An Artistic Legacy 70 Years in the Making

     Established in 1950, I. Curley Signs & Designs has provided the San Luis Valley and southern Colorado with professional sign services. 
   
     Ivan, an accomplished artist with a Masters degree in art from Adams State University, remembered early in his career when the owner of the Alamosa movie theater came to the art department at Adams State asking for someone to paint an advertisement on a helium balloon for the movie premier of “The Naked Spur” (filmed near Durango and the San Juan Mountains). He was the only one with the proper brushes so he took the job. His payment? He traded the work for 34 movie tickets!
   
     Since that time, his signs can be seen all over southern Colorado from Cortez to Lamar with his hub in the San Luis Valley. You can easily recognize his work by his distinctive signature which has served as his company logo for decades.

    What set Ivan’s signs apart from others was his ability to create billboards that were highly visible from the road. There’s no need to squint or strain to read his signs for which tourists and locals alike can thank him. His wife Phyllis, his sons, Ryan and Devin, and daughter, Allison,  work to continue Ivan’s hard working ethic and creative talents in their family-operated businesses.

     Ivan will be missed but his legacy continues.

Photo caption: Ivan hand painting a sign for Alamosa Inn in 1981.