Artist Elnaz wearing yellow gloves, a black apron, glasses, and a bandana is dipping a twisted fabric into blue dye in a large container. Behind her, colorful dyed fabrics hang on a clothesline. Art supplies and more dyed fabrics are on the table.

Layers of contribution

Elnaz Javani’s large-scale tapestry commission for Colorado’s 150 years of statehood envisions the State as a place continually shaped by the people who arrive, stay, adapt and contribute across generations.

Close-up of a vibrant tie-dye textile with intricate colors and patterns.

Community events

Join Elnaz Javani for one of three community fabric dyeing events. Dyed fabric will be used for the background of a large-scale, handmade tapestry that envisions Colorado as a place continually shaped by the people who arrive, stay, adapt and contribute across generations.

Participants will be asked what place in Colorado has shaped them before using safe, fabric-reactive dye to create a cotton fabric sample inspired by a place, memory, landscape or community that is meaningful to them. Participants may also create a bandana stamped with the Colorado 150 badge as a souvenir of the experience.

Colorado Day
August 1, 2026
10 am–2 pm
Colorado State Capitol
West entrance

Celebrate Colorado’s 150 years of statehood by dyeing a fabric swatch at the State Capitol.

August 2, 2026
10:30 am–2:30 pm
Avenir Museum of Design & Manufacturing
Colorado State University

Dye a fabric swatch at CSU’s teaching collection of 20,000 artifacts of clothing and textiles.

Leadville Booms Days
August 9, 2026
9:30 am–5:30 pm
Downtown Leadville

Add your contribution to the Colorado 150 Tapestry Project at Leadville Boom Days, a Colorado mountain festival and historical celebration of the Old West.

“Belonging is not inherited; it is created through participation, care, labor, stewardship and community.”

— Elnaz Javani