Christo and Jeanne-Claude: Over The River

Environmental review on way for river draping

source: Copyright © 2006 The Gazette

Environmental review on way for river draping

By DEEDEE CORRELL THE GAZETTE

Federal officials have agreed to conduct a thorough environmental review of artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s proposal to drape the Arkansas River with seven miles of fabric.

The husband-and-wife team asked for the more rigorous, complicated review of the “Over the River” project after realizing they probably wouldn’t get federal approval through a simpler process.

They weren’t the only ones who wanted a more stringent review, known as an environmental impact statement, said Ken Smith, spokesman for the federal Bureau of Land Management.

“The complexity of the project and the public controversy had increased, and we got comments requesting an EIS,” he said.

It could take a year to complete the new review.

The BLM is the first in a series of agencies that must grant permission for the proposal to hang fabric over the Arkansas between Cañon City and Salida. The translucent, porous fabric would be attached to about 1,000 cables and stretch 8 to 25 feet above the river. Officials estimate 250,000 people would visit the artwork during the two-week span of the project.

If approved, the earliest the project could be exhibited would be 2010.

Earlier this year, the BLM began an assessment to gauge potential effects on the environment.

But it became apparent the project was so problematic that the agency would not give the conditional green light that the artists sought, officials said.

Without that, the artists had three options: drop the project, modify their proposal to address the concerns or pursue the environmental impact statement. The artists chose the latter.

It’s unknown how much the review will cost, but the artists are paying all associated costs, Smith said.

Public comments already received will be incorporated into the EIS, Smith said, and residents who’ve already sent comments don’t need to resubmit them.

However, the public can continue to send comments through July 19.

Comments can be sent to: Bureau of Land Management, Attn: Over The River, 3170 E. Main St., Cañon City, CO 81212. Comments can also be sent by fax to 719-269-8599, or by e-mail to rgfo_comments@blm.gov.

Anyone wishing that their name and address remain confidential should state that in their comments. Anonymous comments will not be considered.

BLM says Christo project faces hurdles

source: Copyright © 2006 The Gazette

BLM says Christo project faces hurdles

By DEEDEE CORRELL - THE GAZETTE

Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s dream of draping the Arkansas River with 7 miles of fabric is so problematic that federal officials already know they probably won’t give the artists the quick go-ahead they seek.

The Bureau of Land Management — the first in a series of agencies that must approve the contentious “Over the River” — has warned the artists their proposal was in trouble.

“We were telling them it wasn’t looking good,” said BLM planning and environmental coordinator Pete Zwaneveld. “We know we have problems with the bighorn sheep, bald eagles, with congestion on the highway.”

The husband-and-wife team has asked to halt the environmental assessment now underway and instead pursue approval through a more rigorous, complicated review known as an environmental impact statement that could delay the project by at least a year — longer if there are appeals.

“Christo and Jeanne-Claude are very patient people,” said “Over the River” project director Jonita Davenport said.

Although the review would take longer and cost more money, the artists decided it’s to their advantage to seek it.

“This is a project very important to them. We will do whatever it takes,” Davenport said.

The artists propose to hang the fabric over eight segments of the Arkansas between Cañon City and Salida. The translucent, porous fabric would be attached to cables and stretch 10 to 24 feet above the river. Officials estimate that 250,000 people would visit the artwork during the two-week span of the project, planned for 2009.

The artists selected the river a decade ago for a project that was controversial from the start. Some residents see “Over the River” as an artistic and economic boon for the region; others feel the traffic congestion and effects on the wildlife outweigh any benefits.

The BLM began its review in 1996, but Christo asked to halt it so he could pursue other projects, including “The Gates” in New York City. When he resumed his efforts here last year, the BLM began an assessment to gauge the potential effects on the environment.

Officials are concerned about the potential effects on bighorn sheep in the area, particularly a herd on the north side of the river. If the notoriously skittish sheep avoid the river because of the fabric, “they could die of thirst,” Zwaneveld said.

Numerous concerns have led officials to conclude that Christo and Jeanne-Claude won’t get the “finding of no significant impact” necessary to continue with the project.

Without that finding, the artists have three options: dropping the project, modifying their proposal to address the concerns or pursuing the environmental impact statement.

Zwaneveld said Christo has asked for the EIS, a more complex, detailed and expensive review that developers generally prefer to avoid.

Ultimately, that route could be advantageous for the artists, Zwaneveld said. If they can make it through the review and come up with solutions for any identified problems, they can move forward. However, the agency also still could deny the project, or only approve portions of it.

Federal officials are expected to decide in June whether to proceed with the EIS, Zwaneveld said.

So far, the agency has received about 1,140 letters from residents about the project. Zwaneveld said there “were more in opposition than in favor,” but the BLM won’t release more information until officials know how the review will proceed.

Meanwhile, “Rags Over The River,” a group opposing the project, is continuing its efforts to block it.

The group has collected more than 3,000 signatures of residents who don’t want “Over the River,” said spokesman Dan Ainsworth.

He said the artists ought to consider other venues:

“Hang your curtains from the Royal Gorge. It’s 1,000 feet to the bottom,” Ainsworth suggested. “Or put it over the river from Cañon City to Florence. Right down through town.” But the canyon, he said, is the wrong place for it.

“Friends of Over the River” remains equally adamant in its support for the project.

“There are so many people that do want to see this thing happen,” spokesman Steve Reese said. “I think this will be something beautiful and wonderful that we’ll all be able to share.”

‘We are going to hear’

source: Copyright © 2006 The Gazette

‘We are going to hear’

By DEEDEE CORRELL THE GAZETTE

Will Colon, who works for a rafting company in Cañon City, met Jeanne-Claude during a public meeting Tuesday at The Holy Cross Abbey Community Events Center in Cañon City. Christo was seated to the right. The meeting was held to get input about Christo’s “Over The River” project.

CAÑON CITY - The artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude came to Colorado Tuesday, they said, to listen.

At a public meeting hosted by the Bureau of Land Management, they said they have no doubts about their ability to pull off their plan to drape 7 miles of the Arkansas River with fabric.

“We don’t have any problems. We only have solutions,” said Jeanne-Claude, the female half of the couple, both of whom go by their first names.

Yet, she said, they wanted to learn the concerns of residents in the area. “Tonight we are going to hear,” she said.

Most of the 300 residents who attended the meeting had plenty to say.

“I think they’re gonna have one hell of a mess,” said John Donahoo, a retired Colorado Springs police officer who lives in Cañon City. “I’m dead set against this.”

“It’s an honor for our town,” said Joan Minor of Cañon City. “These are renowned artists. It will give us a lot of publicity — and it’s not costing us a penny.”

The artists have pledged to pay costs associated with the project, which would take several years to prepare for its scheduled two-week run in the summer of 2009.

“It will cost whatever it has to cost,” Jeanne-Claude said.

As some residents clustered around the wild-haired artists, asking for autographs, others made for Division of Wildlife and Colorado State Patrol officials with questions about what the “Over the River” project would do to bighorn sheep or traffic flow through the canyon.

Such questions must be answered before a host of agencies decide whether the project can move forward. The first of them is the federal BLM, which has hired an independent contractor to gauge environmental effects.

The agency has received about 50 letters and e-mails, divided about evenly between support and opposition, BLM planning and environmental coordinator Pete Zwaneveld said.

In one corner of the room, Lauren Pursell quizzed wildlife manager Jim Aragon about how wildlife would get water. Surely finding the river covered with fabric would make them reluctant to approach the river, she said.

The artists have offered to install guzzlers if officials deem it necessary, he said.

“A guzzler is something animals would have to learn to use,” Pursell said, adding that she’s opposed to the project. “I don’t feel there’s any good reason for it.”

At another table, where officials sat to receive comments about economic issues, visitors were more eager to see the project happen.

“Just do it!” one comment sheet read.

Although Sally Mather of Salida had questions for Fremont County emergency management officials about how they’d respond to crashes, she said she wants to see it happen.

“I’m part of the arts community,” she said. “We’re really excited about it.”

In a brief interview with the media, Jeanne-Claude said she and her husband feel people worldwide appreciate their brand of large-scale art.

“We wish to create a work of art, of joy and beauty. It has absolutely no purpose whatsoever except to be a work of art,” said the orange-haired Jeanne-Claude, who often answers for both of them, as Christo whispers in her ear.

In 1996, the couple chose the Arkansas as the site for “Over the River” after scouting the Rocky Mountains. One of the other rivers they considered was the Cache La Poudre River outside Fort Collins.

The fact that visitors will only be able to view their project while driving through the canyon makes it no more dangerous than enjoying the sunset during a drive, Jeanne-Claude said.

They’re accustomed to controversy, she said. After they finish their projects, she said, “it’s very hard to find people who admit they used to be against it.”

Donahoo was skeptical. “That river is beautiful the way it is,” he said.

Good deal or bad idea? Christo art feeds debate

source: Copyright © 2006 The Gazette

Good deal or bad idea? Christo art feeds debate

By DEEDEE CORRELL THE GAZETTE

An artist’s depiction of how the Arkansas River would look draped in fabric in Christo’s “Over the River” project. (WOLFGANG VOLZ/CHRISTO)

The letter that arrived at the Wilson house seemed like a practical joke.

An artist named Christo wanted to lease their property at the Rifle Gap in western Colorado so he could hang a gigantic curtain as a work of art.

“We thought our friends were playing a joke on us,” said Carol Wilson of Grass Valley, Calif.

The request might have been strange, but it was no gag.

And when the short-lived Valley Curtain came down in 1972, the Wilsons weren’t sorry they’d agreed to work with the man some regarded as a “crazy European.”

“He is good for his word. He did everything exactly like he said he would,” said Wilson, who with her husband, Lloyd, owned the property on which Christo erected the 250,000-square-foot orange curtain. “It isn’t my choice of art. But you can’t say he’s a bad businessman.”

Her comments refute a persistent rumor circulating in southern Colorado — that when the artist completed his Rifle Gap project, he left behind a mess.

It’s true that Christo and his wife, Jeanne-Claude, did not remove the concrete pillars that anchored the cables holding up the curtain, Wilson said.

Nor did they remove the concrete pad on which the artist’s trailer sat during the duration of the project.

But that was only because the Wilsons told him not to bother, she said.

“You couldn’t see them. We didn’t care about them,” she said of the concrete pillars.

The same claims about Christo reneging on promises seem to surface every time he launches a project, Wilson said.

The installation artist’s latest endeavor is to obtain permission to drape the Arkansas River west of Cañon City with fabric, a proposal that some residents welcome and others reject as too taxing on the wildlife, highway and the residents themselves. A series of public meetings hosted by the federal Bureau of Land Management on the matter begin this week.

The skepticism of Christo opponents isn’t unlike the reaction of some in the town of Rifle when they heard of the artist’s plan to hang the giant curtain.

“A lot of people were poohpoohing the whole thing,” recalled John Savage, an attorney in Rifle.

Though some questioned the artistic value, many also saw it as a gold mine for a struggling town, former mayor John Scalzo said.

“We could have never bought that attention ourselves,” he said. “He came to town and didn’t ask for anything, just the permission to do it. He gave back to the community 100 times more than what he took out.”

On the whole, the town of Rifle seems to embrace its brush with fame. The walls of City Hall bear photos of the Valley Curtain; a campground in Rifle Gap State Park is named after Christo.

“Let the guy do his thing,” Savage said. “It’s a unique event that should be encouraged even if you don’t buy into the whole program. The guy’s been doing it for 30 years around the world, and every place has survived.”

Yet, Christo’s second project in Colorado may be considerably more complicated — and face much more opposition — than his first.

BLM and state transportation officials said information about the review process for the Valley Curtain project more than 30 years ago isn’t readily available.

There are significant differences between the projects, BLM planning and environmental coordinator Pete Zwaneveld said.

The Rifle project “was a single location covering a few acres at best,” he said. “We’re talking about 950-plus panels of fabric over 7 miles of river on a stretch 45 miles long.”

Transportation officials also recall it as a “a small project compared with what this one is,” spokeswoman Stacey Stegman said.

Nor did the public weigh in as heavily on such decisions as it does now, she said. “We require a lot more these days.”

If the “Over the River” project goes forward, a quarter of a million visitors are expected in a two-week period on a highway that normally has 4,200 to 5,300 vehicles per day between Parkdale and Salida in the summer.

Local and state officials will examine whether they have enough resources to handle that amount of traffic and whether public safety would be compromised.

In Rifle, Scalzo remembered, visitors were able to park along local roads and walk to view the Curtain, something that won’t be possible on U.S. Highway 50, which has few pullouts and no shoulder to speak of.

If the artist does succeed in obtaining the necessary permits, Scalzo said he’ll make the trip to see it and show his support for Christo.

“I’ll stand behind him,” he said. “I think it turned out great for Rifle. We still have people come to see the site. They still talk about it.”

CONTACT THE WRITER: 636-0285 or

deedee.correll@gazette.com

PUBLIC MEETINGS

The Bureau of Land Management will hold three open-house meetings this week to obtain public input about the “Over the River” project.

The meetings will be open houses without formal presentations. The public can arrive 6 to 8 p.m. and meet with BLM officials and other agency representatives, as well as the artists.

Tuesday:

Holy Cross Abbey Community Events Center, 2951 E. U.S. Hwy. 50 in Canon City.

Wednesday:

Cotopaxi High School cafeteria, 345 County Road 12.

Thursday:

Senior Citizens Center, 305 F Street in Salida.

Written comments can be sent to: BLM, Attn: “Over the River” proposal, 3170 E. Main Street, Canon City, CO 81212. E-mail comments can be sent to: rgfo_comments@blm.gov. Comments should be sent by Feb. 10.

Artists to attend meetings on river project

source: Copyright © 2005 The Gazette

Artists to attend meetings on river project

By DEEDEE CORRELL THE GAZETTE

The battle over whether artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude should be permitted to drape the Arkansas River in miles of fabric is about to begin.

The federal Bureau of Land Management will hold a series of meetings next month to give information and receive input about the proposal. The public comment period lasts until the end of January.

The husband-and-wife team, which in February erected “The Gates” in New York City, will attend all three sessions, to be held Jan. 17-19.

The artists propose to hang about seven miles of fabric over eight segments of the Arkansas between Cañon City and Salida. The translucent, porous fabric would be attached to cables stretched 10 to 24 feet over the river.

Officials estimate that 250,000 people would visit the river during the two-week span of the project.

When the artists started pursuing the plan in the late 1990s, residents quickly divided into opposing camps — those who see “Over the River” as an economic and artistic boon and those who feel the traffic congestion and ef- fects on wildlife outweigh any benefits.

Now residents are taking sides again.

A group recently formed to back “Over the River.” While the project poses legitimate concerns that must be addressed, it also has great economic and artistic potential for the region, said Steve Reese of “Friends of Over the River.”

He said the artists have demonstrated their willingness to deal with problems, based on information posted on their Web site.

Reese said he looks forward to “Over The River.”

“It’s not something you put on the wall and stand back and look at,” he said. “This is outdoors. You can watch it move with the wind. It’s a whole different experience.”

As far as “Rags Over the Arkansas River” members are concerned, it’s an experience they can do without. The group formed to oppose the project says traffic congestion, safety issues and potential harm to wildlife outweigh any benefits.

“We do not want this to happen,” said organizer Cathey Young, adding the group has heard from hundreds of Coloradans who share their views.

Federal, state and local agencies will decide whether the project will move forward.

First, the BLM will hire an independent contractor to gauge possible effects on wildlife and the environment.

For example, one concern is the impact on bighorn sheep. Although the cables wouldn’t be put up in areas where the sheep tend to drink, the fabric still could bother the animals, said BLM planning and environmental coordinator Pete Zwaneveld.

“Sheep are skittish,” he said. “If the wind is flapping, they might not go to the river.”

Another issue are the cables, which could endanger birds.

“Birds could fly into them and die,” Zwaneveld said.

If the federal agency issues a “finding of no significant impact,” the artists must then seek approval from other agencies.

The Colorado Department of Transportation and Colorado State Patrol will consider traffic effects on a two-lane highway with few pullouts.

Fremont County officials, who will issue a temporary-use permit, will examine any issues that concern them, including traffic safety, emergency response and residents’ ability to commute to jobs in Cañon City.

Sheriff Jim Beicker has expressed concern about the project. “I can’t handle a quarter of a million people,” he said.

The artists have offered to pay overtime for deputies, but law enforcement officials probably would have to seek help from other agencies in the region because Fremont and Chaffee counties don’t have enough officers to handle the situation, Zwaneveld said.

If all the agencies grant permission, the earliest the project could open would be 2009.

HAVE YOUR SAY

- The BLM meetings will be held 6 to 8 p.m. Jan. 17 in Cañon City at the City Hall Conference Room, 128 Main St.; Jan. 18 in Cotopaxi at the High School cafeteria, 345 County Road 12; and Jan. 19 in Salida at the Senior Citizens Center, 305 F St.

There is no formal presentation, but stations will be set up to address specific issues, such as transportation concerns or wildlife issues.

- Letters concerning the project can be sent to the Bureau of Land Management, 3170 E. Main St., Cañon City, CO 81212.

- For more information about the artists, visit their Web site at http://christojeanneclaude.net.

- Rags Over the Arkansas River can be reached at trailblazers101 @yahoo.com.

- Friends of Over The River can be reached by e-mail at friendsofOTR @hotmail.com.

The group will meet at 6 p.m. Jan. 10 in the basement of Bongo Billy’s Salida Café, 300 W. Sackett Ave. in Salida.

Group opposes ‘rags’ over river

source: Copyright © 2005 The Gazette

Group opposes ‘rags’ over river

By DEEDEE CORRELL THE GAZETTE

The installation calls for fabric panels to be draped across six miles of the river. Several agencies must first approve the plans. (COURTESY OF WOLFGANG VOLZ AND CHRISTO)

CAÑON CITY - When she looks at the Arkansas River, Cathey Young sees something that won’t be made more beautiful by a giant canopy of fabric.

She doesn’t look at the artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s conceptual drawings and see anything she’d call art.

Instead, she sees traffic backed up for miles, ambulances that can’t get up or down U.S. Highway 50 and birds and bighorn sheep frightened away from their river.

“We just don’t want to see this thing come,” Young said of the proposal to drape six miles of the river with huge panels of clear fabric.

Its creators call it “Over The River.”

Young has a different name — “Rags Over the Arkansas River.”

“We’ve got this beautiful river, and you’re going to put a curtain over it?” said Young, who together with other anti-Christos in the area are rallying to stop the project.

They’ll hold a community meeting from 3 to 5 p.m. Saturday at the Golden Age Center, 728 Main Street in Cañon City, to muster support for their cause — “leave your rags in New York City.”

Residents’ opposition began in the late 1990s when the husband-and-wife team chose the Arkansas for one of their massive public installations, which cost millions of dollars and take years to assemble. The proposal has many supporters along the river, too — from artists who love the idea to civic boosters who like the idea of a little more walk-in traffic.

The couple has surrounded islands in Florida with pink material, wrapped the German Reichstag in fabric and most recently erected lines of saffroncolored curtains in New York City. In 1972, they installed “Valley Curtain,” an orange, 250,000-square-foot curtain, over Rifle Gap in western Colorado.

It took two years to create; high winds forced it down 28 hours after completion.

“Over the River” would consist of large fabric pieces suspended 10 to 23 feet above the Arkansas on a 45-mile stretch from Parkdale west to the Chaffee County line, east of Salida. The six-mile-long canopy, which would stay up for two weeks in August, would be broken into sections to allow room for bridges or natural features.

Young, who lives in the Deer Mountain area about 15 miles from Cotopaxi and works as an occupational therapist in Cañon City, thinks the project is ludicrous. She’s not opposed to art, she said; in fact, she minored in art in college. “I don’t see it as artistic,” she said.

When the project surfaced, Young and others collected 3,000 signatures from people who opposed the project.

Then Christo and Jeanne-Claude turned their attention to “The Gates” in New York’s Central Park, and the Colorado project languished.

Now they’re back — and so are their opponents. While some in the area welcome the project as a sure boost to tourism, Young and about a dozen other opponents say the traffic problems, safety issues and effects on wildlife would outweigh the benefits.

The artists must obtain the approval of several agencies before they can proceed; any one of the agencies can stop the project.

If all grant permission, the earliest the project could open would be 2009.

First, the federal Bureau of Land Management will examine whether the project would cause significant impact to wildlife and the environment. If the agency determines it would not, other agencies will evaluate the project.

The Colorado Department of Transportation and Colorado State Patrol will jointly gauge the impacts of the thousands of visitors expected to drive up the canyon.

Fremont and Chaffee counties and the Colorado State Parks Board also must give their blessing.

Fremont County Commissioner Ed Norden said county officials will examine every aspect of the project, from traffic to law enforcement issues, before deciding whether to issue a temporary-use permit.

“We want to make sure our citizens have an opportunity to be heard,” he said.

In the late 1990s, the artists agreed to pay for costs incurred by the county, such as overtime for sheriff’s deputies. Norden said they will pursue a similar agreement.

Young said her group will tailor their arguments for each agency.

To the federal agency, which will hire a contractor to conduct an environmental study, they will argue the project would disrupt the sheep, deer and several types of birds, including the American dipper and bald eagles, that use the river as their habitat.

To the state agencies, they’ll emphasize the safety issues on the highway.

“There’s only one way in and one way out,” Young said.

It’s already difficult to transport patients to hospitals, she said. “If it’s glutted with thousands of cars, people could die,” she said.

Another issue is ensuring the curtains don’t collapse, harming people rafting the river underneath, she said.

Stopping the project could be a long shot, Young said.

“It’s definitely an uphill battle,” she said. “I’m 57, and I’ve seen the way the world works. If you can get politicians behind you, things happen.”

Christo and Jeanne-Claude are picking up the tab for the Bureau of Land Management’s review, including the environmental study, a fact that Young fears could sway the agency.

That’s not the case, BLM spokesman Ken Smith said. The agency decided it was appropriate for the artists, not taxpayers, to foot the bill, but that won’t affect the BLM’s decision, he said.

The opponents, Rags On the Arkansas River (ROAR), can be contacted by e-mail at trailblazers101@yahoo.com or by mail at P.O. Box 786, Cañon City, CO 81215.

SEEKING PERMISSION

The artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude must obtain approval for “Over The River” from the following agencies: - The federal Bureau of Land Management - Colorado Department of Transportation - Colorado State Patrol - Fremont County - Chaffee County - Colorado State Parks Board

Christo coming to state to revive river project

source: Copyright © 2005 The Gazette

Christo coming to state to revive river project

By MARK ARNEST - THE GAZETTE

Christo, the world-renowned installation artist who specializes in pieces so big they can be seen from space, is moving forward with plans to drape a giant canopy over the Arkansas River.

Flush with the success of “The Gates, Central Park,” which opened in New York in February, Christo and his wife, Jeanne-Claude, are coming to Colorado to renew their work on “Over the River,” a project to cover a sixmile stretch of the Arkansas with huge pieces of clear fabric. It was conceived nearly a decade ago, and — if the artists hop considerable permit hurdles — it would take several more years to construct.

On Aug. 1, the husbandand-wife art duo will appear in Salida’s Steam Plant Theater Performing Arts Center. Their 10-day trip also will include meetings with state and local officials — part of the permit process that must be completed before physical work on “Over the River” can begin.

For more than 30 years, Christo and Jeanne-Claude have traveled around the world, creating massive, temporary public installations. “The Gates,” snaking lines of orange curtains, opened in February and was dismantled 16 days later.

Previous projects have included wrapping the Reichstag in Germany and surrounding 11 islands in Miami’s Biscayne Bay with fabric. Christo projects typically cost millions of dollars and take years to assemble.

“Over the River” would consist of large fabric pieces suspended 10 to 23 feet above the Arkansas on a stretch roughly 20 miles west of Cañon City. The canopy would be broken into sections along the river corridor, leaving room for bridges, boulders and other natural features. Beneath the fabric, the river would be fully accessible to rafters, hikers and wildlife.

As planned, “Over The River” would be up for two weeks sometime between mid-July and mid-August — prime rafting season.

“It’s going to bring a bazillion people here, and outfitters are going to be beside themselves figuring out how to get all those people on the river,” said 22-year river veteran Carlos Grashof, head boatman for River Runners’ Royal Gorge office. “Dude, I’m excited about it. It’s going to be a once-in-a-lifetime thing to be part of an art experience.

“It’s going to be bizarre,” he continued. “You’re not going to see the sky, and you’re going to be enveloped to some extent.”

Other commercial users — such as Bill Edrington, owner of Royal Gorge Anglers in Cañon City — are taking a wait-and-see attitude, but they think there could be something positive about the added shade.

“The fish might be very happy about it, especially if it’s as hot as it is now,” Edrington said.

He’s more concerned about traffic on U.S. Highway 50.

“I’ve got to get to the river to fish,” he said. “If I can’t get there with the commercial fly-fishing groups, if I can’t manage to get up the river with our vehicles, then I’m not going to be happy.”

And some environmentalists and other river users oppose the project.

John Stansfield, the wilderness chairman of the Pikes Peak Sierra Club, was on a resource advisory council in ’96 when Christo first announced “Over the River.”

“There was a lot of shaking of heads and rolling of eyes,” Stansfield said. “From an aesthetic perspective, I’ve never been in favor of the idea. . . . For me, draping the Arkansas is gilding the lily. I think it’s going to mess things up in an area that’s already remarkable and beautiful.”

Christo and Jeanne-Claude are proud of their environmental record, saying their sites are cleaner after their installations than before.

But Stansfield is concerned that the installation and the accompanying traffic might disturb bighorn sheep in the area.

That’s one of many issues that will be studied by the federal Bureau of Land Management before it would OK the plan.

“It will probably take us a year to do the assessment and get the approvals in place — if it’s approved,” said Roy Masinton, field manager for the Royal Gorge office of the BLM in Cañon City. “They’ve said it will take 18 months or two years to get the materials manufactured. So we’re looking at 2008 at the earliest, but more probably 2009.”

Christo and Jeanne-Claude have been working on the project for nine years. Their Reichstag project took 24 years from conception to completion; “The Gates” took 26 years, and a Swiss project, “Wrapped Trees,” took 32.

“Over the River” would be the couple’s second Colorado Project. In 1972, “Valley Curtain” — an orange, 250,000-square-foot curtain — was installed over Rifle Gap in western Colorado. The project took a little more than two years to mount; because of high winds, it had to be taken down 28 hours after completion.

To retain creative control over their projects, the 70-year-old artists — they were born on the same day in 1935 — do not accept sponsorships, donations or volunteer work. They raise all money through the sale of the preparatory studies, early artworks and lithographs on other subjects.

The artists don’t publicize the cost of their work.

“The artists give their realized temporary installations to the public, very much as a gift,” said Jok Church, webmaster of the artists’ Web site. “Good manners prevent telling someone how much you spent giving them a gift.”

The August appearance is a fundraiser, but not for “Over the River.” Instead, proceeds from the sale of 27 poster-size, signed photographs of some of their works — including two sketches of “Over the River” — will benefit the Steam Plant Theater. The works have been on public view at the Steam Plant since July 20.

“This is just part of their process,” said Elizabeth Ritchie, theater manager at the Steam Plant. “This creates good will. They will also get a feel about the concerns people have about this project.”

Christo and Jeanne-Claude declined to be interviewed for this story, providing only a short, handwritten, faxed response to questions.

They confirmed that “Over the River” is their only work in progress and that they will visit Denver, Salida and Cañon City from Monday through Aug. 2. The Salida event will be their only public appearance.

Tickets to the 6:30 p.m. lecture and presentation are $20 and are available from the Steam Plant. The noon silent auction and 3 p.m. video presentation are free. Call the Steam Plant at 1 (719) 530-0933 for more information.