By Hailee Langowski
Pueblo, Colo., has over 160 public artworks. The city’s Creative Corridor is a center for art and creativity. An accessible place for dance, music, and art. The Pueblo Creative Corridor is the Mesa Junction, Union Avenue Historic District, and Downtown Main St. These neighborhoods have museums, art galleries, public sculptures and fountains, charming boutiques, live music venues and cafes. These areas are historical sites.
Every month on the first Friday at 5 p.m., the Pueblo Creative Corridor hosts First Friday Art Walk celebrations with events in various Pueblo communities. Any First Friday Art Walk event is free.
The Pueblo Arts Alliance is a non-profit group that supports the city’s art scene. They want to help local artists find affordable workspaces, build community and support the arts by hosting the First Friday Art Walk.
Pueblo’s First Friday Art Walk has paintings, photos, fiber arts, sculpture, glass, pottery and much more. Live entertainment, refreshments and music are featured. You can start at one gallery, pick up a Creative Corridor Explorer’s Guide, chat with the artists and build your own free walking art tour. Local stores and galleries issue a free brochure with a map and event schedule. On Facebook, the Pueblo Creative Corridor lists monthly activities.
On October 7th, the Pueblo Arts Alliance First Friday Art Walk included the introduction to an art show called “2 + 2 = 3.” 2 Mothers + 2 Daughters = 3 Generations of Artists. The artists were Joan Gregory, Shelly Gregory and Bee Hankins. Joan is the mother to Shelly, and Shelly is the mother to Bee. It was a beautiful exhibit sharing each artist’s work and celebrating art within family dynamics.
Joan is a retired K-12 art teacher. She has been working on her artwork since she retired and said she enjoys it. “I am exceptionally proud of my daughter and my granddaughter. I think they are doing excellent work, and I am very proud,” said Joan.
Shelly and Hankins were very excited as it was both their first show.
Shelly has stained glass artwork in the show. Shelly says, “[Joan] is the origin, I’m in the middle of it and [Bee] is my future. Everything that I am stems from [Joan] and everything Bee stems from [Joan] and me.” She explains that having a parent as an artist inspires children to follow that passion, as they have in their family.
Bee has mixed medium artwork in the show. “I use caulking on canvas, then paint on top of that.” They explained they are also a writer and poet and intends to use more writing in their visual pieces.
The art pieces within the show were for sale at the Pueblo Arts Alliance located at 107 S Grand Ave.
Another fantastic art gallery within the Pueblo Creative Corridor is Blo Back Gallery, located at 131 Spring St. On that First Friday Artwalk, the gallery introduced the BIG BLO GROUP SHOW, including the artists Jason Dunks, Rose Latka and Tom Ossner. It opened Friday, Oct. 7, and closes on Friday, Oct 28.
The display show was called “You Have To Be,” by Rose Latka. The show is a powerful visual and storytelling show that explains the struggles many women in their youth struggle with as they grow up in American society. The body of work channels “the hypocrisy between legislating the lives of teenagers while simultaneously forcing them to birth life, even in cases of rape.”
Latka said, “This particular art piece was inspired by the overturning of Roe v. Wade and its impact on all women, specifically teens. It is a project that is very close to my heart in so many ways.”
Opportunities such as Pueblo’s First Friday Art Walk can allow individuals to engage with one another to see and learn something new through conversation, art, music and live entertainment. The Pueblo community likes to work together, and the art scene strengthened the bond to that fact.
