Commonwheel Art Festival celebrates 50th anniversary | Arts & Entertainment

It was the year 1974, it was summer in Manitou Springs.

A group of about 40 artists, including macrame weaver Julia Wright, gathered at Memorial Park to exhibit and sell their work.

“The booths looked like anything you could imagine,” Wright joked. “A long time ago – 50 years ago – there were no tents in the park. The artists exhibited whatever they could.”

The artists came from all over the country and were selected by a jury to showcase their art – a process that the Commonwheel Artists Co-op still uses today.

“Back then, they called us hippies,” Wright joked. “But you actually have to be a businessman to meet all the requirements.”

Today, five decades later, the Commonwheel Artists Co-op Art Festival has become an annual tradition in Manitou Springs. This year, the festival returns on Labor Day weekend for its 50th anniversary.

The festival will feature approximately 100 vendors, including painters, potters, jewelry makers, photographers and sculptors. Local bands will play live music throughout the weekend and food trucks will be set up throughout the park.

This year, for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic began, there will be a children's art and activity booth. At the booth, children can color leaves and take part in a drawing competition. There will also be face painting, bubble blowing and a balloon artist.

“People can meet the artists, talk to them and learn about the processes the artists go through,” said Wright, who has coordinated the festival since 1976. “I've known some of these artists for almost 50 years.”

And although much has changed since the first festival, Wright continues to enjoy seeing artists old and new share their work with Manitou Springs.

“I'm always happy to see younger artists emerging, and there are quite a few,” Wright said. “When young people come in and are drawn to the booths whose art style appeals to them, it always puts a smile on my face.”