Fall Gallery Tour

Exploring the Ute Museum and Shavano Valley Art Rock Site

Friday, October 4, 2023, the members and friends of the Redstone Art Foundation visited Montrose, Colorado to study and view rock art. The highlight of the trip was the visit to the Shavano Valley Rock Art Site.

The site, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the Shavano Valley Rock Art Site is located on the eastern edge of the Uncompahgre Plateau. It’s one of the most important concentrations of rock art in western Colorado with over 26 panels of art aboriginal art as well as a primitive rock shelter.

It was used from at least 1000 BCE to 1900 CE by Archaic and Nuche (Ute) peoples. This site is used to define different rock art styles and traditions as well as trace cultural continuity and change in this region.