Around Telluride

[to hear Susan speaking with Kristin Holbrook and Melanie Montoya, click "Play"]

Clutch1final Telluride-based San Miguel Resource Center is the region's only nonprofit serving victims of interpersonal violence Historically, the Resource Center's only public fundraiser has been the Chocolate Lovers Fling, scheduled on or close to Valentine's Day to underline the nonprofit's mission to promote healthy relationships. However, violence and assault are not seasonal occurrences. They do not melt away when the snow stops falling.

San Miguel Resource Center board member Kristin Holbrook owns one of the most popular stores on Main Street. Visit Two Skirts starting Thursday, July 22, 4 – 7 p.m. for a cocktail/appetizer reception to kick off a summer fundraiser in support of the Resource Center: Clutch for the Cause.

Skiis copy Telluride's Ah Haa School for the Arts celebrates its 18th annual auction this week, on Friday, July 23. The theme is ARTopia.

The centerpiece of the auction evening, a happening that includes art, food, drinks and multi-media, is the live auction. In support, Telluride Inside... and Out plans to post images of the featured items every day this week, starting today, with Wagner Custom Skis with Original Bill Kreutzmann Artwork & Signature.

Bill Kreutzmann, the drummer who played with the Grateful Dead, has created an amazing new piece of his signature psychedelic digital artwork, which means the custom alpine skis from Wagner Custom are unique. Ski Magazine cited Wagner Custom as one of the 28 people, products and inventions that are revolutionizing skiing. Wagner skis are produced in a solar-powered off-the-grid factory outside of Telluride and represent the pinnacle of ski equipment in the 21st century.

IMGP1331 It's so easy in Telluride to return to old familiar trails for our morning hikes- with so many possibilities right out our door it's hard to think about trying something new. So Susan was surprised when I suggested she try Keystone Gorge for the first time.

I had done the trail earlier in the spring with the runoff causing a roar that drowned out all other sound. This morning the falls along the San Miguel River certainly could be heard, but they didn't completely overpower birdsong and rustle of wind in the aspens.

[click "Play" to hear Dr. Philippe Goldin's conversation with Susan]

IMG_5912 Hosting a conference in conjunction with Stanford University, the Telluride Institute was tapping into the zeitgeist. While some people appear ready to storm the barricades, others are turning inward, trying to find ways to play nice in not so nice times: compassion as an antidote to overheated passions. In June, when the Drepung Monks performed at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival, they painstakingly created a mandala to generate energies for global healing. Between chants, the message was compassion for oneself and others in equal measure. On July 6, Telluride celebrated His Holiness the Dalai Lama's 75th birthday with events all day at the Wilkinson Public Library and the Sheridan Opera House. The Dalai Lama's message: compassion.

The very next day the Telluride Institute weighed in with its variation on the theme, hosting the first ever "Exploring the Language of Mental Life" conference, July 7 – July 10.

Capella Telluride Hi Res and JPEGS 134 Capella Telluride's former executive chef Kenny Gilbert left the Mountain Village to pursue fame and fortune. He is now a front runner in "Top Chef"  and has a new, permanent slot in the PGA National Resort & Spa in South Florida. Well, some like it hot. Capella's new top toque is Chef Gabriel Kolofon, whose approach to cooking appears far more restrained. In Kolofan's kitchen, less is more.

One of the kitchens Kolofon presides over is Capella's signature restaurant, Onyx, where Telluride Inside... and Out dined last week. Where Gilbert's virtuosic preparations shouted "Look at me," Kolofon's dishes beg to be discovered like a pretty librarian in glasses. When the glasses come off, the effect is magnetic. You just may not have seen it coming. Chef Gabriel's credo: high quality ingredients don't require much improvement in order to taste good.
By Jennie Franks, founder/artistic director
 
IMG_4495 While our small band of Telluride Playwrights Festival participants were busy talking, plotting, acting and reading, the Telluride Rep has been quietly rehearsing the third play of the Festival – This Isn’t What It Looks Like, Philip Gerson's zany, political comedy that anyone who lives in today's America can relate to.
 
This year I knew I wanted to do something bold and different for the Telluride Playwrights Festival, and Philip’s play immediately caught my eye. The vitality of This Isn’t What It Looks Like  jumped off the page.
[click "Play"; the Legendary Ladies speak with Susan]

GroupThe 6th season of the Telluride Historical Museum's popular (and FREE) Fireside Chats opens Thursday, July 15, 5:30 p.m. Mountain Village fire pit at the base of the Gondola with "The Legendary Ladies". (Head to The Peaks if it rains.)


" The Legendary Ladies," aka "The Shady Ladies," is an award-winning, non-profit educational performance organization in its 18th year. Its mission: to promote the history of women in the Victorian West  – and get to dress up in great threads. The Ladies' claim to fame is sharing often forgotten stories of unconventional women like themselves who made their mark on the American West.

The 2010 San Miguel Basin County Fair and Rodeo celebrates 100 years of 4H in Norwood this week - so put on your western wear and prepare yourself for several days of down home, country fun. The annual eight-day event kicked off with...

[click "Play" to hear Lauren Metzger's conversation with Ally Crilly] by Lauren MetzgerMarketing & Exhibition ManagerAh Haa School for the Arts Ally Crilly has made a splash with her dynamic and energy-filled Elephants over the past year in Telluride....