breck Create if they would like to have Bird Lady in the public art collection. The piece was accepted unanimously and, to this day, continues to repel bears, attract birds, and bring smiles to those who discover her standing in her new home amongst the trees at the entry to the Breckenridge Recreation Center.
