At the end of 2025 curator Jill Desmond contacted me regarding a space in Breckenridge she was interested in generating some ideas for. Previously we had worked together at the Denver Art Museum where I installed an exhibition in the Precourt space for 16 months. She was working now with Breck Create, and the Old Masonic Lodge was the new location.
I went for a site visit and and had some conversations with people living and working in Breckenridge. I asked them, what do you love most about living up here, and everyone had the same answer, the community.
So I decided to dedicate this environment to the community by making it a warm shared space complete with an 18 foot table for gathering. We sit outside a cabin surrounded by forest; on the walls I installed almost 1400 square feet of custom made wallpaper with animals, plants, birds and butterflies all appropriate to Summit County. I also designed a faux bois bench, a tree line, a bear cave and a piano for the space. I made three animals emerging from the art, a duck, a fox and a doe.
I’ve always had the feeling when in the woods that I’ve just interrupted an animal party, and so here I’ve brought that idea to life: upon hearing your steps the animals have retreated to the forest where they watch and wait. There’s a metaphor here too of course, that we have interrupted the party. There’s a fox emerging from the forest wall cautiously, with a wrapped paw that can be seen as an offering of repair. As a friend said about this fox with a manmade splint, “we are the only ones who can undo our chicanery”. The back of the trees were purposely left uncovered, not only to show the beauty of the fabricators skill, but also to acknowledge the wood, complete with barcodes still attached.
The wall art was made using traditional printmaking and painting techniques and materials. Everything was handmade and scanned into Photoshop where it was assembled. I worked with a master printer in Denver who formatted and printed the wallpaper rolls. It was a huge job; the files alone for the left wall were 13 GB’s.
Acknowledgements: Much appreciation to Jill Desmond for the invitation and guidance, and to Breck Create for their support. Special thanks to BC’s Jill Marek, Jae Cowen and Rob Phipps for all their care with this exhibit.
Sam Mobley was the elegant wood fabricator of the tables, benches, faux bois bench, piano and trees. If you can draw it, Sam can make it. Thank you to Robert Coller Jewett for production, problem solving and all the printing. And to Hugh Graham for 37 years of partnership, support and ladder work.
for all inquiries email hadley@hadleyhooper.com