{"id":16736,"date":"2025-08-28T21:45:44","date_gmt":"2025-08-29T03:45:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/mancos-public-library-to-showcase-keith-hutchesons-artwork-in-september\/"},"modified":"2026-03-30T22:01:03","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T04:01:03","slug":"mancos-public-library-to-showcase-keith-hutchesons-artwork-in-september","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/mancos-public-library-to-showcase-keith-hutchesons-artwork-in-september\/","title":{"rendered":"Mancos Public Library to showcase Keith Hutcheson\u2019s artwork in September"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\u201cLookout
\u201cLookout Point\u201d by Keith Hutcheson will be up for auction, and the proceeds will go to the Mancos Public Library. Other pieces of Hutcheson\u2019s work will be showcased at the library throughout September. (Emily Hutcheson-Brown\/Courtesy photo)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

The display, featuring 10 to 15 pieces, will highlight Hutcheson\u2019s love for the Four Corners through his depictions of its skies, landscapes, rivers and streams.<\/p>\n

One of the pieces, titled \u201cLookout Point,\u201d 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.<\/p>\n

A reception is scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 13, from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.<\/p>\n

Hutcheson-Brown shared that her father had more than likely done thousands of paintings in his lifetime.<\/p>\n

\"Keith
Keith Hutcheson was an artist and art\/photography teacher at the Montezuma-Cortez High School from 1973 to 2003. He died in 2023 after a battle with cancer. (Emily Hutcheson-Brown\/Courtesy photo)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

\u201cHe 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,\u201d Hutcheson-Brown said. \u201cEverything about this land, mountains, desert and area we live in.\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cWonder, mystery and awe have been my muses, and there is no better place than the Four Corners to experience them all in overabundance,\u201d Hutcheson said at his last art public art exhibit. \u201cI was exceedingly lucky to discover early in life that the creative process has its own reward.\u201d<\/p>\n

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 \u201cexplored the worlds of business and aviation as a licensed pilot.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite this work, Hutcheson still felt \u201cunfulfilled,\u201d and at the age of 25, he decided to go to college.<\/p>\n

From 1973 to 2003, Hutcheson taught art and photography at MCHS, and was known to his students as \u201cHutch.\u201d He mentored many students, according to Hutcheson-Brown, including Englehart\u2019s daughter, Sharon Englehart.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis passion for art led him to a career as a teacher at Montezuma-Cortez High School,\u201d his biography page read. \u201cHe 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Emily
Emily Hutcheson-Brown and her father, Keith Hutcheson, in 1997. (Emily Hutcheson-Brown\/Courtesy photo)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Since his death, Hutcheson-Brown donated one painting to Mancos United in 2023 and shared that she plans to contribute more as opportunities arise.<\/p>\n

\u201cI 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\u2019ve been able to contribute on his behalf thus far,\u201d Hutcheson-Brown said. \u201cMost importantly, just keeping his memory and his contributions to the arts and the art community alive is important to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI 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,\u201c she said. \u201dI simply want him to be remembered, and for people to smile in his memory.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Mancos Public Library invites the public to view Hutcheson\u2019s work throughout September, offering a chance to reflect on his impact on the community and the region he loved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

will be auctioned off, with proceeds benefiting the library<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16737,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[363,364,21,28,83,60,36,216,29],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-16736","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-arts","tag-community","tag-cortez","tag-headlines","tag-mancos","tag-montezuma-county","tag-montezuma-cortez-high-school","tag-montezuma-cortez-school-district-re-1","tag-newsletter"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16736","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16736"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16736\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20363,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16736\/revisions\/20363"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16737"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16736"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16736"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16736"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=16736"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}