CENTER — Radiant sculptural art by Mark Cowardin will highlight the third annual Center Solstice sponsored by Alluvium Studios and Center Motor Company on June 23-24.

Alluvium Studios will have an open house at 1 p.m. on Friday, June 23. The studio is located at 342 Worth St., Center.

The events are free and open to the public, with the Collage Party event scheduled for Saturday afternoon. It is open for public participation and all materials will be provided.

Alluvium Studios is owned by Krystal Anton and Steve Huey. Their private art studio has welcomed regional and national artists to work on projects in Center, including Rashawn Griffin, Tomashi Jackson, Mario Zoots Sanchez, Amber Cobb, and Ron Rael.

The Center Motor Building is owned by Bill Zeurcher of Denver and is a new event space that was opened in the former Ford Garage in Center. It hosted events for Solstice, Continuum Partners and the Local/Scenaria event last year. “Drifting” is being shown at the building, 295 E. Third St.

The event includes a field trip Saturday morning, departing from Alluvium Studios, to see the unveiling of the buffalo soldiers: reVision exhibition at the Fort Garland Museum & Cultural Center in Fort Garland.

Eight independent artists have created a new exhibition that disrupts the common narratives of manifest destiny and settlement of the American West. Titled buffalo soldiers: reVision this exhibition opens on Saturday, June 24, exactly 165 years after Fort Garland was commissioned by the United States and presents a more visual interpretation of the history and impact of all the Black Army regiments that were established in 1866 following the Civil War. Known as Buffalo Soldiers, these regiments, including the 9th Cavalry who were stationed at Fort Garland from 1875 to 1879, played a role in American westward expansion and the displacement of Indigenous populations.

Included amongst the artists working on the project are lead artist Chip Thomas, also known as jetsonorama, who created the Unsilenced: Indigenous Enslavement in Southern Colorado installation currently on display at Fort Garland; and Esther Belin (Diné), award-winning poet and author of “From the Belly of My Beauty.”