In June, a gaggle of professional plein air painters will descend on Douglas County in Colorado to paint pieces for an exhibition and sale benefiting the conservation of a stretch of land being squeezed from two sides.
“We’re in between Denver and Colorado Springs,” says Patti Hostetler, the executive director of the Douglas Land Conservancy, “so we have a lot of pressure from both ends. We have a limited amount of land, and we are trying to protect it for wildlife.”
An artist gets a good look at the land between two growing cities — Denver and Colorado Springs
This marks the second year that the Douglas Land Conservancy has tapped plein air painters for help in raising awareness of the need to protect open spaces in the area. “This is for immediate and future needs — what we have here may not be here generations later,” says Hostetler.
An artist painting on protected land in Douglas County, Colorado
The event runs June 22-28, and Finn LaFleur, a gallery in Castle Rock, Colorado, will host a wet room to allow the public to see the pieces as they are completed. The exhibition and sales will be at the White Pavilion, also in Castle Rock, June 27 and 28. The goal is to gain support in the community for the protection of open spaces. “The artists will be out and about on protected spaces depicting the beauty of the land, showing what kind of perks it adds to the community,” says Hostetler. “Time is of the essence, and we need to move quickly to conserve the land.”
