The Ute Mountain Ute Tribe and Mancos Creative District are organizing a mural project to honor the Weenuche-Ute people and culture.

Elders and youths of the Ute Mountain Ute tribe are invited to a series of storytelling sessions to collect ideas for a series of murals to be displayed in Mancos.

The first session will be from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. July 30 at the Council Chambers in Towaoc. Lunch will be provided. The meeting also is available on Zoom.

Anthropologist Clara Martinez, a member of the Yaqui Tribe and board member of the Mancos Creative District, will lead the collaborative process with tribal elders and youths, cultural specialists and the Mancos community.

Bernadette Cuthair, director of planning and development for the Ute Mountain tribe, is helping to organize the storytelling sessions.

“We want to hear from the tribal youths what their vision is for telling the story of our culture. They are the future of the tribe,” Cuthair said Wednesday.

Elders sharing their stories bring a good understanding of traditional values, she said.

“It is a unique and exciting project and will present Ute culture in an authentic way that can be shared with the public through artistic murals,” Cuthair said.

The project is being funded by the Arts in Society grant program of the Colorado Office of Economic Development.

For more information, contact Cuthair at bcuthair@utemountain.org or Nichole Shurack at nshurack@utemountain.org.