Manitou bids adieu to Filthy Wilma's

Gazette, The (Colorado Springs), Jun 3, 2007 by PERRY SWANSON THE GAZETTE

MANITOU SPRINGS c Filthy Wilma got a send-off worthy of her legend Saturday as artists, musicians and others marched up a Manitou Springs street bemoaning her passage into history.

The procession marked the closure of the Filthy Wilma's art gallery on Ruxton Avenue. The gallery has moved to a larger, more visible space on Manitou Avenue. Marchers burst into mock sobs for the fictional woman whose name made the gallery provocative and distinctive for nearly 14 years.

Frank Gray of Woodland Park, a partner in the new gallery, carried a sign reading "The end of Wilmas is at hand."

The theatrics made perfect sense for many people in this quirky mountain town, although some visitors at an outdoor wine festival stopped to gawk as the parade passed by, apparently unsure what they were seeing.

"It's very Manitou," Gray said.

The gallery is dropping the name Filthy Wilma's in its new location at the insistence of its new landlord.

"She thought it was crude and rude and morally corrupt," said Tina Riesterer, one of the gallery owners. "It really wasn't. There's a legend of Filthy Wilma. She was this pioneer woman, and she was a potter, so her hands were always dirty. That's kind of how the legend goes."

The owners settled on a new name, Green Horse Gallery, which Riesterer said reflects rebirth, renewal and action.

Autumn Lewis, who owns the new building, is a former owner of a Manitou Springs art gallery. She said the name Filthy Wilma's didn't seem right, especially with a restaurant next door.

"I think they feel like I hate the name Filthy Wilma," Lewis said. "I don't hate the name, it's just a word, but I just didn't think it was appropriate for a gallery in Manitou."

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