The Winning Proposal

In late July 2020, architect Timothy Hodsdon of Salt Workshop approached me (artist Grace Noel) to collaborate with him on a proposal for the new marquee of Grand Lake Colorado. The original and iconic marquee had fallen down with age and deterioration from the extreme climate in Grand Lake. The Marquee had been loved by residents and visitors to Grand Lake for decades. Both Grand Lake city council and the creative district released a Call for Entry requesting proposals for a new marquee design.

Tim scheduled a meeting with me and we took a look at the design he was wanting to submit but felt that it needed something to make it stand out. The design Tim brought me was beautiful on its own and it some deep creative thought to find the right content I needed to help him complete the design. I leaned into my indigenous ancestral roots of the Ute Indian Nation and thought the Ute Creation story would make an excellent source of inspiration for a public art piece that would adorn the marquee. I had learned the Ute creation story from my uncle Tom Noel, professor of Colorado History at CU Denver and prolific writer of nearly 60 books about Colorado history. While growing up, my uncle Tom had me recite the Ute Creation Story on his summer History Colorado tours when I was a child and the story has stuck with me my whole life. My connection to the Ute Tribe goes even deeper through my mom’s side. Mom is ¼ Ute Indian, ¼ ancestral puebloan, and ½ Spanish. My mom is a 6th generation Coloradoan and her ancestors moved to what is now the northern part of New Mexico and Southern Colorado in the 1700’s.

Inspired by the Ute Creation story, I created a few sketches for Tim to integrate into our proposal design along with my write up for artist bio and inspiration for the design. We were 24 hours from the deadline but Tim put together a beautiful architectural rendering and written proposal recognizing both Salt Work Shop and Grace Noel Art as the creators. Tim submitted the proposal by the deadline and then we waited for several months to hear a reply.

Meanwhile, the proposal selection process started with a display at the Grand Lake art gallery along the Grand Lake Creative District Boardwalk. During the display time, the visitors to the gallery submitted their vote for the best design. Then the process was brought to the city council and the creative district for their votes. The design Tim and I created won both the popular vote gathered by the art gallery AND the majority vote from the creative district and city council. Tim and I found out about this process upon our first on-site visit to Grand Lake in Feb 2021. Needless to say, when Tim and I learned about the selection process, we were so excited and grateful that our design had made such an impact.