Portrait of the Artist as a Local Legend

Summer tourism brings visitors to the town of Manitou Springs, 科罗拉多州(人口4),858), 去探索它崎岖的美丽, 天然矿泉, 还有通往派克峰的小路. But for a few days each year the weekend before Mardi Gras, Manitou Springs is transformed into a little Louisiana, 最后是秋葵汤烹饪大赛, 狂欢节krewe, 还有游行中的手工木偶. 当地人穿着鲜艳的服装，戴着五颜六色的面具，聚集在街道上参加镇上的狂欢节游行, an annual tradition that has celebrated the area arts community for 32 years.

今年，一个木偶高高耸立在游行队伍之上:一个24英尺高的已故当地艺术家查尔斯·罗基(查尔斯有效)的雕像, 用手中的画笔完成, 背带裤, 还有浓密的灰胡子. 多媒体艺术家Sofia 埃尔南德斯Crade ' 13创作了罗基惊人的肖像, 谁自己比生命更伟大.

在2024年马尼图斯普林斯狂欢节游行中，查尔斯·洛基木偶高高耸立在人群中.
来源:Tom Kindt

埃尔南德斯Crade was raised in Woodland Park, a small town near Manitou Springs. 成长的过程中, she loved to spend time in Manitou Springs, 这是一个经过认证的科罗拉多创意区，以其历史悠久和充满活力的艺术场景而闻名. 她现在住在科罗拉多斯普林斯，离马尼托斯普林斯更近，并在那里有一间工作室. She has championed other local artists as gallery art director in the area, 她还在曼尼托艺术中心教授儿童美术课，并为性侵幸存者教授艺术治疗课程.

“我很幸运在派克峰地区结交了许多朋友，并找到了令人难以置信的导师,她说。. “随着科罗拉多斯普林斯的发展，我受到了启发，成为这里正在发生的转变的一部分，并投入更多资金发展其艺术和文化.”

有一位艺术家在塑造该镇异想天开的艺术场景方面发挥了特别大的作用，他就是罗基. 这位多媒体艺术家是当地的名人，经常在他的工作室外面工作, which 埃尔南德斯Crade remembers peeking into when she was growing up.

“He was somebody everyone knew and loved. 因为这是一个小镇，即使你不认识他，你也会在周围看到他，”埃尔南德斯·克雷德说. “He had a ‘Dumbledore-esque’ vibe and he was a very kind and generous person. 他会和每个路过的人聊天.”

罗基的作品在多种艺术媒介中发挥了激励埃尔南德斯·克拉德追求艺术自己的作用. 最初, she’d planned to attend the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, 但是她的父亲, 科罗拉多学院的教授, 鼓励她考虑伯洛伊特. After comparing financial offers, she decided 贝洛伊特 was the better fit. At 贝洛伊特, she studied fine arts and won an award for best senior thesis.

“[Going to 贝洛伊特] ended up being such a blessing in disguise. 我遇到了一些我一直喜欢的人，我仍然是朋友，”埃尔南德斯·克雷德说. 她很欣赏自己能够上的各种课程，以及探索不同学科交叉点的能力. “我上过一位了不起的数学教授(已故的Darrah Chavey)的课，并与他一起研究民族数学的艺术成分. Going to 贝洛伊特 really informed my art and me as a person.”

Since graduating and moving to her first apartment in Manitou Springs, 埃尔南德斯Crade has mostly worked with paint, although she has always felt drawn to sculpture. “我一直在做很多绘画，因为在很多方面它比雕塑更容易，”她说.

一年半前，她经历了19岁的弟弟德米特里(Demitri)去世的毁灭性打击. 她好几个月没有创作任何东西. 她的治疗师建议，只有在得到“明确的肯定”的情况下，才去追求一个项目.” As that year’s Carnivale Parade approached, she was contacted by a group of artists asking for her help with their puppet. Instead, she decided to create something for herself: a 12-foot blue hare.

这是埃尔南德斯·克雷德第一次参加游行，更不用说为游行制作巨型木偶了. “我试图创造一些东西，帮助提升人们的精神，激发社区的想象力和创造力,她说。. “我喜欢这样的想法:具有传奇色彩的公共作品和艺术活动可以给街道带来奇思妙想.”

Completed over 14 days, the hare puppet helped her heal. “It was a return to the medium I’ve always felt drawn to. It felt symbolic of coming back to myself after such a hard time. 有一个实实在在的项目让我全身心投入，并让我的社区对它进行推荐和庆祝，这让我重新找回了自我. 自疫情以来，我一直在做的很多工作都是由客户决定的，而不是我想要的, and I felt like doing the puppet was kind of a rebirth, of ‘I’m gonna do something wild and weird, 没人告诉我该怎么做. 只会给我.’”

The hare puppet in the 2023 parade was the biggest in Manitou Springs history. For 2024, 埃尔南德斯Crade wanted to surpass her own record. 有效地 immediately came to mind as a subject. She had spent lots of time with him when she moved back to Colorado in her 20s.

“有一天，我和他坐在一起好几个小时，我们只是倾诉衷肠，”埃尔南德斯·克雷德说. “He was very encouraging of me as a young artist. I think that it’s important for older artists to be mentors. 他实际上是想看看我正在创作的艺术品，并对下一代的建设产生一点影响.”

她不是罗基唯一的粉丝. “He was a well-loved part of the community. He could have made a name for himself in a lot of different places, 但他选择做一个小镇艺术家,埃尔南德斯·克雷德说.

“I think the piece was beyond just 有效地. 它是关于一个艺术家在一个空间中的力量，以及它如何激发住在那个地区的人们的想象力. It allows others to imagine, ‘Oh, maybe I can be an artist, too.’”

一旦她决定接受今年的项目，埃尔南德斯·克雷德就知道她没有回头路了. The puppet required constant creativity and problem solving, which she enjoyed. “从事雕刻工作感觉很自由, 绘画, 缝纫, and engineering — all these things rolled into one. It’s exciting after primarily working in one medium,她说。.

She started work on the puppet’s focal point first. 由桶制成, 头部用纸制的 ch和卷状的石膏覆盖，以形成皮肤的表面, which was later painted with acrylics and washes to get a realistic skin tone. 埃尔南德斯Crade used a dozen gray wigs and horsehair for 有效地’s hair, 眉毛, 和胡子, and painted them to give the illusion of highlights and lowlights. She placed the head onto a lazy susan, allowing it to swivel during the parade. 身体的其余部分主要由木头、石膏、织物、电线、胶水、螺栓和螺钉制成. The 有效地 puppet required a forklift to move throughout the parade, an awe-inspiring 24 feet tall in sitting position.

埃尔南德斯·格雷德在这个项目上工作了一个半月，每天工作15个小时，一直工作到深夜. 随着项目受到关注，她还必须在工作和媒体采访之间取得平衡. Her younger brother Jody helped attract local attention for her puppet. Excited about her project, he contacted local newspapers. 她说:“他的兴奋和主动性让整个社区都对此感到兴奋。.

Manitou Springs residents were eager to support the project. 这些材料很快变得昂贵起来, and 埃尔南德斯Crade set up a GoFundMe that reached $3,捐款额达5万元. A rental company also helped by donating a forklift and trailer. “很多人真的很投入. 这是一个社区项目，尽管我是制作大部分艺术作品的人，”她说.

游行那天，人们从四面八方赶来，只为一睹洛基木偶的风采. 埃尔南德斯Crade says it was an emotional experience. “这太疯狂了。. 人哭了. 罗基的家人来了，说这张照片比他们见过的任何照片都更像他们的父亲. All these people were like, ‘You made an entire town cry,’她说。.

在过去两年的成功之后，埃尔南德斯Crade正在计划她的下一个项目. “我想做一个 alebrije — they’re Mexican spirit-type animals that are spliced together. I want to do another enormous piece with wings that will actually move, and there will be people in each joint so it can move at the knee,她说。. “So if I can pull that off, it’s going to make the last one look uncomplicated.”

埃尔南德斯·克雷德想用她的查尔斯·罗基木偶激发一种敬畏感，并提醒自己和他人一切皆有可能. “I needed to do something for myself and not be confined by space, 情况下, or my own limitations of what I thought was possible,她说。. Like the artist it was based on, her puppet inspired an entire community.