Hello Everyone,
Having an opportunity to return to the mountains and enjoy a city with a multitude of diverse attractions has made Colorado Springs one of our preferred places to visit. Besides seeing several attractions that were new to us this year, we had opportunities to return to two of our favorites, Garden of the Gods and Michael Garman’s sculptured Magic Town.
MICHAEL GARMAN GALLERY
Located in the heart of the Old Colorado City section of Colorado Springs, Michael Garman’s Magic Town is a 3,000 square-foot miniature city containing hundreds of intricately detailed sculpted figures and cityscapes. Visitors can stare through a building’s windows into various rooms, observe alleyways, or check out sidewalk scenes. Some of these change before your eyes due to such magical effects as holograms and mirrors. With the audio effects employed, it seems like some scenes are actually talking to you and telling their stories.
Everything from items in the trash cans to dogs to people has been transformed into a 1/6" scale, miniaturized neighborhood. It depicts snapshots in Michael’s life as a vagabond in the 1950's and 60's in Central and South America and throughout the United States. What he has created are the scenes and people he knew and remembered. As Mary Koehler, who handles publicity for the gallery told me, “It could be considered his biography.”
Michael calls it “A gritty blend of Walt Disney and Norman Rockwell.”
WHO IS MICHAEL GARMAN
At age eight, Michael’s father gave him a bunch of pipe cleaners and a book on anatomy so he could make his own toys. He made little toy soldiers out of these pipe cleaners. He would line up his soldiers on the bed, kill off his hero, cry about the situation, and start the scene over. From this, he developed an ability to tell stories.
Michael loved to photograph scenes. He spent three years traveling throughout Central and South America where he would talk his way into receiving meals or shelter in exchange for sweeping the floor or performing other menial tasks. Nine months into his trip, he also talked his way into the School of Fine Arts in Santiago, Chile where he received free tuition and where they fired his pieces. After learning to sculpt, he went door to door peddling the figures he had created.
After selling his figures, he found he missed them which led to him creating his own method of reproducing them. As he points out, John Steinbeck didn’t sell only one copy of Grapes of Wrath. Magic Town was Michael’s way of compressing architecture, art, painting, theater, and film together.
For seven decades, he has brought to life the American scenes and people he knew from Dallas, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Central and South America via three dimensional sculptures. He calls the people he created, who shaped America, his Street People. He was always fascinated by alleys and loved the old unkempt feeling.
From 1975 to 1985, he created with his team the vast majority of Magic Town. The town is still being added to as Michael looks at a building and sees what he wants to fix or increase. His last piece, the Pizzeria, is one of his favorites. The purpose behind all of this is to provide a home for his characters where their life stories are dramatized.
His scene Darby I, his first cityscape, was created in 1975. He entered it in the third Colorado Art Show at the Denver Art Museum and won first in the show.
He has provided magical elements to his work as well. Mirrored illusions, built behind scenes, let rooms change. They allow for an illusion of depth behind a scene. Double-sided mirrors allow images to appear and disappear.
Hologram characters, throughout the cityscape, move, tell stories, and serenade visitors. These are friends of Michael, some of the staff, and actors who were filmed then placed in a series of mirrors to put them on the streets of Magic Town. Michael even appears as a hologram. The objective is to tell a story behind every square inch revealing that Michael is not only a sculptor but an engineer.
Michael’s work has traveled to Las Vegas. It has been seen on such television programs as the Today Show and the Tonight Show. For the past 40 years, he has had a studio in Colorado Springs where people come to view his work.
A special event in now underway at the gallery. From November 3 through December 31, 2017, Michael Garman’s Magic Town is transforming into a winter wonderland complete with festive decorations and a hand sculptured Santa. At the town’s Crown Theater, the marquee reads “It’s a Wonderful Life.” All admissions include complimentary popcorn and a festive scavenger hunt.
HOW THE FIGURES ARE CREATED
Michael first forms his characters out of sculpture wax or clay. He makes some in a few months while for others, it takes years. When the piece stops talking to him, that’s when he feels that it is complete.
John Hodges, his production team manager, then applies 20 coats of latex, coat after coat. A molded shell goes around the figure. Wires in the feet, legs, and neck with a nail in the head are applied for support. Then a heavy, gray gypsum cement named Hydrocal is poured into the upside down mold. It takes an hour for the water and heat from the chemical to form the molded figure. The sculpture is then taken out, cleaned up, and allowed to dry for a few days.
The figures are then either hand painted or have a bronze tone applied to them by the painters. Mary Burright is in charge of painting. Many of the same smaller pieces can be painted at the same time. Large pieces are painted by themselves. The skin, hair, clothes, and all the details acquire the desired colors.
Then the piece is dipped into a Tupperware cannister containing Garman Grunge, a brown stain consisting of burnt umber, water, and sealant. It looks like chocolate milk and has a distinctive odor. The excess is wiped off giving the figure a grubby look.
FIGURES HE SELLS
You can purchase any of his nearly 500 characters at the Michael Garman Gallery or buy them online. This includes a full line of American Moments series where his characters honor heros from all walks of life. He also respects our nation’s first responders with lines for the military, police, and firefighters. Other series are Western, Early American (pathfinders and Native Americans), Aviator, Lineman, Professional, Sports including a Golfer series, and a Holiday series. You can view these at their online store on their web site.
They have been collected by many celebrities. Just a few are Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush, John Elway, Troy Aikman, Bob Hope, and John Travolta. In 2016, Arnold Schwarzenegger visited the gallery and purchased some of Michael’s sculptures for himself and some of his friends. Prices start at $40 and go as high as $550. Most cost less than $200. Bronzetone sculptures are less expensive than painted ones.
All of his characters can be personalized since they are hand painted. Custom features can include hair, skin tone, name or badge number, or the color of a uniform. They also offer custom paint. Billboards and bench-backs can include a company logo, family portrait, or an individualized message. The staff can add a custom headline, front page photo, newspaper banner, or date to any of the sculptures which include a newspaper. For those who want to create a unique trophy or award, the company can add a wood base to any sculpture by Michael Garman.
The Michael Garman Gallery and Museum also offers a series of wall hanging cityscapes with custom options. These include a custom billboard, newspaper, or signs; custom graffiti; and additional characters, props, and accessories. All of these shadowboxes are created by hand. Finally, a custom sculpture can be created. These require a sculpting fee and minimum purchase order.
DETAILS
You will find the Michael Garman Gallery and Museum at 2418 W. Colorado Avenue in Colorado Springs. Their telephone number is (800) 731-3908. Admission to the gallery is free. The Magic Town exhibit is $5 for adults, $4 for seniors, and $3 for children ages seven to 12. Under age seven, it’s free. Hours are seasonal. In the fall and winter, it’s Monday through Friday, noon to 5:00 p.m. On weekends, it’s noon to 6:00 p.m. During the spring and summer, they open at 10:00 a.m.
GARDEN OF THE GODS
Recognized as a National Registered Natural Landmark, Garden of the Gods has been and still is one of Colorado Springs’ best loved attractions. In 2014, TripAdvisor called Garden of the Gods the number one city park in the United States and number two city park in the world. Its combination of red sandstone and limestone unusual formations have grabbed attention for centuries.
A LITTLE HISTORY
Three hundred million years ago, the rocks formed here. Animals and vegetation found the area an ideal habitat. Over the years, rain, ice, wind, and melting snows caused erosion giving these rocks their unique appearance.
The first confirmations of man are the petroglyphs etched into the rocks and evidence of tree rings. The Utes discovered the area 2,500 years ago and used the land for shelter, water, and game for hunting. They considered the land as sacred and a place to see and be seen. It became one of the major trails between the mountains and the plains.
Spanish colonial soldiers marched through the region in the 1770s as part of an exploration party searching for Comanches. DeAnza followed the route directly south of the Garden of the Gods as he drove his men north from Santa Fe attempting to seek the limits of Spanish territory rather than observing the scenery.
Zebulon Pike in 1806 and John C. Fremont in the 1840's, early American explorers, attempted to create maps of the American west. There were no maps before this. In 1858/59, the Pikes Peak Gold Rush drove permanent settlement into the region. In fact, it was because of the gold that Colorado Springs came into being. The miners at the base of Ute Pass needed supplies - picks and shovels and food so Colorado Springs became their supply town.
In 1858, M.S. Beach and Rufus Porter, two surveyors, came from Denver to stake out Colorado City. They stopped at a red rock park. Beach announced, “This would make a beautiful beer garden.” Porter disagreed and said, “No, this is a garden fit for the gods.” They thought about it for a while and gave Garden of the Gods its name. The Gold Rush brought 100,000 people in 1859 to the Pikes Peak region. Colorado Springs started that year promoting Garden of the Gods as a major attraction.
General William Palmer came to the area working for the Kansas and Pacific Railroad. He was primarily a railroad booster as well as a land investor and developer of Colorado Springs. He not only built railroads but was interested in area amenities that would attract people. He believed that Garden of the Gods was a gold mine and advertised it as a scenic wonder to tourists and potential investors. He purchased more of the Garden of the Gods so that he could own the area’s water rights and build an irrigation system through his canyon.
Palmer built his estate Glen Eyrie, just north of the garden and acquired the area’s Rock Ledge Ranch, which you can also visit, for a family member. In 1897, he attracted Charles Elliot Perkins, another railroad magnate, and suggested Perkins build a home on the Garden of the Gods property. Perkins was the former director of the Chicago, Burlington, Quincy Railroad Company.
Perkins purchased in 1879 480 acres but never built on the property. When he died in 1909, his family donated that land as a city park that would be forever free to the world. In exchange, no alcohol or development would be allowed.
Over the years, the city added pieces to the park. Balance Rock and Steamboat, two well-known rock formations, were privately owned by photographer, Paul Goerke, and then later by his sons. If you wanted to see these formations while Goerke was alive, you had to pay a quarter for the privilege and he would take a photo of the event.
After Goerke, several individuals and groups came onto the Garden of the God property to try and create economic activity. During the 1930's, the Civilian Conservation Corps planted juniper trees to prevent erosion and created natural steps so various locations could be reached. They also added benches.
In 1935, six Jaycees and their wives started hosting chuckwagon dinners not far from the entrance. They proved so popular within a few years that the Jaycees constructed a covered patio area soon named The Pavilion. It remained a park picnic shelter until 1995. The last chuckwagon supper was served during the 1980's.
During the late 1960's and early 1970's, 10,000 people attended Easter Sunrise Services at 4:00 a.m. They were held at the property just west of Kissing Camels.
The Visitor and Nature Center, which is run by the non-profit Garden of the Gods Foundation, is located just outside the park. In 1995, Lyda Hill and Nancy Lewis formed the foundation. They built the new visitor center and then donated it to the Garden of the Gods Foundation in 2011. Its mission is to provide public education and a continuous stream of revenue for the park. The city owns the park, but the foundation owns the visitor center.
In its first 22 years, the center has returned $2.8 million to fund preservation, conservation, and education programming through the Garden of the Gods Foundation. It is now a guaranteed funding source. Sources of income are the movie, café, and gift shop as well as funds from such activities as the trolley and jeep rides and the rock climbing excursions. Rock climbing permits are free.
In 2015, Lyda Hill had another idea. Her vision was to challenge the younger generation to tangle with nature. The center was completely redone and now has state of the art exhibits which are high tech and interactive. In 2017, 1.2 million people passed through the building where you can easily spend two hours viewing the displays.
More than two million visitors take advantage annually of the park’s 1,334 acres today providing multiple recreational uses. Hiking is the main activity. However, rock climbing, horseback riding on certain trails, guided nature talks and walks, photography, and driving through the Garden of the Gods have made this park extremely popular. The busiest times of the year are May 15 through August 15, September and October, and spring break.
NEW EXHIBITS
Some of the best views of Garden of the Gods, great for photography, are accessible from the Visitor and Nature Center’s terrace. Spanning the building’s entire front, it provides a wonderful view of Pikes Peak framed by the foothills and the park’s red sandstone. The Center is also the location to obtain maps and visitor information, sign up for guided nature walks, and see interpretive presentations.
Having been to Garden of the Gods on former visits, I was delighted to see the new displays at the Center. Exhibit topics include tourism, people and history, and flora and fauna. At “Dinosaur Discoveries in Colorado,” visitors can also see the Theiophytalia Kerri, the only dinosaur of its type in the world. It was discovered at Garden of the Gods in 1878 by Colorado College professor James Kerr. Its name translates to “Belonging to the Garden of the Gods.” Until 2006, it was mistakenly identified as a Camptosaurus dinosaur.
One highlight is the Ecology Matrix, which is an array of nine large screens on the six interrelated ecosystems comprising the park. These are wetlands, prairie grasslands, mountain shrublands, Pinon and Juniper woodlands, montane forest, and cliff islands of towering rock formations. Using a touchscreen menu, visitors select options such as “wildlife of higher elevations,” “birds of the Garden,” or “native grasses.” They’ll see high resolution images of flora and fauna meeting their selected criteria allowing them to learn more about the park’s wildlife including their diets and habits.
Another is the Wall of Changing Seasons. Three large screens present a wide angle, time-lapse video of the park’s Gateway Rocks framing Pikes Peak. It’s an interactive where visitors spin a dial to move backward and forward through the video to see the park’s seasonal and daily changes. The wall presents one complete year in the park leading up to the present date. Visitors appreciate the changes to lighting, colors, and clouds over the formations.
I loved the “Flora and Fauna Cloud.” Here 16 of the park’s animals and plants are presented in illuminated glass boxes, suspended in space and set against the background of the Garden of the God’s rock formations. It’s an interactive encouraging you to learn more about each of the flora and fauna. Some specimens are on loan from the Denver Museum of Nature and Science.
“Fit for the Gods” is a wall of projected historic images which document the park’s past. By selecting a touch screen, visitors can learn about a specific formation, topic, or event in the Garden of the God’s history. The display has more than 250 featured photographs dating back to the late 19th century. They were provided by the Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum.
With “People and History,” visitors learn about the Native Americans, including the Utes and their petroglyphs, the early Spanish explorers, the Goerkes, and Charles Perkins. In the tourism section, you’ll see photos, souvenir plates from the 1940's through the 1960's, early booklets, and postcards dating as far back as the early 1900's.
“Mountain Majesties” covers such mountains as Hawaii’s Mauna Kea, Alaska’s Denali, Colorado’s Mount Ebert, New Hampshire’s Mount Washington, and Texas’s Guadalupe Peak. It provides the heights of each and also provides information on Pike’s Peak.
Some of the old exhibits at the Center have been updated. These include an enlarged and enhanced 3D topographic map of the park, learning about different kinds of scat, and viewing the various types of rocks up close. It includes information on the buffalo and a refurbished full-sized bison bull and cow sculpture.
TERRIFIC NEW FILM
The 14-minute movie “How did Those Red Rocks Get There?” is held every 20 minutes in the Geo-Trekker circular theater. It’s an amazing journey through time and space to learn about the Garden of the Gods rock formations and the geological processes that created them. Excellent aerial footage of the park is included.The film is viewed on four giant screens in “better-than-HD” quality enhanced by surround-sound audio and lighting effects. It runs every 20 minutes. Admission is $6 for adults and $4 for children.
The film traces one billion years of geologic events. It starts with visitors being submerged in red hot molten magma that formed the Pikes Peak granite. After traveling at high speeds through a “wormhole,” visitors find themselves submerged in seas once filled with primitive sea creatures hundreds of millions of years ago. Traveling through the Cretaceous and Jurassic Periods, viewers have close encounters with dinosaurs as they learn how miles of rock layers resulted in vertical tilting to create the formations seen today. The spectacular ending consists of the United States Air Force chorale singing “America the Beautiful.”
TROLLEY TOUR
New for 2017 is the historically customized, 14-passenger jitney, built to resemble a park trolley from 1909. The ride lasts 55 minutes and costs $17 per person. The driver provides park facts, points out the various formations, and tells an occasional tall tale as you ride along.
It was built in 18 months by Greg Wellens, owner of Adventures Out West, a local company offering jeep, van, and Segway rides located right outside the visitor center. He partnered with Tim Eckert, a veteran Pikes Peak Hill Climb racer and auto designer who has worked on cars for the Disney Company.
They erected a roughly 18-foot long housing onto a 2005 Ford, full sized, van chassis. Following the 1909 version’s design, it has a high ceiling and wooden side steps and wheels. Unlike the 1909 version, it contains padded seats.
Our guide was Sidewinder, a school teacher for 30 years. He pointed out the first formations of Sleeping Giant, South Gateway, and North Gateway. Kissing Camels is 325 feet high, the approximate length of a football field. Yes, they actually look like they are kissing.
He informed us about Katherine Lee Bates. When she came from Chicago in 1893, she was influenced by Pikes Peak so much that she wrote the song “America the Beautiful” about it.
Sidewinder pointed out the Bunny Rabbit formation located above Kissing Camels. The park has wildlife ranging from black bear and mule deer to elk. Birding is big as 130 species have been spotted. White-throated swifts are quite common. The holes in the rocks provide shelter for little brown bats. Since prairie rattlesnakes have been spotted, it’s best to stay on the trails. The park is home to the Rampart Range herd of 80 to 100 bighorn sheep, the official state mammal of Colorado.
We stopped to admire the Pregnant Maiden up against the Tower of Babel. In the inner garden, we viewed Weeping Mother, a formation that’s 30 million years old.
Our bus passed the Scotsman picnic area as we made our way to Balance Rock, weighing 700 tons, and the adjacent Steamboat Rock. At one time, those two were combined.
We next drove by the Garden of the Gods Trading Post. It has a café and good-sized souvenir shop. In the past, you could often see horses tied up here. Other rocks which caught our eye were Fred Flintstone, the Frenchman complete with beret, Screaming Witch, Leaning Buddha, the Keyhole, and Praying Hands.
After a complete tour of all the driving routes, we made our way back to the Center. Even though I had been to the park multiple times, it was enjoyable to have pointed out the various formations, including some I had actually missed. There is one caveat. If you want to photograph the formations, be sure to sit on the left side of the trolley, You will see much more on that side.
OTHER RECREATION
The park is known for its hiking, technical rock climbing, road and mountain biking, and horseback riding. It contains more than 15 miles of trails including a 1.5 mile trail running through the heart of the park that is paved and wheelchair accessible. Annual events include two summer running races, recreational bike rides, and the Pro Cycling Challenge Prologue. Other annual events enjoyed by thousands are Bighorn Sheep Day, GOG Earth Day Celebration,. Astronomy Day, and Fossil Day.
Picnicking is available on a first-come, first-served basis at two picnic areas, the Scotsman Picnic Area and the South Spring Canyon Picnic Area. Visitors can bring a propane grill into the park.
Free naturalist led guided walks are given daily at 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. on such topics as wildflowers, rattlesnakes, gold-seekers, and many other Colorado themed topics. They depart from the North Main Parking Lot, weather permitting. Twenty minutes nature talks are given at the Center - dates, times, and topics change. A schedule of monthly adventure series programs and events in addition to information about other forms of recreation is on their web site.
DETAILS
Garden of the Gods Visitor and Nature Center is located at 1805 N. 30th Street in Colorado Springs. Its telephone number is (719) 634-6666. Park hours are May 1 to October 31 5:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. and 5:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. the rest of the year. The Center’s hours are 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. from Memorial Day weekend to Labor Day weekend and 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. the rest of the year.
Having an opportunity to return to the mountains and enjoy a city with a multitude of diverse attractions has made Colorado Springs one of our preferred places to visit. Besides seeing several attractions that were new to us this year, we had opportunities to return to two of our favorites, Garden of the Gods and Michael Garman’s sculptured Magic Town.
MICHAEL GARMAN GALLERY
Located in the heart of the Old Colorado City section of Colorado Springs, Michael Garman’s Magic Town is a 3,000 square-foot miniature city containing hundreds of intricately detailed sculpted figures and cityscapes. Visitors can stare through a building’s windows into various rooms, observe alleyways, or check out sidewalk scenes. Some of these change before your eyes due to such magical effects as holograms and mirrors. With the audio effects employed, it seems like some scenes are actually talking to you and telling their stories.
Everything from items in the trash cans to dogs to people has been transformed into a 1/6" scale, miniaturized neighborhood. It depicts snapshots in Michael’s life as a vagabond in the 1950's and 60's in Central and South America and throughout the United States. What he has created are the scenes and people he knew and remembered. As Mary Koehler, who handles publicity for the gallery told me, “It could be considered his biography.”
Michael calls it “A gritty blend of Walt Disney and Norman Rockwell.”
WHO IS MICHAEL GARMAN
At age eight, Michael’s father gave him a bunch of pipe cleaners and a book on anatomy so he could make his own toys. He made little toy soldiers out of these pipe cleaners. He would line up his soldiers on the bed, kill off his hero, cry about the situation, and start the scene over. From this, he developed an ability to tell stories.
Michael loved to photograph scenes. He spent three years traveling throughout Central and South America where he would talk his way into receiving meals or shelter in exchange for sweeping the floor or performing other menial tasks. Nine months into his trip, he also talked his way into the School of Fine Arts in Santiago, Chile where he received free tuition and where they fired his pieces. After learning to sculpt, he went door to door peddling the figures he had created.
After selling his figures, he found he missed them which led to him creating his own method of reproducing them. As he points out, John Steinbeck didn’t sell only one copy of Grapes of Wrath. Magic Town was Michael’s way of compressing architecture, art, painting, theater, and film together.
For seven decades, he has brought to life the American scenes and people he knew from Dallas, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Central and South America via three dimensional sculptures. He calls the people he created, who shaped America, his Street People. He was always fascinated by alleys and loved the old unkempt feeling.
From 1975 to 1985, he created with his team the vast majority of Magic Town. The town is still being added to as Michael looks at a building and sees what he wants to fix or increase. His last piece, the Pizzeria, is one of his favorites. The purpose behind all of this is to provide a home for his characters where their life stories are dramatized.
His scene Darby I, his first cityscape, was created in 1975. He entered it in the third Colorado Art Show at the Denver Art Museum and won first in the show.
He has provided magical elements to his work as well. Mirrored illusions, built behind scenes, let rooms change. They allow for an illusion of depth behind a scene. Double-sided mirrors allow images to appear and disappear.
Hologram characters, throughout the cityscape, move, tell stories, and serenade visitors. These are friends of Michael, some of the staff, and actors who were filmed then placed in a series of mirrors to put them on the streets of Magic Town. Michael even appears as a hologram. The objective is to tell a story behind every square inch revealing that Michael is not only a sculptor but an engineer.
Michael’s work has traveled to Las Vegas. It has been seen on such television programs as the Today Show and the Tonight Show. For the past 40 years, he has had a studio in Colorado Springs where people come to view his work.
A special event in now underway at the gallery. From November 3 through December 31, 2017, Michael Garman’s Magic Town is transforming into a winter wonderland complete with festive decorations and a hand sculptured Santa. At the town’s Crown Theater, the marquee reads “It’s a Wonderful Life.” All admissions include complimentary popcorn and a festive scavenger hunt.
HOW THE FIGURES ARE CREATED
Michael first forms his characters out of sculpture wax or clay. He makes some in a few months while for others, it takes years. When the piece stops talking to him, that’s when he feels that it is complete.
John Hodges, his production team manager, then applies 20 coats of latex, coat after coat. A molded shell goes around the figure. Wires in the feet, legs, and neck with a nail in the head are applied for support. Then a heavy, gray gypsum cement named Hydrocal is poured into the upside down mold. It takes an hour for the water and heat from the chemical to form the molded figure. The sculpture is then taken out, cleaned up, and allowed to dry for a few days.
The figures are then either hand painted or have a bronze tone applied to them by the painters. Mary Burright is in charge of painting. Many of the same smaller pieces can be painted at the same time. Large pieces are painted by themselves. The skin, hair, clothes, and all the details acquire the desired colors.
Then the piece is dipped into a Tupperware cannister containing Garman Grunge, a brown stain consisting of burnt umber, water, and sealant. It looks like chocolate milk and has a distinctive odor. The excess is wiped off giving the figure a grubby look.
FIGURES HE SELLS
You can purchase any of his nearly 500 characters at the Michael Garman Gallery or buy them online. This includes a full line of American Moments series where his characters honor heros from all walks of life. He also respects our nation’s first responders with lines for the military, police, and firefighters. Other series are Western, Early American (pathfinders and Native Americans), Aviator, Lineman, Professional, Sports including a Golfer series, and a Holiday series. You can view these at their online store on their web site.
They have been collected by many celebrities. Just a few are Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush, John Elway, Troy Aikman, Bob Hope, and John Travolta. In 2016, Arnold Schwarzenegger visited the gallery and purchased some of Michael’s sculptures for himself and some of his friends. Prices start at $40 and go as high as $550. Most cost less than $200. Bronzetone sculptures are less expensive than painted ones.
All of his characters can be personalized since they are hand painted. Custom features can include hair, skin tone, name or badge number, or the color of a uniform. They also offer custom paint. Billboards and bench-backs can include a company logo, family portrait, or an individualized message. The staff can add a custom headline, front page photo, newspaper banner, or date to any of the sculptures which include a newspaper. For those who want to create a unique trophy or award, the company can add a wood base to any sculpture by Michael Garman.
The Michael Garman Gallery and Museum also offers a series of wall hanging cityscapes with custom options. These include a custom billboard, newspaper, or signs; custom graffiti; and additional characters, props, and accessories. All of these shadowboxes are created by hand. Finally, a custom sculpture can be created. These require a sculpting fee and minimum purchase order.
DETAILS
You will find the Michael Garman Gallery and Museum at 2418 W. Colorado Avenue in Colorado Springs. Their telephone number is (800) 731-3908. Admission to the gallery is free. The Magic Town exhibit is $5 for adults, $4 for seniors, and $3 for children ages seven to 12. Under age seven, it’s free. Hours are seasonal. In the fall and winter, it’s Monday through Friday, noon to 5:00 p.m. On weekends, it’s noon to 6:00 p.m. During the spring and summer, they open at 10:00 a.m.
GARDEN OF THE GODS
Recognized as a National Registered Natural Landmark, Garden of the Gods has been and still is one of Colorado Springs’ best loved attractions. In 2014, TripAdvisor called Garden of the Gods the number one city park in the United States and number two city park in the world. Its combination of red sandstone and limestone unusual formations have grabbed attention for centuries.
A LITTLE HISTORY
Three hundred million years ago, the rocks formed here. Animals and vegetation found the area an ideal habitat. Over the years, rain, ice, wind, and melting snows caused erosion giving these rocks their unique appearance.
The first confirmations of man are the petroglyphs etched into the rocks and evidence of tree rings. The Utes discovered the area 2,500 years ago and used the land for shelter, water, and game for hunting. They considered the land as sacred and a place to see and be seen. It became one of the major trails between the mountains and the plains.
Spanish colonial soldiers marched through the region in the 1770s as part of an exploration party searching for Comanches. DeAnza followed the route directly south of the Garden of the Gods as he drove his men north from Santa Fe attempting to seek the limits of Spanish territory rather than observing the scenery.
Zebulon Pike in 1806 and John C. Fremont in the 1840's, early American explorers, attempted to create maps of the American west. There were no maps before this. In 1858/59, the Pikes Peak Gold Rush drove permanent settlement into the region. In fact, it was because of the gold that Colorado Springs came into being. The miners at the base of Ute Pass needed supplies - picks and shovels and food so Colorado Springs became their supply town.
In 1858, M.S. Beach and Rufus Porter, two surveyors, came from Denver to stake out Colorado City. They stopped at a red rock park. Beach announced, “This would make a beautiful beer garden.” Porter disagreed and said, “No, this is a garden fit for the gods.” They thought about it for a while and gave Garden of the Gods its name. The Gold Rush brought 100,000 people in 1859 to the Pikes Peak region. Colorado Springs started that year promoting Garden of the Gods as a major attraction.
General William Palmer came to the area working for the Kansas and Pacific Railroad. He was primarily a railroad booster as well as a land investor and developer of Colorado Springs. He not only built railroads but was interested in area amenities that would attract people. He believed that Garden of the Gods was a gold mine and advertised it as a scenic wonder to tourists and potential investors. He purchased more of the Garden of the Gods so that he could own the area’s water rights and build an irrigation system through his canyon.
Palmer built his estate Glen Eyrie, just north of the garden and acquired the area’s Rock Ledge Ranch, which you can also visit, for a family member. In 1897, he attracted Charles Elliot Perkins, another railroad magnate, and suggested Perkins build a home on the Garden of the Gods property. Perkins was the former director of the Chicago, Burlington, Quincy Railroad Company.
Perkins purchased in 1879 480 acres but never built on the property. When he died in 1909, his family donated that land as a city park that would be forever free to the world. In exchange, no alcohol or development would be allowed.
Over the years, the city added pieces to the park. Balance Rock and Steamboat, two well-known rock formations, were privately owned by photographer, Paul Goerke, and then later by his sons. If you wanted to see these formations while Goerke was alive, you had to pay a quarter for the privilege and he would take a photo of the event.
After Goerke, several individuals and groups came onto the Garden of the God property to try and create economic activity. During the 1930's, the Civilian Conservation Corps planted juniper trees to prevent erosion and created natural steps so various locations could be reached. They also added benches.
In 1935, six Jaycees and their wives started hosting chuckwagon dinners not far from the entrance. They proved so popular within a few years that the Jaycees constructed a covered patio area soon named The Pavilion. It remained a park picnic shelter until 1995. The last chuckwagon supper was served during the 1980's.
During the late 1960's and early 1970's, 10,000 people attended Easter Sunrise Services at 4:00 a.m. They were held at the property just west of Kissing Camels.
The Visitor and Nature Center, which is run by the non-profit Garden of the Gods Foundation, is located just outside the park. In 1995, Lyda Hill and Nancy Lewis formed the foundation. They built the new visitor center and then donated it to the Garden of the Gods Foundation in 2011. Its mission is to provide public education and a continuous stream of revenue for the park. The city owns the park, but the foundation owns the visitor center.
In its first 22 years, the center has returned $2.8 million to fund preservation, conservation, and education programming through the Garden of the Gods Foundation. It is now a guaranteed funding source. Sources of income are the movie, café, and gift shop as well as funds from such activities as the trolley and jeep rides and the rock climbing excursions. Rock climbing permits are free.
In 2015, Lyda Hill had another idea. Her vision was to challenge the younger generation to tangle with nature. The center was completely redone and now has state of the art exhibits which are high tech and interactive. In 2017, 1.2 million people passed through the building where you can easily spend two hours viewing the displays.
More than two million visitors take advantage annually of the park’s 1,334 acres today providing multiple recreational uses. Hiking is the main activity. However, rock climbing, horseback riding on certain trails, guided nature talks and walks, photography, and driving through the Garden of the Gods have made this park extremely popular. The busiest times of the year are May 15 through August 15, September and October, and spring break.
NEW EXHIBITS
Some of the best views of Garden of the Gods, great for photography, are accessible from the Visitor and Nature Center’s terrace. Spanning the building’s entire front, it provides a wonderful view of Pikes Peak framed by the foothills and the park’s red sandstone. The Center is also the location to obtain maps and visitor information, sign up for guided nature walks, and see interpretive presentations.
Having been to Garden of the Gods on former visits, I was delighted to see the new displays at the Center. Exhibit topics include tourism, people and history, and flora and fauna. At “Dinosaur Discoveries in Colorado,” visitors can also see the Theiophytalia Kerri, the only dinosaur of its type in the world. It was discovered at Garden of the Gods in 1878 by Colorado College professor James Kerr. Its name translates to “Belonging to the Garden of the Gods.” Until 2006, it was mistakenly identified as a Camptosaurus dinosaur.
One highlight is the Ecology Matrix, which is an array of nine large screens on the six interrelated ecosystems comprising the park. These are wetlands, prairie grasslands, mountain shrublands, Pinon and Juniper woodlands, montane forest, and cliff islands of towering rock formations. Using a touchscreen menu, visitors select options such as “wildlife of higher elevations,” “birds of the Garden,” or “native grasses.” They’ll see high resolution images of flora and fauna meeting their selected criteria allowing them to learn more about the park’s wildlife including their diets and habits.
Another is the Wall of Changing Seasons. Three large screens present a wide angle, time-lapse video of the park’s Gateway Rocks framing Pikes Peak. It’s an interactive where visitors spin a dial to move backward and forward through the video to see the park’s seasonal and daily changes. The wall presents one complete year in the park leading up to the present date. Visitors appreciate the changes to lighting, colors, and clouds over the formations.
I loved the “Flora and Fauna Cloud.” Here 16 of the park’s animals and plants are presented in illuminated glass boxes, suspended in space and set against the background of the Garden of the God’s rock formations. It’s an interactive encouraging you to learn more about each of the flora and fauna. Some specimens are on loan from the Denver Museum of Nature and Science.
“Fit for the Gods” is a wall of projected historic images which document the park’s past. By selecting a touch screen, visitors can learn about a specific formation, topic, or event in the Garden of the God’s history. The display has more than 250 featured photographs dating back to the late 19th century. They were provided by the Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum.
With “People and History,” visitors learn about the Native Americans, including the Utes and their petroglyphs, the early Spanish explorers, the Goerkes, and Charles Perkins. In the tourism section, you’ll see photos, souvenir plates from the 1940's through the 1960's, early booklets, and postcards dating as far back as the early 1900's.
“Mountain Majesties” covers such mountains as Hawaii’s Mauna Kea, Alaska’s Denali, Colorado’s Mount Ebert, New Hampshire’s Mount Washington, and Texas’s Guadalupe Peak. It provides the heights of each and also provides information on Pike’s Peak.
Some of the old exhibits at the Center have been updated. These include an enlarged and enhanced 3D topographic map of the park, learning about different kinds of scat, and viewing the various types of rocks up close. It includes information on the buffalo and a refurbished full-sized bison bull and cow sculpture.
TERRIFIC NEW FILM
The 14-minute movie “How did Those Red Rocks Get There?” is held every 20 minutes in the Geo-Trekker circular theater. It’s an amazing journey through time and space to learn about the Garden of the Gods rock formations and the geological processes that created them. Excellent aerial footage of the park is included.The film is viewed on four giant screens in “better-than-HD” quality enhanced by surround-sound audio and lighting effects. It runs every 20 minutes. Admission is $6 for adults and $4 for children.
The film traces one billion years of geologic events. It starts with visitors being submerged in red hot molten magma that formed the Pikes Peak granite. After traveling at high speeds through a “wormhole,” visitors find themselves submerged in seas once filled with primitive sea creatures hundreds of millions of years ago. Traveling through the Cretaceous and Jurassic Periods, viewers have close encounters with dinosaurs as they learn how miles of rock layers resulted in vertical tilting to create the formations seen today. The spectacular ending consists of the United States Air Force chorale singing “America the Beautiful.”
TROLLEY TOUR
New for 2017 is the historically customized, 14-passenger jitney, built to resemble a park trolley from 1909. The ride lasts 55 minutes and costs $17 per person. The driver provides park facts, points out the various formations, and tells an occasional tall tale as you ride along.
It was built in 18 months by Greg Wellens, owner of Adventures Out West, a local company offering jeep, van, and Segway rides located right outside the visitor center. He partnered with Tim Eckert, a veteran Pikes Peak Hill Climb racer and auto designer who has worked on cars for the Disney Company.
They erected a roughly 18-foot long housing onto a 2005 Ford, full sized, van chassis. Following the 1909 version’s design, it has a high ceiling and wooden side steps and wheels. Unlike the 1909 version, it contains padded seats.
Our guide was Sidewinder, a school teacher for 30 years. He pointed out the first formations of Sleeping Giant, South Gateway, and North Gateway. Kissing Camels is 325 feet high, the approximate length of a football field. Yes, they actually look like they are kissing.
He informed us about Katherine Lee Bates. When she came from Chicago in 1893, she was influenced by Pikes Peak so much that she wrote the song “America the Beautiful” about it.
Sidewinder pointed out the Bunny Rabbit formation located above Kissing Camels. The park has wildlife ranging from black bear and mule deer to elk. Birding is big as 130 species have been spotted. White-throated swifts are quite common. The holes in the rocks provide shelter for little brown bats. Since prairie rattlesnakes have been spotted, it’s best to stay on the trails. The park is home to the Rampart Range herd of 80 to 100 bighorn sheep, the official state mammal of Colorado.
We stopped to admire the Pregnant Maiden up against the Tower of Babel. In the inner garden, we viewed Weeping Mother, a formation that’s 30 million years old.
Our bus passed the Scotsman picnic area as we made our way to Balance Rock, weighing 700 tons, and the adjacent Steamboat Rock. At one time, those two were combined.
We next drove by the Garden of the Gods Trading Post. It has a café and good-sized souvenir shop. In the past, you could often see horses tied up here. Other rocks which caught our eye were Fred Flintstone, the Frenchman complete with beret, Screaming Witch, Leaning Buddha, the Keyhole, and Praying Hands.
After a complete tour of all the driving routes, we made our way back to the Center. Even though I had been to the park multiple times, it was enjoyable to have pointed out the various formations, including some I had actually missed. There is one caveat. If you want to photograph the formations, be sure to sit on the left side of the trolley, You will see much more on that side.
OTHER RECREATION
The park is known for its hiking, technical rock climbing, road and mountain biking, and horseback riding. It contains more than 15 miles of trails including a 1.5 mile trail running through the heart of the park that is paved and wheelchair accessible. Annual events include two summer running races, recreational bike rides, and the Pro Cycling Challenge Prologue. Other annual events enjoyed by thousands are Bighorn Sheep Day, GOG Earth Day Celebration,. Astronomy Day, and Fossil Day.
Picnicking is available on a first-come, first-served basis at two picnic areas, the Scotsman Picnic Area and the South Spring Canyon Picnic Area. Visitors can bring a propane grill into the park.
Free naturalist led guided walks are given daily at 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. on such topics as wildflowers, rattlesnakes, gold-seekers, and many other Colorado themed topics. They depart from the North Main Parking Lot, weather permitting. Twenty minutes nature talks are given at the Center - dates, times, and topics change. A schedule of monthly adventure series programs and events in addition to information about other forms of recreation is on their web site.
DETAILS
Garden of the Gods Visitor and Nature Center is located at 1805 N. 30th Street in Colorado Springs. Its telephone number is (719) 634-6666. Park hours are May 1 to October 31 5:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. and 5:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. the rest of the year. The Center’s hours are 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. from Memorial Day weekend to Labor Day weekend and 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. the rest of the year.
Pouring Grunge into Mold
Michael Garman in Front of Magic Town
Darby I - Michael's Original Scene
Tony's Pizzeria - A Michael Garman Favorite and His Latest
Pool Hall Scene
The Crown Theater
One Side of the Hotel
Other Side of the Hotel
Street Scene Near Eat at Joe's
Street Scene Near the Mission
Corner Bar
Alley Scene - Which is Actually Lengthened by Mirrors
Park Bench Scene
Figurines in the Gallery for Sale
Visitor and Nature Center
Theiophytalia Kerri - Only Dinosaur of Its Type in the World
Flora and Fauna Cloud
Charles Perkins
Types of Rocks Comprising the Garden of the Gods
Say Hello to the Buffalo
1909 Trolley Tour
View of Pikes Peak from the Visitor and Nature Center
A Different View of Pikes Peak from the Visitor and Nature Center
Kissing Camels
Balanced Rock
Steamboat Rock
North and South Gateway Rocks and Gray Rock with Cheyenne Mountain in the Background