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Reddrumandtambourine Sponsored by the Telluride Council for the Arts and Humanities, the last First Thursday Art Walk of the winter season 2011 happens this Thursday, March 3. At the Ah Haa School for the Arts, 300 South Townsend, the spotlight is on Telluride local, painter Ron Patterson and his show, "Black & White in Colors."

Anyone who looks at a Patterson image is first struck by the riot of color on canvas. But color is not the point. Color is in the service of what is the point: relationships. Relationships with pets, with the natural world, with others. And because the relationships Ron depicts tend to be joyful, so are the colors: reds, purples, yellows and oranges dominate, lifting the more somber blues and restful greens.

01 March, 2011 /

Dream big Let's start with the something more. Anyone who knows him knows Stash Wislocki, the Telluride AIDS Benefit's executive director, operates on all four burners. When an idea catches his hair on fire, he pursues it until it happens. For years, there has been a disconnect – perceived or real – between what happens at TAB's fashion show extravaganza and the work of the five beneficiaries. Between the glam slam on the catwalk and life on the front lines dealing with individuals and families living with HIV/AIDS. Long-time model Molly Wickwire Sante had an idea that would help bridge that gap.

Similar to the mentorship model established by Telluride-based One to One San Miguel Mentoring Program, TAB's models would "adopt" kids, even families, who are part of the Children's Hospital Immunodeficiency Program (CHIP), a clinic with the Denver Hospital. If Stash has his way, this pilot program will grow into something bigger and more comprehensive.

01 March, 2011 /
[click "Play", Susan talks with Jesse James McTigue and Rick Fusting]

 

 

Christmas Card11 Last week's post on Telluride Inside... and Out described the fundraiser: the world-renowned Harlem Ambassadors take on a local team. The event, a slam dunk fun time, is scheduled to take place Wednesday, March 2, starting at 5:30 p.m., at the Telluride Middle School/High School.

This story is all about why we want to attend. It is all about the cause: One to One San Miguel Mentoring Program.

28 February, 2011 /
[click "Play" to hear Katy Parnello's conversation with Susan]

 

 

Katy Parnello Stash Wislocki, the Telluride AIDS Benefit's executive director, is no gusher, but mention the name "Katy Parnello" and breathless superlatives start flying. With good reason.

Katy Parnello is a multi-media event unto herself: co-creator/co-owner of a successful fashion label, dancer/choreographer, and actor. This year Katy adds one more notch to her increasingly heavy belt: she is the 2011 director of the Telluride AIDS Benefit's fashion show. The Sneak Peak is Thursday, March 3, and the gala is Saturday, March 5. (Both shows are sold out and there is a waiting list.)

The fashion label, Onerary (pronounced “honor-ary”), a collaboration between Katy and Danielle DeRoberts, was inspired by the Greek word "Oneraria," which means “in a dreamlike state.” Founded in 2004 right here in Telluride, Onerary is a fair trade clothing line for women that merges forward-thinking design and functionality, striving to blur the lines between work and play. (For an early intro to Onerary, see this 2009 post on Telluride Inside... and Out.)

28 February, 2011 /
[click "Play" to hear Susan's conversation with Ben Schatz]

 

 

Kinsey Sicks Don we now our gay apparel. It's Gay Ski Week in Telluride, when the town pulls out all the stops as the week builds toward the Telluride AIDS Benefit art auction and gala fashion show, Friday, March 4, and Saturday, March 5. En route, there's a nonstop line-up of what to do, starting with something really b-a-a-a-d.

And Telluride likes it like that: here, really good is really b-a-a-a-d. We are talking about America's favorite Dragapella Beautyshop Quartet, "The Kinsey Sicks," scheduled for scandal at the historic Sheridan Opera House, Wednesday, March 2, 7:30 p.m. The event is co-production between telluride.arts and Gay Ski Week.

28 February, 2011 /
[click "Play" to listen to Ron Gilmer's take on the state of AIDS]    

6a00e553ed7fe188330148c7b8ed9c970c-120wi At the time of his death in December 2010, Ambassador Richard Holbrooke had had a 20-year relationship with the Telluride community. One fact that might be lost in all the ink spilled over his extensive legacy is this: Holbrooke was once president of the Global Business Coalition against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. As an AIDS activist, Ambassador Holbrooke summed up the Telluride AIDS Benefit this way:

"What Telluride is doing is a model for small communities around the world."

In the program for the upcoming Telluride AIDS Benefit fashion show, there's a tribute to Ambassador Holbrooke and the evening is dedicated to the man. Which is a good and proper thing, but....

Is TAB still necessary?

28 February, 2011 /

TFF's Gary Meyer at TFF,2010
Gary Meyer, TFF 2010

What happens in Telluride does not necessarily stay in Telluride. Buzz from the Telluride Film Festival is one great example. And buzz from the Telluride Film Festival generally winds up on the stage of Hollywood's Kodak Theatre, the scene of the biggest glam slam on the winter season in Tinseltown. We are talking, of course, about the 83rd annual Academy Awards. The golden boy. Oscar.

The moment of truth is Sunday evening, February 27.

In one incarnation or another, we have covered the Telluride Film Festival every year since 1993. In every review, we have predicted which films, which actors, etc. should take home a statue. And we've rolled sevens almost every year.

27 February, 2011 /
[click "Play" to listen to Jodie Wright talk about the auction items and her involvement with the Telluride AIDS Benefit]

 

Laura Linney
Laura Linney

No doubt about it. The Telluride AIDS Benefit's fashion show is the insider ticket of the winter season. Both evenings, this year, the sneak peak Thursday night, March 3, and the gala on Saturday, March 5, sell out in the blink of an eye.

(However, you can still email TAB's executive director Stash Wislocki to get on the waiting list.)

But in the middle of the fabulous booty and threads, it is easy to lose sight of the goal: AIDS prevention education and helping those living with HIV/AIDS through TAB's beneficiaries, five non-profits in all, whose tireless efforts extend from Colorado to Africa. The only way that work continues is by keeping the pump (TAB) primed, which means raising money. Which is why the Telluride AIDS Benefit's fearless leader, board chair Jodie Shike Wright, works around the clock to develop packages to auction off on the runway after the catwalk at both shows.

Among the irresistible goodies for 2011:

27 February, 2011 /

[click "Play to hear Susan's conversation with WestCAP's Mary Beth Luedtke ]

 

 

WestCAP office Since getting off the ground in 1994, the Telluride AIDS Benefit has donated over $1 million towards HIV/AIDS education, advocacy and NGOs, from Colorado to Africa. Today, there are a total of six beneficiaries, including Denver Children's Hospital Immunodeficiency Program, Brother Jeff's Community Health Initiative, The Manzini Youth Care Center in Manzini (Swaziland) and the Ethiopian Family Fund. But the mother of them all, TAB's primary beneficiary, is the Western Colorado AIDS Project (WestCAP), a nonprofit that in its infancy helped support a man named Robert Presley in his battle against the virus. Presley was the Telluride AIDS Benefit's muse.

26 February, 2011 /