Little Snake Rainbow & The Red Desert
This mural was created by all of the elementary (K-5), designed and painted by the seventh hour art class in consultation with Ms Belohlavek and artist in residence Paul Taylor. The seventh hour art class has seven high school students; Brianna Clark, Erik Ortega, Jocelyn Martinez, Siobhan Lally, Jessie Klein, Taylor Duncan, and Skylar Holmquist.
The mural is an areal map of the valley. The Rainbow Snake, representing Little Snake River, travels from East to West. It starts near Battle Mountain and goes to the town of Baggs. The rattle of the snake represents Battle Mountain and all other surrounding mountains. As the Rainbow Snake travels it goes through Ladder Ranch in Slater to Cobb Cattle Company in Savery, then to Duncan Livestock in Dixon, and then Webber Ranch in and around Baggs, and finally the valley itself. Each of these ranches has their brand on the mural where they are located. All these towns make up Little Snake River Valley which borders the beautiful Red Desert.
The white dots have a double meaning. They are a topographical map of the Little Snake River and the backbone of the Rainbow Snake. The tongue of the snake is a topographical map of the valley. The dots in the Valley represent the stars and also our ancestors. All of the colors in the mural have a symbolic meaning; the tan is the low desert, the pink is the high desert plains, and the red is the highest elevation where the mountains are located. The green dots represent plant life and the heavily forested areas. In this mural we wanted to include the entire valley, because if there's one thing about LSRV, it's that we're all about community.
Special thanks to Ms. Cobb who made this residency and this mural possible.
