Join us June 10th for a Mural Tour & CELEBRATION!
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Brew & Bloom Coffee Shop: 10:30 – 11:25 11am speech – Iced tea/Make Community Art
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Hylton Home: 11:30- 12:25 Noon speech – Mo Burrito
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Salida Boat Ramp: 12:30- 1:25 1:00 speech – Chill Ice Cream
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BV Library: 2:00 – 2:55 2:30 speech – Make Community Art
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BV Optimist Splash Pad: 3:00 – 3:55 3:30pm speech – Louie’s Ice Cream
We Are Chaffee’s Future Belonging Project
Chaffee County Public Health’s storytelling initiative, We Are Chaffee (WAC), is honored to have received funding for a project from Belonging Colorado through The Denver Foundation.
Belonging is a feeling that one truly belongs. It is associated with strong social connections, psychological safety, and feeling that you have a voice. Having a sense of belonging helps manage stress and other behavioral issues. When we feel we have support and are not alone, we are more resilient, often coping more effectively with difficult times in our lives.
One way to move toward a culture of belonging is to help people from different political or cultural states to bridge the differences between them. We Are Chaffee’s Future (WACF) Belonging Project’s focus is on bridging divides within a group of intergenerational participants through the fostering of constructive dialogue and exposure to active engagement opportunities to create trust and understanding across group lines. The work will culminate in the creation of public art and shared stories throughout the county that represent the participant’s personal experiences and reflect the group’s shared sense of community belonging. In addition, through the exposure to the participant's public art and a public education outreach effort, the ideas of belonging will resonate with community members and visitors.
WACF has engaged 13 participants ages 15 to 79 for this project. These community-minded people represent the diversity of the county and have been working together across generations to create a deeper understanding of each other's perspectives and build connections. The bridge building workshops are fun, full of activites, and intensive; facilitators are utilizing the UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center’s Bridging Difference Program skills to provide guidance.
We Are Chaffee hired two local artists, to assist with this project: Brynn Ronning Sandoval from Buena Vista, and Wendy Mitchell from Salida. The bridging differences work with the participants is complete and the art/mural development process began in early 2026.
We are working on finalizing the design and painting of the murals with the installations occuring in May.
Meet the Participants
Thank you to our art co-creators (volunteers) for giving your time, talent, and heart to this project. Each of you have invested yourselves in bridging differences with others in this group of people who are part of very different generations than you. Through the many learning sessions together, and then transitioned to the common goal of co-creating public belonging art together, you all have been steadfast and true to this project.
The We Are Chaffee's Future Belonging Team is in awe of each of you and thank you for making this belonging ride fun and transformative.
Leo Nudge
McKenzie Collins
Jami Aguilar Frost
Marilyn Bouldin
Samatha Barron
Nick Jacoves
Irene Alvarez
Kelsey Kuehn
Georgia Cervenka
Kelby Tostenson
Kayla Manzanares
Michelle Putz
Mary Claire Connolly
Meet the Artist - Brynn Ronning Sandoval
My name is Brynn and I’m a local artist based in Buena Vista. My work is rooted in a connection to the natural world, to story, and most importantly, to the people in my life.
I was drawn to the Chaffee County Public Health Belonging Project because it felt like an opportunity to listen more deeply. In a small town, it can be easy to assume we already know one another, but this project created space to go beyond brief interactions and really hear people’s experiences, identities, and what “belonging” means to them.
As an artist in a supportive role, what I’ve loved most is the openness and honesty that the participants have brought to this project. There’s something powerful yet peaceful about meeting in-person and being invited into someone’s story. One may feel rooted here, another may be finding community later in life, or some may be searching for a sense of home. These moments have reminded me that belonging isn’t a fixed thing. It is something we build together, over time.
I’ve learned that art in a community like ours isn’t just about creating something beautiful. It’s about creating something radical and meaningful. It’s about holding space for complexity, for difference, and for connection all at once.
Being part of this project has deepened my continued appreciation for this community. And not just for its landscape, but for its people. It’s made me more intentional in my work, and more committed to using art as a way to encourage empathy, visibility, and belonging.
Brynn Ronning
Facebook: Brynn Ronning Sandoval
Instagram: brynn_ronning_sandoval
Meet the Artist - Wendy Mitchell
My name is Wendy and I am a botanical artist and educator based in Salida, Colorado. I create cyanotypes using plants gathered from the landscapes around me, layering them with watercolor, collage, and gold to create work rooted in light, texture, and the quiet beauty of the natural world. Through my art and studio, The Wildflower Studio, I invite others to slow down, notice what’s around them, and reconnect with creativity and nature in a meaningful way.
I was drawn to the Belonging Project because connection has become such an important part of my own story. I’ve only lived in Colorado for the past four years, and starting over in a new place showed me how much belonging matters. The people I met here made me feel welcome in ways I didn’t expect, and that stayed with me. Being part of this project felt like a way to explore that more deeply and to help create that same sense of welcome for someone else.
This project has shifted the way I think about what it means to belong. I’ve realized it’s not just something we receive, but something we can offer. When I ask myself how I can help someone else feel like they belong, it deepens that feeling for me as well. It has also helped me feel more rooted here as well, not just as the place I live, but as the community I’m part of.
Getting to know each person in this group through the lens of belonging has been really meaningful. I’ve enjoyed asking questions and really listening, learning what helps each person feel like they belong, and then translating that into the right artistic message through these murals.
It’s reminded me that it often starts when we slow down and take the time to really see the people around us and what makes them unique. While we’re all different, we’re also the same in some ways. We’re all looking for a place where we feel like we belong. That perspective has carried into my new work and into the way I hold space in my studio. I want people to feel welcome there, to feel seen, and to know they belong.
Being part of this project has deepened my understanding of belonging, both in my work and in my life here in Salida.
~Wendy Mitchell
Website: www.wendymitchellart.com
Instagram: @wendymitchellart
Facebook: Wendy Mitchell Art
Audio & Video coming soon...
Videographer & Storyteller Sarah Hamilton has been documenting our progress since the beginning of the Belonging Project. Stay tuned for video and audio releases of the project.
Read more about the project funders here:
About The Denver Foundation
For 100 years, The Denver Foundation has been building a stronger, thriving Metro
Denver, Colorado, and beyond. We’ve received $2.1 billion from generous
donors and given $1.6 billion in grants to support community initiatives. We’re the
foundation of Denver, connecting and collaborating to address the current and
future challenges of our community. To learn more about The Denver Foundation, visit
www.denverofundation.org
About Belonging Colorado
Belonging Colorado is a bold, new effort to bring people together in new ways, grow
resilience in our state, and expand Coloradans’ sense of who belongs. We seek to
invest in good ideas for building connections across lines of difference—racial, ethnic,
socioeconomic, political affiliation, age, and more. Our state is not immune to the trends
of social division and disconnection affecting our nation. It is more essential than ever
that Coloradans work effectively across differences to bridge divides and support our
state's long-term health, resilience, and well-being.
About the Greater Good Science Center
Based at UC Berkeley, the Greater Good Science Center provides a bridge between the
research community and the general public.
Find out more: https://ggsc.berkeley.edu/who_we_are
Do you have questions?
We would love to hear from you!
Contact: Lisa Martin LMartin@chaffeecounty.org
Chaffee County Public Health Community Advocacy Coordinator