The Mancos Public Library, in collaboration with Friends of the Library, will host an exhibit of artwork by the late Keith Hutcheson, a local artist and longtime educator in the Montezuma-Cortez High School, from Sept. 2 to Sept. 28.
The display, featuring 10 to 15 pieces, will highlight Hutcheson’s love for the Four Corners through his depictions of its skies, landscapes, rivers and streams.
One of the pieces, titled “Lookout Point,” will be up for auction at the library as a canvas print of the original oil painting. The painting was donated by his daughter, Emily Hutcheson-Brown, president of the Mancos school board, and the proceeds will benefit the library.
A reception is scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 13, from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Hutcheson-Brown shared that her father had more than likely done thousands of paintings in his lifetime.
“He was a lover of painting the sky, and the land here in the Four Corners and Southwest. In the displayed artwork it will be evident through depictions of both, and also rivers, water and streams,” Hutcheson-Brown said. “Everything about this land, mountains, desert and area we live in.”
Hutcheson, who died in 2023 after a battle with cancer, was a prolific artist who used a variety of mediums. Though many of his works were created with oil on canvas, he also worked in watercolor, colored pencil, oil pastels, pastels and collage.
“Wonder, mystery and awe have been my muses, and there is no better place than the Four Corners to experience them all in overabundance,” Hutcheson said at his last art public art exhibit. “I was exceedingly lucky to discover early in life that the creative process has its own reward.”
Hutcheson was born in Denison, Iowa, but settled in Durango in 1972 after a visit with a cousin while on his way to California. After falling in love with Southwest Colorado, he completed his education at Fort Lewis College and studied under artist Stanton Englehart. Prior to moving to Durango, Hutcheson worked for his father and “explored the worlds of business and aviation as a licensed pilot.”
Despite this work, Hutcheson still felt “unfulfilled,” and at the age of 25, he decided to go to college.
From 1973 to 2003, Hutcheson taught art and photography at MCHS, and was known to his students as “Hutch.” He mentored many students, according to Hutcheson-Brown, including Englehart’s daughter, Sharon Englehart.
His work has been featured in solo shows at Fort Lewis College Fine Arts Gallery, two at the Cortez Cultural Center and a retrospective at the Anasazi Heritage Center from 2010 to 2011, as well as in numerous local exhibits. Many of his pieces remain in public and private collections.
“His passion for art led him to a career as a teacher at Montezuma-Cortez High School,” his biography page read. “He often spoke of how much he loved teaching and that it helped keep him young at heart. The steady income from teaching also afforded him the freedom to create art without the pressure of needing to sell his work.”
Since his death, Hutcheson-Brown donated one painting to Mancos United in 2023 and shared that she plans to contribute more as opportunities arise.
“I know what mattered to him, and since he was a lifelong teacher, artist and community member in the Four Corners area, I feel good about what I’ve been able to contribute on his behalf thus far,” Hutcheson-Brown said. “Most importantly, just keeping his memory and his contributions to the arts and the art community alive is important to me.”
"I am continually impressed at the fact that he spent his entire career with one school district, in one subject matter and likely influenced thousands of students along that path,“ she said. ”I simply want him to be remembered, and for people to smile in his memory.”
The Mancos Public Library invites the public to view Hutcheson’s work throughout September, offering a chance to reflect on his impact on the community and the region he loved.
