Salida – The artists Christo and Jeanne- Claude received a friendly welcome from an audience of about 200 Monday as they renewed the public relations campaign for their next work of art – a project that would drape parts of the Arkansas River between here and Cañon City with gauzy fabric.
The artists, scheduled to meet today with Bureau of Land Management and Colorado State Parks officials, said they are confident they’ll be able to find a way around likely problems facing “Over the River,” including highway congestion and wildlife impacts.
And whatever fixes are required, they’ll foot the bill themselves, they said.
Though some in the audience brought up potential negative impacts, more of those who paid $20 to attend the Steam Plant Theater benefit lecture praised the artists for their international body of work, congratulated them for pulling off “The Gates” in New York’s Central Park this winter and thanked them for returning to the area. The pair started negotiating with officials in Colorado in the 1990s, then put the project on hold for their Central Park work.
The crowd included a large number of local artists who said they were eager for the cultural boon and economic boost.
“Anything that gets people interested in art, pro or con, is good, as far as I’m concerned,” said Mel Strawn, the retired director of the University of Denver’s art program who now lives in Salida.
Local newspapers have reflected a wider range of opinions on the New York artists and their unusual proposition, with several letters to the editor bemoaning what this industrial-scale display might do to the area. The project is planned to last two weeks, in mid-summer 2008, at the earliest.
Vince Davenport, an engineer who directs the technical aspects of Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s projects, said the team will take care of any impacts, at its own expense. Helicopters could be hired to stand by in case ambulances can’t get through the canyon, he said. Ambulances also could be stationed along U.S. 50 in the area of the artwork, he said. Water tanks could be positioned to provide water for resident bighorn sheep, in case they’re spooked away from the river.
Christo said that the process now being revived after being postponed for more than four years for “The Gates” is already part of the work of art he has been sketching onto photographs of Bighorn Canyon.
“In some way, everybody becomes a part of our work,” Christo said. “If they’re against it, for it, they’re part of the work of art.”
Staff writer Jim Hughes can be reached at 303-820-1244 or jhughes@denverpost.com.
