Artist Bill Hudson Wins ‘PBR Art’ Mural Contest
A few weeks ago, Bill walked in the door of our little Salida apartment with some news.
“I just saw a poster downtown. The Victoria Tavern is sponsoring an art contest,” he told me. “They want art that features PBR. They’re going to replace the Pepsi mural on the side of their building with the winning entry…”
The Vic — as it’s known to locals — occupies the corner of Sackett and F Streets in historic downtown Salida, and was sponsoring a “Pabst Blue Ribbon Art Contest” as part of a national PBR art competition.
Salida is one of two communities designated as a Colorado “Creative District” by a new state funding project. This “Creative District” designation was no doubt due, at least in part, to the fact that every third commercial space in downtown Salida seems to contain some kind of art gallery or music store or fabric store or pottery shop. In a town full of artists, surely a PBR art contest was guaranteed to draw a lot of entries and community interest?
There were three categories for art: painting, photography/digital media, and sculpture. All art pieces were required to incorporate PBR branding.
Of course, being the huge $1 PBR fan that I am, PBR ‘canscapes’ (as in ‘landscapes’) began dancing like sugar plums in my head. PBR has built its brand around the idea of an affordable, “working class” beer. In Pagosa Springs, and in Salida as well, the bars typically feature $1 PBRs at least once a week, as a promotion. I can enjoy a $1 PBR with the best of them. Or two. Or ….
My partner Bill Hudson — editor of the Pagosa Daily Post, and former artist and graphic designer — has a wonderful (but little known) talent, as a painter. I cajoled Bill to come up with an idea for the contest, and we began collaborating on three submissions. By the date of the contest, I had two “Photoshopped” photographs mounted and ready to enter in the photography and digital media category. They weren’t too bad, but not near as interesting as the piece that Bill had envisioned and painted.
Bill’s painting on display during the ‘voting’ at The Vic.
When we arrived at the Victoria Tavern on Tuesday evening, we saw a dozen or so art pieces already hanging on the walls, and a couple of artists standing at the sign-up table, submitting their entries. A few minutes later, our three PBR entries were hanging on the tavern wall with the other artworks.
As it turned out, The Vic was going to give away three prizes in a “Consumer’s Choice” contest to be held that same evening. Each entry had a number and an empty PBR can below it. For each PBR you purchased, you got a ticket to drop into the PBR can for your favorite entry; the art pieces with the most tickets would win the contest. Of course, after a few PBRs it became progressively more difficult to decide which art piece was really your favorite. It also became more difficult to stand up.
Bill and I drank three beers between the two of us, and I put all three of our tickets in Bill’s “PBR can.” I could easily tell which art piece was my favorite.
A PBR art director named Andrew had come down from Denver and was mingling with the artists, and photographing the entries he thought might appeal to his bosses. A live band was playing Mexican-influenced reggae while people drank, contemplated the art, voted, drank some more, and voted some more. It was a good time.
Bill won third place in the “consumer vote” competition, which surprised us; we know hardly anyone in Salida — and popularity contests are sometimes just that: the most popular person wins, no matter what their art looks like.
The grand prize of $500, however, was going to be chosen by the Vic’s owner, Peter Simonson. That piece would then be enlarged — to 16 feet by 7 feet — onto the brick wall outside the bar, to replace the old, faded Pepsi sign. This sign is prominent and well known by townies and tourists alike. Peter and his daughter Mollie took a few days to choose their new mural from the entries for the grand prize winner. They were looking for a piece that embodied Salida.
After considerable thought, they selected the painting submitted by… Bill Hudson.
Considering Bill’s earlier 20-year career as a sign painter, I have no doubt Bill will do an excellent job painting his “Riding the Ribbon” mural on the famed Victoria Tavern wall. For me, it was exciting to watch Bill create this piece of art… his first acrylic painting in many years. To have him win the mural contest was even more exciting.
Before I met Bill, when we were just “Daily Post email friends,” he had emailed to me this one-sentence description of himself: “I’m just a disorganized artist.”
Maybe it’s time now for Bill to get back to that ‘visual artist’ part of his multi-talented being?
