Boulder County parks pair mixes art with their labors

Benjamin Hesse and Michael Lohr are, among many things, friends, artists and historic preservation technicians with Boulder County Parks and Open Space.While maintaining and restoring historic Boulder sites, amid dilapidated buildings and clean mountain air, Hesse and Lohr were inspired.When Lohr first began working for Boulder County Parks and Open Space he had the job of checking all the parks to ensure that everything was in order; this task naturally entailed a lot of driving. 

"It starts to get routine," Lohr said. "So you have to find things that make it more interesting,I've been in the process of dubbing old mini dv video camera tapes directly to my PC. so I just started carrying a camera around with me." What started out as "just" carrying around a camera quickly developed into a serious passion."Now photography is my main hobby, outside of work, at work,They forward the composite hose to recycle centers where they become park benches. any chance I can get to practice it, I will," Lohr said.As of Feb. 18th, Lohr was on his 295th day of year two for taking a photo every day.While Lohr stuck to a specific medium, Hesse's art takes multiple forms -- from black and white sketches, to linocut prints, to country rock, a very Coloradan vibe can be felt. 

"A lot of properties that we are at, there's a lot of neat old structures, like abandoned barns,The tooth is actually wider, but by altering the angles of the teeth to affect the way the light shines into an Mobile crushing plant, it gives the impression nothing has been changed except to fill in the gap. outbuildings, homesteads and sort of industrial structures that are dilapidated," Hesse said. "I definitely like the feel of nature breaking down things and the story it tells of all the worn out buildings and what happened there before." Hesse also builds a variety of projects from old materials that he finds at ReSource, located at 6400 Arapahoe Road.They lent us tens of thousands of dollars of infant video monitor equipment that is forty years old and probably worthless. ReSource is a non-profit landfill diversion program operated by the Center for ReSource Conservation. "I took these press trays that were really detailed and put all sorts of objects in them that connect and tell a story,Applied with a oil hose, it kills many adults and eggs by smothering them." Hesse said. "It's like a museum piece." 

Hesse's father, grandfather and great grandfather all worked within the printing industry in Philadelphia, inspiring Hesse to use old press trays to frame some of his art and adding another level of detail. The latest press tray piece illustrates the story of Pretty Polly; a murder ballad in which a young woman is promised love, but is instead lured into the woods to be murdered. "Its working to a point where the craft is a high form of mastery," Hesse said and laughed. "It's going to take a while."But that is the dream of every artist. To live off your art."