Stenciled graffiti returns to Edwards

EDWARDS, Colorado – Hans Oberlohr covered up his free art. So did the state of Colorado. Ron Gruber may keep his anonymous gift.Over the last several weeks, someone – or a couple of someones – has put surreptitious art on three structures in Edwards, apparently using stencils. The first, noticed the first week of June, was a flagger painted on a wall at the new Edwards roundabouts. It was good work, but, technically, vandalism, so it was quickly painted over.A few weeks later, Hans Oberlohr, who owns the building in Edwards that Colorado Fasteners calls home, noticed another stenciled work on his building – this time of a leaking oil tanker with a cleaning woman mopping up the mess.”It was a few days before anyone noticed,” said Mark Ruark, owner of the Wags & Whiskers pet store in the same complex. “There are usually trucks parked right there.”Oberlohr said he thought the work was “pretty cool,” but still had it painted over.”Whoever did it did a great job,” Oberlohr said. “But it doesn’t belong there, even though we all thought it was good.”But before the painters came, the tanker stayed up for a while.At the Fox Hollow Veterinary Clinic, Dr. Ron Gruber is still debating what to do with his artwork – a ghost on the east side of the building.”It’s not malicious against me,” Gruber said. “And the stencils were left in the dumpster.”I’m not too upset,” Gruber added. “There’s part of it I like and part I don’t.”The part not to like is the fact that someone will have to clean up or touch up the painting – Gruber is thinking about having part of the artwork turned into a dog.The Eagle County Sheriff’s Office has checked out all the paintings so far, and at least one report indicates two white men were spotted in the area the night Gruber’s building was painted.Whoever is doing the artwork in Edwards seems to have drawn some inspiration from “Banksy,” an underground artist who’s done some similar pieces around London.While people admire the artwork, Ruark said landlords have to take the same steps they would if their buildings had been marked with gang-type scrawlings.”It’s time and money for the landowner,” Ruark said. “Now (Gruber) has to take the time to deal with it or pay to deal with it.”The artwork is great, but i just think it’s wrong,” Ruark said.Business Editor Scott N. Miller can be reached at 970-748-2930 or smiller@vaildaily.com.