The River Paints Life: A Poudre River Mural in Fort Collins

The Cache la Poudre River is a hardworking artist. It is constantly creating and connecting, carving, layering, and reshaping. The watershed supports water supply for more than 400,000 residents and helps maintain over 180,000 acres of irrigated and dry agricultural land. While the Poudre is just a short walk from downtown Fort Collins, there is a clear gap between its intrinsic tie to our daily living and the physical spaces we move through in the community.

This mural will be painted on the historic Bas Bleu Theatre Company building, and seeks to connect the community to our shared lifeline celebrating the ecological, cultural, and community significance of the Poudre River.

This project is co-managed by the Coalition for the Poudre River Watershed (CPRW) and Fort Collins Mural Project.

Poudre River Mural Series

This year’s mural will be third in the series, following two others in nearby towns. The first, “What Does the River Know?” was completed in 2023 by 8th graders who spent a season at the Poudre Learning Center prior to designing and painting the mural in collaboration with local artist Armando Silva. In 2024-25, Kristina Maldonado Badhand installed “The Four Directions” at Eastman Park in Windsor, telling the story of the river’s cyclical nature which includes: the four cardinal directions, a cycle of life, and native plants.

The Artist

The mural’s design comes from local artist Chelsea Gilmore, who has lived and worked within a mile of the Poudre for fourteen years - largely, she says, because of the river. During the warm months, Chelsea swims in the river daily and has a deep sense of belonging to the Poudre River watershed.

“My most recent body of work is titled Thalweg, which means the deepest part of the river. This exploration is a study on the deep cultural, ancestral, and physical connections that people have to the river. The immersive art is an act of storytelling and creating a sense of identity to place. I see this mural as yet another layer of this ongoing study of the river and our ancestral belonging to water.”

In lieu of this community mural project, Chelsea is also publishing Art Haus Magazine, an arts and culture zine celebrating and highlighting local artists and events. If you have any river-related artworks of any and all mediums, submit here to contribute your works to the magazine.

Learn more about Chelsea Gilmore at https://www.chelsea-gilmore.com/ and follow her on socials @chelseagilmoreart

Get Involved

Community members were an important part in shaping this mural. Voting closed on the two proposed designs in early September, with the winner being Design 2: Life of the River. Alongside that vote, submissions were opened to share affirmations to the river - these messages will be physically embedded into the mural itself as part of the doodle grid reference marks that Chelsea will use to scale her design onto the wall. The river affirmations also serve as a community intention to honor the river through this public artwork.

Catch Chelsea painting NOW and don’t miss the mural unveiling celebration on October 2, from 5-7 at Bas Bleu Theatre - 401 Pine St. There will be drinks & snacks, live music, and an artist meet and greet!

Read more about this project at www.poudrewatershed.org/poudre-river-mural

Support FCMP’s continued project management work by donating today!