KJ Becker pours freshly made coffee and we sit down in her home art studio with a view of Manitou Springs. She begins to make art, painting whatever she feels in each moment on vintage Austrian and German vinyl records. “I use a lot of textures and I kind of Read more…
With mountains, trails and mule deer just outside his window, Peter Maksimow pours water from a pot hot off the stove into a French press. We stand in the kitchen of the historic cabin he and his wife, Nora, have lived in for nearly a decade, and sip fresh coffee Read more…
Hannah Rockey’s stage presence is clear, even as we sit in the print shop of her father, artist Charles Rockey (“Rockey”), on Canon Ave. in Manitou Springs. It’s the clarity and strength of her voice, the punctuations and emphases. Rockey sits in on the conversation, listening to his daughter’s stories Read more…
Nineteen chickens gather around Steve Oliveri in anticipation. He pours dry food onto the ground from a white, five-gallon bucket. The work of the moment is done. Steve, 29, is a caretaker of Flying Pig Farm in Manitou Springs, along with Elsa Kendall, Barak Ben-Amots and Alex Hare. Together, they Read more…
Spiraling down the iron stairs Kyle Frerichs installed in the center of his house, we enter a tightly organized workshop. It goes far beyond the common — peg boards holding the hand tools and a workbench with a vise mounted at the corner — to another height of possibilities. There Read more…
Layla Redding starts water to boil on the stove while we sit in her living room, awash with natural light. Art from her friends hangs on each wall. A bookcase next to the door includes books of yoga and nutrition, and a Cyndi Lauper memoir. While we talk, we sip Read more…
Peggy Dlugos takes me to a back corner of her home, to a just-right cozy and tidy work space. A pair of full-sized windows on both walls let in light, awareness of nature, and views of Garden of the Gods. “This is where I am most of the time, during Read more…
Jeremy Tackett leads biodynamic agriculture at Smokebrush Farm in Manitou Springs. He speaks to the history and philosophy of biodynamics, and his spiritual connections to it, with depth and eloquence, with passion. As Jeremy, 34, walks Smokebrush Farm, the earth that supports and lifts up two adjoining SunWellness properties — Read more…
Jeremy Tackett’s intellect runs deep and is rooted in the science and spirituality of his work guiding biodynamic agriculture at Smokebrush Farm in Manitou Springs. He can and will talk at length about biodynamics and, probably, on many things that stoke his passion for life. Ask questions and you’ll get Read more…
I love my Humanitou work. Every conversation is an opportunity to connect with an individual creator/contributor and our community, and with something deeper. I learn. I ask questions that are of self-interest along the way, ones I think others will appreciate and apply in their lives. This is a creative, Read more…
In a single-car garage on Manitou Avenue, Christine Costa carves out her career break. An architect by trade, she and her husband, Dominic Costa, a welder, moved to Manitou Springs from the Detroit area this past summer. Two motorcycles rest side by side in the garage. At the back wall Read more…
Lu LaVallie and Luke Cissell are in their LuStyle Local Goods shop on an off day, tending to odds and ends. Their baby boy, Arrow, sleeps in his carrier seat nearby. The occasional local raps on the window and pokes his head in. Their “little house of Ruxton” is Manitou Read more…