Culture

[click "Play" to hear Nicole Finger describing recent work]


Nf3 It's that time again: Telluride Arts' First Thursday Art Walk (September 1, 2011), when venues of all stripes open their doors to showcase the best of Telluride's arts and crafts scene, with everyone staying open late until 8 p.m.  At the Ah Haa School for the Arts the featured show is new work by Nicole Finger. The artist's reception takes place 5 – 8 p.m.

Art is not just about the right color on the right surface. It is about synthesizing an artist’s experiences. Nicole’s new work,  new images of horses, proves we are what we create. "e-Motion"  – the name of Nicole's show – is highly autobiographical and all the more powerful because the paintings are metaphors for Nicole's life in particular and in the artist's words, the "fleeting nature of life" in general.

38th_tff_poster_layers "This festival (the Telluride Film Festival) is characterized by its small size and friendly atmosphere. If there were a few key words to describe Telluride, they might include 'intimate' and 'down home,' just as easily as 'monumental' and 'important," Boulder Daily Camera


Even without a pass, the 38th annual Telluride Film Festival, 9/2 – 9/5, has something for almost everyone.

The Telluride Film Festival opens with free films sponsored by Ralph and Ricky Lauren. The five film premieres start Wednesday night, August 31, just after dark  – and a day before the cat is let out of the bag about screenings on the long weekend to come.

(Thursday at noon, when the embargo is lifted, Telluride Inside… and Out releases four different posts about this year's Festival, interviews recorded live with Festival co-director Gary Meyer about the features, the tributes, documentaries, shorts and special programs and who's coming to town.)

[click "Play" to hear Jesse's interview with James Anaquad-Kleinhert]

 

By Jesse James McTigue

Horses, helicopter It may be impossible to watch Wild Horses and Renegades and not be outraged.

The documentary film calls attention to the politics driving the strategic and systematic extinction of wild horses on public lands; an initiative born through the Bureau of Land Management’s cooperation with the extractive industries to access protected lands for their own purposes – primarily drilling.

The film screens at 7 pm this Wednesday, August 31st, at the Palm Theater. The evening begins with a reception at 6 pm that will include food from local restaurants, art exhibits, a silent auction and a poetry reading by Michael Blake, author of “Dances With Wolves”. The film’s director, producer and cinematographer, James Anaquad–Kleinhert will be on hand to introduce the film and answer questions.

[click "Play", Susan chats with Sarah Rosenberg and Luis Cardenas]

 

Mountainfilm in Telluride and Aspen's Wheeler Opera House announce their third annual joint production: MountainSummit: Mountainfilm in Telluride. The event bookends the Main Event, the annual of gathering of the tribe in Telluride, which happens over Memorial weekend and opens Telluride's summer festival season with a bang: lots of conversations about preserving and protecting endanger people, places and ideas.

MountainSummit takes place Thursday,  August 25 – Sunday, August 28. Among the films to be screened are “Magic Trip,” about the 1960s travels of writer Ken Kesey and his Merry Pranksters, Christopher Paine's “Revenge of the Electric Car,” a follow-up to Paine's 2006 documentary “Who Killed the Electric Car?”, and “Happy,” a multicultural examination of the universal truths about happiness, produced by Tom Shadyac ("I Am").  The event closer and what a grand finale it is: "Shakespeare High."

[click "Play" to hear Ryan Wilson's interview with Katie Karrow and four of the young people]

 

by Ryan Wilson

Speak Editor's note: If you attended the graduation of Telluride's Class of 2011, you saw the notion of American exceptionalism in action: a group of young people who excelled in the classroom and on the mountain being rewarded for their achievements with scholarships to top colleges. True, we live in a small town, but that does not mean an absence of big opportunities. Telluride teens with aspirations have lots of places to turn for support. The following story by the Wilkinson Public Library's Ryan Wilson illustrates that point.

Ever wonder what teenagers today are thinking?  On Saturday, August 27, 5:15 p.m., Program Room, Telluride's Wilkinson Public Library, a group of 11 Telluride teens open a window into their minds at the premiere of their short documentary film "Speak." 

by Jim Bedford

The-Smurfs-movie-poster-02-550x810 CrazyStupidLove The Nugget Theatre in beautiful downtown Telluride shows movies all year long and screens two films this coming week before the Telluride Film Festival takes over the Nugget and much of the town.

Friday through Tuesday, Aug 26-30, THE SMURFS (PG) are back and blue, very blue. With the talents of Neil Patrick Harris, Hank Azaria, Katy Perry, George Lopez and Paul Reubens. Serious family fun!

Also Friday through Tuesday, Aug 26-30, CRAZY, STUPID, LOVE. (PG13) brings together Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, Julianne Moore, Emma Stone, Marisa Tomei and Kevin Bacon, in a comedy about relationships.

The Telluride Film Festival takes over the Nugget from August 31 through September 8 so enjoy the SHOW! The Nugget will be back with movies every night again starting Friday, September 9.

See the Nugget website for trailers and reviews, and below for movie times.

by Emily Brendler Shoff

It’s easy to come up with reasons not to go to Shakespeare in the Telluride Town Park. You’re broke. You’re afraid of Town Park after dark. You’re afraid of Shakespeare.

But here are a few reasons why you should dig more deeply into your wallet and soul and go see this year’s Repertory production of As You Like It.

For starters…. Hockey talent in the summer. It’s not often that you see many killer hockey players that can also act. It’s rarer still to see killer hockey players perform Shakespeare. This year, the Rep has two such stars, and they’re as successful on the stage as they are on the ice. Buff Hooper is a surly and charming Jacques, one whose melancholy energizes the stage. Emily Koren is a playful and puckish Touchstone, a fool who reminds us at once to reflect and to laugh.

[click "Play", Steve Gumble talks to Susan about the Taos Mountain Music Festival]

 

Taos Music poster Steve Gumble (and his SBG productions) is the force behind the Telluride Blues & Brews Festival, now in its 18th year and a sold-out success annually. So what's a nice guy like that doing in a place like Taos? The short answer: Making a good thing better.

Friends and producers of the Taos event were not in the Festival producing business like Steve. Their day job was running the mountain. So, they approached their friend Steve to grow a musical event with loads of promise.

The third annual Taos Mountain Music Festival takes place this year on Saturday, August 20 and Sunday, August 21. Northern New Mexico's music event of the summer features headliners Matisyahu, Railroad Earth, Ozomatli, and Leftover Salmon. Additional festival performances include Donna the Buffalo, Jackie Greene Duo, Afroman, Orgone, Dangermuffin, Langhorne Slim, Shannon McNally and Hot Sauce, Ryan McGarvey and Mariachi Luz de Luna.

[click "Play", Susan talks with Rev. Pat Bailey]

 

Contemplation Garden Once upon a lifetime ago, Telluride Inside…and Out visited the Ryoan-Ji Zen Garden in Kyoto, Japan. The mystical place consists of raked gravel and 15 moss-covered boulders, arranged so that when viewed from any angle other than above, just 14 of the boulders are visible at one time. The big idea: only when we achieve enlightenment can we see all 15 at once.

Now let's take that idea home to Telluride, where Reverend Pat Bailey and Christ Church have created a variation on the theme of Ryoan-Ji. In the church's brand new contemplation garden, grass replaces gravel and stones are for sitting as we look up at our "boulders," the giant peaks that surround our box canyon. A Celtic cross, a Buddha and a cairn are set among the flowers, inviting everyone into the spiritual world of his choice.