Many who have visited Unassimilated have asked about the towering concrete statue in the front yard. Michael Ritchie wanted a “gift for the neighborhood” when he hired Deborah Grebenar to create a sculpture for his properties. He met Ms. Grebenar when he was on the board of a dance company where she volunteered. Always an advocate for local artists, he worked with her to design a piece that represents the concept of re-creating something new out of an existing object. This is the whole premise of Unassimilated’s business model.

This particular piece challenged Ms. Grebenar to build a sculpture much larger than her usual work which was typically under six feet. “Re-Creation” stands 16’ tall and is rooted several feet in the ground. Usually, her work took five days. This one took three months. As with all of her art, Ms. Grebenar becomes part of the community that she works in, and part of her remains embedded in the community through her sculpture.

“Re-Creation” was inspired by the Native American story of Calf Woman. As told to Denver Woman in the February-March 2006 issue: “They say a cloud came down from the sky (or a white calfskin unrolled) and off stepped a white buffalo calf. As it rolled onto the earth, the calf stood up and became a beautiful young woman who was carrying the sacred bundle in her hand. She entered into the circle of the Lakota nation and sang a sacred song and took the bundle to the people, and taught them seven sacred ceremonies. One was the sweat lodge for purification. One was a naming ceremony, another was the healing ceremony…she promised to return again, and made prophesies. One was that the birth of a white buffalo calf would be a sign that it would be near the time when she would return to purify the world - thus she would bring back harmony and spiritual balance. Some believe that she is the unfurling bundle in my sculpture, Re-Creation.”

The concrete sculpture is a masculine form that leans and becomes feminine, supportive, and supporting. It represents that we can “be all things…at times more soft, internal, feminine; but we can also take on a more active nature.” The figure is holding up an amorphous object - ready to be formed into something new.

Members of the community are welcome to view and touch this “gift to the neighborhood” on the main campus of Unassimilated.