Q & A with Chris Hassig, RFL Academy 2024 Alum

A few years ago, local artist and RFL Academy 2024 alum, Chris Hassig debuted a work he had been creating for more than 20 years: the fictional city of Ralesis, capital of Saiopor, rendered in a series of beautifully intricate maps. To create something as original and expansive as Ralesis, it would be easy to assume Chris’s life begins and ends with his art, but Chris’s interests and talents extend far beyond the bounds of his studio. On top of being a volunteer radio DJ at KDNK and a passionate telemark skier (he once logged a 100 day-plus season), Chris serves on the Town of Carbondale’s Board of Trustees. This past spring, he became one of RFL’s newest alumni, after completing the Academy program – 27 years after his father, Michael Hassig.  

Recently, we spoke with Chris about his dedication to Carbondale, the place where he was born and raised, and what inspired him to step into a leadership position as a Town trustee.  

Roaring Fork Leadership: Local politics seems like worlds away from making art and an artist’s life. What motivated you to become a trustee? 

 Chris Hassig: It started from a place of gratitude and passion for Carbondale and what it has meant to me. Having roots here and feeling like the town was changing a lot, I felt like I had a lot of background knowledge about where we had been and where we might be going – and I felt like I could contribute to that. I wasn’t necessarily happy with all the changes, but I felt it was better to be involved at the table and useful, rather than just complaining. 

 There was one specific situation where I made a comment at a town meeting that helped send a project back to the drawing board. That was a bad project, and I became aware of the power of putting your thumb on the scale at the right moment. With the right information and the right persuasion, you could make a difference on a larger scale.   

RFL: What drew you to RFL? 

CH: The main motivation was my dad. He did it [the Academy] in the 90s and had a powerful experience and encouraged me to apply. I did feel like there was plenty of room for me to do my job as a trustee better — improving my ability to articulate myself, for example. 

RFL: What did you take away from your Academy experience? What’s going to stick with you?  

CH: It was a major time commitment, and so it did force me to be more organized, especially with the civic project. It was a great teamwork experience getting to know the people in my group and appreciating them and seeing how our dynamic improved over time. I do think the project was a really good sandbox for putting a lot of the leadership ideas and concepts we were learning into practice and seeing how they work in a real-world scenario. 

RFL: What aspects of RFL Academy have helped you most as a trustee? 

CH: I think, in general, I have a heightened awareness for the way that teams work together and group dynamics. Being able to put the technical expertise together with the management, or interpersonal expertise was so valuable. I gained so much from just getting the chance to work with a really diverse group of people, with different perspectives — and that’s pretty transferable to the town council job where you’re dealing with all kinds of different people, different communication styles, different organizational styles and different interests or focuses.  

RFL: Any memorable moments from the Academy that stand out in your mind? 

CH: We had great team bonding experiences at the Redstone General Store with our sponsor and we had some public meetings that felt consequential in terms of the project. So, I think those two things were important early on.  

 We had this great ice breaker moment with our team where we ran through some case studies from each of our respective work environments — each of us shared a challenge from our own work environment for the group to break down and apply the concepts that we’d been getting exposed to in the Academy. That was both a good way to bond with the group and make the theories we’d been learning more tangible. I think having these open, free-flowing discussions as a group is what opened us up to each other.