Telluride Arts/Museum: “This Is Colorado (In One Square Foot),” View as of 6/24!

16 Jun Telluride Arts/Museum: “This Is Colorado (In One Square Foot),” View as of 6/24!

Telluride Arts, in partnership with the Telluride Historical Museum, presents “This Is Colorado (In One Square Foot).” More than 120 community artists share their Colorado stories.

Presented with the generous support from the Town of Mountain Village, TMVOA, and CCAASE, “This is Colorado (In One Square Foot)” will be on view from June 24 through August 1, 2026, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, at two locations: Telluride Properties on the Plaza in Mountain Village and Telluride Arts HQ Gallery in town.

The public is invited to a progressive opening reception on June 24, beginning from 4–5 p.m. at Telluride Properties on the Plaza in Mountain Village and continuing from 5–6 p.m. at Telluride Arts HQ Gallery in Telluride. Visitors will have the opportunity to meet participating artists and experience the exhibition across both venues.

Go here to learn more about Telluride Arts.

Go here for more about the Telluride Museum (back to 2009).

What does Colorado look like through the eyes of the people who live here?

This spring, as part of a local effort to celebrate America’s 250th anniversary and Colorado’s 150th anniversary, Telluride Arts, in partnership with the Telluride Historical Museum, invited the community to explore that question by submitting artworks for “This Is Colorado (In One Square Foot),” the region’s first community-wide art project.

Over 120 artists, ranging from first-time participants to professional creatives, accepted the challenge of telling a Colorado story on a canvas measuring just one square foot. Now their work is ready to be unveiled to the public.

“As San Miguel County’s lead representative to the State of Colorado’s Southwest Region Local Organizing Committee for the commemoration of the twin anniversaries, the Museum was looking to get the community involved in the festivities in a way that was both meaningful and appropriate to the county,” Telluride Historical Museum Executive Director, Kiernan Lannon explained. “What better way to engage this community than through art and history?  When I mentioned the possibility to Jessica Galbo, Telluride Arts’ Executive Director, she took the idea and ran with it in an incredibly exciting direction, creating this new community art project.”

Designed to be as inclusive as possible, Telluride Arts offered multiple opportunities for participants to create together, hosting free community canvas events at its gallery headquarters, Ah Haa School for the Arts, and in Mountain Village. These gatherings welcomed artists of all ages and experience levels, resulting in more than 100 completed canvases and creating new opportunities for community members to connect, share stories, and celebrate Colorado through art.

“Seeing these beautiful individual works come together in a single exhibition has been both inspiring and moving,” said Melannie Tavano, Telluride Arts Community Partnerships Coordinator, who is installing the exhibition. “The project transforms over one hundred personal stories into one powerful community portrait of Colorado.”

“It’s been an absolute pleasure to partner with Telluride Arts on this effort,” Lannon added. “Knowing how passionate and creative this community is, I can’t wait to see what the participants cooked up. I’m guessing that folks will really enjoy this exhibit.”

Following an overwhelmingly positive response in its inaugural year, Telluride Arts plans for the project to become an annual tradition with a different theme each year, creating a growing archive of community stories and artistic perspective.

Visit www.telluridearts.org/co-250-150 for more information or email info@telluridearts.org.