Telluride Arts: March Art Walk, 3/2 (Many Shows Up Through Off-Season)!

28 Feb Telluride Arts: March Art Walk, 3/2 (Many Shows Up Through Off-Season)!

Telluride Arts’ Art Walk takes place Thursday, March 2. Participating venues are open 5-8pm, hosting receptions to introduce new exhibits and artists. 

Complimentary gallery guides, offering a self-guided tour, are available at participating venues or online at telluridearts.org/tellurideartwalk. Use it any time to help navigate through the venues which are open to the public most days. 

For more information about the Telluride art galleries and exhibition venues, visit: www.telluridearts.org/galleries. View more Telluride Arts District upcoming events here: www.telluridearts.org/calendar

Go here for more about Slate Gray’s current show, “Without Reservations,” featuring the work of Fran Nagy and Gina Sarro.

Go here for more about the work at Telluride Arts HQ West.

Go here for more about Art Walk in general.

Venues Hosting Art Walk Receptions:

Ah Haa School for the Arts
Atelier
Baked in Telluride
BELLA Fine Goods
Between the Covers / Bruno
Communion Wine Bar
Elinoff & Co.
La Cocina de Luz
MiXX Projects + Atelier
Red Dirt Studio Gallery
Rinkevich Gallery
Slate Gray Gallery
Tellurado Studio
Telluride Arts HQ Gallery East
Telluride Arts HQ Gallery West
Wilkinson Public Library
WOOF! Telluride

Ah Haa School for the Arts:

Tulsa-based artist collective No Parking Studios comes to Ah Haa School for the Arts on the heels of a successful exhibition at Art Basel Miami 2022.

Fabrics From “The Distant Sun,” opening March 2nd, imagines the NOPS artists as intergalactic ambassadors, bringing artifacts from the Universe of Tulsa to Telluride.

Blurring the lines of contemporary mixed-media and Pop art, the exhibition features neon-tubed paintings, 100’s of process sketches, incredible streetwear and one-of-a-kind wearable art, filling Ah Haa’s gallery in an explosion of color and cool.

Artists will be in attendance for Art Walk! Join in celebrating NOPS with the debut of DJ LEAUX (Laura Idema Shaunette), Pop Telluride popsicle bar and nostalgic small bites.\

Atelier:

Atelier is artist Joanie Schwarz’s working studio and gallery space at 215 E Colorado Ave.

Schwarz’s artwork ranges from delicate 14k handmade gold jewelry to dreamscape-merged photography of old world Telluride.

All of Schwarz’s work questions what connecting means in a world where our sense of home seems to be a given in defining who we are.

Baked in Telluride:

Baked In Telluride features photographs by Lawrence Giles, a long-time Telluride resident captivated by the colors and design of nature.

Giles is a painter, photographer and print shop owner who arrived in Telluride in 1995 and never left.

He says:

“I have been an artist for as long as I can remember. The mountains have always been my inspiration …and continue to be to this day. I grew up in the mountains of California and have always sought to be near vertical terrain. I have done everything around here in Telluride from ski bum/lift operator, construction worker, graphic designer, magazine designer and Art Director to now Print Shop Owner.”

Lawrence now divides his time between print work, getting out around the local area to photograph and hike, and scuba-diving several times per year.

The photographic work displayed here is the result of several years of photographic exploration on the elements that inspire Giles – response to the design, color, and emotions brought about by the weather, landscapes and creatures as experienced here in the San Juan Mountains and elsewhere on the planet.

Bella Fine Goods:

Bella Fine Goods is pleased to feature mixed-media artist Eric Jon for the March Art Walk.

Native Californian and descendent of the Cahuilla band of Indians, Eric Jon is known for his mixed-media art. His art is a story meant to communicate history and culture – per indigenous subject matter. His work utilizes various mediums, including wood, metal, fabric, acrylic, and imagery from popular media sources.

Jon is recognized for his unique layering techniquem which uses different textures to infuse emotion through each piece.

Eric Jon infuses numerology and ancient symbolism in his work too, paying tribute to the higher power of every culture and the indigenous origins of his work.

Jon writes: “My passion is curation and storytelling. Through the creative process, authenticity reigns supreme when representing lifestyle and culture.”’

Between the Covers/Bruno Cafe:

Between the Covers has been a haven for book-lovers and a community hub since 1974. Visit the new store and Bruno Café. While visiting, enjoy photographic works by Lara Porzak. New featured pieces include “The Stunner” and “Sofi’s Trees.”

Lara Porzak is an American fine-art photographer living and working in Los Angeles, exclusively in analog methods. In an article for Fresh Style Magazine, Annalise Devries wrote:

“Lara commits herself to the particular photographic aesthetic you cannot preview on the back of a digital camera. Using old techniques—from the Leonardo pin-hole camera to the century-old daguerreotype to the 1960s Diana — she captures raw emotions, even spiritual sensibilities in grainy shades of gray.”

Porzak has exhibited in prestigious galleries across the United States and Europe. Her photographs are notably included in the J. Paul Getty Museum collection.

Communion Wine Bar:

Communion Wine Bar is featuring artwork by local photographer Orion Willits.

Born and raised in the San Juan Mountains, Willits was fortunate to grow up with the resources, mentors, and experiences not only to explore the many mountains and canyons that surround him, but also to photograph them.

His backyard adventures grew into an immense respect for the outdoors and the environment. Orion’s ever-growing appreciation for this landscape has fueled his beliefs and inspired his art.

Willits left Southwest Colorado to develop his photography while studying at Montana State University and assisting his professor, Guggenheim Award-recipient Ian Van Coller. He traveled with Van Coller and learned many valuable skills by working in Van Coller’s home studio editing and printing work.

Willits’ last trip with Van Coller was to photograph receding glaciers in the Arctic.

Elinoff & Co.:

Elinoff & Co. is featuring the art of Eugenio.

Simply known as Eugenio, he is one of the most promising Peruvian artists working today.

Sprawling cities might seem boisterous to some, but for Eugenio a bustling city is a source of inspiration. Through a command of light and movement, Eugenio takes the ordinary trappings of urban settings — cityscapes depicting crowds of people shuffling through a brightly-lit street — and transforms the scene into something grander.

La Cocina De Luz:

La Cocinca de Luz is featuring the works of Michael Wyszynski.

A resident of the Telluride region for over 20 years, Michael has been a doodler all of his life.

Michael grew up in northern Wisconsin, finished high school in California, then joined the Navy, spending over three years on boats. After the Navy, he went north again, this time to study biology at the University of Montana in Missoula. During those years, Michael mostly kept his creative side to himself.

In 2010, Michael took an Ah Haa class with Bruce Gomez and rediscovered his love of art. He uses a pastel-on-sanded-watercolor paper technique that allows him to blend and smooth the medium.

Michael strives to capture an almost photo-realistic image from a certain distance but then, as you approach the painting, colors and values separate, giving each painting an expressionistic feel.

Michael’s recent work focuses on the mountain landscapes of Southwest Colorado and the desert landscapes of Colorado Plateau.

MiXX Projects + Atelier:

MiXXAtelier’s March exhibit, “Iconic,” showcases four artists: David Kammerzell, Mitch McGee, Rachel Paxton, and Ouida Touchon, who each bring a fresh perspective to the classic imagery and motifs that have become emblematic of the American West.

Using distinct media and artistic styles, Kammerzell and McGee cleverly refract western Americana through their respective lenses of mid-century nostalgia, and playful pop art iconography.

Paxton’s neon sign paintings breathe new life into aging structures that feel otherwise stuck in time.

Touchon’s mixed-media works pay homage to the feminine characters that too frequently go unwritten in tales of the Wild West.

Red Dirt Studio Gallery:

Red Dirt Studio Gallery is featuring paintings from Eunika Rogers, a local painter who works in found clay, wine and pigments collected on her hikes in San Juan Mountains and Telluride.

With her earthy palette Eunika creates large, realistic paintings of Colorado landscapes using the materials with which they were formed.

Rinkevich Gallery:

The Rinkevich Gallery is featuring the abstract painting of long-time local Margaret Rinkevich.

The Rinkevich Gallery is one of Mountain Village’s premier art venues. The space also showcases a unique selection of traditional, tribal sculpture and small works on paper, plus jewelry and scarves.

Slate Gray Gallery:

Slate Gray Gallery presents three shows in March: “Without Reservations” featuring the paintings of Fran J Nagy and Gina Sarro; “Watershed Moments,” featuring the wall sculptures of Christopher Warren; and a trunk show featuring jewelry by Sasha.

Fran Nagy’s contemporary acrylic paintings convey a visually powerful humanitarian message – reminding the viewer of the journey and the assimilation of Native Americans in the Southeastern US during the 1800’s. The landscapes are obscured, and the human figures are viewed from the back, faceless, moving towards an unknown destination.

Gina Sarro captures the vast landscape with her distinct technique, painting skies, mountains, water, and fields evoking both flatness and depth. Abstracted marks of color come together to create serene, mystical compositions. These abstracted marks hold their own little narratives, allowing the viewer to recall their own personal experiences in nature’s pristine landscape.

Christopher Warren is a gay artist known for his intricate depictions of topographic landscapes.

Born and raised in Durango, the rugged beauty of the surrounding mountains and desert canyons sparked a fascination with topography at a young age. In this exhibition, discrete watersheds formed by the creeks pouring into the Telluride valley have been simplified and taken into the technicolor realm, abstracting the familiar drainages of Bear Creek, Cornet Creek, Prospect Creek, and others, turning them into playful forms that bring a new context to the waterways surrounding Telluride.

Sasha has lived in Telluride for the past 24 years. His line of jewelry, SASHA by Alexander, is one of many creative outlets he uses to express himself. Inspiration for his line comes from the connections between molecules, the human body, and the cosmos.

Sasha works with precious metals like sterling silver, gold, platinum, and palladium. His process is a unique combination of the ancient wax-casting technique and modern 3D printing. Over 30 new designs will be on view as part of the trunk show.’

Tellurado Studio:

The Tellurado Studio is featuring the adventurous fine art of Markus Pierson.

Pierson explores a mythic narrative in his Coyote series, each piece symbolic of wanderlust and living beyond boundaries.

The protagonists of these hand-embellished prints are the coyotes: enigmatic figures searching for the next big adventure.

Telluride Arts HQ Gallery:

Telluride Arts is featuring “Apres Ski,” an exhibition featuring the work of Shannon Foley Henn.

Shannon has led an eclectic life which includes organizing safaris, running a boutique hotel and starting up the world’s leading rock and roll cancer foundation. She has organized adventure concerts on Everest base camp, Kilimanjaro, Machu Picchu and Mount Fuji.

In 2016, Shannon returned from a year in East Africa supporting a pediatric cancer center and moved to Winter Park, CO.

Shannon has found a way to unite her life experiences into pop art pieces made from acrylic on canvas. Her most recent series, “Apres Ski,” is a culmination of her years working with musicians in the rock and roll industry and her current home in the ski town of Winter Park, Colorado.

Shannon loves infusing a bit of rock and roll energy into the ski community through her recent work.

Shop the collection here.

Telluride Arts HQ Gallery West:

At 224 W Colorado, just next door to Telluride Arts HQ East, Telluride Arts HQ Gallery West is the newest contemporary art space from Telluride Arts opening for February Art Walk.

This March, Telluride Arts is featuring Open Space by Diane Best.

With this series, Best continues her exploration of the more and more remote, uninhabited, and overlooked corners of the earth.

She says: “I am interested in preserving or recording a single incredible moment of converging light and landscape while enjoying the space, beauty and quietness.”

Featured in the show will be a series of large-format, acrylic paintings from desert, arctic, and alpine landscapes including her coveted work “Telluride Whiteout” (2018, 36×72”).

Additionally, Best will be showcasing new and old, large format brush drawings inspired by the iconic Joshua tree, a staple of the desert, and a favored subject of hers for 25 years.

Bestt’s nwork has been presented in solo and group exhibits throughout the country, including shows at the Carnegie Museum, the Southwest Museum in LA, a show of her “Shack” photos in NYC, and the Joshua Treenial 2015, 2017 and 2019.

Wilkinson Public Library:

Telluride Arts is presenting a Wilkinson Public Library exhibition titled “Seasons,” works by local artist Gregory Deame.

Deame grew up in Massachusetts, but has lived in Telluride for over 20 years. His first art class was taught by his sister in his parents’ basement. Afterward, Deame learned to illustrate using technical pens while also studying landscape architecture at the University of Massachusetts.

After moving to Colorado, Deame began to expand the way he chose to render landscapes, now using ink, watercolors, and acrylic paint.

WOOF! Telluride:

Home of Gondogola, WOOF! Telluride (formerly Kamruz Gallery) is now located at 307 E Colorado Ave.

WOOF! Telluride features photography by Mary Kenez and local painters who capture the spirit of Telluride and Southwest Colorado.

The gallery hosts unique and humorous creations that represent the ever-so-active, hippy-happy and sometimes a bit quirky Telluride lifestyle