Scott Hildebrandt's art is found in homes across Colorado. He has produced three-thousand pieces of work over the last 10 years.
He’ll also have an installation at Meow Wolf Denver, a local branch of the Santa Fe, New Mexico-based immersive-art center, when it opens in 2021.
“The way people react to my art is different and fun and priceless all at the same time," Hildebrandt says."...They see that the pieces light up and then its fun to see their faces light up and I see their imagination light up and it's really kind of a fun thing to sit back and watch. It's really such a humbling experience to hear people tell me about how it moves them and the feelings that it invokes and there's nothing in the world like it. It feels wonderful,” Hildebrandt said.
He repurposes old clocks, cameras, radios and television set. Inside he builds miniature worlds. There are different shapes and sizes- nothing is really off limits.
“The love of miniatures probably started when I was close to 6 or 7," he says. "My grandfather used to put up his old train set from when he was a boy and I just remember being in awe of how beautiful it was and how it ran and all the little miniatures that went with it and I was just fascinated with it. As I got older I would build models and I loved the scale of trying to recreate these scenes in miniature format.”
People call him Mr. Christmas. It’s a name he got about 10 years ago when he first started doing this art work. Hildebrandt focused on vintage Christmas pieces. The first piece he made was a little Christmas village that was under glass. People took interest in that style of art and so he just sort of absorbed the name Mr. Christmas.
Hildebrandt says miniatures bring people back to a good place in life that you remember when you were younger. A safe place with warm memories.
He never puts people inside his artwork. He feels like the scene itself creates a wonder or mystery. He wants the focus to be on the quaintness of the scene itself and that you can imagine yourself there.
Meow Wolf Denver is a ways off but you can also look for Hildebrandt at local shows.
