"To us, Sundance is and always will be a dream. What you see, smell, taste and feel here is a dream being carefully nurtured. It is an area whose pledge is to people. What we offer in the form of art and culture, spirit and service, is homegrown and available to all."
- Robert Redford
While many of you know Robert Redford as an Academy Award winning director, iconic actor, environmentalist/activist, supporter of new filmmakers and the independent film, founder of the Sundance Film Festival, Sundance television channel, Sundance Film Institute, Sundance resort and overall hearthrob, he also has a catalogue as well. (You guessed it, the Sundance Catalogue). And with the film festival in full swing this week, I thought it would be appropriate to visit what I call Sundance Style.
First a refresher course. Redford bought the Mount Timpanogos ski area northeast of Provo, Utah with his initial salaries from hit movies such as Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (obvious connection on the name) and Downhill Racer back in l969. The area at the base of the mountain became known as Sundance Village and soon became an artistic community and an eventual haven for independent filmmakers who arrive en masse every January to display their wares so to speak. The village housed a quaint store which offered unique one-of-a-kind items reflecting the charm, style and individual artistic persona of the area. An idea was born.
In 1989, Redford and his colleagues started the Sundance Catalogue and have been selling paintings, home furnishings, jewelry and clothing ever since. Many of the items are handcrafted especially for Sundance, making your purchase even more special as you support American craftsmen and women.
Of the twenty year odyssey Redford notes this is, "one of the more insane journeys any business could make. We built things we shouldn't have, tried things that were beyond us, and planned things that were merely impossible. But happily, it has turned out."
Here are a few of my favorite things. For more on Sundance Style, see the catalogue's website.
Sit and Stay Pillows
Russell Wright Pitchers
Nepoli throw
Artist Karen Bezuidenhout's paintings
Nambian Rider above and Pink Sunset below
Fremont leather chair and ottomon
Spice Market Kilim rug
Gypsy Chandalier
For more on the festival which runs through the 30th (some tickets may be available but good luck with lodging at this late date) go here. For information on the resort (summer is supposedly wonderful and filled with lots of activities), check out their website here.
Top Photo: Redford and Paul Newman in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)and with Katherine Ross in cast shot below.
Photo Credits: Sundance Catalogue, Twentieth Century Fox
