By Kenneth Jessen Located in Colorado’s San Luis Valley, Jaroso resident Lynn Kircher and his wife Jane managed one of the largest, most complex sculpture projects in the United States. It consists of 14 larger-than-life Stations of the Cross, now installed at Cloisters on the Platte between Lincoln and Omaha, Nebraska. In 2015, Kircher was …
By Mike Rosso
It’s quite likely there may never have been an arts scene in Salida without the arrival of sculptor Chris Byars. One of the ironies of this is that many recent artists to town have never even met the man.
While on a back roads tour of Colorado in 1971, the Denver native stopped in Salida to visit his older brother Jack, who was living there at the time. The following weekend, Chris followed suit.
by Kenneth Jessen
Jaroso was founded in 1910 as the southern-most point reached by the San Luis Southern Railway originating in Blanca, 31.7 miles to the north. A year later, Jaroso (pronounced Hah-roh-soh) got its own post office and with rail access, it grew to become an agricultural trade center. The Dust Bowl, the Great Depression, sustained droughts and the fact that the land was never developed caused the town to fade away. The railroad was dismantled and its depots abandoned. Located just north of the Colorado – New Mexico line in Costilla County, it could have become one of the 1,500 or so Colorado ghost towns. The Anderson family became its only occupants.