The Visitor Center is gearing up for the Great Mancos Arts Roundup Saturday, June 22.

A few years ago, Arts Perspective magazine brought to Mancos the concept of artist studio tours. When Arts Perspective decided not to do the tour this year, Mancos Valley Arts Council decided to pick up the reins and re-create the studio tour with typical Mancos Valley flair and interpretation.

The number of participating artists has almost doubled compared with last year. Advertising for the event, with the help of the Chamber of Commerce, has been done regionally: northern New Mexico, Ouray, Telluride, Silverton and Dolores, as well as La Plata and Montezuma counties.

The Visitor Center will be the check-in point for those of you planning to tour artist studios. You will be able to pick up an Arts Roundup guide that has pictures of all the participating artists' work and a map to find their studios. The event begins at 10 a.m. and ends at 5 p.m.

Also coming up this weekend is a "rockscaping" project for the east side of the Visitor Center that faces Boyle Park. The Town of Mancos Parks and Recreation Department placed weed barrier fabric so that rock can be placed on top of it.

The Chamber of Commerce has ordered some river rock and now help is needed to move the rock on top of fabric. A group of garden volunteers from the town is meeting at Boyle Park on Sunday morning, June 23, at 8 a.m. to do some landscaping at the park and also help with the Visitor Center project. However, more volunteers are needed to help with Visitor Center project on Sunday morning. The Heritage Project moves forward with the town and the Mancos Valley Chamber of Commerce working together to create a more beautiful community for all of us to enjoy. These are important projects to complete before Mancos Days in July. We want to show off how proud we are of our town.

While you are out and about this weekend visiting artists or admiring our town, take note of the western mural on the Mancos Liquor building and the landscaping completed at the intersection of Highways 160 and 184.

These projects are representative of the kinds of efforts the Heritage Project is intended to support through hard work and fundraising.

A big "thank you" should go out to all the people who put forth the effort to accomplish these tasks: the Mancos Valley Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors, Mancos Valley Resources, Mancos Valley Arts Council, Mancos Liquor, Western Excelsior, the Town of Mancos Parks and Recreation Department, aka Leslie Hopkins, and the local residents who showed up to work.

If you would like to make a tax-deductible donation to support the work of the Heritage Project you can send a check to Mancos Valley Resource, PO Box 204, Mancos CO 81328. Make your check to MVR with a notation for the Heritage Project.