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During his 82 years, James “Jim” Disney devoted his life to creativity, mountaineering and service to the land and community.
This fall, the Loveland Museum is paying homage to his storied life with three exhibits showcasing his work as an artist and an advocate for his beloved home state.
“We’re focusing on Jim as a painter, obviously, and as a creative and the various approaches he took throughout his life in terms of representational work,” Loveland Museum art curator Maureen Corey said. “But we also realized he had a large impact on the region as a whole, through his work with the county, through his work with the park, and through his extensive knowledge of climbing, and all the relationships that he made connected to that.”
Disney grew up in the hills around Glen Haven, then later moved to Loveland to attend school.
His artistic talent emerged at a young age, as did his love for the outdoors, two passions that would dominate his life over the years.
Disney gained recognition for his realistic depictions of the Colorado mountains, which led to art residencies at Rocky Mountain National Park.
During the 1990s, Disney served as Larimer County commissioner, where he advocated for land use reform and long-range transportation planning. He also helped establish the county’s Open Lands Acquisition Program, and led efforts to ban sightseeing flights over RMNP, for which he received the Environmental Stewardship award.
Along the way, the avid climber scaled Longs Peak a total of 93 times, and the park’s other 128 peaks at least once.
The first two James Disney shows are slated to open in the main gallery on Saturday, and will focus on Disney’s artwork.
“James Disney & Erik Stensland: Double Vision” will feature 15 of Disney’s paintings paired with a photo by Stensland, a nature photographer with a similar passion for the outdoors.
The two came up with the idea for the show while working together at Rocky Mountain National Park’s centennial celebration, held in 2015.
“Eric has told me that Jim wanted to do it because they both had received comments about ‘this looks like a photograph,’ and ‘this looks like a painting’, the exact opposite,” Marianne Tucker, a longtime friend of Disney’s, said. She was at the museum to assist with the installation. “So he wanted to place them side-by-side.”
The paired pieces are complementary, but viewers might not notice the connection right away, Corey added.
“In some pairings it’s easier to see the connection, but others are more obscure,” she said. “But that’s something that Jim talked about — opening up a discussion as to what you see and how each artist interprets a similar approach or similar subject.”
“James Disney: Legacy” is a retrospective of his career, spanning from the placid meadow he painted at age 10, to “The Reminder,” his final piece, which was unfinished when he died. It will be displayed on the late artist’s easel, surrounded by his paints and brushes.
Dozens of other Disney paintings will also be on display, including his well-known depiction of Hagues Peak, on loan from Larimer County.
But Disney’s work wasn’t just limited to painting mountainous landscapes. Also included in the exhibit are some of his abstract paintings and collages.
“He wanted so much to be creative and use other media,” Tucker said. “During this period, when he did this work, he was not popular because everybody wanted a painting of aspens. But he really believed in the creativity of the artists and that he should be able to express himself in any way that he feels.”
The third exhibit, “Climbing Mountains: The Life and Work of James Disney” opens on Oct. 14, exploring his life as a climber and mountaineer, as well as an artist. It also focuses on his deep ties to the community, and long friendship with Loveland Museum founder Harold Dunning.
“He painted our murals and he’s been a part of our museum history for quite some time as well,” Corey said. “Jennifer Cusino, curator of history, is taking on that part of things so we can look at his larger impact overall, beyond his art, which was significant in itself.”
“James Disney & Erik Stensland: Double Vision” and “James Disney: Legacy” run through Nov. 13.
For more information, visit lovelandmuseum.org/exhibits.
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