The new Tennyson Sculpture Garden on Lewis Street didn’t waste a lot of time making itself useful following the dedication ceremony on June 22. Two Old Crows art gallery and the Pagosa Springs Arts Council are sponsoring “Art in the Park” this weekend, Saturday June 29 and Sunday June 30, starting at 10am each day and featuring food trucks and a music lineup of fine regional musicians:
Saturday June 29
10:00am – 12:00pm Bluegrass Cadillac
12:30 – 2:30pm Majik Hamm
3:00 – 5:00pm Dave Mensch
6:00 – 8:00pm Tim Sullivan
Sunday, June 30
10:00am – 12:00pm Majik Hamm
12:30 – 2:30pm Irebellion
3:00 – 5:00pm Robin Davis Duo
The park will be hosting the freshly-relocated Pagosa Springs Farmers Market starting on July 6.
But first, let’s finish with the ceremonies at the park on June 22…
At the conclusion of the speeches — prior to the Chamber-sponsored ‘ribbon-cutting’ and the return to the stage of the youthful ‘Majik Ham’ rock band — we heard from the general contractor for the project, Andre Redstone, who express his thanks for the dozens of people involved in creating the new park. He also told a story about the photograph of a ‘ram’ tattoo that philanthropist and park patron Evelyn Tennyson had provided to him — a tattoo worn by her late husband, Mike — that she hoped would find its way into the park, somehow.
As Mr. Redstone noted, the ‘ram’ image did find a presence… etched into the titanium gong sculpture produced by artist Ross Barrable.
“For us, in Navajo culture, the ram is very spiritually significant. It’s one of our sacred beings, our holy deities. And whenever we are given to sacrifice that life, so we can feed the people, we always turn the head of that sheep towards this place, towards the north. Because this is the place where we remember, where that ancient being, the mountain sheep, comes from. In this way.
“So I think it’s fitting that this man — Mike Tennyson — had the imagery of this ancient being on his arm…”
Andre’s wife Debra reflected further on Diné (Navajo) traditions.
“As a Diné woman, as an indigenous woman, the Ram is a being that we honor and that we acknowledge, and is involved in a lot of our ceremonies…
“This Ram represents to us the protectors of the mountains. It represents the strength and the courage to go up on a really high precipice, and be sure of its footing. It’s the first to go and climb this thing.
“It’s also the same for the female mountain sheep. She’s the one who brings up the little ones. She’s the one who teaches them how to climb the precipice, teaches them what to eat, in the environment that they live. So we honor this animal, this being, this spirit, in this way…
“As a Native person, as a Navajo, I see a lot of things here in this park, that represent things I treasure, in my culture, in our ceremonies… The fish, there; that represents life, and the waters. We all came here through the sacred water, the amniotic fluid. Water is where life starts…”
Andre and Debra then sang two songs as a blessing on the new park. Andre also offered a prayer in front of a painting of Mike and Evelyn Tennyson, set up near the stage.
Here is a short video excerpt of that ceremony:
Evelyn Tennyson then invited members of her family and the manager of the Two Old Crows gallery to join her on the stage for the traditional ribbon-cutting ceremony.
“Can I get my sister and Ken and Stanley, and Vicky, I need you as well. Come on… you can walk across the grass…”
Pagosa Chamber Director Mary Jo Coulehan introduced the ribbon-cutting with a few comments.
“I want to thank Evelyn on behalf of the business community for creating this park… there were just so many people involved. So, thank you for bringing this park, as a point of interest and an addition to the economy of our community. I think the Mayor summed it up perfectly. ‘Vision and philanthropy’. You embody it all…”
With the drummer for the ‘Majik Ham’ rock band providing a drum roll, numerous photos were taken as Ms. Tennyson posed with the scissors in preparation to cut the ribbon, and officially open the park.
And with a thump from the bass drum, the rest of the band stepped up to onto the stage and plowed into a set of 1960s and 1970s rock and roll hits, starting off with the Chuck Berry classic, “Johnny B. Goode”…
Bill Hudson began sharing his opinions in the Pagosa Daily Post in 2004 and can’t seem to break the habit. He claims that, in Pagosa Springs, opinions are like pickup trucks: everybody has one.