Culture

TGFA Twenty-five years ago in Telluride, development was in full swing and funk was becoming fashion when Will and Hilary Thompson opened Telluride Gallery of Fine Art at 130 East Colorado, Main Street. Will declared his mission from the get-go "We are in business to showcase the best art out there."

No qualifiers. Not the best art "for a small town," just the best. Period. At times that has come down to showing art for art's sake, for fun, not for profit, but the Thompsons did not seem to care. They were and are in it for the long haul. The response from the greater Telluride community has been overwhelming: many returning to town from off season breaks make the Gallery their first stop in town, just to check in with gallery director Baerbel Hacke and the other familiar faces on the staff to find out what's shaking.

Unknown This post is deeply personal: The award-winnning contemporary painter Riva Sweetrocket is Telluride Inside... and Out's dearly beloved Denver neighbor. She is also an artist in the stable of the Plus+ Gallery, the Mile High City's outpost (at 2501 Larimer) for uncommonly talented artists with something to say, though they usually don't say it in common vernacular. Riva is currently the featured artist at the Denver Botanic Gardens.

A retrospective of Riva Sweetrocket's bold and beguiling pastels, "Riva Sweetrocket: Extra Ordinary," is  on display at Gates Garden Court Gallery through January 23, 2011, 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Awareness into Action: Galamsey     Telluride locals David Byars and Jenny Jacobi left last year's Mountainfilm with the same inspiration and desire to do good that many take away from Telluride's film and philanthropy festival. Not wanting to lose this feeling, they began a serious...

Thegirlwiththedragontattoo_smallposter Countdowntozero_smallposter For the week of Friday, November 19 through Thursday, November 25 (Thanksgiving), Telluride's Nugget Theatre is "all Salander, all the time." The week starts out with a Sheep Mountain Alliance sponsored film about nuclear danger in the post-Cold War period, "Countdown to Zero." The rest of the week is devoted to Swedish writer Stieg Larsson's Millenium Trilogy and his counter-culture heroine, Lisbeth Salander. Should be an interesting week.

For showtimes, see below and for reviews and trailers, see the Nugget website.

 


(w)holeposter Telluride Inside... and Out was on the road again, this time in Denver for a weekend away to celebrate the most recent triumphs of two talented friends: Ivar Zeile of the Plus Gallery and Tracy Shaffer, actress, playwright, founder of the Thriving Artist Alliance (and TIO's popular Denver writer.) Art by two. Art squared.

Located at 2501 Larimer, Plus is Denver's edgiest art emporium and Ivar, a rainmaker among the avant garde. The night we arrived Ivar had teamed up with Win Wear to host an evening of experimental shorts dedicated to the poetic exploration of landscape. (We bagged: Too tired after the winter drive. But later heard the fun lasted into the wee hours of the morning.)

The next evening, en route to Tracy's play, "(W)hole," we stopped for dinner at the Zeiles' – pizza and wings ordered in from Marco's, the best in town –  and to see the latest exhibition at Plus, "Primitives," featuring the work of California sculptor Mike Whiting.

[click "Play" to hear Scott Doser talk about this new Community Cinema sreies]

 

11-17 Film Deep Down Telluride's five-star Wilkinson Public Library has partnered with ITVS, co-presenter of the Emmy-winning Independent Lens PBS TV series, to present Community Cinema. The FREE monthly series begins Wednesday, November 17, 6 p.m. with "Deep Down," a film by Jen Gilomen and Sally Rubin about a community battle over a proposed mountaintop removal coal mine.

Independent Lens is an indie film fest designed to be delivered into the comfort of your home via PBS. Films come in all flavors: feature-length documentaries, comic shorts, highly experimental. The thread that binds is the spirit that drives the filmmakers, relentless visionaries who tend to ignore conventional rules of the road in pursuit of stories about people not normally seen on TV and little-known worlds. It's a whole different spin on the notion of reality TV.
 

Hereafter_smallposter Secretariat_smallposter2-1 Telluride's Nugget Theatre is showing "Secretariat" (rated PG) and "Hereafter" (rated PG-13) the week of Friday, November 12 through Thursday, November 18, with a Telluride Film Festival screening of "Waiting for Superman" (PG)as the late show on Thursday.

"Secretariat" tells the story of the great racehorse who won the Triple Crown in 1973, the first such win in 25 years. Secretariat was thought to be strongest at shorter lengths, but won the Belmont by an astonishing 31 lengths. The film faithfully follows the true story.

Clint Eastwood directs "Hereafter", probably a good enough reason to see a movie that speculates about what happens when we die. The movie isn't didactic on the subject of an afterlife.

Waitingforsuperman_smallposter The Telluride Film Festival presents "Waiting for Superman", a documentary about what is wrong with the educational system in the US, and issues a call to action to help the situation.

For movietimes, see below; and check the Nugget website for trailer and reviews.

[click "Play" to hear Susan's conversation with John Jacobs]

 

 

JJacob Telluride Inside... and Out has some sound advice to offer.

Thursday, November 11, 6 p.m., Telluride's five-star Wilkinson Public Library hosts Grammy-nominated producer, engineer, arranger John Jacobs to lead Engineering Live Sound 101. His workshop explores how to set-up and get the most out of a PA system. Find out what EQ is and how to dial it in to your system and what equipment you might need for whatever sound reinforcement you are doing. Jacobs also talks about how to get better sound while you are operating cameras or doing live broadcast work.

Former Atlantic Records executive Jerry Wexler made the following comment about Jacobs' production of Maria Muldaur's Richland Woman, describing the project as "the best blues album of the century." (Billboard, 2002.)  Jacobs' folk, blues, and jazz projects have included work with Maria Muldaur, Bonnie Raitt, Taj Mahal, Dan Hicks, Dave Brubeck, Joe Craven, and John Sebastian. A physics-turned-UCLA music major and a working musician for 20 years, Jacobs has built a reputation for melding production and advanced recording technology with the artistry of a musician.

IMG_2253 Five Mountainfilm in Telluride grantees, from a field of 75 filmmakers, photographers, and adventurers, each receive $5,000 and an Apple laptop computer to help with new projects that key into Mountainfilm’s mission to educate and inspire audiences about issues that matter. The grants are the first made under the new Mountainfilm Commitment initiative designed to help ensure that important stories are told – and heard.

“The projects we’re supporting with grants cover very diverse ground but we think each are really worthy, compelling and vital,” said Mountainfilm Executive Director Peter Kenworthy. “We were at real pains to narrow the field because we were presented with such outstanding applications. We think our top five choices reflect the kind of breadth, depth and excellence that Mountainfilm strives for in its programming. We couldn’t be more pleased or excited to be partnering with them.”

Red_movie_poster_final_01-404x600 Telluride's Nugget Theatre has one film on the program for the week of Friday, November 5 through Thursday, November 11, "Red".

"Red" stars Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman, Helen Mirren, John Malkovich: good cast with guns. Should be interesting. Rated PG13.

For showtimes, see below, and see the Nugget website for trailers and reviews.