TELLURIDE ARTS HOSTS TELETHON

03 Sep TELLURIDE ARTS HOSTS TELETHON

Forty-one may be the new 21. Just ask Telluride Arts. Rather than crashing and burning in a mid-life crisis, the nonprofit formerly known as TCAH, which opened for business in 1971, continues to make big plans for the future, including a re-imagining for Telluride’s grassroots art scene, while celebrating the present. Big time.

Friday, September 7, 9 p.m. – Saturday, September 8m 9 p.m., Telluride Arts hosts its second annual telethon. (The word is shorthand for “television fundraising marathon,” a way to open wallets that started in the Fifties.) The FUNraiser  is scheduled to be broadcast live from The Bean and celebrates Telluride’s appointment as a Colorado Creative District. Supporters not in town can view the show on www.telluridearts.org and in Telluride on Telluride TV, Channel 12. The goal: a whopping $20,000.

Telluride Arts’ telethon should be Telluride at its best, an unapologetically over-the-top 24 hours of music, dance, juggling, skits, cooking demonstrations, artists, jello-wrestling, poetry, perhaps burlesque (Do I have your attention now?), artist interviews, original videos, kid’s hour, bands, big personalities – and you.

Think Jerry Lewis meets PBS. Then take it up a notch…

“Contributions from individuals are such an important part of our organization’s income. While only a small portion of our budget, these small and large donations are votes of confidence from the community that we serve and essential to our mission to serve as the community’s arts organization. Donations received from the telethon will support the menu of Telluride Arts programs that serve to elevate the local arts community as a whole,” said executive director Kate Jones.

Telluride Arts programs are as follows:

Advocacy: In the process of developing Telluride as one of Colorado’s first Creative Districts. Telluride Arts is finalizing the update to the Telluride Cultural Master Plan after engaging over 100 citizens in public meetings to establish a common vision and strategies to increase the vitality of the arts into the future.

Supporting art at its source: Small grant awards put dollars directly into the hands of artists to support innovative works that are then shared with the local community. The Stronghouse Studios + Gallery, the Telluride Artists Bazaar, Gallery 81435, Library Exhibits and Pop Up Galleries around town,  student mentoring, kids artwalk, the Mark Fischer Poetry Prize are all ways Telluride Arts support local artmaking and creativity.

Connecting audiences with artists: Telluride Arts believes the whole is greater than the sum of its parts–and promote the arts and artists as a whole in Telluride through programs such as the Telluride Art Walk, Twenty by Telluride, the Holiday Artists Bazaar, galleries, etc.

Call in your support: 970-728-3930.