Telluride Arts presents First Thursday Art Walk, Kids Walk

06 Jul  Telluride Arts presents First Thursday Art Walk, Kids Walk

The First Thursday Art Walk is a celebration of the arts in downtown Telluride for art lovers, community and friends.  A dozen venues open their doors from 5 p.m. – 8 p.m. to introduce their new exhibitions and artists.  Restaurants feature Art Walk specials.

New for Summer 2011, select venues extend their open hours and welcome children and their families for a special Kids Walk. A treasure map provides a self-guided tour and simple activities that teach basic principles of art through observation. Key venues offer hands on activities.

July Art Walk 2011 shows include:

Ah Haa School for the Arts, 300 South Townsend, features Rob Schultheis, Nancy Craft, and Renee Swire in "Roads to Xanadu." (See related post)

Alpine Coffee (in Between the Covers), 224 West Colorado Avenue , offers fine coffee to go with fine art, at the back of a fine bookstore.

Azadi Fine Rugs, 217 West Colorado Avenue, showcases art you can walk on. Explore the mastery and art of fine rugs from all different regions of the world, hand-made by master weavers, using natural dyes and materials to create masterpieces spanning hundreds of years.

Gallerie Framing, 217 West Colorado Avenue, features “Stormy Skies,” new 2011 photos from Colorado and Oklahoma by Melanie Metz.

La Cocina De Luz, 123 East Colorado Avenue, hosts Judy Haas's trout and botanical pastels,
 “After Audubon”  and glazed ceramic platters and “Seed” series of Fractals.

Legacy Gallery, 219 E. Colorado Ave, features contemporary and eclectic southwest art and jewelry, pottery and glass.

Lustre, an Artisan Gallery, 171 South Pine Street, welcomes Kim Carpenter, chief design professional and goldsmith, Todd Reed Studios. The artful jewelry collection highlights raw and naturally colored diamonds. Todd Reed has devoted his jewelry career to these beautiful gems, setting them in reclaimed gold, palladium, and platinum.  (See related post on another Lustre artist, Marshall Noice)

Schilling Studio Gallery, 151 S. Pine  features the work of three artists: Donne Bitner, Elizabeth Frank and Hunter Hogan. Bitner shows her work for the first time in town. "Donne Bitner's work is complex," explains Amy Schilling. "Her visual strength is beautifully connected to the best of contemporary art."

Elizabeth Frank is being re-introduced to Telluride. (The artist used to show at the McNair Gallery.)To make her figurative sculptures, Frank carves fallen aspen wood and combines it with intriguing reclaimed elements, such as old furniture and vintage hardware. Her pieces are featured in numerous publications including two books: "500 Handmade Dolls" and "Wood Art Today. "

Schilling Studio Gallery has represented the work of Hunter Hogan for three years. The artist plans to attend Art Walk with the new work she just finished at Anderson Ranch. "Prior to painting, I was a tapestry weaver and patterns continue to show up in my work."

Steaming Bean, 221 West Colorado Avenue, features work from Jeremy Baron's Telluride Academy Photography Camp.

Stronghouse Studios and Local Artist Gallery, 283 South Fir Street, is proud to host an opening reception for David Brankley’s painting exhibit, "A Tale of Two Cities," images of Telluride and Rhodes, Greece.

Telluride Gallery of Fine Art, 130 East Colorado Avenue, welcomes Malcolm "Skip" Liepke back to town. The artist's second solo exhibition includes 24 new oil paintings of sensuous sirens tricked out in fabulous haute couture gear.

Don’t miss this rare opportunity to meet an artist who has established himself as a leading voice in today's resurgence of figurative painting.  His works are in the collections of both the Brooklyn and the Smithsonian Museums, as well as many prestigious private and public collections worldwide. (See related post and listen to Liepke's interview with Telluride Inside… and Out) Also featured, new jewelry by goldsmith Barbara Heinrich. Follow this link for an interview with the artist who is now showing her latest line featuring the universal symbol of the spiral.

Telluride Historical Museum, 201 West Gregory Avenue. The summer exhibit is "Layin Down the Law." (Artist Judy McGowan is in town to promote "In the Courthouse: Portraits from San Miguel County," on display in the main hallway of the San Miguel County Courthouse, June 28  – September 16, 2011.)

Wilkinson Public Library, 100 West Pacific Avenue, is proud to incorporate the work of local artists. This month, on display is the work of Brad Chappel, Scott Upshur, and Corinne Scheman. Above the music catalog, patrons will find Chappel's funky series of bell-bottom pants titled "I Am." A flashback to a different time, Chappel combines a multitude of different fabrics in a psychedelic visual canopy.  
Walking towards the upstairs collection, Upshur's photography from Africa reminds us how foreign cultures capture the imagination. On the western wall of the second floor, Scheman's acrylics on paper display scenes from nature with an impressionistic touch.

Local musicians entertain on the Library veranda until 9 p.m.

For more information about Art Walk or Kids Walk, pick up a free brochure at any participating venue and around town or call Telluride Arts 970-728-8959, TellurideArts.org, or Telluride Arts on Facebook and Twitter.