COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — When you visit Colorado Springs, you might think of places like Pikes Peak and Garden of the Gods. But a new initiative by VisitCOS aims to draw people to other places and what they have to offer.
For the up-and-coming Knob Hill neighborhood, that's art. Just a few minutes east of the General Palmer Statue on Platte Avenue, an art display spans several blocks.
"We were just a rag tag group of artists who wanted to make murals," Knob Hill Urban Art's District's Executive Director Muji Rieger said.
Founded in 2018, Rieger said the non-profit's goal has been to get more people to Knob Hill without changing the neighborhood's character.
"We'd like to see more people,"Rieger said. "We don't want to gentrify the neighborhood... the business neighborhood or the residential side. We want to be able to enrich the lives of the people that are already here."
VisitCOS Content Coordinator Kate Hertz said highlighting less-traveled areas is a priority behind the project.
"We are hoping that it spotlights kind of less traveled areas, like, for example, Knob Hill," Hertz said. "This will encourage visitors to spread out and also stay longer, because once they see this map, they'll realize, 'oh, I need way more than a day and a half, two days to explore all of this.'"
Platte Collections Gallery Coordinator Eli King shared the story behind Knob Hill's neighborhood gallery full of local artists.
"Colorado Springs just keeps expanding. As someone who has lived here my whole life, going anywhere else, there's not as much love for locals as there is in Colorado," King said.
King believes the neighborhood needs more exposure and wants to increase accessibility for local artists.
"I told VisitCOS there's almost nowhere for these artists to have opportunities," King said.
She sees street art as a powerful tool for community transformation.
"For me, street art is one of the best ways to show people that a space is changing," King said.
To view the map, click here.
