Beautiful art should have a beautiful setting.

The Garden of the Gods Art Festival checks that box, as the backdrop to the third annual event features the national natural landmark and its soaring sedimentary rock formations.

The festival is Saturday and Sunday at Rock Ledge Ranch Historic Site, just east of the park. It will also offer a culinary row, with items from specialty food business owners, activities for kids, live music, food trucks, and beer and wine, which people can carry around the festival this year.

Proceeds will benefit programming at Rock Ledge.

Festival founder and director Liz King grew up in the aisles of art festivals. Her parents started the Rio Grande Arts & Crafts Festivals in Albuquerque, N.M., when she was a year old, and she went on to found the Cheesman Park Art Fest in Denver.

“I’ve grown up and seen them from every angle,” King said. “I’ve spent my life creating an art environment where people want to spend the day, where they can connect with artists and each other. I wanted to create a new event here where art and atmosphere played off each other.”

The goods will be good.

One hundred and fifty juried artists and craftspeople from Colorado and a dozen other states and Native nations will be on hand with their wares. They were selected from a large pot of more than 300 applicants, who were vetted based on their skill level, originality and authenticity of their art or craft. Every artistic medium and size will be represented, including large-scale works, such as a 500-pound metal buffalo by Jackie and Charles Nipper from Queen Creek, Ariz.

“The secret sauce is making sure there’s something for everyone,” King said. “It allows everyone to connect with something handmade and realize the importance of that. It’s a celebration of originality, and we live in such a fast-paced world right now. I hope the show can slow things down for people in a beautiful way.”

Since its founding in 2024, the festival has grown each year and become popular with artists on the national art circuit. Its success suggests that people are still in the market for art.

“The way the community has shown up for this proves the city was ready for an art event like this,” King said. “It’s great to see so much artwork walking out the gate of Rock Ledge Ranch, from handmade mugs to huge paintings.”

A sculptural kind of couple

After becoming empty nesters, the Nippers decided to go all in on traveling the country, selling their metal sculptures. About 80% of their metal is repurposed from salvage yards, farm auctions and customers.

“The men who come into the booth can’t believe my wife welds, and I say women are better welders than men,” Charles said. “It’s like sewing. You pay attention. The hand-eye coordination. She’s got a soft hand. I’ve got a heavy hand.”

In addition to their $8,000 bison, which they will deliver anywhere, Charles says, they’ll also have smaller pieces, including a $35 garden stake and wind-driven dragonflies and butterflies.

“He’s (the bison) a show stopper,” Charles said. “Everyone wants to stare at him and touch him. Nature is our inspiration.”

Collaging Colorado

Springs artist Nathan Roberts first got into collage as a teen, when he cut up books, magazines and comics to make collages. When he first entered the art circuit, he was still doing similar work — creating collaged scenes of mountains and deserts with torn-up books and magazines. He liked the result, but found it to be too glossy.

“I wanted my work to be more textured and soft,” he said. “I found mulberry paper, which is the most common type of handmade paper. I tore it and saw how the edges frayed and created a random shape. It’s a little more reactive. I pulled the thread on what else is out there, and what other handmade papers exist.”

He found materials, either made of plant fiber or that had a dramatic texture, which could also lie flat in a collage and create a more Impressionistic style. He discovered rice paper, kozo paper, and teak leaves or flowers, which are all considered paper. He also uses marble paper, which is more like standard stock paper but with inks and dyes that are dripped onto the surface.

“Juxtaposing marble paper with handmade paper and natural fiber paper gives it a stone mixed with foliage style,” Roberts said. “I’m inspired by Colorado. People who buy my art are like me — loving the natural landscape and experiencing it in a quiet, specific way.”

IF YOU GO

What: Garden of the Gods Art Festival

When: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday

Where: Rock Ledge Ranch Historic Site, 3105 Gateway Road

Price: $8-$10, free for 11 and younger and Rock Ledge Ranch Living History Association members; dashevents.com/garden-of-the-gods-art-festival