Just a little reminder that the San Miguel Basin Fair and Rodeo is taking place right now down in Norwood. The festivities began at 6:00 pm on Friday, July 15th, @ the County Fairgrounds Outdoor Arena with a Greased Pig Contest - PRIZE...
By J James McTigue
In Rome they’d throw people in a ring with a lion for entertainment; in Telluride we have The Lunar Cup. It’s an event that shouldn’t really be watched—it’s frightening and a little disturbing, yet at the same time, extremely difficult not to watch.
Lunar Cup has a little of everything—free-riders throwing back flips, skiers and boarders racing down a snow-covered scree-field, and even a little nudity. Former event organizer and current announcer, Herb Manning summed up the highlight of this year’s Lunar Cup saying, “Everyone came out fairly unscathed.”
So, what is Lunar Cup exactly?
[click "Play" to hear Rita Coolidge speaking with Susan]
Just like Telluride Bluegrass regular, superstar Emmylou Harris, Rita Coolidge is ageless.
The last time Rita Coolidge showed her face in Telluride was in 2001. The legendary performer was, as always, larger than life – but on the silver screen. The film, "Christmas in the Clouds," which screened at Mountainfilm in Telluride that year, is a classic comedy of mistaken identity and romance set during the holiday season at a ski resort owned and operated by a Native American nation. "Christmas in the Clouds" featured Rita, a Cherokee by birth, in the role of the leading lady's mother. It also showcased her music.
A little stork is an avatar for Jeanne B. de Sainte Marie, one of 10 author/illustrators whose magical images will be on display at the Telluride Gallery of Fine Art starting July 28 in a show entitled "From Beasts to Babar: Ten Children's Illustrators."
La cigogne de Noël (The Christmas Stork, Editions du Bastberg, France 2000) is the tale of a stork that decides not to fly south with his peers. He wants to see snow. But how will he eat and stay warm? Through his trials and triumphs, Little Stork learns the rewards of following a dream.
Just like Jeanne.
also on the bill, Mountain Man
The indie rock group Blind Pilot returns after two years to Telluride's historic Sheridan Opera House for an encore concert on Monday, July 18, 8 p.m. (Doors and bar open at 7:30 p.m.)
Blind Pilot literally pedaled its way to success. The group now numbers six – Israel Nebeker (vocals, guitar), Ryan Dubrowski (drums), Dave Jorgenson (keyboard, trumpet), Kati Claborn (dulcimer), Luke Ydstie (upright bass, vocals),banjo, vocals), Ian Krist (vibraphone), but it began as a duet between Israel and Ryan, two modern-day minstrels whose initial bike tour along the West Coast to perform was cut short when their wheels were stolen outside San Francisco's Museum of Modern Art.
It's hard enough to let your child ride a motorcycle for the first time. Imagine he or she grows up to be a professional motocross stunt rider, like Chas Burbridge.
Chas and some of his friends who live on the Western Slope are coming home to Norwood for the Freestyle Motocross Exhibition on July 16 (Saturday) at the San Miguel County Fairgrounds. The event is a fundraiser for the Wright Stuff Community Foundation and its Prime Time Early Childhood Education Center. Chas and the other professional FMX team members travel all over the country and world to stage events like these, performing in front of stadiums full of thousands of people, but this show will also be a homecoming for the local boys.
by Tracy Shaffer Day 1. Began this morning with a table reading of my script "American in Hiding". I'm feeling a little vulnerable, having just finished this version on Sunday, I haven't even had a chance to read it. The cast is spot on. I...
"Forgiving John Lennon" is the featured production at the 5th annual Telluride Playwrights Festival, July 13 – July 17, at venues around town. "Forgiving John Lennon" takes place at the historic Sheridan Opera House, Thursday, July 14 – Saturday, July 16, 8 p.m.
The Telluride Playwrights Festival opens with a Play Slam Wednesday night, 9 p.m. at the Steaming Bean, where would-be actors and writers get to strut their stuff.
Three staged readings take place over the weekend. Saturday morning, July 16, 10 a.m., the Telluride Gallery of Fine Art presents "Mrs. Prescott and Mrs. Russell" by Judy GeBauerr. Sunday morning, July 17, 10 a.m., Gallery Room, the historic Sheridan Opera House hosts "Float," by Gary Leon Hill. (Free pastry and coffee included.) The featured play reading takes place Sunday, July 17, Sheridan Opera House. "American In Hiding" is newest work of returning playwright Tracy Shaffer, whose "(W)hole," workshopped in Telluride at the Playwrights Festival then went to on a critically acclaimed Denver run.
Illustrations by top 10 children's book luminaries featured
image courtesy of
Animazing Gallery
How do big-time art shows happen in a small town like Telluride? Start with a visionary.
In the winter of 1985, Telluride was beginning to percolate anew: entrepreneurs starting snapping up property; among them, Will Thompson, who bought the Telluride Gallery of Fine Art space the day after he and wife Hilary arrived in town to ski.
[click "Play", Susan talks with Nicole Finger and Robert Weatherford]
Event kicks off with Intimate Live Auction Thursday, 7/21. Main event is Friday, 7/22
The auction is Telluride's Ah Haa School for the Arts' biggest and most important fundraising event of the year. Proceeds go towards supporting the school's operation, especially programming and workshops. The theme of the 2011 happening is James Bond: "License to Create."
New this year, the auction begins Thursday, July 21, 5 – 7 p.m., with an Intimate Live Auction of 4 Works of Art. The evening of champagne and hors d'oeuvres includes a preview of Friday night's silent and live auction line-up and an opportunity to bid on four works of art, exclusively created for this mini auction by artists Julie McNair, Amy Schilling, Andy Ward and board member/teacher Robert Weatherford.
