At their Tuesday, August 20 regular meeting, the Archuleta Board of County Commissioners voted to make a real estate offer, to purchase the Fred Harman Art Museum building — the longtime home of Mr. and Ms. Fred Harman III — for a price of $600,000.
Voting in favor of the offer were commissioners Ronnie Maez and Alvin Schaaf. Voting against the offer was commissioner Steve Wadley.
The Museum had, for many years, featured displays of cartoons and fine art by noted Western artist Fred Harman Jr. who had made his commercial success drawing the popular ‘Red Ryder and Little Beaver’ cartoon strip between 1938 and 1963. His cartoon characters also appeared in 38 movies, on radio, and endorsed and decorated three dozen commercial products. Following his success as a cartoonist, Fred Harman has turned to fine art, and was instrumental in forming the “Cowboy Artists of America.”
From the Fred Harman Museum website:
Fred Harman loved his fellow man and it seemed that the greater his success became, the more time he somehow found to help others. He was particularly effective with children to whom he was a living hero. Organizations all over the country clamored for his attention and got it. This activity resulted in many awards and commendations. One of the many honors that he was especially proud of was being adopted into the Navajo Nation; one of only 75 white men in history to receive this unusual tribute.
The artist’s son, Fred Harman III, grew up in Pagosa Springs on the Harman ranch, and then moved away to work as a radio and TV engineer before returning to Pagosa Springs with his wife Norma and opening the museum dedicated to his father’s art. Fred also became active with local search and rescue activities, and with the Archuleta County Fair. A decade ago, Fred and Norma developed their idyllic hilltop property into the rather ambitious Harman Park subdivision, but so far the development has added only a few tenants.
As they grew older, Fred and Norma had struggled to keep the keep the museum operating, and after Fred passed away in 2016, Norma began actively looking for an organization to take over the museum duties.
Last year, the BOCC was offered 5 acres of vacant property adjacent to the museum, as the site for their proposed County detention center — with the condition that the County government would accept the Harman art collection and arrange for it to be displayed. The BOCC agreed to accept the gift — of land and art — and designated the proposed jail as part of the ‘Fred Harman III Law Enforcement Complex’.
The jail is currently under construction.
Norma Harman passed away this past April.
At the August 20 meeting, the BOCC met in executive session and then convened in open session to vote on a motion by Commissioner Schaaf to offer $600,000 for the purchase of the Harman Museum property. Commissioner Wadley had objected to the offer, noting that the County’s appraisal had estimated the value at $560,000.
He was outvoted. The discussion did not reveal where in the County budget the $600,000 would come from.
It sounds like the plan is to convert the museum and home into the Archuleta County Sheriff’s Office.