By Margaret Hedderman
Creative entrepreneurs are vital to the cultural and economic fabric of rural communities, yet they often face unique challenges. In 2024, we launched the Rural Creative Collective to build a support network and targeted resources for rural creatives. This year, we decided to go bigger by offering a 6-month virtual Artist in Residence program to support entrepreneurs launching and scaling businesses in creative industries.
We’re thrilled to announce our first Artist in Residence: Emilie Odeile. As part of the program, Emilie will receive a $1,500 stipend, one-on-one business development mentorship through our Advisor Network, promotional support, and the opportunity to showcase their work at West Slope Startup Week in Durango, taking place October 6–10, 2025. During the residency, Emilie will also create a limited-edition Startup Colorado merch item. The shirt will be available for sale at West Slope Startup Week with profits shared between Startup Colorado and Emilie.
“Not only did Emilie’s work stand out for its ambition and scale, but also its capacity for bringing stories to life” said Margaret Hedderman, Director of Content & Brand Strategy at Startup Colorado. “Our jurors were also impressed with her efforts to build a viable business operating in an emergent rural hub for artist.”
About Emilie Odeile
Emilie Dundee Odeile is a contemporary fiber artist based in Southern Colorado. Using both traditional and nontraditional materials alongside heritage textile techniques such as knitting, tufting, and punch needle, Emilie creates large-scale, immersive visual installations that tell emotionally resonant stories. Her recent project, Goodnight Moon – A Fiber Tale, was created with her partner Ken Chapin under the collaborative name Dundee & Lee. The 500-square-foot fiber recreation of the beloved children’s book was crafted from 152 miles of yarn (!) to showcase a tactile homage to the power of storytelling.
Emilie is currently a resident artist at the A.R. Mitchell Museum of Western Art, where her latest installation, Stampede, is on view through September 20, 2025. Another Dundee & Lee collaboration, Stampede explores Western iconography through large-scale, fiber-based forms.
During her Startup Colorado residency, she plans to expand her current body of work while exploring the sculptural possibilities of knitted and textile-based forms. She’s particularly excited to collaborate with SUCO to create pieces that embody rural Colorado’s community: “rooted in place, but full of movement and potential.” Emilie also aims to strengthen the business side of her practice, focusing on touring large-scale fiber installations and forging lasting partnerships.
“This program came at just the right moment. I’ve been looking for ways to sustain and grow the work I care most about—both creatively and practically. Startup Colorado is offering not just visibility but real tools to help artists like me build structure around our creative lives. I’m honored to be the first and excited to help shape what this program can be.”
Next Steps: Startup Colorado’s Artist in Residence Program
Each year, Startup Colorado will support the growth of one rural artist’s creative business by offering them a unique opportunity to deepen both their artistic and entrepreneurial practice. While our first year is focused on visual artists, we aim to make this opportunity available to practitioners in other mediums.
The Artist in Residence program marks a big step in our programmatic offerings for creative entrepreneurs. In the coming months, we will roll out further events and opportunities for rural creatives to develop their business practices. To learn more, sign up for the Rural Creative Collective.
“The Artist in Residence program is a natural extension of our work to support rural creative entrepreneurs,” said Vanessa McCrann, Startup Colorado’s Director of Community and co-leader of the Rural Creative Collective. “It’s about giving creatives the tools, exposure, and mentorship they need to grow sustainable businesses, while celebrating the powerful role they play in shaping rural communities.”
For updates on our Artist in Residence program, sign-up for our weekly newsletter here.
Join us in empowering rural entrepreneurs and ecosystem builders to achieve even more in 2025. Contributions of any amount directly power our mission to build a sustainable statewide network of resources supporting rural entrepreneurs, so that people and places can thrive and chart their own futures! Will you help us?
