Attractions (in category: Local Flavor)
Step back into early schooldays on the prairie inside the Glendale Schoolhouse. This restored 1929 woodframe schoolhouse has been carefully preserved with many of the original furnishings intact. Moved in 1976 some 25 miles from its original location to the fairgrounds, the schoolhouse continues to host quilts and other heritage displays during the fair in summer. The original coal burning stove, hardwood floors, glass lanterns, piano, water crock, teacher desk/stage area and later student desks are still in place. An original map of schools in Baca County and other historical documents are also on display.
Visit the fabulous two-story studio and gallery designed by painter Willard Louden in remote historic Branson. The studio loft looks out towards Mesa de Maya and the Louden Cattle Company Ranch, where long-time landscape painter Willard Louden grew up. Louden and his wife, Mary Ann, who creates dazzling tinwork, look forward to meeting with visitors to the gallery, which is a work of art itself. (You won't want to miss the whimsical "outhouse!")
Educated as a geologist Louden has enjoyed a fascinating life that includes world travels and explorations that have given him amazing stories. Louden also helped to found the AR Mitchell Gallery in Trinidad.
Tours offered in the Comanche National Grassland and on private ranch property in Baca County and the surrounding area. Tours range from interpretive tours of Picture Canyon to driving tours. All tours interpret local history, legends, natural resources, historic and pre-historic sites. Tours of local historical and heritage sites include: Picture Canyon, Carrizo Canyon, WPA sites, homestead, cemeteries, birding, county and local history. Tours can include lodging, horseback riding, trail rides, wagon rides, backpacking and hiking trips, and can be customized to fit individual needs and interests.
Local Co-op art gallery displaying area talent in painting, drawing, woodwork, jewelry, woodturning and more. Majority of work depicts the area culture and history.
Visit the Shore Arts Center to discover the region's unique performing arts center and art gallery. The center is owned by the Arkansas Valley Wind and Percussion Ensemble and is also home to the Southeast Colorado Art Guild and Lamar's Dudes and Dames Square Dance Group.
Check the SECAG and AVWPE website calendars for details on art exhibitions and performances, including concert band and jazz concerts. Lamar Dudes & Dames hosts a full children's and alumni square dancing program.
Explore the history of Rocky Ford and life in the Arkansas Valley at the Rocky Ford Historical Museum. Housed in a Carnegie Public Library built in 1908, the collection includes objects documenting the Arkansas Valley Fair, Watermelon Day, the sugar industry and the everyday life of the people of the Arkansas Valley. Exhibits also focus on the geology, anthropology, and archaeology of the region. Highlights include an early Watermelon Day porcelain set from the Swink family, animals molded from beeswax, woolly mammoth skull, early fire truck and firefighting equipment, and memorabilia from prominent local families.
For more than a century, the Arkansas Valley Fair has been an Otero County tradition. The popularity of Watermelon Day started by Colorado Senator George Swink in 1878 gave rise to one of the longest-running festivals in Colorado.
Built in 1901, the Art Building is the fairground's oldest building. Join the decades of attendees who have enjoyed its unique presentation of local arts and crafts within its octagonal shape. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the structure is a well-preserved example of the "Octagon Mode," which enjoyed some popularity in home and barn design in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
