The artist Christo has submitted plans for a complex art installation over the Arkansas River in South Central Colorado. Since the plan was formulated, Christo's wife Jeanne-Claude has passed away but Christo intends to still complete the project. For those of you not familiar with the couple they are famous for their dramatic art installations, their most recent work being The Gates Project in New York City's Central Park.
The Over the River installation is equally daunting, the description from the artist's website.
Over The River is a two-week temporary work of art to be created by artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude. The artists will suspend horizontally a total of 5.9 miles of silvery, luminous fabric panels high above the Arkansas River along a 40-mile stretch of the river between Salida and Cañon City in south-central Colorado.
Despite a lengthy list of suppoters, the worldwide attention that Christo's work brings to a region and the associated tourist traffic, there are some in the area that do not want to see Christo's project come to fruition.
R.O.A.R., which stands for Rags Over the Arkansas River, is a group whose principle mission is to formally oppose the Over the River project. R.O.A.R. claims the area does not have the infrastructure to handle the expected influx of traffic and that the project will damage the environment despite the artists's claim the project will leave no lasting harm.
This is not the first time the artists have set up shop in Colorado, Christo and Jeanne-Claude did an installation in Rifle 30 years ago called The Valley Curtain. That project also initially met resistance from the local community but according to the artists it ended up being a positive for everyone involved.