“Who would choose to protect their land forever?” – Chula Beauregard

For Chula Beauregard, a sixth-generation Coloradan, longtime Steamboat local and acclaimed oil impressionist painter, the question lingered – about land, about legacy and about the people behind those decisions. “I wanted to appreciate them and shine a light on what they’re doing, because it really does benefit all of us,” she says. 

What followed became a year-long journey across the Yampa Valley – 12 ranches, 12 months and a deep dive into the families who have chosen to permanently protect their land through the Yampa Valley Land Trust. The result is “Legacy,” an exhibition created in collaboration with the Tread of Pioneers Museum that weaves together landscape paintings, family photographs and generational histories.

The idea grew out of a familiar restlessness. “I needed a reason to get out of my studio more,” Chula says. She had already developed a rhythm in earlier projects – returning to the same place month after month to observe change over time. This time, she expanded that structure outward, asking what it would look like to follow a similar cadence across the broader valley.

“I started thinking about how to take that same format and apply it to the county,” she says. The land trust offered both a framework: a network of working ranches, each with its own story, all tied together by a shared decision to conserve their land in perpetuity.

She began with the people she knew – visiting the Fetcher Ranch in January, then Mary Kurtz’s ranch in February – before reaching out for guidance to continue the year. With help from the land trust’s stewardship team, she mapped out the remaining months, choosing properties not only through personal connections but also based on what each landscape would reveal in a given season.

“They would walk me through their ranch and show me what was happening,” she says. “That context shaped what I chose to paint.” 

Each visit followed a rhythm. Chula spent time walking the land, listening and observing before painting small studies outdoors; capturing light, color and atmosphere in the moment. “I start with quick studies outside to capture the color and the feeling of the day,” she says. Later, she returned to her studio, using those studies alongside photographs to develop larger, more finished pieces.

But the deeper work unfolded over time. What began as individual visits gradually built into a layered understanding.

“Each visit added to my understanding,” she says. 

Details that might once have gone unnoticed began to take on meaning. A lesson about pairing cows and calves on one ranch echoed at another. Daily routines revealed themselves as part of a broader system of care and survival.

“You notice things in passing at first, but once you start seeing the patterns, it changes how you understand it,” she says. 

Coming into the project without a ranching background, Chula found herself learning in real time, often through long conversations in trucks, fields and kitchens.

“You can read about it, but it’s completely different to sit with someone as they drive you around their land and explain it,” she says. “At a certain point, it just clicks.” 

That access, she emphasizes, was never taken for granted.

“I felt incredibly lucky that people gave me that time – it really was a gift,” she says. 

By the end of the year, what stood out most was not just the landscape, but the people who sustain it.

“I came away with so much admiration for the level of dedication it takes,” Chula says. 

That admiration extends across generations. Families shared photographs and stories: images of past work, past lives and the continuity that defines ranching in Routt County.

“It’s amazing to see how families bring their kids into that life in a way that makes them want to carry it forward,” she says. 

Those materials became essential to “Legacy.” When Chula approached the Tread of Pioneers Museum, the alignment was immediate.

“They immediately saw the connection between the family histories, the ranching tradition and the conservation story,” she says. 

The exhibition pairs her paintings with archival and family photographs, grounding present-day landscapes in a much longer timeline. In some moments, that timeline stretches far beyond ranching itself – like the discovery of Fremont petroglyphs along the Yampa.

“Standing there sketching, knowing someone created drawings in that same place centuries ago, was incredible,” she says. 

Asked if she has a favorite ranch or moment, she hesitates.

“I could never choose a favorite – they all stay with me,” she says. 

What remains instead is a collection of relationships and a deeper sense of place.

“The connections I’ve made are huge,” she says. “Some of those relationships have turned into real friendships.” 

For Chula, “Legacy” is not just a record of the past year – it’s a starting point.

“I hope people look back on this and see it as the beginning of something,” she says. She hopes the project encourages more ranchers to consider conservation, and more members of the community to understand its value.

“I’d love for other ranchers to see this and think about what it could mean for their own land,” she says. 

Looking ahead, Chula is already building on that momentum. Her work continues to expand beyond “Legacy,” with upcoming workshops, exhibitions and national recognition. A recent painting was accepted into the Oil Painters of America exhibition at the Steamboat Art Museum this summer, where she will also lead a two-day outdoor workshop – likely returning, fittingly, to a ranch setting. 

“I’m hoping I’ll never stop,” she says. “I’m hoping this is just one of the things I do, and there will be more in the future.” 

In the end, the project circles back to the original question – who would choose to protect their land forever – and offers, if not a single answer, then a year’s worth of stories that begin to explain why.