Justin Tyler Tate is one of this year’s summer Artists in Residence at Breck Create.
Tate will use his time at Breck Create to collaborate with local stakeholders and develop his artwork that will be installed along the Moonstone trail. This work explores the fusion of biology and craft through a series of unique wooden sculptures. Each one utilizes locally sourced repurposed and deadwood—gathered from the town of Breckenridge and its surroundings—which have been transformed into intricate shapes. The work fosters dialogue between human intervention and natural processes, care and entropy, in addition to design and collaboration. Inoculated with locally collected fungal spores, moss and lichen, this series of five-to-seven works will be returned to the forest and documented through photography.
This project transcends the creation of mere objects, by aiming to initiate a long-term conversation between “culture” and “nature”, erasing the imagined binary opposition between the two. The sculptures will be left to transform organically over time, fostering a dynamic relationship with the local ecology and fauna as they are consumed by fungi, which will occasionally emerge from the structures as mushrooms as they release new fungal spores back onto the sculptures.
This work will be created by Justin Tyler Tate during his summer 2025 residency at Breck Create.
Justin Tyler Tate is one of the featured artists in the 2025 Trail Mix series, part of Breck Create’s signature annual festival—BIFA. Trail Mix blends art and nature along scenic Breckenridge trails, where hikers and bikers encounter site-specific installations in the wild.
Aug 15-24th • All Day • Moonstone Trail
This installation is available for self-guided exploration throughout the festival for those who prefer to experience the trail on their own.
Saturday, Aug 23rd • 5PM • Moonstone Trail
Justin Tyler Tate is an internationally recognized artist known for a diverse and prolific practice. Receiving a BFA from NSCAD University and an MFA from Helsinki Academy of Fine Arts, his work spans the gamut of sculpture’s expanded field.
Tate’s journey has included solo exhibitions at The Factory in Manchester, NH (2023); Critical Distance Gallery in Toronto (2019); and Temporary in Helsinki (2017). He has been featured in group exhibitions such as Art in Digital Contexts and Public Spaces at LINZ FMR23 in Austria (2023); The Jeju Biennale in South Korea (2017); and the current Rewilding exhibition at the Canadian Museum of Nature (2024–2025).
Tate has also participated in numerous residency programs, occasionally curates exhibitions, and has authored several publications. This will be his second residency with Breck Create.
