Colorado-based artist recently participated in a one-night only experiential event “Response,” curated by Doug Kacena, co-owner and director of K Contemporary. This incredible art experience asked several artists to respond to the history, architecture and finely curated interiors of the specific rooms and spaces each artist claimed within this historic landmark.

For more than a century, Colorado’s stately Governor’s Residence has represented ideals of elegance, eminence and permanence. For one night, the historic mansion will transformed into a grand repository of art experience, generosity and community, paying homage to the lordly landmark’s distinguished past, present and future.

A celebrated contemporary landscape painter, Sarah Winkler is best known for her desert and mountain geological interpretations of the American West. Winkler’s response to the Palm Room will be to reveal the history and materiality of some of the state’s signature mountains including Pikes Peak, Longs Peak and Mount Evans using paint with crushed minerals from the Colorado landscape. When the residence was built on a rise in 1908, the Palm Room was intended to be an indoor-outdoor space connecting the family closer to the garden, nature and the breathtaking views of the Front Range. From 1924-37 the Boettchers expanded the Palm Room to enclose the former porch into a magnificent bay, with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the fountain and gardens, with the view reaching to Pike’s Peak, 70 miles to the south, Mount Evans to the West and Longs Peak to the Northwest. Over the years with the growth of the city, some of the views have become obscured; Winkler will be bringing them back to the Colorado Governor’s Residence, showcasing the geology of these formations and honoring their relationship to the architecture of the mansion.

For more than a hundred years, the Colorado Governor’s Residence has embodied the grace and glory of a proud young state. During the last 10 years, the men and women of the Governor’s Residence Preservation Fund have labored tirelessly in its service. And, for a few memorable hours on June 13 of this year, the celebrated artists of K Contemporary will mingle traditions ancient and new to help ensure that a priceless slice piece of Colorado’s past will enjoy a long and lovely future.

For this pop-up exhibition, a portion of the proceeds benefited the Governor’s Residence Preservation Fund and its Elementary Education Program.