Is Winslow becoming an arts community?

With the galleries in La Posada Hotel as an anchor, the Route 66 town of Winslow, Ariz., is becoming an arts community, reported the Arizona Journal.

The newspaper cited these examples:

  • Snowdrift Art Space, which displays La Posada manager Daniel Lutzick’s sculptures.
  • El Gran Art Garage, owned by Paul Ruscha.
  • La Posada Hotel, which displays a wide variety of artworks, including works by Winslow resident and La Posada co-owner Tina Mion.
  • The Winslow Arts Trust coalition, a nonprofit organization that is restoring the town’s original railroad depot into an art space.
  • The Station to Station event on Sept. 21, a train that will stop in Winslow as part of a show of contemporary art, experimental music and film. Musicians Jackson Browne and Georgio Moroder and photo legend Ed Ruscha will be part of the show.
  • Artist James Turrell. who bought Roden Crater northwest of Winslow, is turning it into a naked-eye observatory.

The article is fairly persuasive. It wouldn’t surprise me if Winslow becomes much like Marfa, Texas, which has become an artist’s haven in its own right despite it being in a rather isolated location.

If so, it would be an amazing transportation. After Interstate 40 bypassed the town, Winslow shriveled and didn’t have much going for it for a long time. The restoration of La Posada — plus a steady stream of tourists checking out the Standin’ on a Corner site — played a big part in Winslow’s slow but steady renaissance.

(Image of La Posada Hotel interior by Larry Myhre, via Flickr)

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