Walking through the history of the Roaring Fork Valley with Glasenapp’s collection
‘Recollectivity’ by local artist Terry Glasenapp is his personal collection walking through history in the valley from his perspective since the ’80s
Original Beatles albums, tickets and memorabilia from Woodstock, old newspaper clippings, music festival posters and portraits of himself sketched by friends or published in local papers.
The exhibit “Recollectivity” by local artist Terry Glasenapp is his personal collection of interesting things, walking through history in the valley — with some national pieces tossed in — from his perspective since the ’80s.
“What inspired me was cool things,” Glasenapp said of his collection, showcasing at Glenwood Springs Arts Council’s space on Sixth Street starting Jan. 14. “It was the experiences that I was fortunate to have growing up at a time where just so much was going on, especially in music and art and politics and environment and civil rights.”
Glasenapp started collecting things in his youth in Rochester, Minnesota, with records, specifically one by the Beatles. Then he moved on to LPs and festival posters, and the snowball started rolling.
He moved to the mountains, joined Colorado Mountain College, transitioning from student to employee, and eventually began making films. All the while, he continued fostering his collection, videographing local events and sometimes taking a piece of them with him.
The show he’ll present the public in a week is a curated crop of his decades of material. Among them are old newspaper clippings, from the Glenwood Post to the Sopris Sun to larger publications like The Denver Post and The New York Times. It includes some of his records and posters from recent Mountain Fairs in Carbondale. It includes the sign-in sheet from the first Glenwood Springs Arts Council meeting as the organization enters its 40th year in 2022.
The exhibit skews toward the local eye, but Glasenapp hopes it presents something for all.
“They might open something up, see somebody in their family, somebody they know. So, it’ll be personal,” Glasenapp said of locals looking at the works.
“For visitors, I think it will be a visual experience that might inspire or cause dismay,” he added, jokingly.
It may seem to be a random collection of seemingly unrelated items. In Glasenapp’s eyes, it’s an homage to the experiences of life.
“Behind a poster,” Glasenapp said. “The history of posters and how integral they’ve been as a part of life to tell, inform, educate, ‘This is coming up,’ it’s almost like a one-page news piece. The art, the food, it encapsulates it. If it triggers something in somebody else, that triggers a sweet memory.”
Now retired, Glasenapp has a deep well of experiences in his own personal life to draw from. He’s made award-winning films and had children who had children. He had a near-death bout with sepsis. He’s watched the Roaring Fork Valley grow over the years.
“Whatever treasures we find in life, I’ve found so many, and most of them are not these things,” Glasenapp said. “There’s things with my kids, there’s things out in the mountains, there’s meditation, which has given me a huge help through my life. … I could not have done this work without the support of my dear lovely wife, Amy Levenson, and my kids.”
The show opens Jan. 14 at 216 E. Sixth St. with a reception, following the conclusion of an exhibit of Fred Haberlein’s works this weekend. Masks will be required, and the council is exploring additional COVID-19 protocols. More information is available on Glenwood Springs Arts Council’s Facebook page.
Reporter Rich Allen can be reached at 970-384-9131 or rallen@postindependent.com.
