CHERRY CREEK FASHION — Paula Crown Is Expanding On The Big Vision For Aspen With The Little Nell

PHOTOGRAPHED BY ESTHER LEE LEACH AT THE LITTLE NELL

WRITTEN BY ANNIE BLOJ // CULTURE & STYLE EDITOR

STYLED BY KIRI MORKEN // CLOTHING: CHRISTY RILLING X PAULA CROWN ATELIER

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Paula Crown is a force of nature. Singularly focused in the moment, she is uniquely able to balance life as an artist, astute business executive, mother, wife, and activist. When the Cherry Creek Fashion team had the opportunity to feature her at her family’s hotel, The Little Nell - the iconic property in Aspen - we came away wanting to know more. A fierce champion of women, art, and collaboration, we found a kindred spirit, totally game for in-depth discussions about our collective journeys and what we think about the world around us. Paula proves that anything is possible if you keep your mind and your heart open to the possibilities around you.

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Annie Bloj: Aspen is an incredibly important place for your family, owning and operating The Little Nell and your holdings with Aspen Skiing Company. What makes Aspen stand apart from other mountain towns for you in particular?

Paula Crown: The big vision. In 1939, Aspen was an abandoned silver mining town. Elizabeth and Walter Paepcke reimagined Aspen as a cultural, intellectual, and recreational hub. They envisioned a vital community ecosystem and laid foundations for the Aspen Institute, Aspen Music Festival and School, Aspen Center for Physics, and the Aspen Center for Environmental studies. In 1946, the Aspen Skiing Company was incorporated.

The word ecosystem is used intentionally. The strongest natural ecosystems are diverse and complex. The founders were awed and humbled by the place and understood their responsibility to sustain the environment going forward. They engaged creatives and innovative thinkers to capture attention, convey ideas, and imagine a better future. The execution of such a bold vision, required (and continues to require) hard work, dedication, and accountability from a talented team.

As we come upon our 75th anniversary, we reflect on Aspen’s evolution to an international destination for skiing and bespoke adventures from the extreme to the introspective. As a family, we embrace the principles of engagement of body, intellect, and spirit. We are committed to our local and global interconnectedness and sustaining the sacred beauty of our surroundings.

Aspen holds transformative potential. While standing in the same place, everything is suddenly different and ripe with possibilities. How might this place of astonishing beauty help reveal, heal and nurture the best in ourselves? Nature will show us the way.

AB: The Little Nell recently unveiled a large-scale renovation for the 2020-21 ski season, all done in collaboration with Madrid-based sculptor and designer Luis Bustamente, who is also working on a renovation for the Aspen Mountain Club. What prompted you to call on Luis Bustamante for this special project?

PC: The fabricator/engineer for much of my artwork is Factum Arte based in Madrid. Over the last decade, I have spent a lot of time there in residency (once with my then 16-year-old daughter) working on numerous projects. The city is a historical and contemporary marvel of beauty and ideas. During my time in Madrid, I was introduced to Luis and his team through their work at Factum. His point of view as an artist and architect was novel and ultimately captivating. Across a language barrier, and at times thousands of miles, we connected on optimized spatial flows, experiences, and bookcases. My husband Jim and I are always short of bookcases. I was amazed how Bustamante integrated “the stories of our lives” into living spaces, on multiple levels with accessible ladders, chairs, and intimate lighting.

This was a feature I wanted to incorporate into the Nell and Club redesign. We went to the Pitkin County Library to curate a selection of relevant and important topics. Of course, during the pandemic, we have had to take precautions with the personal sharing of books and we will continue to manage based on health requirements. But, expect our book collection to expand in the future.

Luis and his team are not only uber-talented, but they also have a generosity that makes our partnership reinforcing. Distance and other constraints fall away when there are creative possibilities and accountability. Stay tuned to what will be an extraordinary experience for Aspen Mountain Club members this fall.

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AB: The way you have integrated art into The Little Nell could be seen as surprising to other hoteliers. For instance, the Vertical Flag by Theaster Gates, which is made of decommissioned hoses used to spray black protestors during the civil rights movement. How does having statement-making pieces add depth to The Little Nell experience?

PC: Art is a language. Our collections are curated to reflect issues of import and to provoke further conversation. Art operates on multiple levels. It can be pleasurable to look at, confusing, or disquieting. My intention is to curate stories and reveal connections.

The work at The Little Nell and Element 47 also specifically underscores the historical relationship between Chicago and Aspen, like the connection between the Paepckes, The University of Chicago, and the creative community. The commonalities of the Chicago artists include subject matter, materiality, artist collaborations (such as in the case of Theaster Gates), or admired artists/educators from The School of the Art Institute.

The Theaster Gates work you mentioned, as an example, tells an important story. Racism and violence are part of our shared American history. The colors speak to our red, white, and blue flag. Gates made this during President Obama’s first term in the White House. The fire hoses composed in the frame were actually used to douse and restrain black voices. Seeing the water hoses up close and understanding how their use was perverted to harm others is confrontational. The work poses questions, it does not judge. The superpower of art is its ability to invite the viewer to pause, find space beyond their own beliefs, and engage in a larger constructive conversation.

As you have pointed out, we strive to allow our hotel spaces to be a platform for ideas. The Limelight in Ketchum engages artists in a shared conversation about topology. The works in the Limelight Snowmass represent geographical and ethnic breadth. Whether it is our space design, food and beverage offerings, or art, we want our hotels to promote connection and vital ideas. We think about creating a residential ambiance and rooms for living, not just living rooms.

AB: As a highly regarded artist yourself, you’ve been quoted as saying “I do not believe there is a conscious ‘want’ to be an artist.” It seems as though your artwork comes from a narrative, or a reaction to a specific time, place, memory, or experience. Do you see your process as a conduit for the zeitgeist?

PC: We are interwoven into, not separate from, an astounding universe of life forces, forms, and space. Gravity reminds us that we all belong. Our stories are what separates us. Our perceptions are affected by how we are made physically and how we are affected by societal norms.

My life has been about trusting what pulls my attention, what I have a talent for, and how it can be of use to the world. My confidence about “my lane” has evolved over time. This confidence is fragile and vulnerable. If you are lucky you will find someone to reinforce your intuition and help develop it in some fashion. How nice it is for someone to hear that “you are doing fine, steady on course.” It is a message that I convey often to others.

I have come to more clarity about my talents, which are due to the randomness of the physical world, genetic evolution, or mutation. None of us had any say in the genetic hand that we have been dealt. I have always been voraciously curious about the world. I am really good at asking difficult questions. This could be due to poor impulse control or some gift of acute sensory awareness. I also seem to be able to imagine and translate space dimensionally (i.e. from a 2-dimensional object to a 3-dimensional object and rotate in space.) It was a while before I realized it was difficult for some to read architectural drawings for example. By owning this, I can better process ideas, uncertainty and work through possible solutions. I am not good with injustice. I hope the manifestation of my unique language can advocate, provocate and highlight our societal and existential challenges. Maybe a more inclusive and broad conversation can lead to better solutions.

What matters is that each of us has a unique gift. If my work or process can encourage someone else to lean into their gifts or if it can expand or create new knowledge, sign me up.

My work is about navigation and the search for work bearings from the intimate of our own bodies and consciousness to the sublime of the cosmos. During this last year, we have all searched for grounding. This has been reflected in the personal journey of my work over the last year.

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AB: You have made your art more accessible by printing and knitting your work onto fabrics, scarves, and sweaters. In fact, you collaborated with New York-based designer Christy Rilling on the outfits worn in this photoshoot, using fabrics printed with your artwork. Can you share how this partnership came about?

PC: When I meet talented professionals like Christy Rilling and observe their work processes and ability to solve problems, I am intrigued by the possibilities. Christy is someone who understands that collaboration with artists isn’t just about upping the game of a tee shirt. She understands that a collaboration is about the manifestation of ideas between the artist and the couturier. We discuss specific artworks and imagine how a material might move in space, how it feels, and how it relates to the body. Collaborations like ours extend our practices into something more.

AB: In 2009, Barack Obama appointed you to the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities. Can you tell us how that came about, and how serving on that committee, as well as other boards such as the Museum of Modern Art inform your approach to making art accessible to the community?

PC: Being immersed in the canon of art history through a place like MoMA and engaging in contemporary creative culture builds knowledge and provides context. Creative expression knows no bounds, and working with actors, poets, dancers, musicians broadens my understanding and points of view. It prompts questions as to the role of a museum in society and ways in which we can take advantage of technology (through online content, high definition resolution, or 3D replication) to provide access to a larger audience. That is an essential mission.

This has been a year of anxiety and uncertainty. I believe the pandemic experience humbly reminds us that we are never in control. We create conventions and make up stories about what is important. As we are coming out of one of the most tumultuous years of our history, it’s vital for our institutions to ask our communities what is rising to the surface of consciousness?

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AB: What are you taking with you into this new year and how has this past year changed your outlook on life and your art?

PC: For me, this year helped me shrive back to the essentials, and to what really matters like our health, connections to family and friends, truthfulness, and nature. I am in a place of deep gratefulness for my art practice that provided some grounding. By pivoting and adapting we discover new ways to be of service to our world. Happiness comes from helping others and connecting to our sensory nature. The sacred ground is beneath our feet.

AB: Paula, I can’t say enough about the time we were able to spend with you. Not only do you have a breadth of interests, but your genuine curiosity about the world is infectious. You are someone whom I am thankful exists in the world, your generosity abounds and it was such a pleasure to inhabit your world even for just a day.