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Title
Ancient Colorado; Redwood and Roses
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Artist
Jan Vriesen and Kirk Johnson
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Location
Colorado Convention Center
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Neighborhood
Central Business District
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Year
2005
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Artwork Type
Acrylic Paintings
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Material
acrylic
What People Are Saying
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10 people say Photogenic
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9 people say Hidden Gem
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9 people say Thought Provoking
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9 people say Love it
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5 people say Family Friendly
About This Piece
Redwoods and Roses
Florissant Fossil Beds
34 million years ago
Giant redwoods grew in Colorado 34 million years ago, the way they do along the coast of northern California today. Brilliant shafts of sunlight pierced the forest, illuminating patches of wild roses and palmetto shrubs. Tiny and timid oreodonts, distant relatives of today’s goats, nibbled rosehips among the trees.
Massive fossil trees provide mute testimony that Colorado hosted redwood forests during the Eocene Epoch. Massive tree trunks, foliage, ancient insects, and other fossils are preserved within the Florissant Formation at Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument.