LUNAFEST 2011/2012 Trailer from Clif Bar & Company on Vimeo. by Lauren MetzgerMarketing & Exhibition DirectorAh Haa School for the ArtsOctober is Breast Cancer Awareness and Domestic Violence Provention Month. Just one of the reasons the Ah Haa School for the Arts chose October to be...
The 2nd annual Telluride Photo Festival is underway. The event, which runs from September 26 – October 2, targets professional and experienced amateur photographers with a menu of activities that includes workshops, seminars, symposiums, portfolio reviews and exhibits. And since it's Telluride, home to Mountainfilm and eco-crusaders, founder Eric Moore puts the emphasis on conservation photography, such as the work of Ian Shive.
On Friday, September 30, Photo Fest hosts a screening of Ian's documentary, "Wild Life: A New Generation of Wild." Ian appears on two panels, one on conservation photography and a second about the use of still photography for environmental activism. He also plans to be on hand for a book-signing at Between the Covers bookstore, also Friday. (Check Photo Fest's website for exact details.)
Young People's Literature and Art Festival & Exhibit features Brian Selznick
Connect the dots and what becomes apparent is a certain symmetry between the Telluride Film Festival and Telluride's five-star Wilkinson Public Library, whose upcoming Cinematheque – stay tuned for exact dates and films – is one of the most popular events of Telluride's fall/winter season.
Martin Scorsese's "Living in a Material World," about the life and times of Beatles "dark horse" George Harrison screened at the Film Festival over Labor Day weekend as did a Serge Bromberg's painstaking and beautiful restoration of George Melies's silent film masterpiece, "A Trip to the Moon," which Bromberg once described as "the 'Avatar' of its day. Scorsese's next big project and his first dive into a film for children is "Hugo," a project formerly known as "Hugo Cabret." (Apparently focus groups nixed the longer name).
When Eric Moore moved back to Telluride in 2010 after being away for a few years, he decided it was time to create the Telluride Photography Festival. After all, photographers from all over the world already flock to the San Juans every fall. The combination of spectacular golden aspens and spectacular scenery makes it hard for most photographers to resist.
This year the second annual Photography Festival returns to Telluride. World-class photographers such as Tom Till, Adam Barker, Tim Cample and the Camp 4 Collective, and David FitzSimmons will be presenting their work and leading workshops. Professional and amateur photographers alike will have the chance to meet, attend seminars and symposiums, and do portfolio reviews all while exploring this year’s theme of conservation.
by Lauren Metzger
Marketing & Exhibtions Manager
Ah Haa School for the Arts
Thoughout October, the Ah Haa School for the Arts will be saluting the courageous women of San Miguel County and the organizations that support them by showcasing women in the arts. Art of Being a Woman Month will present a month full of activities, events and special exhibtions all celebrating the female spirit.
Telluride's very own, Julee Hutchison will start the month off with a discounted two day oil painting workshop, Portraits of a Woman, for beginner and intermediate painters. Capture the beauty of the female form and face in the richness of oil paint, during this fun and non-intimidating class. Julee will discuss and demonstrate composition, anatomy, mixing of colors, the approach to a blank canvas, and the importances of “edges”. During the lunch break we will look at photos of famous painters and discuss the factors of their successful paintings. This course empowers the apprehensive creator to engage with a rewarding medium, by receiving one-on-one instructions as they paint from a female model.
by Emily Brendler Shoff
The Telluride Blues and Brews Festival always falls at the time of year when anything can happen weather-wise. It can be sunny and 70, or it can be snowing. This weekend was both. 
Saturday, it rained and snowed so hard that even long-time locals were questioning why they call Telluride home. At the beer tasting, people were dressed in every imaginable combination they could think of to stay warm. Those who’d thought to bring rain jackets and rain paints were the happiest but equally happy were those in trash bags, snap-up Carhartt suits, and polypro onesies. I even saw one guy wearing his ski clothes, including ski boots.
The weather didn’t seem to dampen people’s appreciation for the beer or the music. If anything, it just added another layer of appreciation. People discussed others’ outfits as much as they discussed the beer.
My rubber xtra-tuf rain boots from my Alaska NOLS trip in 1994 got the same amount of praise as I imagine the latest handbags do in New York.
Marcia Ball hit the jackpot with her name. It defines the lady and her talent, as in Marcia Ball is:
“More fun than a barrel of funky monkeys. Spicy, Texas-Louisiana blues, rock 'n’ roll and boogie-woogie...awesome piano,” National Public Radio
Translation: The lady is, well, a ball. And those around have – you guessed it - a ball.
Singer/pianist Marcia Ball joins Willie Nelson, Mavis Staple, The Robert Cray Band, Dweezil Zappa, BIg Head Todd and the Monsters on long list of talent performing this weekend at Steve Gumble's rocking, rollicking 18th annual Telluride Blues & Brews Festival.
by Lauren Metzger
Marketing Director
Ah Haa School for the Arts
Well, the leaves are turning and this is our last big weekend before town is quiet. But just because town is slowing down, doesn't mean the Ah Haa School is. Our new fall/winter catalog is online and at the printer. The catalog has a great line up of workshops and events for adults and kids and showcases the beautiful work of local artist, Judy Haas on the cover.
Don't forget that next month is The Art of Being A Woman Month where the Ah Haa School celebrates the female spirit in the arts. The school will once again host Lunafest, the national touring women’s short film festival, a handful of workshops and last year's every popular BRAvo Auction. Be a part of BRAvo this year and decorate a bra to help raise awareness about breast cancer. Bras will be available at the school starting next Friday the 23rd. Partial proceeds will benefit the San Miguel Resource Center.
Two-day celebration begins September 9 with old-timey telethon
The history of the Telluride Council for the Arts & Humanities, aka Telluride Arts, is the history of our town from the tie-dyed days hippies and falling down shacks, the 1970s, to robust resort packed with ski bums, entrepreneurs and retired CEOS, living in hot-and-cold running condos and restored Victorians. What everyone has had in common over the years is reverence for the Telluride landscape and abiding support for the region's cultural economy, initially nurtured by Telluride Arts.
In 1971, the ski area had just opened and the town's brand new Arts Council began looking for state grants and running benefits. Those early years were focused on incubating a dynamic arts activity by fostering grass roots initiatives and presenting and producing a robust array of cultural events and activities. Many of those programs hatched under Telluride Arts have flourished and helped define the region, among them: Telluride Film Festival, Telluride Chamber Music Festival, Telluride Bluegrass, all three having just celebrated 38 years in business. The Telluride Jazz Celebration, Telluride Writer's Guild and the Telluride Artists' Bazaar also received a leg up from the organization.
Mountainfilm Educational Initiative Garners Praise and Renewed Support
Making Movies that Matter, an educational outreach program launched by Mountainfilm three years ago, has received renewed funding by Colorado Creative Industries (CCI - formerly The Colorado Council on the Arts). In a particularly competitive climate, the program received high marks from the state agency that receives its funds, in part, from the National Endowment for the Arts. This marks the second time in three years that the state arts agency has approved grant funding for Mountainfilm’s program. This year the amount of the award, $8,500, has nearly doubled. Members of the CCI grant selection committee echoed former praise for Making Movies That Matter, citing its “relevance, excellent teacher materials, strong implementation capacity, high quality of film artists and its impact on kids.”
Making Movies That Matter introduces middle and high school students to vital global issues through the medium of documentary films. Following critical content analysis, the students are taught basic editing techniques and, with permission from the filmmakers, distill the films they have studied into their own shortened renditions, adding graphics, music, voiceovers and other editorial elements of their choosing. The best of the student films are then showcased at Mountainfilm’s annual festival.
