Category Archives: Huts in Art

New Zealand Hut Heroes: Rob Brown

Rob Brown: tramper, photographer, activist and diplomat

By Sam Demas

(Note: this is part of the larger work New Zealand Huts: Notes towards a Country Study)

We spent several hours talking with Rob in his Wanaka home (and enjoying the harmonious  background presence of his two lovely daughters), before heading out to stay in one of the many huts (Meg Hut) that he urged us to visit.  Clearly a gifted photographer and committed activist, he pursues his passions — for art, activism, and partnerships in support of the great outdoors — with vigor on a national scale.  These accomplishments — combined with his inherent  enjoyment of advocacy, policy and process — make him a  real player in the world of New Zealand huts and wilderness.

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Grand Huts Association: $100,000 expansion grant

Congratulations!  According to an article in the SkyHiDaily News,  a major grant from private donors will help fund the second hut in The Grand Huts Association.

Their first hut (the Broome Hut pictured here), which took 15 years to get permitted and built, was completed in 2012 at a cost of $400,000.  Located in a remote location with excellent back country skiing, materials were delivered to the site by helicopter.  The hut is very popular and operates close to full capacity in winter and at about half-capacity in summer.  Located on US Forest Service Land near Winter Park Colorado, the Grand Huts association hopes to eventually grow to 5-7 huts, creating a hut-to-hut system from Berthoud Pass to Grand Lake in Grand County.

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Book Review: “The Hut Builder”, by Laurence Fearnley

Published by Penguin Books New Zealand, 2010

With 950 huts in a nation the size of Oregon, huts are a vital part of New Zealand’s landscape and imagination.  What I loved most about this novel, in addition to this it’s sensitive portrayal of the life story of a quiet poet-butcher named Boden Black, was an even quieter main character: the “Far-light hut”.

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Hut Log Books: illustrations from AMC huts

“The Art of the Huts” is a fun article by Roger Sheffer, reprinted with permission from Appalachia, June 2000.  I enjoy perusing hut log books.  While they mostly contain fairly banal expressions of appreciation of the hut experience, some are very clever and others are quite moving.  And occasionally there are some wonderful illustrations.  Roger Sheffer compiled some illustrations from AMC hut logbooks and makes some interesting comments on the genre.  I am always interested in examples “hut art” of all kinds — high and low, written, visual, performative or sculptural — and welcome your submissions and leads. — Sam Demas

Read the article: “Art of the Huts” by Roger Sheffer from Appalachia 2002

Watercolors of huts and an illustrated trail map

[I met Paula Christen while visiting Methow Valley trails, where she works, and was taken with her work in illustrating a trail brochure and her lovely watercolors of huts and cabins.  I requested the post below about these, see images following text!]

Paula Christen Watercolors —The Sa Teekh Wa trail painting series:

Trailside art is nothing new. Beautiful examples of sculpture or monuments are found in almost any city green space or park walk. Often however, the art doesn’t connect or relate to it’s surroundings. Nature just provided a nice “frame” for the creation.

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