Old Colorado City may not be a “real” city, since it’s nominally part of Colorado Springs, but we Westsiders think of it as our neighborhood’s capital. It’s not a shopping mall, not a sidewalk commercial zone, not a lifeless piece of forgotten history – it’s dynamic, unique, and always full of unexpected joys.
OCC isn’t a one-tent circus. It dazzled the world in the 1890s, fell into disrepair and was renovated, rejuvenated and reanimated in the 1970s. Thanks to the late Dave Hughes and scores of other visionaries, the revivified 19th-century commercial district is as lively today as it was 125 years ago, although not as ferocious and rule-breaking as it was in its legendary past.
In the 1890s, Colorado City’s economy included bars, bordellos and gambling dens. It was driven by Cripple Creek gold, and the vast industrial enterprises that served the gold fields – for example, the Golden Cycle Mill and Refinery, whose towering smokestack still stands near 21st Street south of Highway 24. There were also plenty of ordinary merchants along Colorado Avenue, selling groceries, hardware, clothing and all the necessities of life at the turn of the 19th century, but apparently no art galleries. Times have changed!
October is Arts Month, and OCC boasts multiple artists, galleries, art-inclusive merchants and contented buyers. There are more than a dozen galleries and art-related businesses in OCC, about the same number as those in downtown Colorado Springs. Here are four that have stood the test of time.
Hunter-Wolff Gallery (2150 W. Colorado Avenue)
Sharon Wolff opened her gallery in 2005, and has not only survived but prevailed, dealing with the mundane issues that concern every business owner, and the unforeseeable; fires, floods, the pandemic and the ever-shifting tastes of buyers. She has everything; jewelry, ceramics, paintings, sculptures and works of art in every medium. Her taste is impeccable, her prices are moderate and her environment superb. Don’t miss it!!
45 Degree (2528 W. Colorado Avenue)
Reid and Emily Fair opened 45 Degree in 2010 and have steadily grown and prospered since. They offer paintings, jewelry, pottery, furniture and sculptures from over 30 Colorado artisans. They also do framing, offering moulding options found nowhere else in Colorado Springs. It’s a family-friendly, unpretentious place, where you might be assisted by their young daughter Hazel or greeted by the amiable gallery dog.
Blue Pony Artists and Gallery (2501 W. Colorado Avenue)
Originally Created by four artists who gave up solo second-floor creative spaces in the Michael Garman building, Blue Pony combines creative and gallery space. The artists do everything; create, clean up, scrub floors, wash windows, greet visitors and sell art. There are no middlemen or gallery owners who need to be compensated – just the landlord.
Laura Reilly Fine Art Gallery and Studio (2522A W. Colorado Avenue)
Reilly, who describes herself as a “post-modern landscape impressionist of Colorado and beyond” works in what must be the smallest sidewalk space on the Avenue. Her paintings are bright, cheerful and alive, featuring spring, summer and fall landscapes: spring’s awakening, then summer flowers along high mountain streams and finally fall aspens exploding into color. Her tiny gallery/studio overflows with color and light, and her paintings give even the gloomiest winter interior a promise of sun.
And there are so many more, including Surface Gallery, Meraki Springs, Colorado Creative Co-op and Pikes Peak Artist Collective. And as you wander down the Avenue, think of the past and enjoy whatever’s going on; art shows, car shows, galleries and unlikely tales of our rowdy past. A favorite: John “Prairie Dog” O’Byrne, a turn-of -the-century eccentric who purchased two elk bull elk, hitched them up to a wagon, drove all over Colorado Springs and Denver and wreaked havoc. Their names? Thunder and Buttons. Stop in for a drink in the OCC bar/restaurant that bears their name, and raise a toast to Prairie Dog, who mourned the decline of Colorado City in verse in his 1922 autobiography.
Old Town ain’t what it used to be, times have made a wonderful change
And today Old Town resembles an old dog with a bad case of the mange.
Prairie Dog, you should see us now!
