Roadside Attractions in Fort Collins – In A Colorado Minute (Week 199) from Luci Westphal on Vimeo.
When I posted the video Swetsville Zoo – In A Colorado Minute (Week 194),
I already wrote about my fascination with roadside attractions. In my
quest to visit, film and share with you a whole series of them, this
week I explored the ones the fruitful website roadsideamerica.com
listed for Fort Collins.
Because two of them were dog related, I took
Whiskey and her acting coach Scott along. Once I finished editing, I
realized I might as well have called the video “Whiskey takes a tour of
Fort Collins Roadside Attractions” – but that’s just too long.
The
large Campbell’s soup can on the campus of Colorado State University
was built (together with two others) in honor of Andy Warhol’s soup can
prints – but not by him. However, when he visited in 1981 for an exhibit
of his work at the CSU art museum, he ended up signing the cans. Does
that now make them authentic Andy Warhol works? Read an excerpt from
Warhol’s diary about his visit in this article from the Coloradoan. (Remington and Lake)
The scrap metal man and dog at the Nelsen’s Auto Center were built by Tim Reader of Master Metal Works
entirely out of used car parts. You may note that the two male metal
beings were built with all necessary detail – however, in the video I
chose to focus more on the faces, hands and my real life dog checking
out the scene. I really appreciated Tim’s sister coming outside to say
hello and tell us about the sculpture. People really are nice out here.
(361 E. Mountain Avenue)
The memorial to Annie, the Railroad Dog,
has several parts. In Library Park (201 Peterson Street), there is a
big engraved stone with a metal silhouette of Annie and a life-sized
bronze sculpture (by Dawn Weiner) of her greeting passers-by – like she
used to greet arriving passengers at the Mason Street train station in
the 1930s and 40s. At the Mason Street Depot (Mason and LaPorte) you can
find her actual gravestone, which is a historic site and reads “From C
and S Men to Annie Our Dog. 1934 – 1948.”
Annie was a loyal mutt
adopted by railroad workers and considered an ambassador to Fort
Collins, according to the inscription on the base of the bronze
sculpture. She is still celebrated every year during Annie’s Dog Walk,
which I may just feature in a future video.
Talking about future
videos… Today starts the 200th week of my weekly 1-minute Moving
Postcard videos! I already have something special planned, which will
require a road trip (YES!) and will feature a rather well-known American
roadside attraction…
The song in this video is “Swallowed By The Sea” – written and performed by Jason Matherne of Goonygoogoo Productions.
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| Campbell’s soup can (homage to Andy Warhol) + Whiskey dog |