Cedar Ridge Ranch is situated next to a few other ranches in Carbondale. There’s horses, and pigs. Some other small animals too. The ranch belongs to the Johnson family, who came here from Chicago about two decades ago. They were content there, but something was missing.
“What we wanted to do is we wanted to share this facility, this place, this iconic, idyllic location with more people than just horses,” says Merrill Johnson, the founder of the studios at the Ranch.
The ranch had already been raising animals. It helped supply the Roaring Fork Beer Company with grains. It was already a community-focused place. Merrill just had to make it a more artist-friendly space.
Pamela Johnson, Merrill’s mother, found a woman in New Hampshire who had converted her barn into artist studios. They talked and got a better idea of how the Johnson’s could achieve their goal of taking Cedar Ridge from animals space to art space.
Once the studios were ready, it was time to get people in them.
“We just put it out on Craigslist - the studios - because we didn’t really want to force the subject, and truly all of the creatives that have come have come organically, and have embraced the vision and are really psyched to be here," says Merrill.
As artists signed leases, they picked out the former horse stall that they’d turn into a studio. The creatives could lay concrete, paint or even knock down walls. They could decorate to their liking.
“When I first got here, my neighbors were baby bunnies and rabbits and chickens and horses," says Draper White, the first artist in the spaces. "But now there’s humans, which is great.”
White says that he was drawn to the space right away.
“I think the location for me was the biggest thing, being up in Missouri heights and having such incredible views in the mountains. Living in town, I don’t have any of those views, and I forget that I live here sometimes. I come up here and I’m totally checked out of my normal life.”
The same appealing elements have brought other artists to the studios too.
Todd Hassell runs La Luz Art Studio out of one of the stalls with his girlfriend. He is originally from a small town in Texas, but lived in Denver for a while. Hassell always thought he was a city person.
“There’s no way I could live in the mountains, I love going up there, I love skiing, but here I am and it’s good. It’s really cool. It’s different than I ever imagined,” says Hassell.
Since the grand opening of the studios in August, they’ve had people from all walks of life come into the studios from as far away as New Castle.
Merrill Johnson says that there is no better outcome than what they have right now.
“We could not be happier," she says. "The horses are happy, the borders are happy. Everyone’s happy and healthy. It’s really been a wonderful transition.”
