Mancos Creative District Programs
The Mancos Valley has a long history of inspiring and attracting creativity. Creativity is part of the fabric of our community that enlivens our spirits, helps us connect, and strengthens our economy. The Mancos Creative District is here to support our creative culture to thrive and continue thriving for many generations through public art, learning and education programs, scholarships, and stewarding the Mancos Opera House into a new era
Mancos Creative District 2025 Programs
81328 Create Scholarships
The Mancos Creative District has awarded an annual scholarship to Mancos graduates with an interest in creative endeavors since 2017. Congratulations to our 2024 awardee, Mandi Peacock! Mandi stated in her application that art has always been her way of connecting with others. She began attending Colorado State University in the Fall of 2024.
2025 Scholarship Applications are now open! The scholarship is available to college-bound students who live in the 81328 zip code and have a love of the arts. You do NOT need to be an art or music major to apply.
Mancos Opera House
We envision the historic Mancos Opera House as a cornerstone for our community and region — a multi-use space where history, arts, creativity, and education converge to create connections and inspire people of all ages, cultures, and backgrounds in Southwest Colorado.
In 2024, we conducted thorough due diligence on the Mancos Opera House. With extensive community input and strategic planning, we are proud to announce our decision to acquire and rehabilitate this iconic structure. This space will serve as a creative cultural and educational hub for years to come, hosting performances, workshops, classes, and gatherings that celebrate the spirit of Mancos. We will begin our fundraising effort in 2025 to support the acquisition, continued rehabilitation, and sustainability of future operations.”
Education & Learning in the Arts
As we prepare to move in the new direction of the Mancos Opera House, the Mancos School of the West will pause in 2025 to allow for a reimagining of our educational programming. During this time, we remain committed to learning opportunities through our Folk and Traditional Arts grant partnership with the Mancos Public Library, ensuring that hands-on, culturally rich workshops continue in the interim.
Call for Teaching Artists
The Mancos Creative District and Mancos Public Library are thrilled to announce that we’ve received a Folk and Traditional Arts Project Grant from Colorado Creative Industries! This grant helps us honor Colorado’s cultural heritage while shaping a vibrant creative future by creating fun, new creative classes in our community. We are currently seeking four Mancos Valley creatives who would like to teach a craft or art form from different cultural traditions. Teaching artists will be paid a stipend and supported to create a class to be hosted at the Mancos Public Library between January and June of 2025. If you are interested in participating please submit an application of interest below. If you have questions, contact Jody Chapel, [email protected]
Generative Writers Workshop July 9-12 2025
Immerse yourself in natural beauty in this wild place as you work with award-winning writers. Listen to your inner voice, take risks, and break from routine. The Mesa Verde Writers Conference is a generative workshop and work you create may become a finished story, personal essay, novel, or poem.
Past Programs
Public Art
The Mancos Creative District has served as a convener and stimulator of public art in the Mancos. We work to approach public art as a community engaged process and usher in projects that celebrate the diverse peoples and beautiful natural landscapes of the Mancos Valley. Past projects have included the following:
Bison Mural
The Mancos Creative District commissioned artist, Chip Thomas, to install this mural along highway 160 in 2022. The mural features Thomas’ photography of a local bison herd owned by the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe.
Mancos Valley Cattle Brand Project
Through a partnership between the Mancos Creative District and the Town of Mancos, the Mancos Valley Brand Project was selected to receive civic funding to create a public art installation celebrating Mancos Valley cattle brands. Marilyn Kroeker, owner of Raven House Gallery, and Steve William from the Cowboy Forge teamed up to use their metalworking skills to create this exhibit that was installed in the summer of 2023.
HerStory Collective Alleyway Artwork
Herstory, a printmaking collective from Albuquerque, NM visited the Mancos Common Press in 2023 for a collaborative print project bringing together community, local history and printmaking. Participants created artwork honoring local woman, which were printed and displayed as a temporary collective mural in an alleyway in downtown Mancos.
Mancos Visitor Center Mural
The Mancos Creative District partnered with the Mancos Valley Chamber of Commerce to commission a Mancos based artist to create a mural expressing the vibrancy, creativity, livelihood of the Mancos Community and providing a photo opportunity for visitors. The mural was installed in 2023 by artist Annie Bussell.
Unraveling
Through a partnership between the Mancos Creative District and the Town of Mancos, local artist Alex Bond installed this unique sculpture in the entrance to Cottonwood Park in the fall of 2023.
2024 Mancos Gateway Mural
Duane Koyawena is a Hopi/Tewa artist from Flagstaff, Arizona who created our new mural at a key gateway to downtown Mancos. This striking and welcoming addition to our landscape provides needed representation of living Indigenous People and supports the identity of our community as a small western town that honors all. Duane collaborated with Cortez-based Navajo artist Keith Smith on the installation to teach his mural painting techniques and help further the mural arts of the Four Corners Region.
81328 Create Community Support Fund
The Mancos Creative District established the 81328 Creates program in 2022 to provide mini grants and scholarships to many projects dreamed up and implemented by creatives living in the Mancos Valley. The goal of the program is to support individuals and businesses to launch new ideas and take creative risks that catalyze the vibrancy and connection that we know our community has to offer.
In 2024, the Mancos Creative District supported 17 projects and distributed $9,600 to foster creativity and opportunity. Overall this program distributed $19,500 to creative individuals, businesses, and community organizations in the Mancos Valley.
This program is currently on hold as we focus on the acquisition of the Mancos Opera House.
Mancos School of the West
The Mancos School of the West is a teaching community of artists and makers committed to sharing the spirit and culture of the American West by providing opportunities to learn, connect, and create to residents and visitors in the beautiful Mancos Valley. Launching in 2015, the school offered opportunities for local artists and makers to share their unique creative skills with the community by assisting in the development of classes and workshops, connecting teaching artists and makers with spaces in which to offer their classes, marketing their offerings, and getting classes filled.
As we prepare to move in the new direction of the Mancos Opera House, the Mancos School of the West will pause in 2025 to allow for a reimagining of our educational programming. During this time, we remain committed to learning opportunities through our Folk and Traditional Arts grant partnership with the Mancos Public Library, ensuring that hands-on, culturally rich workshops continue in the interim.