Crans-Montana not only sparks art appreciation in skiers – it’s drawing visitors to the Swiss resort year-round.
In 2014, art dealer Gregory Pages was skiing in his hometown of Crans-Montana in Switzerland’s Valais Alps region.
He took the National Express chairlift and as he neared the huge concrete structure at the top that houses the lift station, three restaurants and a hotel, he had something of an epiphany.
He laughs: “I don’t know why it happened that day. I mean, obviously, I’d done the same trip a thousand times before, but that day I noticed how gross the building was.”
“I was surrounded by sun, snow, blue skies and beautiful mountains and there was this big block of cement in front of me.”
And that was the start of Crans-Montana’s Vision Art Festival (VAF), a festival that truly elevates urban art.
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I am exploring Crans-Montana with Pages, the founder of the resort’s high-altitude public art project. It is a summer’s day as we climb into the cable car, and we are surrounded by mountain bikers and green meadows rather than bashed pistes and skiers.
But I can immediately see how the brutalist ski infrastructure provides a perfect canvas in wintertime against the white snow.
