Doodlin’ Durangoan

Dakotah Andreatta is truly the embodiment of “local” – having grown up in Durango, he knows the ins and outs of our wonderful town. You may have seen him teaching snowboarding up at Purgatory this winter season, or you may have seen him working on the Durango-Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad as a parlor car attendant.

However, you can almost always find Dakotah with a paper and drawing utensil. “I grew up drawing and doodling,” he says. “My favorite thing to do is collaborate with other artists in the community.”

Dakotah is a man of many talents. Aside from his fantastic drawing and hand lettering skills, he has been involved in Durango’s art scene before with work on the Every Day gas station’s rotating mural and the Dumpster Beautiful Project. The creativity doesn’t stop there: he and his fiancé, Alethea, singlehandedly built their own tiny home as well!

He got involved with Local First’s Creative Arts Initiative after working with Coordinator Hayley Kirkman on the train. “I love that this helps support artists and create relationships between artists and businesses,” he says of his involvement. The Local First team is honored to have such a positive and hardworking leader on their team.