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HUERFANO - From the stages of Paris Fashion Week to the runways of Los Angeles and New York City, Huerfano County-based fiber artist Emilie Odeile has had her work showcased on the big stage. Now, she's continuing to see her work recognized, this time, securing the first artist residency of Startup Colorado, an entrepreneur incubator.

Startup Colorado announced it chose Odeile as its first resident artist June 11, noting it was "thrilled" to select Odeile as its first artist of the program.

"Not only did (Odeile's) work stand out for its ambition and scale, but also its capacity for bringing stories to life," said Margaret Hedderman, director of content and brand strategy at Startup Colorado. "Our jurors were also impressed with her efforts to build a viable business operating in an emergent rural hub for artists."

That business -which is a joint venture with her partner Ken Chapin, a curator, producer and artist - is Dundee and Lee, which the pair describe as a "creative partnership" that "transform(s) fiber into immersive sculptural environments."

It's a partnership that works well for them. Odeile is the artist, and while Chapin does some art of his own, he said his major contribution to the venture is running the business side -the media, the calls, the contacts. It allows Odeile to focus more on her artwork.

Odeile is the creator of immersive fiber environments such as "Good Night Moon -A Fiber Tale," "FROG-A Fiber Situation" and 
"STAMPEDE," which locals should recognize from past local shows.

Odeile's installation art can only be described as large and ambitious.

"Good Night Moon -A Fiber Tale" is a life-sized 500-square-foot exhibition made of 152 miles of yarn and 6 million knit stitches. "FROG -A Fiber Situation" is made of 86 miles of yarn and 3 million stitches. "STAMPEDE" is a large-scale hat and tumbleweed collection currently on show through Sept. 20 at the A.R. Mitchell Museum of Western Art in Trinidad made of200,000 yards of 10 lb fishing line that Odeile first had to knit into 2-3 inch diameter lines before turning those into the final product of hats and tumbleweed.

The artist was curious how she could create something that could withstand the elements outside, so she got to work working the thin line for hours and hours at a time.

Odeile's installation work has shown locally at the A.R. Mitchell Museum of Western Art, Rural Art Show in Branson and at Trinidad Space to Create Commons, and statewide at VFWl Gallery BRDG Project in Denver and The Arvada Center in Arvada. 
"Good Night Moon -A Fiber Tale," is about to start a statewide tour of its own.

The pair currently also have a residency at the AR. Mitchell Museum of Western Art, where they hold a studio on the top floor, while the business is run off of their kitchen table in Huerfano County.

Before moving into large-scale fiber installations, Odeile worked in high fashion -with her work being shown on runways of Paris, Los Angeles and New York City, according to a public biography from Dundee and Lee.

Chapin has been tracking the work of Startup Colorado since its infancy at the CU Boulder, so when the entrepreneur incubator announced the artist residency he knew the pair should apply.

He initially had wanted Dundee and Lee to apply as a pair, but it is a solo residency, so the pair decided it was for Odeile to apply for. 
While Odeile is the face of the residency, Chapin will be there to support her and the business development.

The fiber-based artist said the Startup Colorado residency is "a dream come true."

The six-month virtual residency will not only allow for her work to be showcased during West Slope Startup Week in Durango later this year, but will also allow Odeile and Chapin's business to receive ongoing mentorship from industry experts. The internship's mentorship program will see the artist-pair receive guidance from various aspects of the industry from both the business and artistic side such as merchandising, public relations, gallery and museum experts and others.

"We want this program to unlock doors for Odeile and create a system of support," said Vanessa McCrann, director of community engagement for Startup Colorado. "One of her goals is to bring "Goodnight Moon- A Fiber Tale", to international audiences and land her large-scale installations at institutions who can meet the demands of a 'highly-touchable' exhibition. We are designing this program to bring Odeile closer to that goal, including weekly meetings with business mentors to keep her on track and organized. She is at that pivotal point where there are more opportunities than she has time to consider, which is when it can be most helpful to have an outside perspective in order to stay focused on priorities that move her forward."

The residency comes with a $1,500 stipend, but for Chapin and Odeile, it is about the guidance they are set to receive. 
The goal for them: to get everything out of the residency as possible.

Odeile said Chapin does better at the business side, and her the art creation side, of Dundee and Lee, and that "having other people support the business and practical side and marketing is to her (what) feels like a really exciting opportunity to how to present (the) work to (the) world."

Odeile and Chapin hope to set the bar high for future Startup Colorado artist residents, helping to pave the way for other southern Colorado-based artists to receive the residency in future years.

Odeile wants to do so well that Startup Colorado keeps awarding the residency to her local colleagues.

Startup Colorado is looking to support arts in the region too.

"We aim to draw a lot of attention to the art scene Emilie is coming out of; that of Trinidad and southern Colorado," McCrann said. "There are powerful collaborations in Trinidad that support the creative community; between galleries, the city, and Trinidad State College, which has an established makerspace."

Odeile and Chapin noted that southern Colorado is blossoming into a hub for rural artists, which has been a project of Colorado Creative Industries at the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade under Gov. Jared Polis (D). 
The state has had its eye on Trinidad as an up-and-coming art hub for almost 10 years now.

In 2015, under former Trinidad Mayor Phil Rico, the city of Trinidad witnessed that up-close, with Colorado Creative Industries investing in the city through its $45 million statewide initiative to put artist-housing in rural communities such as Trinidad and Ridgeway.

Now that push is being assisted by Trinidad locals at large in the art and culture scene Odeile and Chapin credit- with cultural experiences being created by Kody Khuel and the board of directors at the A.R. Mitchell Museum of Western Art, which have now attracted the Coors Western Art curator, along with Suzanne Magnuson and Curtis Wallach who have been able to attract national musical acts to The Trinidad Lounge.