Redstone’s earliest artist of note was Frank Mechau, a painter of the 1930’s and 40’s who made an important contribution to American art in his rather brief lifetime.  A characteristic feature of his distinctive style is his use of curvilinear forms full of grace and color and spirit.  His fascination with the beauty of horses and the landscapes and history of the west supplied him with the subject matter for much of his art.  After studying and painting in Paris from 1929 to 1933, he and his wife, Paula, moved to Denver, where he ran an art school and gained national recognition for a series of murals commissioned by the Federal government for public buildings in various locations across the country. 

In 1937 Frank and Paula with their children chose Redstone as their home.  Redstone at that time was remote and almost entirely uninhabited.  The village with its charming cottages and unusually fine public buildings was magical in its beauty.  The vacant schoolhouse provided the large spaces needed for his “New Deal” apprenticeship program, and for a time Redstone came alive as an art school for talented young artists.  Tragically Frank’s career was cut short by a fatal heart attack at age 42.  In his short career he produced an inventory of 89 paintings.  His thirteen murals hang in Federal Buildings in Washington D.C., Texas, Nebraska and Colorado.

Paula continued to live in Redstone for the next forty years and raised their four children.  They formed a folk group THE MECHAU BALLADEERS and toured the state and performed at the Aspen Music Festival.  Always a fighter, Paula crusaded for environmental causes and was a founding member of the CVEPA, Crystal River Environmental Protection Association, the first environmental group in the Roaring Fork Valley.