THE year was 1971. In Boulder, the hand-made, down-to-earth, flower-power sensibilities of the late 1960s were lingering as pop culture began evolving into the disco-driven conspicuousness of the 1970s.
In the fall of that year, a group of hungry artists joined forces for self-survival and wound up preserving that piece of pop cultural history which has remained part of the identity and fabric of Boulder to this day.
The Boulder Art & Crafts Cooperative is celebrating its 40th anniversary as an iconic Boulder business which has successfully sustained its late60s-early 70s business model into the new millennium.
Potter Thea Tenenbaum, one of the original artists in the coop, retells its beginnings:
Once upon a time, there were 75 artists who were having a difficult time finding an outlet to sell their creations, a place where they would have control and power without being at the whim of a third party.
These were the days when people power was everywhere, when everything seemed possible, and a handful of enthusiasm and desire were all that was needed to change the world.
The rest of this article is available in the IJN’s print edition only. Contact Carol to order your copy at (303) 861-2234 or email [email protected].
