Local legend keeps generosity, art, and rare pigs alive in Aspen

In a town that often seems to glitter more than it glows, Nick Costello is one of the few who still burn with the original fire that once made Aspen a sanctuary for seekers. 

His life — a colorful collage of artistic defiance, agricultural stewardship, and community mischief — starkly contrasts the increasingly polished version of Aspen that has emerged in recent decades. In the eyes of many longtime locals, Costello isn’t just living in Aspen, he’s preserving its soul.

He arrived in the Roaring Fork Valley about six years ago with the simple intention of finding community and contributing to it. 

His past is marked by grief, having lost all three of his siblings by the time he was 36 — but the loss didn’t harden him; instead, it sharpened his sense of purpose. 

“Life’s going to throw curveballs,” he says. “You’ve got two choices: You can stay down, or you can get up, laugh it off, and chase your dreams harder than ever.” 

In his case, those dreams have taken wildly eclectic forms, from producing documentaries to bottle-feeding endangered piglets, all rooted in a radical belief in joy, resilience, and service.

His art studio in downtown Aspen is one of the last bastions of affordability and accessibility for emerging local artists, many of whom have been pushed to the margins by soaring rents. He refuses to let art become the exclusive province of the wealthy and well-connected. 

The studio serves as both a creative incubator and a community refuge, true to the spirit of Aspen’s earlier days when creativity was currency and risk was a rite of passage. 

“Nick is trying to maintain affordable art space for local artists,” said David Meeker, who first met Costello through his work documenting Vaughn Shafer’s record-breaking run on a motorized skateboard. “He’ll let you pet a baby pig just to make your day better. He goes around with one of them and says, ‘You only have one life to live, so enjoy the shit out of it.'”

Costello is one of the few in the country working to preserve the rare Chinese Meishan breed, known for its gentle demeanor and ancient lineage. He raises them by hand, even bottle-feeding the runts himself. 

He’s currently trying to purchase land to expand his farm — a dream that blends his love for animals with his commitment to food resilience and ethical farming. 

To those who have lived through Aspen’s many evolutions, he is a walking reminder of what made the town extraordinary in the first place.

“Nick would get all of the food left over at the end of the season and distribute it to people in need,” said Meeker. “If I had two or three million dollars to give away, I’d give it to Nick.”

Dr. Carl Shuller, who has lived in Aspen for half a century, put it in a deliberate way. 

“I’ve been here for 50 years and knew and cared for all the unusual, remarkable creatures of the early days. Nick is one of those — irrepressible, curious, life-affirming, and always looking for (and finding) ways to make life better for others,” Shuller said. “Gummies, Asian pigs, scooters, and art studios for beginners. He is unstoppable, and no one should want to try.”