It started small, as one artist’s vision, and it ended up as one of the biggest and most respected arts festivals in Colorado Springs.

The Pikes Peak Art Fest takes over America the Beautiful Park – rain or shine – Saturday through Monday.

 “For the artists, it is giving them an affordable venue and for the public, it is easy access to art,” says founder and organizer Marica Hefti of the juried festival, which features a wide variety of mediums. “The Pikes Peak Art Festival is growing.”

While the first year featured only 50 artist booths, this year the festival hosts more than 100 booths and 20 musical acts, including local alternative rockers We Are Not a Glum Lot.

Today, the Swiss artist says, the festival makes six times the profit as it did in its first years. Just how much that is, she wouldn’t say.

“After 2008, the event grew exponentially,” she says. “Now it supports as many booths that were in my vision.

“It’s all about supporting the arts.”

But after eight years, Hefti is retiring. A painter, sculptor and most recently, a published writer, she has decided it is time for something new.

“One thing leads to another thing,” she says, “I am looking forward to what comes along.

The Gazette: So, why are you retiring?

 Marica Hefti: Well, because I feel that my job is done. It has grown every year, and the sales have grown exponentially. I just thought that it was time. It was hard. It was last November when I was agonizing over it. Every change can be good but not so good.

Gazette: Are you anxious about the change?Hefti: I am worried, but I said I will retire when I feel that someone else could do the job and maybe bring in some fresh ideas. … I have high hopes. I know once I retire, I will retire. I am not one of those who will hover around the edges.

Gazette: Let’s go back: What sparked your idea for the Pikes Peak Art Fest?

Hefti: Well, actually, the original idea comes from the Commonwheel Artists Labor Day Fair, which is now 37 years old. I have been a member of the Commonwheel since 1992. I always helped out at the festival and at one point, I even ran the festival. I think it was 13 years ago when The Gazette and the Pikes Peak Art Council partnered for the Fine Arts Festival. … At one point, I was thinking of revitalizing something like the Fine Arts Festival.

It was the management of the Pikes Peak Center for the Performing Arts who asked if I would be interested in hosting something on the grounds of the Pikes Peak Center. We were there for five years when they re-landscaped, which made it hard to lay out the booths in a comfortable and “flow-y” type of way. They were very good to us, but in the meantime, that marvelous America the Beautiful Park offered a new venue.

Gazette: How do you find the artists for the Pikes Peak Art Fest – or do they find you?

Hefti: You just start the festival. Artists will go online and look there: there’s a website called Colorado Artist Tour. … It is difficult other than through the Internet these days. Online that is where it’s at. … We use all the different social media now. When I started it was all hard copy and snail mail, now it’s all email and social networking.

Gazette: How did you land at America the Beautiful Park?

Hefti: When the park was ready, we saw there was so much more room there. The festival, practically speaking, could grow to 200 booths easy. We laugh about 2008 because we had the “Mud-fest.” It was the most rain in 24 hours in 100 years. Everything and everyone was covered in mud. The artists still did well, but it still makes me nervous every summer.

Gazette: What makes this year special?

Hefti: There will be 114 artist booths. We are reaching a wonderful comfortable goal with that number, because that also means the festival is becoming self-supporting. Of course, it’s always good to get sponsorships. Some shows grow and grow and grow. I would like to keep it at a max of 120. I would like all the artists to sell well.One always has to look at the artists because that is who I have been doing it for; (to) give them a venue where they can sell their art. And the park is perfect for the public, too. They can splash through the fountain and walk through the art at the same time. We also have different musical performers playing almost every hour.

Gazette: Where are the artists from?

Hefti: Most of them are from Colorado and there are some local to the Springs. The bulk is from the state, but some come from as far as Florida, Texas or Illinois. Another from California. Also thanks to the Internet.

Gazette: How do you maintain the excellence of the work in the festival?

Hefti: You cannot just send in the application and checks and expect to be accepted. That is how the quality grows every year. I can tell more and more well-known artists have come through. Some of the well-known artists can be pricey, from $5 to $5,000. I strive for a family-friendly festival, but I like to encourage “funky stuff” as well.

Gazette: So, what’s next for you? 

Hefti: I would like to start writing more seriously. I have been published now. My book is called “My Gentle Valley,” and it is tales of my childhood growing up in the country. I would like to focus on volume two of the short stories. And then, who knows. Something may be waiting for me around the next corner. 

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Photo by courtesy of pikespeakartfest.com

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