The Steamboat Pilot & Today

Steamboat Springs — Screenwriter Burcu Koray doesn’t usually script feature-length films. And she certainly doesn’t usually focus on the American West.

But for her current project, Koray, who originally is from Turkey, is doing both of those things. By the end of her five-week residency with Colorado Art Ranch, she hopes to have a first draft on her examination of ranching life ready to go.

As part of the Art Ranch, a nomadic organization that in Steamboat will address land stewardship, Koray hopes to get to know the people she’s writing about, as well as to give back to the community — bridging the divide between how the West is depicted on screen and the realities of the people who inhabit it.

“I think everywhere, not just in the United States, there is a huge divergence between people who produce art and the people who have art,” Koray said. She hopes to narrow that gap in Steamboat Springs by leading a series of free introductory workshops on screenwriting and by spending as much time as possible getting to know Routt County ranchers and their land.

To put on the workshops and make connections for her research, Koray is paired with Epilogue Book Co. owner Erica Fogue as part of the Art Ranch’s art buddy program. The program pairs a local art enthusiast with an artist in residence to familiarize participants with the town.

Local Art Ranch coordinator Beth Banning said the art buddy program seeks to unite varied interests and perspectives around a topic relevant to the community.

“It’s bringing together artists and writers and scientists and people along that line with diverse ideas about reaching a common goal,” Banning said, adding that the Art Ranch’s land-use theme is especially pertinent in Routt County.

“It’s certainly beneficial to the community at this time, with so much development going on, to see how artists and writers can approach that change,” she said.

By immersing resident artists in community issues and introducing them to local resources, a traveling organization can resonate long after it’s gone, said Art Ranch Executive Director Grant Pound. Each resident is required to do a project that gives back to Steamboat in some way.

“There needed to be something that left more of a mark on a community,” Pound said. “We didn’t want to do a residency where residents come and do their work in isolation and then disappear. … We’re not saying that’s wrong, we’re just saying that’s not the way we wanted to do it. We’re more community focused, and we wanted to give back to the community.”

Koray said the Art Ranch’s local involvement sold her on the residency program.

“These people really bring the community and the artist together. … In other residencies, it’s much like a writing hotel, and you don’t really get to know the people you’re living within,” Koray said.

Art Ranch give-back projects include a discussion on community supported agriculture with artists Carrie Marill and Matthew Moore; a prose reading and African dance performance with writer Diana Rico; opportunities to talk about large-scale, site-specific sculpture and conceptual art with Carol Hummel; a large-scale installation of steel skis encircling a tree by sculptor Bland Hoke; as well as yet-to-be-determined contributions from three more Art Ranch residents.

Koray hopes to inspire locals to tell their stories through art with her screenwriting workshops, in exchange for an opportunity to experience her Western subject matter firsthand.

“The more people who break into producing the art, the richer and more genuine the culture will get. And I am happy to be a part of this,” Koray said.