Searching for a new place to visit? A locale that is: Creative. Look to Pueblo. There’s plenty to explore in Pueblo’s Creative Corridor. Music. Dance. Over an easily navigated area, the Corridor is packed with galleries, museums, street sculptures and fountains, cafés and live music—all ready to challenge your imagination and inspire your visit. What is the Pueblo Creative Corridor? The Creative C
orridor is focused around the three historic city centers of Pueblo: Downtown Main Street, Union Avenue Historic District and the Mesa Junction. Each retains its uniqueness, while providing an enjoyable stroll from one end to the other. The Creative Corridor is host to numerous programs, festivals and creative events throughout the year. Downtown/Main Street—Galleries, Song, Music. In the Downtown Main Street Area, you can’t miss the Sangre de Cristo Arts Center, the hub of artistic events in the area, with gallery exhibits, performance series, Buell Children’s Museum (ranked second Best Children’s Museum in the Nation), two dance companies and outdoor performances. Surrounding the Arts Center is the world’s only solar coffee roaster, the local brew pub, a Western wear store, and plenty of art, including Art & Soul Street Gallery—all the sculptures on the street are for sale. Local galleries and creative industry in the area include: 5th & Main Espresso Bar, studio artists in the Federal Building, SAGE Art Academy, Kadoya Gallery and Bingo Burger. The El Pueblo History Museum, a regional museum of History Colorado, links you to the next district. Here the El Pueblo History Museum produces periodic showings of the Song of Pueblo, a locally performed oratorio, and El Mercado, to bring Pueblo history to life. Founders Plaza hosts an ongoing project that uses sculpture by local artists to commemorate Pueblo’s Founders like Teresita Sandoval and James P. Beckwourth. Historic Union Avenue—History Meshes with Fun. Union Avenue Historic District features an abundance of unique galleries, shops, restaurants, cafés and bars. There are plenty of places to stop and find adventures like chocolate basil ice cream, magic tricks, a summer Farmer’s Market, street performers, boat rides and outdoor concerts. Local galleries and creative industry in the district include: The Party People, Prairie Rose Olde Tyme Photography, The Daily Grind, Steel City Art Works, John Deaux Art Gallery, Turf Exchange Visual Art Center, Three One Three Gallery, Artcorp and Hopscotch Bakery. Art and activity interact daily on the the Riverwalk, where you can track the history of Zebulon Pike, play in the beautiful fountains and sip cocktails as the singing gondolier floats past. As you pass through Union Avenue, look below the bridge and see the 177,000 square feet of artwork painted on the 65-foot-tall Arkansas River Levee—it is considered the largest mural in the world and offers an artistic corridor for Pueblo’s world-class urban kayak course. This iconic art is accessible, inviting and imaginative and sends a visual reminder to Puebloans and visitors alike that our community encourages and values the arts. Mesa Junction—Quaint and Artistic. On the south end of the Creative Corridor is Mesa Junction. The Rawlings Library offers cultural, literary and heritage events throughout the year and it is the primary reason that Pueblo was ranked ninth for Book Loving Cities in the Nation in 2011, and 2010 Colorado’s Best Library of the Year. The Rawlings Public Library and Info Zone Museum feature local artist’s exhibits, cultural activities and the best modern architecture in southeastern Colorado. This quaint residential neighborhood is home to many nationally known studio artists, galleries, cafés and book shops. A taste of these include: Cup & Bowl Ceramic Art Studio and Gallery, Broadway Cup ‘n Cork, Books Again, Sculpture @ 222 and Lane’s House of Glass. Events Year-Round. First Friday Art Walks every month of the year and Street Beat performances from May to September are just some of the many special activities that abound. Add to that carriage rides, bicycling events, walking tours, poetry readings, street performances and live art demonstrations and we think you may want to stay a bit longer. In addition, there are two well-known festivals each year: the Chile & Frijoles Festival, with more than 100,000 attendees, and the newer Wild, Wild West Fest. Other heritage events take place, such as Ghost Walks and the Yule Love It Downtown, Holiday Art & Shopping Crawl. Theatre Arts Abound. Local performance artists—the Steel City Theater Company, Impossible Players and Damon Runyon Theatre, and folk arts organizations such as the Grupo Folklórico del Pueblo and the Okolitza Tamburitzans—play to sell-out crowds year after year. Three generations of Pueblo students have participated in the Summer Musical and the annual holiday Nutcracker production. Pueblo is endowed with the musical talents of the Pueblo Symphony, Pueblo Municipal Band, Pueblo Children’s Chorale, the world-renowned Veronika String Quartet and many other “locally grown” musicians. Pueblo—Rich Cultural History. Pueblo has a multi-ethnic heritage that attributes its diversity to its geographic location along the Arkansas River (pre-1848 U.S. border) and immigration for the steel mill production. Our community prides itself on the authenticity of our Italian, Greek, Croatian, Polish, Irish, German and African-American cultural heritage attractions, events, food and traditions. As a community rooted in the history of New Spain and the American southwest, we celebrate the Latino traditions of El Mercado, Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead activities), La Posada holiday procession, mariachi, literature, language, design, music and folklórico. Come visit. Creative. Pueblo. For more information about upcoming events or to get day-to-day updates of activities in the Creative Corridor, please visit www.facebook.com/PuebloCreativeCorridor or call 855-543-2430. The Pueblo Creative Corridor is funded by grants from the Colorado Creative Industries and the Boettcher Foundation.
