The Mancos Chamber of Commerce advertises with the slogan “Where the West Still Lives,” and the town of Mancos advertises the town as the “Gateway to Mesa Verde.” But the hundreds of years of history and culture that exist between Ancestral Puebloans and European settlement is not widely understood or taught.
The Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade has granted $25,000 to the Mancos Creative District to collaborate with the Ute Mountain Ute and Southern Ute tribes on a series of educational presentations leading to a public art installation that will represent and honor Ute people and culture.
Native American history is not well taught in schools, and the education and art installation project aims to “remedy some of the blanks,” said Dr. Clara Martinez, who wrote the grant application for the Mancos Creative District.
Martinez said culture and art experts from the region’s two Ute tribes will lead the educational art project. Quarterly presentations also will be held by Utes who will present their history and culture.
“We’re so gratified to be able to co-sponsor this project,” Martinez said.
Additionally, guided tours in the Ute Mountain Ute Tribal Park will be provided so residents can learn about the traditional Ute homeland.
The project will “bring more balance to the definition of ‘the West’” by including local Indigenous people, Martinez said.
The first year of the grant will be used to plan the installation, which Martinez said could culminate in a mural, and the second year will be used to create it. The planning process will include community engagement and information gathering, such as asking residents what they want to learn about Ute culture and history, and asking Utes what they think is most important to share.
The project will “afford understanding and cross-cultural engagement” for Mancos and the surrounding area, Martinez said.
The Mancos Creative District is one of 32 Colorado organizations and artists to be awarded funding from the Office of Economic Development and International Trade, out of 200 applications. The grant program, called Arts in Society, supports the integration of arts and culture into projects critical to the health and well-being of Coloradans. So far this year, $495,000 in grants has been awarded.
