Western Colorado Farming and Ranching | Funded by: CO Commission on the Arts
In 2005, I was the recipient of Colorado's Commission on the Arts major artist grant. The Project: Western Colorado Ranching and Farming; A sense of Community. Being native to western Colorado, I was led to document ranchers and farmers I grew up around. I noticed over time that the secure sense of community I knew as a kid was diluting with growth, farmers selling ground to housing developments, and less "over the fence" negotiations regarding water rights and joint use areas. I took a year to photograph farmers, ranchers and landscape around the Fruita, CO area. The project culminated in a show of 6x7cm film-based archival silver black and white work at the Fruita Civic Center, where I attended elementary school. I continue documenting the area, primarily in a color digital format.
Eagle Vail Arts Council | Eagle County Arts Council
1984-85, Awared their annual artist in residence grant. The Project: Document the Bill Nottingham family who were homesteading ranchers in the Vail and Beaver Creek valleys. I started documenting the family after ski areas went in, development had taken root and the Nottingham family decided to leave the area completely due to development pressure. They reestablished their family's several ranches north in the Burns, CO area.