One of the projects I am currently working on examines the layers of history in the landscape of/ surrounding the Sangre de Cristo mountains in Southern Colorado. Over the years (decades/ centuries) the Sangres and environs have served as something of a magnet for Native Americans not particularly interested in playing nice with usurping European settlers, outlaws of various stripes, and in the 1960s and 70s, hippies and back-to-the-landers forging new ways of living.
In the course of my research, I found that some of the communes established in the area were still going strong. This past weekend, I paid a visit to Libre, a community of hand-built homes nestled in the Huerfano valley and still very much vibrant 40 years after its inception. Nic Seivert snapped a couple of digital pics of structures and landscape while I wielded the Bolex.
At the urging of some of the Libre residents, we also visited the remnants of a long-abandoned commune nearby, Archuletaville.
Libre was originally conceived of and founded by artists, and some of the early paintings of our very gracious contact Dean Feming are currently on view at the Blanton Museum in Austin, TX.
Marcy Saude 