After 10 years, artist Veryl Goodnight has returned to her Mancos roots.
Goodnight has opened a studio at 106 Grand Ave. to showcase her painting, sculpting and fascination with history. It’s the space she rented as a studio when she moved to the area from Santa Fe in 2006.
“When it became available again, I jumped on it,” she said.
Goodnight moved several months ago into the space, which is in a 100-year-old building in downtown Mancos, and then remodeled it. She plastered the walls and dyed the floors herself. She also used salvaged wood from a friend’s collapsed barn to build shelving and rafters that mimic the inside of a barn.
“I wanted the ambiance to be different from a typical gallery,” she said.
Goodnight’s former partner, Jamie Bade, sold the Goodnight Trail Gallery and has left the area. Goodnight’s new space is next door to the former Goodnight Trail Gallery, where she had displayed her work.
Though the space is small, Goodnight said she hopes it also will become a community gathering place. She said she wants to host classes through the Mancos School of the West and Mancos Creative District and in spring plans to auction one of her sculptures to benefit Medicine Horse Center in Mancos. “It’s a small space with very big ideas,” she said.
Goodnight also plans to create window displays that will include behind-the-scenes photos from her career. Some will have historical themes inspired by her fascination with the history of the American West. They would rotate from month to month.
She said she hopes that people will stop to absorb the information on the window displays. Since the gallery is just a few blocks from Mancos High School, she hopes students will come to see the displays.
“I want the windows to be educational and inspiring,” Goodnight said. “I want kids to come and look and maybe learn something.”
Though the focus of the gallery will be on her own work, Goodnight also plans to work with other artists in the Mancos area. Local blacksmith Steve Williams created custom display stands for some of her sculptures.
Photographer Paul Boyer relocated from Durango to Mancos and has set up his studio in the back of Goodnight’s gallery. His work also will be available at the gallery.
Goodnight said she hopes to offer something for everyone.
“By using art you can educate and engage people more,” she said. “Imagery is very important.”
jacobk@the-journal.com