Picture perfect

A story published in The Aspen Times on Aug. 22, 1985, documented Anderson Ranch celebrating the groundbreaking for the proposed $200,000 photography center, which was planned to be built the following summer in 1986 using funds from grants and donations, including a lead donation of $100,000 from Arthur and Sistie Fischer. The new facility was named the Fischer Photography Center after their generous donation. Pictured are Executive Director Bradley Miller and Betsy Chaffin, the president of the board of directors, turning the first sod for the project. Architect Harry Teague, Hildur Anderson (with cane), whose family once owned and farmed on the ranch, and Sistie and Arthur Fischer also participated in the ceremony as part of a larger fundraising event held that day for the organization’s operations — then its most successful auction fundraiser to date, with more than $62,500 raised for the single event. The following summer, Anderson Ranch saw the grand opening of the new Fischer Photography Center and offered the first scholarship for aspiring artists and the winter artist-in-residence program started by Doug Casebeer with three emerging artists — programs and facilities that live on today.