"I wonder how the twelve portraits in the rotunda change the percentage of women in the building," artist Annette Coleman joked as she stood near the Capitol's grand staircase, wrapped by murals of men.
A group of female artists surrounding her smiled and raised eyebrows.
The group represents the Women's Caucus for Art Colorado Chapter (WCACO). These women, with the help of many others, have spent the last four years preparing an art exhibition that is now on display in the Colorado State Capitol's Rotunda Gallery.
Together, they have a shared mission: to set the record straight. Women — and women artists — have been integral to Colorado history. And they won't be forgotten.
"We have 12 murals honoring Colorado artists that are past, present, and future," Coleman said. "We decided that if we don't get out and tell these stories about Colorado women artists, nobody else probably would."
The exhibition, titled “Living Tradition. Past. Present. Future. Colorado Women Artists,” includes 12 mobile murals (painted on canvas) in the Rotunda Gallery, plus dozens of additional works by both the artists honored in the murals and the artists who created them in the Governor's and Lt. Governor's offices.
The works are on display through March 2026 and are free to view during the Capitol's visiting hours.
"There's a real synergy when artists work together."
That's what Rebecca Gabriel learned when she joined the WCACO and started co-creating the murals that now hang in the Capitol.
"Our names aren't on (the murals), and that's how it should be," she said. "We all did it together."
But that doesn't mean the murals are a hodgepodge of various styles and visions. They're all created with a cohesive style: a black-and-white portrait of the artist in the middle with imagery from her work filling the margins.
"The murals are painted by a committee," Coleman said. "But we have what we call 'Face Whisperers,'" she explained, pointing to Gabriel.
"I've been designated as one of the Face Whisperers," Gabriel confirmed. That means she puts the finishing touches on the portraits after the team of artists works together to create them. The honor suits her, as portrait and figure painting are some of her specialties.
"I've always worked in a very solitary way in my studio," she said. But this mural project changed her perspective.
"I got very inspired... There is something to be said about the magic of collaboration."
"Every woman (depicted) is a rock star, not only because of their art practice and their excellence in their art, but because they really gave back to their community."
One example is Epiphana "Eppie" Archuleta, a master weaver who lived in La Jara in Colorado's San Luis Valley. She's one of the twelve women featured in the exhibition.
Coleman said Archuleta is a prime example of an artist who gave back to her community.
"She started a wool mill and did a lot of work training people," Coleman explained. "What she did for her community is give back a viable business based on what they were already doing: raising sheep."
"She trained a lot of weavers, and she has work in the Smithsonian. So, you know, she's one of the rock stars," Coleman said.
Gabriel pointed to Carlotta Espinoza as another role model.
"She's a muralist who is up there with the greats," Gabriel said.
Espinoza was part of Denver's Chicano/a arts movement in the 1960s and 70s. She painted two murals for activist Rodolfo "Corky" Gonzales, as well as many others celebrating Mexican and Mexican-American culture and history.
"Almost all of them have been destroyed," Gabriel lamented. "She's in her middle eighties now, but we have this mural (of her) and interest in her work. And you know, it's changed things for her, for her legacy."
The other women of WCACO agree — they want to give these artists their flowers while they're still alive, and let them know they will be remembered.
Rewriting history, women included
"Women," Gabriel said, "they're not honored, they're not shown."
"And so it's like, we're not gonna wait for the museums or the galleries. We're gonna take it into our own hands and create these murals to uplift these women. And I think that it's been an incredible success."
Learn about the women featured in the murals here. The exhibition is on view at the Colorado State Capitol through March 2026. Visiting hours are free and open to the public, Monday through Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
