Tonight on studio 12, Viewfinder Special, we've got the inside scoop into one of the world's most iconic treks, the tour de Mont Blanc.

Then we'll show you how women living with breast cancer are finding healing through fly fishing.

And then to the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta, where one family's Colorado legacy takes flight.

In a story filled with love and loss, plus a deeper look into the life and legend of Margaret Molly Brown and a powerful showcase of veteran artists using creativity to heal.

These stories are through the lens of PBS Twelve's Rico Romero's viewfinder.

Don't go anywhere.

This special edition of studio 12 starts right now from the Five Points Media Center in the heart of Denver, Colorado.

This is studio 12.

Hello, and thanks for joining us.

I'm Ryan Harrer and I'm Bob Kanani.

There are lots of Coloradans who would describe themselves as outdoorsy, always looking for that next hiking challenge.

If that describes you, you might want to add this one to your bucket list.

The tour de Mont Blanc is one of Europe's most iconic treks.

A 105 mile loop that circles the tallest peak in Western Europe, passing throug France, Italy and Switzerland.

PBS 12 photojournalist Ric Romero took the trail himself, bringing back stunning footage and a firsthand look at what it takes to complet Hi, I'm Rita Romero, photojournalist with PBS 12, here in a small town in the French Alps at the start of the tournament.

Blanc.

And I'm going to take you with you.

To.

For outdoor Coloradans looking to try something new.

Let me introduce you to the tour de Mont Blanc.

I recently did this 100 mile hike with my wife and some friends.

Mont Blanc is one of the most iconic peaks in Europe and one of the tallest as well.

It's a little higher than a fourteeners, sitting at 15,766ft, but on this trail you will not be hiking to the top.

You can start this hike pretty much anywhere, but the traditional starting point for this is just outside the French town of Shamone.

This is a loop hike and the most popular way to hike.

This is counterclockwise, but lots of hikers still prefer hiking clockwise as well.

We started right here in a town called Le Hush, which is just outside of Shamone, and hiked down to the cable car to get started.

This is a really popular way to start the hike, plus it saved our legs for the long journey ahead.

That's my friend Karlie.

And over there that's my friend Steve.

We met this really cool dog a the top wearing a rain jacket.

We got off the cable car.

Here's our first photo we took to start our trip.

That's my friend Carly on the left.

My wife in the middl and my friend.

And on the right.

Slight rain all day.

Actually made for great hiking conditions.

This was our introduction to the trail, and despite the rain, we couldn't have asked for better conditions.

I have to admit, I was pretty nervous wondering if I had trained enough for this, but to our advantage.

Most hikes we do in Colorado are higher in elevation, so it means hiking in this area of the Alps a little bit easier.

La Condamine would b our first pitstop on the trail.

Our accommodations for the night would be in a really cool motel style place but each night it would change.

As you will see later.

Packing like is essentia on this hike, so that sometimes means washing clothes in the sink and hand drying, or in this case.

So you started day two on the hike and we made it to the Notre-Dame de la Gorge, which is basically the base o when we start the next uphill.

And if I could flip it around and show you.

Heading that way.

We met some friendly cows right before we started our next big uphill section.

And also this friendly cat from a refugio nearby that we didn't stay at.

He decided to hike with us for a few minutes.

This section was our longest hike on the trail and also the highest elevation gain.

There are two different way you can travel in this section.

There's the regular way on the trail and then there's a variant trail if the weather permits.

The variant is a little bit shorter but steeper in elevation.

Even though it was a little bit cloudy, we took a chance and took the variant route and it really paid off.

After we trekked through a little snowy patch, the valley opened up to some amazing views.

We had a slight run in with a cow, no thanks to my friend and for mooing at it.

No.

Oh god no no no no no no.

But then we made our way over to our first Refugio Motel.

If you're wondering what a refugio is, it's basically a mountain hut similar to a bed and breakfast.

But instead of breakfast, you get dinner.

This was our first experience with family style dinner, and they played some interesting music for us as well.

This is the type of experience you could expect for most of the year.

A few shows minus the music performance.

You'd typically be sharing a table with some strangers and enjoying the evening with everyone's company.

Day three was an exciting day because we would be crossing into Italy each day.

You can expect to gain around 2300 to 3500ft of elevation and then lose about the same each day.

So a lot of hiking uphill in the mornings, and then downhill in the afternoon.

Crossing into Italy fel like such a big accomplishment.

It was fun to take some pictures at the border and head down to our next refugio.

Day three.

Now on the tour de Mont Blanc trail, I have just crossed into Italy and for the first time I can see my walk.

We made it to one of my favorite refugio, was on the trail and rested up for what I thought was the most picturesque hike on the trip.

Day for now.

On the trail, it's definitely a littl bit warmer today, which is nice because it was quite cold yesterday, but today is said to be the best views of Mont Blanc.

And boy did we get lucky and got blue skies.

And that at the peak of this hike, most hikers will experience the highest altitude on the trail.

Unless you take a variant on the very northern end of the loop, where the altitude is a little bit higher.

But it was a great place to stop and take some pictures of Mont Blanc.

The temperatures can vary from day to day.

In the summertime we got lucky with most of our days being in the 60s, but be prepared for days in the 80s with a decent amoun of humidity in the summertime.

We ran into some hiker who got caught in a snowstorm.

Yes, that's right, a snowstorm on the variant trail that we were on just the day before.

So you have to be prepared for all weather conditions.

After the stunning views of Mont Blanc, we came down a very steep mountain and int the Italian town of Courmayeur.

This is a great spot to take a rest and even an extra day off.

If you'd like.

Since there are plenty of accommodations and restaurants, as well as shopping for supplies or even souvenirs, we had an extra day of much needed rest.

And then we headed back up the mountain for my orders.

Considere the halfway point from Shamone.

And if you're only looking to half the trail, there is a tunnel that connects Shamone and Cormier.

So you could start hiking in one town and take a shuttle back to the other town.

When hiking, you'll want to take anywhere from 2 to 3l of water with you each day.

There are plenty of places to fill up on the trail, too.

If weight is an issue for you and you're trying to keep your weight down to a minimum.

Take less and fill up.

Often you'll see a lot of fountains or faucets similar to these with running drinking water in several spots throughout the trail.

Typically, as you pass through the villages.

We made it to Refugio Benarty early in the day and had a lot of time to enjoy the area around the refugio.

Day six on the TMB trail and today it is quite cold.

The wind is howling.

But hopefully going to let up.

We have blue skies and sun so I think that's going to help.

We left Refugio Benarty which was great accommodations, great food, great fun.

And today we are headed to LA fully.

I really hope I pronounce that correctly.

But we will be crossing the border into Switzerland today, so that's quite exciting.

We had a pretty steep ascent and once we made it to the crest, we'd be in Switzerland.

This was a pretty challenging stretch for all of us.

All right.

After a windy, cold hike, ascent to the top.

This is the border to Switzerland.

Okay, it's funn how deceiving pictures can be, because you can't tell how cold and windy it was here, but I can assure you, we were struggling to stay warm here at the border into Switzerland.

The good news was, it quickly warmed up on the descent down into Switzerland.

So, as I've said before, be prepared for all weather conditions.

Lovely was a tiny mountain town, but it did have a grocery and outdoor supply store for you to restoc anything you might have needed.

The difficulty of each day will vary, and you can break the trip up into as many days as you feel you need.

If you're a more experienced hiker, you may only need 5 to 7 days to finish the trail, or if you're a little bit on the slower side, which is perfectly fine.

You might want to give yourself 12 to 14 days to finish.

We were now at the top of the loop and getting ready to cross back into France.

We passed this really cool house that had quite the collection of gnomes.

I couldn' believe we had made it this far, and I was so excited at the idea of finishing this hike and the accomplishment we'd feel.

Oh, and we had to avoid stepping on these slugs becaus they were pretty much all over.

Seven out on the TMB and about making it to the summit for today.

Heading in to day eight.

But I wanted to give you guys this view of this valley with this town below.

Just incredible.

The trail is marked really well with markers similar to this, so it's pretty easy to stay on trail.

We did a good job following th markers right back into France, but we also had a GPS navigation app, which was super helpful and I highly recommend it.

This was a cool border crossing for us because the clouds were super low and we felt like we were walking in them, but just like the other border crossings, the weather was completely different.

Just on the other side, we could see Sharmini in the valley in the distance and only had one more night on the trail.

We came up to a really cool section of the trail, which we so creatively called the ladder section.

You have to climb a series of ladders to get u to the next and last pit stop.

We did it and made it to our las refugio on the trip log blank, which turned out to be our favorite with the absolute best views of Mont Blanc.

But seriously, just look at these views.

Our bunk room at the Refugio was a room for five, which worked out perfectly since there were five in our group.

Here's what it looked like to give you an example of what you can expect from a similar room on the trail.

A good night's rest, and we were off to hike out to the cable car and then down in disharmony to finish this incredible journey.

But before we headed down, we stopped to watch some hang gliders taken off above Shamone.

But we've made it to the end of the TMB.

We have decided to tak the cable car down into Harmony.

It's been a heck of a journey.

Lots to share, lots to think about.

But overall just very pleased to be able to share this experience with you.

An incredible experience and an amazing view from up there.

You can definitely see why it's one of the world's mos celebrated hikes.

How awesome.

Absolutely and hard to believe some of those trail sections scan more than 3000ft of elevation in just a single day.

Yikes.

Rico said the best part was meeting fellow adventurers from around the globe, including a few other Coloradans who had made the trek.

A big thank you to Rico for bringing us along for the journey.

In honor of breast cancer awareness, Rico captured a unique story about how women living with breast cancer are finding healing by learnin something new in the outdoors.

Fly fishing.

It's called casting for recovery.

A program here in Colorado that combines nature, emotional support, and peer connections to help women who are in treatment or in recovery from breast cancer.

Here's Rico story.

I think we should start here, guys.

Let us meet your fishing guide.

I think I need to find out what we're fishing with.

I am learning to fly fish.

All right, all the guides.

Come on over.

Hi.

My name is Maddie Brennaman, and I'm a fly fishing guide for casting for recovery.

This is my mother in law, Amy.

Hi.

I'm Shannon.

Shannon, if you do full time guiding here.

Yeah.

My name is Stacy Benham.

I am the volunteer program coordinator for casting for recovery Colorado.

Front Range casting for recovery is a retreat put on for breast cance survivors is a wonderful group.

Really able, capable, ready to, like, take this by the horns and get after that.

So, it's going to b a really great day right here.

We're on the Front Range of Colorado.

We have 14 women this weekend.

One, two, three that are all in different stages of breast cancer.

I really want to be out on the water.

We take them out and kitchen.

It's all about fly fishing.

And on the final day we take them on the river and they have a blast and catch fish.

Well, have a great time.

I got a pit.

So yeah.

And then it's jus we're going to try not move it.

Why fly fishing?

You know, it's a really great story of how casting for recovery started.

30 years ago, doctor Benita Walton, who's a breast reconstructive surgeon, was invited by her friend Gwen Perkins Bogart, who was a fly fishing guide to go spend the day on the water and go fishing.

This happened 30 years ago in Vermont.

While casting Doctor Wall and thought, you know, this could be really amazin physical therapy for my patients who have undergone, radiation and reconstruction.

So it's really great for the scar tissue.

And to be in nature, you know, it's it's really paired together.

Is is amazing medicine.

Great.

Perfect job.

Good job.

So from there, casting for recovery was born in 30 years later, here we are in Colorado.

See if I can get it out past that rock a little bit.

So when I got the news, I was one of the people who got to come.

I was just like, this is awesome.

I mean, I'm helping out wit the casting for recovery today.

I'm helping these wonderful women, on this beautiful Sunday day, guide for some cool fish.

That is something you, man.

We got her.

We got her.

It's an opportunity for healing and community and connection.

It's big in the company of other, breast cancer survivors who, are all here to experience nature, learn something new, have a lot of fun.

And it's, for me.

I'm, three and a half years out, from my what I call no evidence of disease.

My, that's my the day I count.

So two years since I finished chemo this month.

So I have here is I did not know.

No hair, no eyebrows, no eyelashes.

Yeah.

You know I think this weekend away offers so much more than in a clinica setting and in a waiting room.

The isolation of cancer treatment is real.

The women come here and they're with a peer support group so they can finally share, you know what?

What they've really been feeling in a safe space and vulnerable.

And what was your dad's name?

He he he's Stover.

Come on, give me some.

Give me something to do.

Diane's an incredible woman.

She is one of our participants this weekend, and she, is fishing with her dad's fl rod and her dad's fishing bass.

Her dad has passed away, and it was a promise she made to him that she would fly fish with his stuff.

He was really my, role model for how to deal with cancer.

He was already gone when I was diagnosed.

I feel like this is a full circle connection with him.

And with, how to be a good human being.

He would have been really happy, to see me doing this.

Yeah.

Yeah, yeah, but my dad was also a, cancer, patient for many, many years.

He was, a great fly fisherman.

Just because it's too early for us to fall.

Yes.

Nobody wants to fall now.

So often, you know they're taking care of families or taking care of careers, or taking care of aging parents or taking care of their kids.

And they have to show up for everybody else.

And this is a weekend tha they can show up for themselves, just drag that worm right over that fish's face.

Marguerite, I found out, November of 2022.

I went through surgery, two rounds of chemo and a month of radiation.

But when they told me what chemo they were going to be giving me.

I've been a pharmacist for 30 years.

They were giving me meds that I started when I first started out in the 90s.

Was making them.

And I'm like, there's nothing new.

So and knew how hard it was going to be because we're kind of clear right here.

So over the top like Sylvester Stallone.

Yeah.

Okay.

Let go of that line.

Yep.

Rod tip up.

Yeah.

Beautiful rainbow.

Yes I made the bottom.

Thanks for it.

There we go.

Here.

One, two.

Yes.

Let's get a bigger getting out here and hit it.

Dealing that strike and being able to actually set the hook was like super just the joy of that.

Being able to bring it in without losing it was just the best fun.

And I'm hoping for number two and three and four.

Yeah.

Do you have a new hobby now?

I am not sure.

Possibly if I can get the casting down every day.

Every day I've done this, I haven't left this ranch without having some tears.

Being on a river, whether you catch any fish or not, just remind yo that you're part of this world.

And it's not about clinics and surgeries and all the thing that go with cancer treatment.

Unless you've really been through it or walked with someone to go through it, it's hard to understand.

So to get out here on the water with these incredible women who all have had a different journey, that connection is super special.

And then to actually catc a fish on top of it is just like icing on the cake.

And now I got another support group, which is wonderful.

Maddie, Maddie's the best.

Not only has she been with us all weekend, but come over here.

She's taught us like so much.

We're.

And like, look at that smile, right?

That's like my dad's smile.

And, like, people who really love life, I don't miss a weekend.

So I plan my summers around casting for Recovery Weekend, for sure.

You're just getting so many, people who care and you know what they're talking about, and that is so special.

So I got the best guide I got to I did I got the very best guide.

Sorry everybody else, but I got the best guy.

I'm just feel very blessed to be out in the nature and meeting all these amazing people.

Perfect.

These life changing experiences are offered at no cost to women living with breast cancer.

To learn more go to casting for recovery.org.

The Albuquerque Internationa Balloon Fiesta is a bucket list event for many a sk filled with color, representing tradition and family legacie that lift off year after year.

And this year, one balloon in particular carrie a special piece of Colorado PBS 12 photojournalist Rico Romer followed a former Denver family whose balloon bear the flag of the Mile High City and whose story goes back generations.

We're at Albuquerque International Brewing.

Wings.

Yesterday, somewhere wher they put the balloons up to fly.

Yards get real tired on this park.

Little siesta is a time whe pilots from around the nation, and around the United State all come together in one place.

Albuquerque.

And they fly.

We're basically, triad area around, Raleigh and Durham and North Carolina.

Idaho just comes together and they fly in the beautiful skies of Albuquerque.

I like it, and most of the tim they blow up the special shape.

You can have shapes, you have ride balloons, you have standard balloons.

You have anywher from small balloons to super big 16 passenger balloon Fiesta as a nine day annual event that happens the first two full weekends in October and the week in between.

Those is a certain pride to fly, of, festivals and be the show for the people that they paid to get into.

Not the sights this smells.

I don't know if you know this ballooning has a specific smell to it.

The leather, the propane, everything.

And just to get around the sights, the sounds of the smells.

And I just, got obsessed with it again.

It's been occurring since 1972.

I haven't been to the fiesta in a few years, but, you know, I love it.

I like to tell peopl it's like walking among giants, because that's what you feel like when these balloons started flaming and you're also amongst them.

It reminds me.

It makes me think of walking with Giants.

It brings togethe people from all across the globe to see this magical event, watching people who have not experienced this before, see that for the first time.

And you can't describe it to anybody, to people.

So when you see that on somebody's face, you know, it's just, you know, it never gets old.

All right.

Here, I got the u-n-m one from the cherry on top.

Darth Vader and Frankenstein.

That balloon i what used to be Denver cancer.

The city and county of Denver's flag.

So a 5280 fire.

That's a balloon.

I learned how to fly in with Marnie's mom.

Or my mother in law.

My mother and father in law.

They were, Well, they are natives of Colorado.

Natives of Denver.

So when they were able to hand that balloon over to Marnie and myself, it's it's just been that balloon that we've always wanted a bi part of who we are as a family.

John and I learned how to fly on that balloon, and it's still our favorite.

I think it's year 18.

I've been flying here.

Been here been coming here for about 27 years now.

You have your blood family, and then you have your balloon family.

We are a, big community.

You know, I know pilots from all over the country, a few from around the world.

I have a lot of friends who are like, oh, like, it's so awesome.

You're a pilot's daughter.

I'm like, I'm not just a pilot's daughter.

Like, I'm crew.

I'm there waking up with them early in the morning doing weather checks.

There are a number of families where it's generational.

There are quite a few generational balloon families probably on this field.

This week.

I have been coming to Balloon Fiesta my entire life.

Actually since I Utero, which is kind of crazy.

The first time I came, I was about nine months old.

My parents had just both got their pilot's license.

My grandma flew, and I've come every year since, minus a few here and there.

Because of reasons.

But I've been coming for th past 21 years, and it's awesome.

And I look forward to being a future pilot.

It's great to have our kids here, Marnie.

She grew up doing this, so m dad put me in a little carrier, took me up.

I do not know.

Life without learning.

I'll be third generatio once I get my pilot's license.

We really didn' push the kids to fly, you know?

We asked them, hey, do you guys want to fly?

And it wasn't until recentl where they're like, yeah, dad, we want to start learning how to fly.

My grandma was a full time gospel and pilot and normal pilot.

On top of being a radiologist and doctor.

We call her Nuna, but she is Carol to everybody else.

The story goes that at the time they had one car.

And so m mom sold the car to buy a share.

And to their very first, she is someone who's in the Hall of Fame.

You see your picture around you remember who she is.

Like.

She has the picture of one fiesta.

It's hard not having her, like, her to, like, see the beauty of it.

But like I have my mom and I have my dad.

And, like, I'm ther for the heartbreak in the tears.

Like I've been here, like this entire time, and it's like, I don't know, it's just.

It's fun to have fun doing somethin that's hard and missing people.

And it's you just have to make the best out of a hard, situation that has now turned into memories and power and so much more than just ballooning.

It's made it my connection to ballooning grow stronger.

It was, as Margaret mentioned, it was very, very difficult for a couple of years in there.

It's wonderful to talk to people no and understand the impact my mom made on them, and just a moment or a time in their lives.

And, so that's really it's been really rewarding and wonderful and healing for me to hear other people's stories about her.

For me, it's all about carrying on the legacy, and it's what she would want us to do.

My mom and dad fly.

My mom doesn't fly as much because Carol's not here anymore.

But, because she is the definition of my grandma.

And my dad carries the legacy, and he carries a pen with just her, like, and just seeing, like, my mom, like, looks just like my grandma.

And just being able to see her and, like, living out her mom's legac and, like, being an awesome mom and being an awesome wife and, like, she works so hard.

And just seeing her come out here and, like, put a brave face and smile like it's inspiring.

I'm super proud of my family and like, I love my dad and I' proud of what he does and like.

But it's like my mom's.

It's my mom's thing.

Like, my dad's a pilot.

Because of my mom.

It's really hard.

Like missing people who you haven't had the relationshi and been able to grow up with.

Like, so like Carol is the image and the backbone to like what we are as a famil and like, yeah, she's not here.

But like we carry her with us every day.

And my mom is such an awesome person and such a beautiful person, and so is my dad.

And to see my dad fly and my mom being like, okay, like I'm going to get back into it and do this like it's super awesome.

And just being here and like being back in Albuquerque like embracing her culture and, embracing Balloon Fiesta has been super awesom to see the past couple of years because it was really hard for a long time, and now it's just seein like the power and the movement, behind what my grandma did.

And now my parents are carrying on and what I hope to carry on after them.

Like I hope to be a great, awesome balloon pilot like my parents are.

But you just never know.

Like you don't ever know.

Really an incredible story there.

You can feel the lov and the loss, both intertwined in that family's ballooning journey.

Next, we're shining a light on a powerful group of Colorado artists whose work is shaped by service, resilience and healing.

The veterans Art Council a nonprofit art based out of VFW post, won the very first VFW post in the country, has long provided a creative space for veterans coping with PTSD, depressio and the invisible wounds of war.

Their artwork is being honored at the Denver Art Museum.

It's the first time the museum has ever hosted a full exhibit dedicated to veteran artists.

It features piece made by veterans who have worked through trauma with creative expression.

Take a look.

Most of my art is is monochromatic.

I prefer working in monochromatic because I can.

I can see it better with what little vision I have left.

I was shot in the head in Vietnam.

And it left bullet fragments in my head.

They said it would cause more damage to try to get them out, that it would be.

Just leave them there.

They were small, and it probably would never bother me.

And for 23 years, they didn't.

I was teachin at the University of Colorado.

One day, 23 years after I was shot and in the middle of a really bad migraine.

One of the bullet fragments moved and caused a stroke in my visual cortex, and, I lost my sight in 30 minutes, and I spent the next two years being pretty depressed.

Pretty angry.

One day, after a couple of years of putting up with me, being angry all the time and depressed.

They said that you've always loved art.

You should get back to it.

And my first reaction was, I can't see.

But they they insisted and, they kept pushing me, and I spent I spent the next two years, probably 8 to 10 hours a day, just trying to figure out how to do art again without without the eyesight.

But the more I did, the better I got, and the better I got, the busier I got.

And, before I knew it, I was so busy with my art I forgot to be angry.

VFW post won its, first ever VFW, which is super cool.

And, the veterans in here have turned it into an art gallery.

About ten years ago, me and Jim Stevens put together a program at VFW post one, and it turned into the veteran Arts Council that we see today.

I came to the VFW and did an OPA call.

I was only planning on doing it one time, but I've kind of been her since I was in the United States Navy from 2003 to 2008, and I served in Guantanamo Bay at the detention camp in 2005 and 2006.

I had some personal issues that came up and I basically did not want to live anymore.

And one of my friends who was down here on the day that I was actually thinking about committing suicide, he basically called me up and said, dude, you will not believe what's going down at this new VFW post.

I go, tell me more, you know?

And he goes, he goes.

They kept the art, they kept everything.

And he goes, everybody.

Like, there's VFW artists on the walls.

There's all this other stuff.

And something that night clicked with me and I ended up going down here.

And I was such at a low point that just that one opportunity that was like, oh, we have empty space filled.

This just that opportunity made me rethink the way I was doing things.

Maybe I shouldn't be in self service for myself.

Maybe I should try to do some service for good.

And then I ultimately ended up joining the VFW.

It's been one of those things that has actually been really fulfilling in my life.

I feel very rich when it comes to the people I know, and even though it's not monetarily, it's like the just the effect and the change that you've seen in your fellow veterans that what art can do for people.

I've been doing art since I was little.

Essentially it started off as like a communication thing for me.

Had a lot of learning disabilities.

Like dyslexia and ADHD.

So kind of helped me focus.

And then with the childhood tha I had with some of the trauma, it kind of helped me survive in that sense of kind of use.

It as a coping mechanism.

I was in.

I was in the Army from 96 to 2005, when September 11th happened, took on a whole new meaning.

And it was, yo know, fighting for the country and what we believe in and what we stand for.

And so that made all of us that I was with me.

All of us kind of grew up real quick before that.

You know, we're all kind of, you know, kids doing an adult job.

I photography of post military, has been definitely a way of, release of stress, of tension, of, you know, the daily grind.

And it's definitely a way to to release all the pent up energ or pent up stress from the week and a great way to unwind.

And so it definitely has helped me, cope with just life in general.

This is such a big deal that we're getting this opportunity to show at the Denver Art Museum.

It's huge.

I'm very proud that I'm part of this, veterans Art Council.

And now we have opportunities like this.

I, I got the idea, actually from my six year old grandson.

Really?

Yeah.

Many years ago.

So today we are holding our reception for the Veterans Arts Council community spotlight.

Ray, how old are you?

Yes, I be 90 and that's what I thought.

You're our oldest artist here.

It's called Beyond the Military.

From combat to canvas.

And so this exhibition is a celebration of veteran artist in the Denver community.

I served.

I'm not Korean and know, Cold War veteran.

I was in the Marine Corps for eight years.

They were talking about in the opening.

It's been a year in process, and I've been here just over a year in the in the VFW art gallery.

And in that year, I've been i a senator's office in Congress.

Whose office?

The VA hallway.

A different art gallery altogether.

And now I'm in the Denver Art Museum.

And the running joke I've bee making to my friends is, I'm in.

I'm in the Denver Art Museum, and I'm not dead.

I'm literally, legitimately in the Denver Art Museum.

It's actually 12 shots, taken in rapid succession and then stacked together.

It's a yeah, a drawing I did, but the cathedra rock of the garden of the gods, it was done in graphite, painted on over a thousand strings, eight layers deep.

Her hair looks like lungs.

So it's learning to breathe and to take a breath and to find mindfulness and to center yourself.

Frankly, I feel great for these men and women.

And is this recognition outside of their service?

But at the same token for many of them, it's the art that's develop the beyond their service, beyond the the whatever problems the encountered from their service.

Art pulled them through.

And I'm just glad we were able to get this done for them.

It means so much to me how much I've gained in the past year.

For some veterans, it was the difference between life and death.

There's veterans here that literally when they got into the art museum and they got it going in the, in the, i the gallery of the VFW, it was it changed their perspective.

It gave them an outlet.

You got other veteran artists looking around at each other going, oh, I've been there with you.

I know what you're going through.

I can feel your feelings.

When people think of veterans, they think of military service, duty, perhaps combat or not.

And, sometimes it doesn't go beyond the fact that they're are veterans.

But veterans are people, and they do more than they're more than just their military service.

And in this case, they're artists as well.

So, yeah, it's, cannot heal.

Yeah, I learned that.

I mean, that personally.

The exhibit continues at the Denver Art Museum through the month of February.

For more information, you can go to Denver Art museum.org.

And for more information on the Veterans Art Council go to veterans Art council.org.

Next, we're going inside the life and legacy of Margaret Molly Brown and seeing it from a different lens as Rico explored her rich history.

Molly Brown survived the Titanic and ran for Congress before women even had the right to vote.

Rico sat down with her great granddaughter and the head of the Molly Brown House Museum to mark what would have been her 158th birthday.

Here's more.

So we are at the Molly Brown House Museum, home to the woman who is most famous for having survived the sinking of the Titanic.

I am her great granddaughter, one of, four I just adore.

How could you not?

Today is Margaret's 158th birthday.

So one of those tremendous milestones that we we mark every year just to honor this amazing woman, who, along with a cadre of other amazing women, accomplished so many great things 100 years ago.

And every year we hav a celebration here at the house.

We have two, not one, but two great granddaughters in the house today, Helen and Lynn.

So it's an extra special da for us at the Molly Brown House this year.

My sister lives here.

We were lucky enough to come join the festivities.

They are both living treasures because as descendants of Margaret Brown, their stories are up.

How?

We know what we know about Mrs.

Brown.

They enrich her story.

They.

They remind us that not only did she do things like run for Senate, help people in the aftermath of the disaster, but that she was a mother and she was a grandmother and that she has this tremendous family lineage that still exists today.

She, first of all, was my great grandmother.

She was just an example to everybody of compassion, strength, resilience.

Determination.

She's originally from Hannibal, Missouri.

She left there to go to.

LED them to be with her brother Dan.

And that's where she met Jim Brown, who was a day miner at the time and went down into the mines and did what everybody did.

He asked her to go out about three times to go out with him, and she refused him because she, you know, there had to be somebody richer than this guy.

About the fourth time she said, all right, I'll do it.

And he drove up in a carriage like thing with two black horses, matching horses.

And she came out and she looked at it and she said, this I can do.

So she married.

Well, Mr.

J.J.

Brown was a miner in Leadville.

And quietly, through the early 1890s, they started finding tremendous amounts of gold when they became wealthy, they bought this house and moved here.

And so that gave the the privilege instantly to say, we're moving to Denver.

So they purchased a house in 1894, and it was in her her ownership until 1932 when she passed away.

So the My Brown House Museum is her Denver home, where he and her husband raised two kids.

They lived here for over two decades.

So it's their beautiful Capito Hill home that's been preserved to look like it did when they lived here at the turn of the last century.

We've been a museum since 1971, when we threw open the door and had a line around the block.

I volunteered here, and I worked with the carriage shop, and I did tours, and, you know, it was so much fun.

I loved it.

The story that I love is that when she was on Titanic, it's, spring of 1912, she had been traveling all over Europe and then Egypt.

She gets a telegram from her son, Larry, and I've some correspondence with letters to possibly her first grandbaby is not doing well.

So she decides to come back to America a little earlier than she had planned.

She books passage on this amazing brandy ship making its maiden voyage.

It is the who's who of 1912.

She boards in Cherbourg.

Then, and of course, as we know, several nights later in the middle of the Atlantic, the ship hits the iceberg.

Wome didn't want to get in the boats because they didn't want to leave their husbands every day on the side of the boat.

She herself, wanted to help as many people as possible.

So she was convincing them to get in and she got to lifeboat number six, and she started to do the same thing.

And two crew member came up behind her, lifted her up, turned her, and dropped her six feet into lifeboat number six.

Later, she said sh never would have left the ship.

Helen tells this great story about how you know, she wanted the families to stay together and absolutely, she was seeing families torn apart in front of her eyes as the men and the and the younger, older boys were being told, no, you have to stay behind.

And she, and other survivor are picked up by the Carpathia, which is the rescue ship, in the wee hours of the morning, rather than sort of just hiding out with the other first class passengers, she said, you know what?

We're all lucky to be here.

But the third class of steerage class passengers, the familie that just lost their husbands, maybe their sons, we need to do somethin so she went to work comforting people, using her language skills to translate.

And within, you know, them getting t New York City, she'd raised over $10,000 and and cash and pledges from her fellow passengers, to help all of those in need so that when they got to New York City, they weren't completely devastated.

The Titanic really became thi international platform for Mrs.

Brown to really elevate the causes that she and other Progressive ERA women reformers were working on.

She believed tha if women wanted the same rights as men they'd better darn well step up.

And that's why she turned that into a political campaign.

In a bid for U.S.

Senate in the summer of 1914, which tied in beautifully to this whole notion that, if we punish this party i power, the Democrats at the time who did not support women's suffrage by taking away their Senate seats, we put pro suffrage people in those seats, Mrs.

Brown being a great candidate.

Ultimately, Senator Thomas of Colorado decided to keep his Senate seat, and he was very pro suffrage.

So she, suspended her bid but was actively involved nationwide in politics, women's suffrage.

She was that kind of a woman.

She would be amazed that people still remembered her and followed her live so closely here in the West.

We have, you know our strong independent streak.

We like our heroes.

And she's one of those great people that we can look to with pride here in Denver and in Colorado, as someone who stood up to do the right thing, I just admire her so much.

So because of the families sort of trus and honoring us with this story, we have these wonderful artifacts that give you a sense of Margaret's life.

For over 55 years, we've been protecting this little bit of Denver and Colorado's history.

Thanks to Molly Brown's family and the Molly Brown House Museum, her legacy lives on in Denver's Capitol Hill.

For more information about the Molly Brown Museum you can go to Molly brown.org.

Mariachi isn't just a style of music.

It's a tradition rich in culture that's been passed down through generations and now it's also the foundation of a groundbreaking new college major right here in Colorado.

MSU Denver has launche the nation's very first Bachelor of Arts degree in Marion, Je performance and Culture.

We take you inside the classroom where we sat down with the professor teaching this unique program, and we hear from his students to take a look.

Here we go.

Ready?

This is your note.

Eminem.

I started out with cello, but, there was a need for violins in my school.

I think it was like around eighth grade.

Then just kind of pick a, comfortable.

Mom.

Oh.

Or.

Oh.

So I switched over to violin and I found out that it was the best instrument ever.

I fell in love with it.

When I play classical music people love it.

They're involved.

But nobody's like clapping along and singing.

People aren't dancing.

I'm.

I grew up in Mexico, so growing up over there in a really small town, it was really interesting because there would be mariachi groups playing all the time, and my dad would be playing music at home, mariachi music all the time, and he would be singing it as well.

Sing the top line for me.

This is number eight.

Ready?

Oh, okay.

One, 23400I didn't even know that.

Like mariachi was.

And he was taught.

To be honest, I thought it was something that you were just were like hey, can I can I join you guys?

Hi.

My name is Hyo Falcon and I am in my second year here at MSU.

So for the long run, it's called, Mariachi Ensemble.

And what I personally really like is that for me, especially living here in the United States, it's been kind of hard to make friends from my own heritage and with common interests.

And I feel like here in mariachi, I feel like we're all in her because we want to be and we're all with shared interests, and it feels like a family.

And that's why I really like it.

This is, a clas that anybody at Metro can take at Metropolitan State University.

Here we go.

For me, playing the violin is something that I've just been doing throughout school of just my whole life.

My head is really busy all the time.

I'm constantly thinking thoughts.

There's something always going on in my head, and it's sometimes it's tiring.

And when I play the violin, it goes quiet, and I can, I, I immerse myself in the music and I feel.

I feel the music.

I feel it in my car.

It's it's really nice.

I'm originally from Puebl and I was in a mariachi program, and, MSU I think it was when, Doctor Feser first came in.

He did like, like a teaching thing for a day.

And that was like my first introduction to the band.

I am the assistant professor of music at Metropolitan State University and director of Mariachi Los Caminos, MSU Denver.

That's a lot of words.

I think it was about a year ago.

Doctor Fisher told me that, like, some exciting stuff was happening here at MSU.

Let's try the top part first.

I've been teaching here since the fall of 22, and, found that, mariachi was part of it.

12349.

You don't have that yet.

Again, unit, when there's a lot of students will say, oh, yeah, my, my grandmother when she was cleaning or my my uncle was in a mariachi band and on Sundays we just Sunday afternoons it was Mariachi Divas who had become a lot more and good.

My students, actually a lot of them know more than me.

That can be intimidating.

And, and so I really need to be on my IG.

How how how do you do that?

Stopping, my parents always had like electric keyboards lying around.

They had, like, all of these little instruments around the house because we're kind of a musical family.

All these instruments laying around that I would constantly be picking up and playing and playing until my parents were one day, like, do you want to pick up an instrument?

And I was like, absolutely, I do.

I come from a decently musical family.

So, it, I had always played the guitar.

But I had never really taken it to serious until I joined that class.

It really started with this idea of, I talked to some mariachi, kind of mentors, and I was like, so, as they were talking about their experience in mariachi, a lot of them had gone to college, but they couldn't study their own instruments, they couldn't study guitar and they couldn't study viola.

They couldn't study mariachi guitar, they couldn't study mariachi trumpet.

And so I thought, that's an inequity.

I was immediately, like, intrigued.

And then here I am.

So and then I thought, well, so how does this fit into something bigger?

The first step was to reach out to Chicano Studies and say, okay, what classes could we make?

Or what classes could we collaborate on?

To create this degree?

Yeah, there's some Chicano Studies courses, some business courses.

I think it's a it' a pretty well-rounded, degree.

It gives you a little bit of everything.

And as I looked at some other programs, there are a few other, mariachi major programs.

And I thought to myself, well, it seems like this is a preexisting degree with mariachi built on it.

And I said, it doesn't seem like it feels like we could contextualize a little bit more of what we're doing in terms of my mariachi kind of understanding what they're doing, what they're saying, and how to integrate into the culture, in a kind of a responsive way that ties the two spreads together.

I worked with their progra director, Sarah Jackson Shumate, who walked me through how to do all of that.

So I worked with the, chair of the kind of studies department, Adriana Nieto, and, the chair of the World Languages department, to get, like, Spanish in ther and also some business courses.

And that's what we built the degree around.

Of course, there's music courses, but due to the requirements of a music degree, preexisting music degree, they would have had to do a lot more courses than I thought were relevant, and not as many courses that I though would be relevant to mariachi.

That was kind of how I thought about the degree I said private study, and then I want to have a course.

I want to have a program that's relevant to the students, because I never want the students to say, why am I even in this class?

What is the point of this?

So yeah, the degree will teach me like the more technical part of, like how to handle money and all that stuff, but the real like experience comes from just like if you're at work, just ask me it to me, it it, it just really means that I can connect with, like, this part of me that, like, I've always wanted to, but, like, haven't really gotten the chance to, unless, like, I actually go to me first, and then tomorrow will be my first gig.

It's happening here at the school on the Kalamazoo building.

The Kalamazoo building is, kind of a special place for the for the university.

And while we're not housed there right now, it's it's the mural that they've made, you know, that they've created fo the for the building is a very, very special thing for actually Mexican culture.

Like if you go to Mexico, yo see murals all over the place.

That's a very important representation of, Hispanic culture.

Mariachi, for me, is, the embodiment of Mexican culture.

Whenever I play mariachi music, especially mariachi music, it feels like I can feel it here from my heritage.

I'm honoring my parents in it.

It feels different than playing classical music and music on my own, because this is music that I am honored to play.

The music that I am representing like a whole country by playing.

It's so much bigger than just Mexico.

But, but it's such a, beautiful, expressive, style that people love, you know, when they go to a mariachi concert, they're happy.

And that's what matches.

For more information on the mariachi major and the coursework, you can go to MSU Denver Dot.

Edu.

What an amazing showcase of viewfinder stories.

And a huge thank you to PBS, t our photojournalist Rico Romero for his incredible storytelling tonight.

And thank you for spending part of your evening with us.

We love sharing the stories that connect, inspire, and celebrate Colorado.

Be sure to tune in next Tuesday night at eight for studio 12.

You can find all of tonight's segments, plus past episodes online any time on our YouTube channel and social media.

I'm Ryan Hare and I'm Bazzi Kanani.

Have a great week.