creating Po

Here’s where you can find DrMike and his art this summer:

The debut of the S.O.S. Machine:

Green Mountain Falls & Chipeta Park

Firefighters Appreciation Day,

GMF Fire Station on June 6

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The debut of DrMike’s invention, The S.O.S. Machine, was a success! Many people played the game, hit the target and released a refreshing splash upon a neighbor - and won a medal. A bunch of kids and a few adults sat for a splash and experienced the sudden liberating jolt of water on the head! The person who sits for a splash chooses the amount of water - from a spoonful to a full gallon - dropped on their head.

What is this S.O.S. Machine?

A neighborly old-school twist on the Dunking Tank, the S.O.S. Machine’s game is to hit the target, thereby releasing a cooling S.plash O.f S.ummer to help a neighbor cool off! Win a prize medal!

To experience the S.O.S. Machine’s Splash of Summer, wear something that can get a bit - or a lot - wet and, maybe, bring a towel. The person sitting for a Splash of Summer chooses the amount of water dropped on their head!

News about the next appearance of the S.O.S. Machine will be posted here!

The S.O.S. Machine is now available for LOAN to Ute Pass area community events and family & friends gatherings. Submit requests through the Contact page.

June, July & August: Gnomes’ Second Home

DrMike’s whimsical diorama creation, “Gnomes’ Second Home” is now on display (and visible through the windows) in the historic Land Office in Green Mountain Falls’ Lake Park. The artwork will be on display this summer and fall.

Land Office Open Hours this summer

See Gnomes’ Second Home up close! DrMike will be a local history docent at the Land Office Open Hours a number of days this summer, dates and hours below.

The Ute Pass Historical Society maintains this delightful historic Victorian relic and holds scheduled open hours during the summer (Thursday - Saturday, 11-3). Stop by and learn how this whimsical building, the nexus of the town during the railroad tourism era. Local history books, including my Green Mountain Falls History: ArtPLAYpages, are available for perusal and purchase.

‍ ‍ DrMike at the Land Office:

11am - 3 pm: June 13, July 31

Additional dates may be added, see updates here.

The art Village Creativity Space with Dr Mike Bowers:

Green Box Arts Festival 2026‍

Green Mountain Falls, Colorado, July 4 – 19

DrMike hosted the ArtVillage Creativity Space, a collaborative art studio for festivalgoers to create spontaneous art during this summer’s festival.

Art Village was open for over 40 hours during the Green Box Arts Festival. Participating artists included all ages, multigenerational family groups, groups of friends and couples all hanging out on a beautiful summer day and making some art, not some time in the future, but right then and there! One enthusiastic participant dubbed it an “Enclave of Wonderment.”

Some of our visitors sought out the ArtVillage and stayed for hours, completing several art projects; some wandered by and stopped to move some magnetic poetry words on the “Irony Board” on the green outside the ArtVillage door, then followed their curiosity inside. Visitors were invited to begin their visit with the 3 collaborative posters and 2 collaborative scrolls, a 1 or 2 minute time commitment!

The most popular activity was COLORING. Dr Mike’s art/coloring/history pages based on historic photos of Green Mountain Falls were available to begin coloring on the spot or to take home for a later art session. We also shared our amazing collection of coloring books.

We used a glorious collection of non-messy art media - every kind of pen, marker and crayon im including Japanese wabi tape - which was very popular for our “Tapestry of Stripes” scroll!

Visiting artists with interest and time were encouraged to explore and create art activities which take 5-20 minutes. These included:

~ We created over 50 pages of a collaborative illustrated children’s book based on the old song, “A Finding We Will Go.”

~ Fifteen artists collaborated on the Mystery Montage, with a big surprise once complete.

~ kids, teens, parents and kin were drawn to Po Projects, including “The Kindness Cube,” “Tummy Yummies art project and Tummy Yummies coloring book.

~One corner of the studio was the UFO assemblage workshop, dubbed “Area 7,800.” In this project, UFO means '“Unexpected Floating Objet d’art!” Visiting artists used junk parts to turn an old hubcap into a imaginary space vehicle. Once the kids discovered my supply of googly eyes, they made dozens of Extraterrestrials and robots which hang out on a floating disk!

~ In honor of Patrick Shearn’s Kinetic Poetics remarkable sculpture of 35,000 ribbons flowing and floating over Green Mountain Falls Gazebo Lake, festivalgoers created ribbons to adorn a Monument of Gratitude to Our Mentors” and a “Monument of Affection to Our Muses.”