Let’s talk about artist Michael Hague today. And consider if art is political. 

You may never have heard this name before – but Michael Hague, who died March 10, was internationally known for illustrating classics like The Hobbit, The Wizard of Oz, The Wind in the Willows, and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. His work was intricate and alive with wonder.  

Hague drew dragons, enchanted forests, and unforgettable storybook figures with a sense of beauty that felt both grand and deeply personal. His illustrations did not just accompany stories. They expanded them.  

But here in Colorado Springs, Hague’s legacy is not only literary. It is local. 

Hague was a long-time resident of this city. His work became part of the culture of this community through The Imagination Celebration.  

Founded as part of a Kennedy Center initiative – Imagination Celebration became a bridge between arts, education, and public life. Michael Hague helped give that bridge a visual identity.  

For over 24 years, Hague created the annual posters for Imagination Celebration annual campaign. Those images widely shared – became part of how so many children and families in this region encountered creativity in a public and joyful context. 

That is part of why Hague matters so much. His work did not stay confined to bookshelves or private collections. It moved outward into the public life and identity of our city.  

And in a city like Colorado Springs, that contribution means a lot. 

You see, in Colorado Springs the relationship between the city and its art has never been one-dimensional. That relationship holds a quiet tension between economic revitalization, historical preservation, public life, and personal expression.  

We are a city with a traditionally conservative identity, yet we have also made meaningful space for art as part of our local culture. That says something about our multiple facets politically and ideologically, because art is not only beautiful, but can also challenge, comfort, or provoke.  

In that sense, art is political – not because it must be partisan, but because it participates in public life. However, unlike so much of our public discourse right now – art often has the power to unite instead of divide. As Michael Hague’s art did.  

In 2026 we need more unity of this type. In Colorado Springs, our civic relationship to art is both practical and cultural. In fact, our city’s long-range planning reflects that.  

In PlanCOS, Colorado Springs describes a future filled with “unique places of culture and creative energy” and names arts and culture as essential parts of our community life and identity. Art is treated as part of what makes our city vibrant, livable, and economically healthy.  

That same mindset shows up in local policy. The Urban Renewal Authority requires public art investment in certain redevelopment projects. In addition, our downtown creative district has become both a cultural hub and an economic asset. In the Springs, public art is tied to placemaking, tourism, talent attraction, and the cultivation of distinctive spaces people want to inhabit. 

That does not mean every work is universally embraced. But it does mean this city has made a meaningful civic decision: art is necessary enough to preserve space for, even among our disagreements. 

That is an important truth in a time when cities are often tempted to reduce value to growth metrics alone. 

We understand that our city’s cultural fabric is not made only by roads, budgets, buildings, and developments. It is also woven by memory, beauty, creativity, shared symbols, and the people who quietly deepen a place over time. It is built by artists whose work gives community language for wonder, reflection, and identity. 

Michael Hague was one of those artists. Colorado Springs can fairly claim him as one of its notable literary-art figures. Not only because he lived here for many years, and his work was internationally respected, but because he helped shape the imaginative life of this city.  

Hague’s work helped this city remember that creativity is not ornamental to community. It is part of what makes community possible. 

And that is part of Michael Hague’s legacy. Not simply that he illustrated wonder. But he helped our city make room for it. 

Rachel Stovall is a Colorado Springs event manager, entertainer and community advocate.