What is a Topek?

“The design and intent is inspired by the Inuit Topek house,” says Blackhound Design Company. “It’s a place that encourages gathering and community between people.”

As dining expanded outdoors to allow for social distancing in 2020, the City of Glenwood Springs purchased five Topeks from Blackhound Design Company to provide a small, intimate shelter for visitors and residents.

Now, the city is looking to spruce up these small structures with a call for artists, as part of its 2021 Public Art Master Plan.

“Art and culture are essential to a healthy, prosperous and just community,” arts supervisor Annie Henninger told the Sopris Sun. “The city recognizes that. Its work is overseen by the Glenwood Springs Arts and Culture Council and falls under the town’s recreation department.

According to Henninger, Glenwood Springs Recreation Director Steve Frederick broadly defines “recreation” as “what we do as individuals to improve the quality of our lives.”

Along with a growing commitment to promoting the arts, Glenwood Springs moved its recreation staff to the old hydroelectric powerhouse, built in 1888 to fulfill Walter B. Devereux’s vision of a resort town.

The building was lovingly remodeled by the Glenwood Springs Arts Council beginning in 1989. Originally leasing the building from the city for ten dollars a year, the nonprofit renovated the space with offices and studios/ classrooms, with grants from the city, Colorado Historical Society, and the Gates and Boettcher Foundations, in addition to its own fundraising.

The council then lost the space, in 2017, when misdemeanor theft charges against the nonprofit’s executive director, Christina Brusig, prompted the council to end its financial support and lease of the building. Brusig was eventually ordered to perform 50 hours of community service, pay a $2,000 fine, and write letters of apology. After fulfilling these conditions, the case was dismissed.

The Glenwood Springs Arts Council now operates in one space, 616 Sixth Street, just up the road.

The “Better Together” mini-mural initiative was the brainchild of John Carr, a member of the city’s Arts and Culture Council. Carr is a nationally known muralist himself and was involved with the 100 Gates Mural project in Brooklyn, New York. It was about artists animating the roll-down security gates of stores to turn their streets into outdoor after-hours galleries.

Ten muralists will be selected to decorate the side of a Topek. The four-by-five-foot canvases can be painted with acrylics, spray paint, or a combination of the two. Selected artists will each receive $550 and will be required to provide their own materials. Garfield County residents age 16 and older can apply online by 11:59 p.m. April 29.

Additional details can be found at www.bit.ly/TopekArt.

To find out more about the city’s arts initiatives, including an open house at the Old Hydro Building on June 4, visit www.glenwoodrec.com and click on the ‘Arts & Culture’ tab.