{"id":902771,"date":"2026-11-02T02:30:15","date_gmt":"2026-11-02T02:30:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/902771\/"},"modified":"2026-11-02T02:30:15","modified_gmt":"2026-11-02T02:30:15","slug":"melani-tutts-photo-art-tells-story-of-north-cheyenne-canon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/902771\/","title":{"rendered":"Melani Tutt’s photo art tells story of North Cheyenne Ca\u00f1on"},"content":{"rendered":"

Melani Tutt\u2019s eyes view the world in intricacy,\u00a0seeking out the play of light like the lens of a camera, as she captures the gradations of a fern\u2019s wispiness or the variable depth of a fog bank rolling out.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can be driving home and stuck under the Tejon Street underpass in late afternoon and because of the way the light hits, see the texture and symmetry in a cracked wall with rusty pipes,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

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Her visual superpower has become her life\u2019s pursuit as a professional photographer and pictorial author.<\/p>\n

Tutt\u2019s new book, \u201cSanctuary: North Cheyenne Ca\u00f1on,\u201d strives to show all who enjoy Colorado Springs landscapes an unseen vantage point of one of the most familiar.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIntimate portraits of the simple beauty that surrounds us daily,\u201d is how Tutt describes her elegant, high-quality hardback.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"sunFrom wide vistas to intricate details, Melani Tutt seeks to preserve the stunning sights of North Cheyenne Ca\u00f1on in southeast Colorado Springs. (Courtesy of Melani Tutt)<\/p>\n

The purpose of the limited-edition book is twofold, Tutt said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

She hopes her photographic art unearths\u00a0vivid memories for all who have walked, run, biked, driven, picnicked and soaked in the peace of the specific section of nature.<\/p>\n

Perhaps by spending time lost in the book\u2019s depictions, people can relive their past enjoyment of the canyon from afar, maybe sitting on a couch.<\/p>\n

For 30 years, Tutt has been a frequent canyon hiker and bicyclist, finding refuge in the solitude and splendor of the park in southwest Colorado Springs.<\/p>\n

Before the unsettling days of the COVID-19 pandemic, Tutt began photographing the four seasons across the popular area, which has attracted locals and visitors since Colorado Springs citizens purchased the core 640 acres in 1885.<\/p>\n

A few decades later, in 1907, Colorado Springs founder William Jackson Palmer donated nearly 500 acres, and over the years the park grew from other smaller donations.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A graduate of the Brooks Institute of Photography in California, Tutt felt called to immortalize the canyon from a 21st-century perspective, in all its vast glory and hidden delights.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think our parks are struggling with overuse, there\u2019s graffiti, the threat of wildfire,\u201d Tutt said.<\/p>\n

Her process for this most recent era of her career comes directly from an interplay with the canyon \u2014 finding a comfortable sitting spot to meditate, then intuitively lifting the camera to snap a specific moment of lucidity.<\/p>\n

Tutt does what\u2019s needed to catch the best shot, scrambling up and down hillsides to locate the distant melody of trickling water, or leaning against cold granite on a winter day to inhale the crisp air and be present when unexpected signs of life appear.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll go out in the worst of the weather, when it\u2019s snowy, rainy, foggy and frozen. Most people don\u2019t see the canyon in bad weather; I think it\u2019s beautiful. I like to find something people might miss normally.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"NorthMelani Tutt goes out in all kinds of weather to capture familiar and hidden beauty in North Cheyenne Ca\u00f1on, as portrayed in her new book, \u201cSanctuary: North Cheyenne Ca\u00f1on.\u201d (Courtesy of Melani Tutt)<\/p>\n

\u201cSanctuary: North Cheyenne Ca\u00f1on\u201d is the first pictorial documentation of the site and follows Tutt\u2019s exploration of another local landmark in her first book, \u201cThe Sacredness of Everything.\u201d<\/p>\n

That book, published in 2019, began as a quest to provide photos for rooms at the Garden of the Gods Resort and Wellness Center.<\/p>\n

The images evolved into the fine art book that\u2019s also presented in a coffee table format, as is her newest book.<\/p>\n

Tutt has done commercial photography for more than 35 years and more recently has focused on nonprofits in the community, from Early Connections Learning Centers and Habitat for Humanity to the Tactile Gallery at the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center at Colorado College, among others.<\/p>\n

Like early Colorado Springs resident and author Helen Hunt Jackson \u2014 for whom the canyon\u2019s Helen Hunt Falls is named \u2014 Tutt finds that North Cheyenne Ca\u00f1on\u2019s diverse flora and fauna, breathtaking views and cascading waterfalls speak to the heart and soul.<\/p>\n

Both women discovered a \u201creverent connection with nature,\u201d as Hunt wrote, and Tutt safeguards through her work.<\/p>\n

Which highlights the second goal of \u201cSanctuary: North Cheyenne Ca\u00f1on\u201d \u2014 supported\u00a0by the book\u2019s historical introduction from the curator of history for the Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum,\u00a0Leah Davis Witherow: to showcase what the canyon looks like in its current state.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo that 100 years from now, it\u2019s a record of what the canyon is today, as a visual historical document,\u201d Tutt said.<\/p>\n

To reveal new views of a beloved place, to give a physical way to recollect and enjoy again and again, and to provide a concrete record at this turning point in preservation.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"SpiderPhotographic artist Melani Tutt shoots in black-and-white and color. (Courtesy of Melani Tutt)<\/p>\n

One of Tutt\u2019s photos from North Cheyenne Ca\u00f1on, titled, \u201cFirst Light on Daniel\u2019s Pass Trail,\u201d is part of an exhibit currently on display at the Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum. The collection of work by various artists is called \u201c50% of the Story: Women Expressing Creativity.\u201d<\/p>\n

A book signing will be held 1-4 p.m. on Nov. 14 at Broadmoor Galleries, 1 Lake Ave<\/a>., which represents Tutt as a featured gallery artist.<\/p>\n

For more information, go to https:\/\/broadmoorgalleries.com\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"NorthThe cover of \u201cSanctuary: North Cheyenne Ca\u00f1on\u201d shows fog kissing the rocky terrain. (Courtesy of Melani Tutt)<\/p>\n

\"PortraitPhotographic artist Melani Tutt. (Courtesy of Melani Tutt)<\/p>\n

\"waterfallMelani Tutt\u2019s newest book showcases all four seasons in North Cheyenne Ca\u00f1on. (Courtesy of Melani Tutt)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Melani Tutt\u2019s eyes view the world in intricacy,\u00a0seeking out the play of light like the lens of a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":902772,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[56],"tags":[228,226,227,25436,229,88,377980,92401,377981,38817],"class_list":["post-902771","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-colorado-springs","tag-design","tag-entertainment","tag-melani-tutt","tag-new-book","tag-north-cheyenne-canon","tag-sanctuary"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/902771","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=902771"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/902771\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/902772"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=902771"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=902771"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=902771"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}