Meet Marilyn Leuszler | Newly retired director of Corazon de Trinidad Creative District/artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Marilyn Leuszler and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Marilyn, is your business focused on helping the community? If so, how?
After living in Japan for ten years, returning to the US was a culture shock in many ways. Studying traditional Asian arts during that time provided me an ability to share the arts and aesthetics of a most wonderful country and culture. Communication is an absolute necessity in working to better one’s community, and I have found that art can be a common denominator in helping one become part of a new place. I have spent more than 20 years in Trinidad, surrounded by and passionate about, the arts in our region. I have been deeply involved in the Corazon de Trinidad Creative District since Trinidad received certification in 2013. In 2015, Trinidad was selected as the demonstration project for the state’s new Space to Create initiative, and on September 29, the nation’s first private/public partnership for affordable live/work opportunities for the creative workforce opened. Three vacant turn-of-the-century Victorian buildings in the heart of Trinidad and nearby new apartments make up the Space to Create complex and includes 20,000 sq ft of multi-use community space, the Commons. Relying on the history and exceptional architecture to guide the planning has made it truly a transformative project for a small, rural community.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I am extremely grateful to have had the opportunity to study under Japanese Masters in brush calligraphy, earning a national certificate of proficiency, and both traditional and contemporary sumi-e (black ink painting). I was the first foreign student accepted into one of only two silk embroidery schools, training under a Living National Treasure in Kamakura, Japan. I greatly enjoy knowing the tools and materials of my art so learned to make paper, brushes, and ink-stones. I was in class four days a week for the ten years I lived with my family in Japan and was given the gift, not only of the art forms I studied, but also the appreciation for perseverance and dedication to the aesthetics of the Japanese culture. My training is something I would never be able to duplicate in the U.S. and I am ever appreciative of all the hours spent learning as much as possible about Japan and its arts. Currently, I combine my traditional training with my Western point of view. I love the loose brush strokes of Japanese calligraphy, am totally enamored by fine brush strokes and details in a painting, am often lost in silk stitches, and love all the fascinating geology layers, which I paint with black sumi ink and then add my own touch with finely ground soils from on-site in order to achieve the true colors of a location. As I retire from the Creative District, I am excited to again paint and stitch and work, to complete all those things in my mind that will end up transferred to paper and silk. I will continue to advocate and support the arts, but I will also be delighted to put my own art at the top of the list.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
There are so many wonderful things to do and see in and around Trinidad these days! Assuming one is coming from the north, a trip along the Highway of Legends, from Walsenburg to Trinidad is a must, with a stop in LaVeta to see Shalawala Gallery, dinner at Alys’s, and taking in the spectacular Dakota Wall and Stonewall formations along the route. Visiting the Mining Museum in Cokedale and checking out the coke ovens near the north end of Trinidad Lake is important in understanding the history of the area. Once in Trinidad proper, the Mitchell Museum is at the top of the list, both for the art and the architecture, The Commons @ Space to Create, with three retail shops, the historic Fox West Theatre (under restoration), Trinidad History Museum, and the Archeology Museum at Trinidad State College are all well worth a visit! The oldest continuously used Jewish synagogue in CO and beyond, is Temple Aaron, a wonderful example of the eclectic architecture in Trinidad. On the east end of town, a not-to-miss museum of art cars, Artcartopia brings pure joy to visitors! Colie’s for any and all baked goodies.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
The artist community of Trinidad has given support, encouragement, and influence to my own artistic work and advocacy during my 22 years here. An eclectic community, Trinidad has become the first-in-the-nation Space to Create and I have had the privilege to be part of the project since its inception.

Website: trinidadcreativedistrict.org

Facebook: Corazon de Trinidad Creative District

Image Credits
Art, copyright Marilyn Leuszler Photos, credit Marilyn Leuszler