August 28, 2017 // Holly Harmon

The Crested Butte Land Trust and the Crested Butte Public Library joined forces this year to bring art, the outdoors, and reading together in a unique way for users of the Lower Loop.

Located just outside of town, the Lower Loop is a short drive or walk from the Creative District. At the Lower Loop, you can find winding paths, imaginary fairy gardens, and StoryWalk®. StoryWalk® is a worldwide project created by Anne Ferguson of Montpelier, VT and was developed with the help of Rachel Senechal of the Kellogg-Hubbard Library. Be sure to look for a StoryWalk® at home or on your next trip as you can find them in 50 states and 11 countries!

Pages of a children’s story book are displayed on this perfect family walk, with majestic views at the end of the wide path.

Grab a free map for detailed directions, pack snacks or a light lunch and head out Peanut Lake Road to get started on your reading adventure. Be sure to keep an eye out for wildlife, bikers, bugs, gnomes, and fairies!

This year’s Crested Butte StoryWalk® book is Some Bugs, written by Angela Diterlizzi and illustrated by Brendan Wenzel.

It’s the perfect book to read while walking with your wiggly ones.

As you read along your walk, try to mimic what Some Bugs do: Jump, Hide, Swim, Flutter, and even Make! The unique illustrations will delight both adults and children with bright colors, fun text, hidden images (can you find the anteater?) and two pages of labeled bugs for those who just have to know “what is that bug called?!”

Once you finish your walk, if your child just can’t get enough of Some Bugs head to the Creative District and visit the family-owned and independent bookstore, Townie Books, to get your own copy to take home!

This is the third year that the Crested Butte Library and the Crested Butte Land Trust have collaborated for StoryWalk®. Jen Hillebrandt, a former Youth Services Coordinator for the Crested Butte Library, discovered the idea and brought it to Crested Butte as a collaborative project with the Land Trust. She chose Some Bugs for this year’s book based on its relation to nature and the outdoors, its beautiful illustrations, and the rhyming and simple nature of the text.

Plus, Jen says, Some Bugs helps bugs avoid “a bad rap.”

New this year is support from the Mt. Crested Butte/ Crested Butte Rotary Club, the Bubble Wrap and King of the Mountain, Inc. The Creative District also awarded funds to the project, allowing the Library to commission local artist Kate Seeley to paint the posts that hold the pages of the storybook with her whimsy and talent.

Kate was excited to work with the Creative District and inspired by the broad creative guidelines “to decorate the posts to mimic nature”. For Seeley, the creativity comes once she gets her hands on the materials for a project. She created whimsical designs on the posts using colored pencils. She likes when “stuff tells you what to do,” like a knot in the wood or the hue of the grain. Her favorite aspect of the project was the negative spaces in the design.

Kate loved this project, and as she put it “one little thread turns into the whole spool”.

The thread of this project was so inspiring that she is creating a whole series inspired by the Storywalk® post designs. This Labor Day weekend, you will be able to find, headboards, signs inspired by Kate’s StoryWalk® design at the People’s Fair in downtown Crested Butte.

For more information on the Lower Loop Storywalk®, check out the Crested Butte Land Trust. Read more about the Paragon People’s Fair here

THE CREATIVES

THE CREATIVES

FEATURED OPPORTUNITY

FEATURED NEWS

[mc4wp_form id=”693″]