Watch Listen Show february 2014

FEBRUARY 2014 Arts & Entertainment

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Vibrant Fiber Arts Scene At the Ah Haa School

By Marta Tarbell | PHOTOS BY ANNA KORN Don’t let the small class size fool you.

Kathy Green’s four Ah Haa School fiber arts workshops – the four-week intensive that wrapped up in late January, and three more this winter – are key to a burgeoning fiber-arts scene in the tri-county region.

“There are a lot of fiber artists in this community,” said Green, at her class in the old stone building on Willow St. that’s home to the Ah Haa School’s Bookbinding Academy.

Green first came to fiber arts as an Ah Haa student in 1991, when she took a class in Shibori, a Japanese term for dyeing cloth that’s similar to tie-dye, Banners in the Sky, taught by Rita Bernstein.

“I finally found my medium as an artist,” said Green, who had minored in art in college, but then “fell in love with geology,” which dictated her post-college career as a park ranger.

Green came to Telluride on her honeymoon in 1978; a year later, she and her husband, Chuck Kroger, moved to Telluride and founded BONE Construction, which Green runs today (Kroger died in 2007 after a short battle with pancreatic cancer). She continued taking fiber arts classes, soon working mostly with silk.

Four of Green’s five students in a recent Sunday afternoon class – one of 16 classes in her month-long, four-days-a-week batik workshop – worked on silk batik projects in varying stages of production.

Each student worked at a station outfitted with tjantings, Indonesian tools for drawing, electric plates for heating the liquid wax that’s key to batik designs painted and stamped on the long rectangular pieces of silk stretched out on frames be-

see ah haa on page 14

Fiber artist and Ah Haa School instructor Kathy Green standing amidst a multitude of students’ drying batiks.

Just about anything – from bedsprings to potato mashers – can be made into a stamp for designs on batiks.

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2 • W A T CH L I ST E N S H O W F E B R U A R Y 2014

Gourds Gets Sexy With Paonia Poets B y Watch S taff

Kathy Green’s prayer flags mix batiks with pieces of bandanas from Chuck Kroger’s collection (above); student Dalen Stevens at his work station in Green’s Ah Haa School class (below).

The Telluride Institute’s Talking Gourds Poetry Club will feature a trio of poets from the North Folk Valley community of Paonia, Tara Miller, Jane McGarry and Sarah Gilman at February’s First Tuesday at Arroyo’s, on main street, Tuesday, Feb. 4, at 6 p.m.

Gilman is a semi-lapsed artist and secret poet-turned-environmental journalist and essayist. When she’s not playing in the mountains and desert with her dog, she can be found scribbling in a battered notebook or hunched vulture-like over her computer at High Country News, the Paonia-based magazine about the American West where she has served as associate editor since 2008.

McGarry teaches literature classes in an alternative school in Paonia, sells collectible books on the Internet and teaches downhill and cross country skiing to kids and adults.”

Miller has been writing poetry since she was a child. She taught high school writing and literature in the 70s after graduating from the University of Oregon, but soon turned her pottery hobby into a fulltime profession. Her work is published in numerous editions of the

Delta County Write On! Anthology, plus the occasional magazine. She promotes solar cooking in Western Colorado and on Taquile Island, Lake Titicaca, Peru, where she is a godmother and ceremonial parent. She’s the author of two chapbooks from Intitaquile Press – Musical Seashell Poems (1976) and Anything is Possible (2001/2005).

After announcements and performances, there will be a short break before “passing the gourd” to give those club members and attendees a chance to read poems from the monthly theme – pieces of their own or the work of a favorite other. And in honor of Valentine’s Day this month, the theme for the open gourd circle will be “Sex.” The Talking Gourds Poetry Club is a joint venture of the Telluride Institute, Wilkinson Library, Between the Covers Bookstore, Telluride Arts and San Miguel County poets. Members meet monthly, on first Tuesday evenings, at Arroyo Fine Art Gallery & Wine Bar at 220 E. Colorado Ave. (next door to Telluride Hardware and the Masonic Hall), beginning at 6 p.m. in Telluride, Colorado. Call 970/729-0220 for more info.

Expressions of Beauty

F E B R U AR Y 2014 W AT C H L I S T E N S H OW • 3

Ridgway Alley Poems, the series of alleyscape poems selected and installed by Editor in Residence Michael McCullough and Editor in Sheaf Kierstin Bridger, are emblematic of the far-ranging arts scene in Ouray County. (Photo by Eric Ming)

Alpenglow Arts Alliance

Collaborative Effort to Promote Ouray County Performing Arts B y S a mantha W ri ght Arts patrons throughout the region will soon be hearing from the Alpenglow Arts Alliance, a friendly alliance of four nonprofit performing arts-focused organizations that have realized there is strength in numbers, and power in collaboration.

The alliance, now comprised of the Wright Opera House, the Sherbino Theater, Weehawken Creative Arts the Ouray County Performing Arts Guild. In the future, may grow to encompass other nonprofit arts-oriented organizations, as well.

Each member of the alliance has a unique mission in the community. The Wright Opera House and Sherbino Theater are historic buildings in Ouray and Ridgway that have seen a recent resurgence of interest from their respective communities to renovate and breathe new life into them as venues for the performing arts.

The Ouray County Performing Arts Guild and Weehawken Creative Arts need venues in which to hold their classes and events. Weehawken, with its focus on arts education, frequently utilizes the Sherbino for swing dance classes, “Art Bar” events, and fundraisers, while the Wright Opera House frequently hosts Weehawken Dance productions.

OCPAG, too, looks to the Wright Opera House and Sherbino Theater as venues for the presentations and performers it brings to the community for the enjoyment of Ouray County’s residents and visitors.

All four organizations share the collective vision of helping to provide and sustain a vibrant performing arts culture in Ouray County. Until now, they have also had something else in common – spending an inordinate amount of time and money on publicity, plastering their communities with posters and flyers, and running expensive print advertising to attract audiences to their events.

Often, they would find that they were stepping on each other’s toes, filling up already-crowded bulletin boards with still more posters, and scheduling competing events on the same date.

For several months, representatives of the four organizations have been brainstorming ways to instead collaborate, to de-clutter the promotion of performing arts events while increasing awareness of and participation in each organization’s events.

The Alpenglow Arts Alliance is the outcome of that collaboration.

For now, it will manifest mainly through a shared website, alpenglowarts.com, which recently launched a simple home page with links to the websites of the four member organizations. The alliance’s intent is for the shared website to evolve into a go-to resource for what’s going on with the arts in Ouray County.

Starting soon, Alpenglow Arts Alliance

see alpenglow on page 14

Laff Inn

Comedy at Two Rascals Feb. 1

By Gus Jarvis For the past two summers, Canyon Creek Bed and Breakfast has been home to big-city laughter at the Laff Inn comedy nights in its garden. Now, thanks to a partnership with Two Rascals Brewing Company, the laughter continues throughout the winter months as well, at on stage at Two Rascals Brewery.

The fun starts Saturday, Feb. 1, with an adults-only comedians Ed Jiovani and Freddy Charles at 7 p.m. (attendees must be 21 or older).

“They are always a ball,” said Canyon Creek’s Kendra Morrow of the comedic duo. “You have no idea what you are going to get. It’s always a 21-and-over show, and most of the comedians we get are from the L.A. area. It’s been so much fun to experience something you would normally get in the big city.”

Two years ago, Morrow decided Montrose needed something special for date 4 • W A T CH L I ST E N S H O W F E B R U A R Y 2014

nights, and booked two regularly touring Los Angeles comedians for shows in the Canyon Creek garden in the warm summer months.

Now, she’s teamed up with Two Rascals to keep the funnymen coming back to won by teaming up with Two Rascals, for winter shows. “I think it’s going to be great,” said Morrow.

Denver-based Ed Jiovani, a nationally touring comedian and actor based out of Denver, takes the Two Rascals stage Saturday, Feb. 1. Jiovani is featured appeared in the new Animal Planet show, Catch & Release, and costars in the pilot episode of Laff Attack, now in development; his first national release, Are Ya High Dude?! hit stores in January 2013.

He appeared in NBC’s Last Comic Standing and in the full-length feature film, Westminster Wife Show.

Headlining the Feb. 1 show is Freddy Charles, who started his stand-up comedy career in 1984 in Hollywood,

Telluride Comedy Fest Celebrates 15 Years B y M arta Tarbell Ten years ago, when Sheridan Opera House Executive Director Ronnie Palamar called comedian/actor Jeb Berrier and asked him to help out with the Comedy Fest, Berrier didn’t know what he was getting into.

Now, as the festival marks its 15th anniversary this Presidents Weekend, as Berrier, who now returns from Portland, Ore., to Telluride to helm the four-day festival, said, “It’s a tradition.”

In 2004, Berrier recruited old friends from his acting days in New York and Los Angeles to the Opera House. The first to sign up was The Daily Show’s Rob Corddry; next up was Ed Helms.

Now, a decade into Berrier’s running the festival, performers over the years include Jason Mantzoukas, Seth Morris, Scot Armstrong, Rob Huebel, Paul Scheer, Tig Notaro, Aziz Ansari, Jack McBrayer…“we’ve had a lot of people in the past who are now pretty famous,” Berrier said.

Speaking of famous, he said, audiences should keep an eye on returningthis-year Jamie Denbo and Jessica Chaffin, best known to Telluride audiences as Ronna and Beverly, two Jewish matrons several decades older than the two comediennes who spout side-splitting cultural bromides. “They channel their mothers,” Berrier confided, of the constantly morphing skit.

Asked for most memorable moments over the years, Berrier chuckled. “That first Ski Patrol skit” pioneered by Huebel and Scheer in 2006, he said, “was one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen.

“It was so damn funny. ‘Do Drop,

‘It’s a tradition.’

– Telluride Comedy Fest impresario Jeb Berrier on the four-day funny fest at the Sheridan Opera House over Presidents Day weekend.

your name is Badass Cancer,” he said, of the bunny-shooting duo’s on-the-spot decision to rename a ski run as they mimed riding the chairlift.

If anything, Berrier worries about too much success.

“We grow every year,” he said, of the festival, which has expanded from two to four sold-out nights. The small size of the Opera House contributes to its sense of intimacy, but keeps would-be attendees away. “I don’t really want to change it too much,” Berrier says of the event.

“Everyone likes the size and scale of it.”

For more information, visit sheridanoperahouse.com.

Scenes from the stage of the Sheridan Opera House from Telluride Comedy Fest, celebrating its 15th anniversary this year.

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JAN. 30, FEB. 1 & FEB. 3: “You’re the One That I Want: The High School Grease Experience” celebrating 15 years of Young People’s Theater

FEB. 13 - 16: 15th annual Comedy Fest, featuring Rob Corddry, Nick Kroll, Paul Scheer, Brian Huskey and more, Tickets $30 - $40 FREDDY CHARLES

ED JIOVANI

and was soon headlining comedy clubs around the U.S. and Canada. He appeared at the M.G.M. Grand, Riviera, and Golden Nugget in Las Vegas. He mounted a one-man show, The Love Is There, at Montreal’s Just for Laughs Festival in 1997.

Charles was a regular at The Laugh Factory in Hollywood throughout the 90s, nineties and was a contributing edi-

tor to Laugh Factory Magazine, and has appeared on Showtime Comedy Club Network, Make Me Laugh, and numerous commercials (including Redneck Video).

Local comedians interested in hosting this and upcoming events can should contact Morrow at 970/249-2886.

Tickets for the Feb. 1 show can be purchased at the door for $15, and at canyoncreekbedandbreakfast.com. A winter pass to all the winter comedy shows (Feb. 1, March 8, April 5 and May 3) is $60.

Two Rascals Brewing Co. is located at 147 N. First Street in Montrose.

FEB. 20 - 21: Two nights of The Infamous Stringdusters with opening support The Deadly Gentlemen Tickets $25 GA L ive

at the

t eLLuride c onference c enter

FEB. 16: Leftover Salmon, live in concert, Tickets $30 GA / $45 VIP, presented by the Telluride Ski Resort & Sheridan Arts Foundation tickets and more information: SheridanOperaHouse.com or 970-728-6363 ext. 5 *Nominal ticketing fees apply

F E B R U AR Y 2014 W AT C H L I S T E N S H OW • 5

February First Friday Stroll Focuses on Artful Chocolate!

Don’t miss the chance to indulge in a night of chocolate, art and romantic Valentine specials. The monthly First Friday Stroll in Downtown Montrose takes place Friday, Feb. 7, until 8:30 p.m., offering strollers a chance to shop, sample some great chocolate, dine, and more.

There will be a Valentine Block Party on the 400 block of Main St. Around the Corner Art Gallery, Tiffany, etc., Pollux and Dahlia Floral will offer discounts and/or free gifts during the Stroll. Register at any of these four businesses for a free dinner for two at the Stone House and a bouquet of flowers from Dahlia’s. When you make a purchase, you’ll receive an envelope from another store offering a free gift or discount.

Around the Corner Art Gallery is hosting a juried show with more than 20 artists displaying their work depicting “Feathers and Fur.” It will spotlight man’s best friends – four-legged, winged, wild and domestic animals, with an opening reception, 5:30-8 p.m., where wine, lots of chocolate delicacies and appetizers will be served.

The Simpson Gallery is debuting several New Black Canyon paintings in both

oil and watercolor. Mike Simpson has painted for the Black Canyon National Park for a number of years, which can be especially challenging to paint because of the complex lighting which is different from morning to evening. Stop by to see his new series of paintings.

Enjoy a Chocolate Lovers Stroll at Nina Suzanne’s, 5:30-7 p.m., featuring Nona Mayberry CPA sampling and selling delicious dark chocolate by Xocai.

Katrina Brown will sell her beautiful purses made from recycled materials, and Nina Suzanne’s will be offering 10 percent discount, storewide.

A+Y Design Gallery will have live music, as well as a chocolate/cherry/ wine/cacao-infused Coffee sampling and the patent-pending Cafecolate featuring chocolate-flavored gelatos created in Montrose, with a Montrose Visual Arts Guild Artist Reception and Artist Demonstrations by Guild members. A+Y is also featuring great Valentine’s Day gifts by local artists and craftspersons.

Join your neighbors to start a great weekend in Montrose Downtown. Distinctive shopping, dining and friendly people make for a great time.

F t s r r i i d F ay Stroll y r a u r b e F An Artful Chocolate Lover’s Stroll. Indulge in a night of Chocolate, Art and Romantic Valentine Specials!

Friday February 7th, 5:30 - 8:00 p.m., Shop, sample great chocolate, dine and more!

Valentine Block Party on the 400 block of Montrose Downtown!

Around the Corner Art Gallery, Tiffany, etc., Pollux and Dahlia Floral will be offering discounts and/or gifts. Register for FREE dinner for 2 at Camp Robber and a bouquet at Dahlia. Also check out new Black Canyon paintings at Simpson Gallery, A+Y Design Gallery for cacao-infused coffee and chocolates, and Xocai chocolates at Nina Suzanne’s (plus 10% off storewide).

Visit www.MontroseDowntown.com for a complete list of First Friday details!

6 • W A T CH L I ST E N S H O W F E B R U A R Y 2014

The Valley Symphony Association continues its 43rd season with a special concert featuring Kirill Gliadkovsky at the Montrose Pavilion on Feb. 23.

Valley Symphony Orchestra Presents ‘Celebrating Scandinavian Music’ SPECIAL CONCERT FEATURES KIRILL GLIADKOVSKY The Valley Symphony Association continues its 43rd season with an orchestra concert on Sunday, Feb. 23, at 3 p.m., at the Montrose Pavilion.

This special concert features Kirill Gliadkovsky on Edvard Grieg’s “Concerto in A Minor for Piano and Orchestra Op. 16” and “Peer Gynt Suite No. 1,” as well as “Finlandia Op. 26 No. 7” by Jean Sibelius and “Norwegian Artist’s Carnival Op.14” by Johan Severin Svendsen.

Gliadkovsky performed the Tchaikovsky “Piano Concerto No. 1” with the VSO in February of 2011. According to Orchestra Director Mike Kern, “He is such a great artist that we just had to have him back. The Grieg “Piano Concerto in A Minor” is one of the best-known and loved piano concertos, and combining that with other Scandinavian music was an easy choice for a concert to please both the orchestra and our audience.”

Gliadkovsky was born in Moscow and has studied music since the age of 5. He attended the Tchaikovsky Conservatory, in Moscow, where his teachers included renowned musicians Lev Vlasenko, Mikhail Pletniev (piano) and Leonid Royzman (organ). Mr. Gliadkovsky also earned both his Master’s and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees at the University of Southern California and has taken numerous prizes at international piano competitions in Europe and the United States.

Since making his first public appearance at age 6, Gliadkovsky has toured extensively on three continents per-

forming piano and organ recitals and as a soloist with orchestras in various cities in Russia, including Moscow’s prestigious Bolshoi, Maliy and Rachmaninoff Halls, St. Petersburg Philharmonic’s Glinka Hall. He has also performed in Italy, U.K., Poland, Mongolia, Canada, Japan and throughout the United States. Gliadkovsky’s popularity is also fast growing being a featured artist in numerous live TV and radio broadcasts and programs on such networks as NPR, CBS, PBS, CBC, WQXR, KBYU, KPAC, Russian State TV and Radio and others. He has recorded six CDs for Alexei Records and for CMK Classics labels.

Gliadkovsky is an orchestra and choral conductor. He performs on harpsichord, as well. He is a part of duo and trio piano team with his wife, concert pianist Anna Gliadkovskaya, and their 13-year-old daughter, Anastasia. Gliadkovsky has been on piano faculties at the University of Southern California,Pepperdine University and Santa Monica College. He has also served as the music director and organist at Westwood Hills Christian Church in Los Angeles.

Tickets cost $20 for adults and seniors and $5 for students 17 under. For event information, call 970-209-2295, visit www.valleysymphony.net or email info@valleysymphony.net.

Discounted advance ticket purchases can be made online at www. valleysymphony.net.

Telluride Palm: Re-Imagined and Re-Invented

BY LESLIE VREELAND Hear the words Palm Theatre, and you imagine (at least I first did) an elegant edifice, probably in a city, surrounded by tropical trees. I pictured spotlights on the swaying palms because naturally, the way I envisioned it, this scene had to be set at night.

I saw Hollywood, or Miami, or even Las Vegas. What I was not picturing was a theatre in a high school. And in this way, I wasn’t thinking big enough, because the brilliance of the Palm is that it is so right for all ages and cultural tastes: a premier screening room for the Telluride Film Festival and a venue for Telluride schools’ band and choral programs; a stage to accommodate Puccini’s Madama Butterfly and extreme stunt dog tricks; host to Macbeth and the rock musical Hair.

The Palm in the theatre’s name, it turned out, was a person: Michael D. Palm, a music lover and Telluride arts patron who passed away in 1998. The theatre’s name is a tribute to Palm by Steven Gluckstern, his friend and former business partner; Gluckstern went on to become superintendent of the Telluride School District. And maybe that’s what it took – a school superintendent with a great friend who loved the performing arts – to imagine a venue that could so seamlessly merge the interests of young people and adults.

Nightgrass and the San Juan Symphony. An austerely elegant performance space, continually re-inventing itself for all generations.

The Palm celebrates its 10th birthday later this year, and continues to present entertainment that, quite literally, spans the ages. So far in 2014, it has played host to the KOTO’s raucous LipSync and Telluride Intermediate School’s erudite Geography Bee; screened High and Hallowed: Everest 1963, and presented Telluride TV’s three short film winners.

On the subject of short films, the Palm will screen both Oscar-nominated animated short films and live action short films on Sunday, February 23.

In between now and then at the theatre:

ENERGY AND SEXINESS Parsons Dance, a contemporary dance company based in New York City, takes the stage February 11. Known for their exuberant athleticism (“the dancers are picked for their virtuosity, energy and sexiness,” the New York Post wrote), the performance will certainly include the company’s signature “Swing Shift,” in which five sets of highlighted, disembodied hands dance about to music by Kenji Bunch. Choreographer David Parsons

consuming evening.” Co-sponsored by SPARKy Productions, producers of the Telluride Playwrights Festival. Coriolanus screens Tuesday, February 18 at 7 p.m.

‘POPPINS’ RE-MASTERED

Parsons Dance Ensemble, the New York City contemporary dance company, takes the stage at the Palm on Feb. 11.

recently set a series of dances in Big Cypress National Preserve and Everglades National Park as part of Wolf Trap’s “Face of America” TV series; one featured an alligator swimming toward a live dancer. It’s a little unrealistic to expect that kind of drama on a landlocked stage in the intermountain west, but not to worry. As Philadelphia Inquirer critic Merilyn Jackson wrote in a review of the company’s two new works last spring, “David Parsons never disappoints.”

enthralling theater out of one of Shakespeare’s best-known titles, but “an achievement of an altogether higher order to take the austerely forbidding Coriolanus…and turn it into a theatrical triumph,” Benedict wrote. In this production, broadcast by National Theatre Live, “tension builds, fills the theater and never flags through an all-

Emma Thompson had been considered a favorite to glean at least an Academy Award nomination, and perhaps the win, for her portrayal of P.L. Travers, the author of Mary Poppins, in Saving Mr. Banks. Meryl Streep pronounced herself “shocked” at Oscar’s snub. The imperturbable Thompson’s response? “Ooh, that means I can work in March instead of getting into another frock and heels.” Mary Poppins, the classic Disney musical, shows at the Palm February 16 at 4 p.m. The film, which won several Oscars, including one for Julie Andrews as a magical nanny, one for music and two for special effects and animation, has been re-mastered and re-released on the occasion of its 50th birthday (and, no doubt, the release of Banks, also a Disney film).

See it on the big screen.

All this, and it is still only February.

Michael D. Palm would be proud.

THE ‘PEOPLE’S DIVA’ RETURNS Dvorak’s lighthearted Rusalka, a tale about a water nymph, is this month’s Metropolitan Opera on the Big Screen production. Soprano Renee Fleming, nicknamed “the people’s diva” (at press time she was scheduled to sing the National Anthem at the Super Bowl) has remarked that Rusalka is perhaps her favorite role. She “sang it beautifully when the Met last presented Otto Schenk’s 1993 production in 2008,” the New York Times said, and returns for this revival in the company of an “enticing cast” and “exciting conductor.”

There is a live rendition of Rusalka at 11 a.m. on Saturday, February 8, and an encore showing Mon., February 17 at 6 p.m.

‘SCORCHING’ That’s what Variety critic David Benedict called Tom Hiddleston (Thor) in his recent performance of Shakespeare’s Coriolanus. It’s one thing making Mary Poppins at the Palm

F E B R U AR Y 2014 W AT C H L I S T E N S H OW • 7

Onward and Upward With Telluride Arts

“Queen Elizabeth Keep Hope Alive” by Nancy Anderson, Gallery 81435

BY LESLIE VREELAND “I Just Want to Celebrate” – Rare Earth

only the musical theme of this story, but for the organization as a whole.

[Note: In the spirit of Telluride’s kaleidoscopic embrace of the artistic collective, this is an interactive column. Pick up your smartphone while you’re reading, go to tinyurl.com/b6z6gzx and tap into the spirit of the 1970s with “I Just Want to Celebrate,” a song that will stick with you long after this column.]

Well, I can’t be bothered with sorrow And I can’t be bothered with hate I’m using up my time by feeling fine, every day

I just want to celebrate Another day of livin’ I just want to celebrate Another day of life Behind nearly every great play, musical act, poetry reading or exhibit in this town there is an engine: Telluride Arts.

It was founded in 1971, the year the Allman Brothers Band released At Fillmore East, Mick married Bianca and Davy Jones announced he was leaving the Monkees. It was also the year that Rare Earth released its funky, exuberant anthem, I Just Want to Celebrate, something that, when it comes to regional art and artists, Telluride Arts has been doing ever since. In fact, you could call it not

You may think of Telluride Arts as having something to do with the Stronghouse Gallery and Studios, where this seminal cultural force offers regular exhibits. Indeed, two new shows debut there in February at First Thursday Art Walk.

Jeweler and craftsperson Nancy Anderson, whose customers include Emmylou Harris and Sheryl Crow, recently relocated her Sweetbird Studio from Boulder to Ridgway. She’ll be displaying her jewelry and folk art “made for grown-ups” – she calls them “wearable shrines of intention” – in an exhibit “on the iconography, symbolic nature and lure of the heart” entitled Seeker. Gallery 81435 (230 S. Fir St).

Meanwhile, at the Stronghouse Gallery, photographer Amy Levek will display her photos on fabric in an exhibit entitled Chimera: 2D/3D. “I started layering fabric photos together when I noticed

8 • W A T CH L I ST E N S H O W F E B R U A R Y 2014

fabric photos stacked on my work table were accidentally creating a whole new world of images,” she has said. “I was no longer limited by a particular ‘story’ in the original photos.” 283 South Fir St. The Stronghouse shows may be the most obvious ways in which Telluride Arts, formerly the Telluride Council on the Arts and Humanities, is integral to the arts around here, but the truth is, what this organization does has been growing increasingly visible all the time.

Take, for instance, Telluride Art and Architecture Weekend, in which local chefs, artists, and architects offer the public a chance to sample gourmet food, and ex-

plore artist’s studios, and tour innovative architectural work in private homes.

TA&A, now in its third year, is an invention of Telluride Arts’ Executive Director, Kate Jones. So is Stronghouse Underground, a “flex space” created to help local artists and community members who need room for a creative project, or to host an event.

Don’t let it all get you down, no, no Don’t let it turn you around and around Are you ever curious about what inspires artists to keep going? Jones has helped answer that question by inventing

“Three Monks” by Amy Levek, Stronghouse Studios + Gallery

Twenty by Telluride, a lively, intimate glimpse into some of the region’s best creative minds in the form of a fast-paced monthly slideshows – plus potent potables – at the Historic Sheridan Bar. Each Twenty by Telluride – 20 slides, 20 seconds to explain each one – is pegged to a theme. This year, the spotlight(s) will be on the institutions that make up the Telluride Creative District. Look for a Telluride AIDS Benefit Edition of Twenty by Telluride later this month, and in future months, an Ah Haa School version (March), Mountainfilm and Telluride Film Festival editions (in May and August, respectively), as well as, tentatively, Telluride Theatre and KOTO Radio editions later this year.

I put my faith in the people But the people let me down So I turned the other way And I carry on anyhow Art elevates the doldrums, particularly in gloomy February, and one of the pin-

nacles of creative frisson in this region – the First Thursday Art Walk – is just around the corner. This festive, social, late-afternoon-spilling-into-the-evening affair gets bigger and better all the time.

A full listing of the 17 venues that will host receptions from 5-8 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 6 can be found in the Arts and Entertainment Calendar on page 10.

Some highlights include: Wizard Emporium (126 East Colorado Avenue), where Chanelle Hicks, who “grew up in an incredibly dull city in Arizona, and therefore spent most of her time in an imaginary world of her own making,” displays colorful, whimsical Contemporary Fantasy and Children’s Illustrative works in acrylic and oil paint. She mainly works in oils and acrylics, Hicks says, “to convey the irony and wonder of the world” inside her imagination.

Lustre Gallery (171 South Pine Street), which will host an artist reception with musician and ceramicist Dalen Stevens. A Telluride resident, Stevens mixes his own porcelain (and crystalline glazes) to create large works, hand-cut and decorated, that take years to complete. Later this month, the gallery will exhibit Art Nouveau jewelry from Barcelona artist Lluis Masriera.

At the Telluride Gallery of Fine Art (130 East Colorado Avenue), photographer Scott Rhea exhibits his eerie, mesmerizing underwater photos (for a behind-the-scenes look at how he produces them, nearly as fascinating as the works themselves, visit scottrhea.com). And illustrator and gallery artist Bart Forbes,

who has designed over 20 commemorative postage stamps for the U.S. Postal Service over the course of his career and is well known for his illustrations for Time and Sports Illustrated, exhibits landscapes created in his signature loose, painterly style.

Ah Haa School for the Arts (300 South Townsend Avenue) offers New Work by Regional Artists, a juried exhibit featuring pieces in all media – painting, ceramics, sculpture, photography, and more – drawn from a large pool of regional artists. Best of Show and People’s Choice winners will be awarded at 7 p.m.

That’s why I’m telling you I just want to celebrate (yeah, yeah) Another day of livin’ I just want to celebrate Another day of life…

Ceramics by Dalen Stevens, Lustre Gallery

Had my hand on the dollar bill And the dollar bill blew away..

The deadline for Tell Arts’ Small Grants for Artists program is coming up fast: applications are due February 28. In addition to funding for artist’s projects and development, a new category has been added this year: Artistto-Artist Workshops, in which creatives host get-togethers for their fellow artists as a way to help each other progress their work. “Our focus now is career development,” says Tell Arts’ assistant director Britt Markey. To that end, the organization is also creating an online Artists’ Guide, “so people who want to commission an artist can find him or her, and so artists can find each other.”

But the sun is shining down on me And it’s here to stay

F E B R U AR Y 2014 W AT C H L I S T E N S H OW • 9

arts mont h

calen d ar = SAN MIGUEL COUNTY

= OURAY COUNTY

= MONTROSE COUNTY

SATURDAY, FEB. 1

The Best of Mountainfilm – A collection of long and short features, screened to benefit Ridgway’s dZi Foundation. Different films each night. Wright Opera House, 7-10 p.m. both evenings; $10 at the door.

Dzifoundation.org Laff Inn Comedy Club at 2 Rascals Brewery – Two comedians on tour from Los Angeles-based Laff Inn Comedy Club; 2 Rascals, 8-10 p.m. Ages 21 and up. Reserve tickets at canyoncreek. eventbrite.com/?aff=efbevent.

Stosch Dembitsky in Concert – “Serious. Sublime. Solo.” Trail Town Still; 9 p.m.-12 a.m.

Chocolate Lovers’ Fling: The Olympics – The 19th annual event, this year with an Olympian theme, to benefit the San Miguel Resource Center. The evening features a silent auction, cash prizes for best dressed, thousands of bite-sized chocolate creations from the region’s premier chefs and even more goodwill; Mountain Village, Telluride Conference Center, 7:3011:30 p.m.

Tickets on sale at Two Skirts and the SMRC’s website.

Sanmiguelresourcecenter.org

SAT., FEB. 1 You’re the One That I Want: the High School Grease Musical – The story of a high school cast’s audition for the holy grail of teenage musicals, starring 28 local students; Sheridan Opera House, 6 p.m. nightly (no show Sunday, Feb. 2). A Sheridan Arts Foundation Young People’s Theater production.

SATURDAYS, FEB. 1-FEB. 22

Open Figure Drawing Class with Meredith Nemirov – Weehawken Ridgway, 1-4 p.m. weehawkenarts.org

SUNDAY, FEB. 2

2014 Oscar-Nominated Short Films – A chance to see this year’s nominees before the March 2 Academy Awards ceremonies; Wright Opera House, 1 p.m.

Tickets: $7. thewrightoperahouse.org Idea Café – Watch TED Talks; discuss; enjoy a potluck dinner.

Presented by Kelvin Verity. Norwood, the Livery, 7-9 p.m.

Sphynx with DJ Sobearman – Grand Junction, KAFM Radio Room; 9

= REGION

p.m. kafmradio.org

MONDAY, FEB. 3

You’re the One That I Want: The High School Grease Musical – The story of a high school cast’s audition for the holy grail of teenage musicals, starring 28 local students; Sheridan Opera House, 6 p.m. nightly (no show Sunday, Feb. 2). A Sheridan Arts Foundation Young People’s Theater production.

They Came to Telluride: Women Behind the Lens – The popular female filmmakers’ series continues, with Persepolis, from French director Marjane Satrapi; Wilkinson Public Library, 6 p.m. Pre-show reception at 5:30 p.m. Discussion follows with host David Oyster.

MONDAYS, FEB. 3-APR. 7

Open Figure Studio with a Live Model – Ah Haa School, 6-8 p.m. ahhaa.org

MONDAYS, FEB. 3-17

Life Drawing Class – Around the Corner Gallery, 6-9 p.m. Call to reserve a spot. 970/249-4243

TUESDAY, FEB. 4

Basic Knife Skills – A chef needs a good knife, but there is also the matter of wielding it well. Cody Borden instructs.

Ah Haa School course; 10 a.m.-1 p.m. ahhaa.org Talking Gourds Poetry Club: Paonia Poets Edition – Three guest scribes from the North Fork Valley – Sarah Gilman, Jane McGarry and Tara Miller – read and discuss their work. In honor of Valentine’s Day, this month’s theme is Sex. At Arroyo Fine Art Gallery & Bar, 6 p.m.

Open Mic Night – Fly Me to the Moon Saloon, 8 p.m.

TUESDAY, FEB. 4-THURSDAY, FEB. 6

Three Evenings of Shibori with Kathy Green – Learn the basics of shibori dying, the same techniques that inform American tie-dyeing. Ah Haa School; 6-9 p.m. ahhaa.org

WEDNESDAY, FEB. 5

Ouray County Chorus Spring Season Begins – Potluck dinner at the Ridgway home of Jacqui and Dick Zimmerman (240 Marmot Drive) kicks it off; 6 p.m. All singers welcome.

970/626-5847

WEDNESDAYS, FEB. 5-FEB. 19

Ultimate Beginning Oils – Painting with Pat Jeffers; Around the Corner

10 • W A T CH L I S T E N S H O W F E B R U A R Y 2014

Gallery, 1-4 p.m. All materials – oils, brushes, canvases, etc. – provided for $15. Montroseart.com Wordplay: Four Favorite Poems for 2014 – A workshop led by award-winning local poet Beth Paulson; Weehawken Ridgway (Old Schoolhouse), 12:30-2:30 p.m. weehawkenarts.org Junky & Funky Youth Mosaics – Ah Haa School after-school course taught by Flair Robinson; 3:30-5:30 p.m. ahhaa.org

THURSDAY, FEB. 6-FRIDAY, FEB. 28

New Work by Regional Artists – A juried exhibit of new work in all media: painting, ceramics, sculpture, photography, printing, fiber, metals and more. At the Ah Haa School. Ahhaa.org

with Clay – Weehawken Ridgway’s All Fired Up Pottery Studio; 6-8 p.m. weehawkenarts.org

FRIDAY, FEB. 7

Metropolitan Opera: Rusalka – Live performance of this “lyric fairy tale” with beautiful melodies by Antonin Dvorak and soprano Renee Fleming in the title role; libretto by the Czech poet Jaroslav Kvapil. Palm Theatre, 11 a.m.

Running time: 4:00. telluridepalm.com M First Friday Stroll in Downtown Montrose – This month’s theme is Chocolate Walk: participating art galleries, restaurants and vendors offer something for every palate. From 5:30-8 p.m. There will be a Valentine’s Day Party on the 400 Block of Main Street.

Mountainfilm on Tour in Ridgway – A screening to benefit the dZi Foundation; 7-10 p.m. dzifoundation.org Meghan Baker in Concert – Cool, quirky music on guitar and ukulele; Trail Town Still, 9 p.m.-12 a.m.

FRIDAY, FEB. 7-SUNDAY, FEB. 9

The work of young artists is displayed Thursday, Feb. 6, at Telluride’s First Thursday Artwalk, in the East Gallery of the Ah Haa School.

THURSDAY, FEB. 6

Telluride Art Walk – Participating galleries and vendors stay open until 8 p.m. at this monthly event; maps to participating venues available at Telluride Arts and around town.

Featured venues this month include the Ah Haa School, Arroyo Gallery, Azadi Fine Rugs, Baked in Telluride, Black Bear Trading Company, DOLCE, Elinoff Gallery, Gallery 81435, Gold Mountain Gallery, Kamruz Gallery, Lustre Gallery, Melange, Oh-Be-Joyful Gallery, Stronghouse Gallery, Telluride Gallery of Fine Art, The Steaming Bean and Wizard Emporium.

Open Bard Poetry Series – The increasingly well-attended Ridgway poetry series features a different guest poet each month. The Bard’s special mission is to recruit youth and students, inspiring them to share their work.

Tonight is Youth Night, and they do.

Arrive early; seats fill up fast. Sherbino Theater, 6:30 p.m.

1878-1913: A Celebration of Telluride’s Historic Landmarks – Premier of a new film produced by the Telluride Historical Museum, the Sheridan Opera House and the Town of Telluride, at the Opera House; showings at 5:30, 6 and 7 p.m. Note: this is a special event for Museum members.

Telluridemuseum.org Whiskey Tango – Foot stomping jam-grass from Five Points in Denver; Fly Me to the Moon Saloon, 8 p.m., $5 cover.

THURSDAYS, FEB. 6-FEB. 20

Adult Beginners: Handbuilding

Dan Deuter’s Oil Painting Workshop – Around the Corner Gallery; 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Dan demonstrates how he creates an oil painting from start to finish; lots of individual instruction for artists.

Snowscape Winter Festival, Silverton, Kendall Mountain Recreation Area

SATURDAY, FEB. 8

Met Opera on the Big Screen: Rusalka – Live transmission; 11 a.m. Running time: 4 hours.

Telluridepalm.com Thin Air in Concert – Two Sisters Gastropub; 6-8 p.m. 970/249-0629 Date Night Food & Wine Pairing with Rhiannon Chandler – Make it a night to remember: An Ah Haa course for couples, just in time for Valentine’s Day, 6-9 p.m. ahhaa.org 10th Annual Robert Burns Tribute Concert – A Moab Music Festival presentation in Moab (Grand Center), featuring artist-in-residence Christopher Layer and guest artist Kate Macleod.

Event is free; 6 p.m. moabmusicfest.org Michael Martin Murphy in Concert – A solo acoustic show with Murphy at the Montrose Pavilion; 7:30 p.m. Tickets on sale at City Market stores, the Pavilion and by phone.

970/243-8497; Sandstoneconcerts.com.

Magpie in Concert – Music from the belly of the Soul; Trail Town Still, 9 p.m.-12 a.m.

TUESDAY, FEB. 11

Delta Finds Arts – George Turner, who began his career as a sculptor of wood and stone and has transitioned to painting in watercolor and oils, guests; First Church of God (11th and Howard), 2:45 p.m. The public is welcome; admittance is free. pastorlinda@q.com Live at the Palm: Parsons Dance – Sexy athleticism and joyous movement from a New York City-based dance company. New York Post: “They attack the stage like gangbusters.” Palm Theatre, 7 p.m. telluridepalm.com The Geology of the Moon – A presentation by Art Trevena of the

Black Canyon Astronomical Society; Centennial Room (former Montrose City Council Chambers), 7 p.m. The public is invited.

Functional Forms in Clay: Wheel Throwing & Hand Building – Ah Haa, 6-8:30 p.m.

Rob Corddry at Telluride Comedy Fest in 2005. (Courtesy photo)

Ouray County Chorus Rehearsals– United Church of the San Juans, Ridgway; 6:30-8 p.m. The theme is Celebrating Summer. All singers welcome. 970/626-5847

Juno What?!, Fri., Jan. 31, Fly Me To The Moon Saloon, 10 p.m., $13/$15 Whiskey Tango, Thu., Feb. 6, Fly Me To The Moon Saloon, 10 p.m., $5

TUESDAYS AND WEDNESDAYS, FEB. 11-FEB. 19

WEDNESDAY, FEB. 12

Mastermind Circle – Presentation of a movie that promotes positive thinking; discussion afterwards. ACE of Norwood, 7-8:30 p.m.

THURSDAY, FEB. 13

Ridgway Moonwalk – A preValentine’s day studio/gallery walk in downtown Ridgway, timed to the full moon; 5-8 p.m. facebook.com/ RidgwayMoonwalks J.T. Thomas: Life Under the Ice in Antarctica – Photographer and science journalist Thomas, who has more than 20 years of experience working in arctic and alpine environments, is the first guest in a new lecture series entitled Conversations with Extraordinary People; Sherbino Theater, 7-9 p.m.

This event is free, though donations are welcome. sherbinotheater.com featuring

Miller Creek, Fri., Feb. 14, Fly Me To The Moon Saloon, 10 p.m., $3 West Water Outlaws, Sat., Feb. 15, Fly Me To The Moon Saloon, 10 p.m., $7/$10 Anders Brothers Band: Honky Tonk Boot Stomp – Bring your sweetie and get all duded up in your western attire; Turn of the Century Saloon, 6:309:30 p.m. Appetizers and dessert from Pine Cone Catering. Purchase tickets at valentinemontrose.com/eventbrite. com/?aff=efbevent.

Rodeo and Juliet – American roots husband-and-wife singing duo and parttime Ridgway residents whose specialty is romance (to the tune of 100 love songs). They return from Nashville to Ouray County for a Valentine’s Day concert accompanied by musician Phil Madeira, who has spent much of the past four years touring with Emmylou Harris; 4-H Event Center; 7:30-9:30 p.m.

Tickets available at the door or online. ocpag.org

annual event. A portion of sales benefit the OCAA Scholarship fund. At the Ouray Community Center. Ourayarts.org

SATURDAY, FEB. 15

Rob Jones and the Good Times Music. Co. in Concert – Trail Town Still, 9 p.m.-12 a.m.

FRIDAY, FEB. 14-SUNDAY, FEB. 16

Telluride Comedy Festival – The annual event, presented by Jeb Berrier and the Sheridan Arts Foundation, in which each night revolves around a different comedic form: standup, improvisation or sketch comedy; at the Sheridan Opera House, 8 p.m. sheridanoperahouse.com

Ragtime Festival, Strater Hotel, Durango.org Ben DeKock and Friends – Everything you ever wanted to know about the bass fiddle, conveyed via a journey through classical and popular music. In Grand Junction at United Methodist Church (Feb. 14, 7:30 p.m.) and at the Montrose Pavilion (Feb. 16, 3 p.m.). junctionconcerts.com

FRIDAY, FEB. 14

FRIDAY, FEB. 14-MONDAY, FEB. 17

Capturing the Winter Landscape in Pastels – An Ah Haa course taught by Bruce Gomez; 4 p.m.

Infamous Stringdusters, Thu.-Fri., Feb. 20-21, Sheridan Opera House, 8:30 p.m., $25

Let’s Make a Scene: Intermediate Felting with Linda Balas – Around the Corner Gallery, 1-4 p.m. Prerequisite: Beginning Felting. 970/249-4243 Tony Rosario in Concert – Rock & roll and blues from a “Puerto Rican Hillbilly.” Trail Town Still, 9 p.m.-12 a.m.

The Pimps of Joytime, Wed., Mar. 5, Fly Me To The Moon Saloon, 10 p.m., $15/$18

SATURDAYS, FEB. 15-MAR. 8

Billy Nershi and the Travelin’ McCourys, Mon., Mar. 17, Sheridan Opera House, 8 p.m., $30/$35

Beginning Drawing with Mary Hill – Around the Corner Gallery, 9 a.m.-12 p.m. A course premised on the fact that anyone can draw: they just need to be taught how to see and learn techniques.

Ages 10 and up. 970/249-4243

Sunday at the Palm: Mary Poppins – Beloved Disney musical, freshly remastered, starring Julie Andrews as a magical nanny; Palm Theatre, 4 p.m.

Admission is free. Telluridepalm.com Winter Photographers’ Train – Durango.org Telluride Conference Center Music Series: Leftover Salmon – Colorado “jam-grass” band much loved by locals; Telluride Conference Center, 9 p.m. Sheridanoperahouse.com

MONDAY, FEB. 17

THURSDAY, FEB. 13SUNDAY, FEB. 16

Leftover Salmon, Sun., Feb. 16, Telluride Conference Center, 9 p.m., $30/$45

The Wailers, Thu., Mar. 6, Sheridan Opera House, 8:30 p.m., $45/$50 Telluride Tribute Fest, Thu.-Sat., Mar. 13-15, Sheridan Opera House, 8:30 p.m., $25/$70/$175

Steel Pulse, Thu., Mar. 20, Telluride Conference Center, 9 p.m., $30/$45 Michael Franti and Friends, Sun.-Mon., Mar. 23-24, Sheridan Opera House, 8 p.m., $65/$75

SUNDAY, FEB. 16

Part-time Ridgway residents “Rodeo and Juliet” come to the 4-H Event Center with musician Phil Madeira on Feb. 14.

J.T. Thomas comes to the Sherbino Theater Feb. 13, in the new series, “Conversations With Extraordinary People.”

beat sheet Telluride Empresarios, Thu., Jan. 30, Fly Me To The Moon Saloon, 10 p.m., $5

TUESDAYS, FEB. 11-APR. 29

Batik: the Basics with Kathy Green – Learn about color, surface design, silk painting, “wax resist” and other dying techniques; 6-9 p.m. Optional open student time on weekends. An Ah Haa course; ahhaa.org

the

OCAA Winter Arts & Crafts Show – Local and regional artists and craftspeople display their works at this

Metropolitan Opera: Rusalka – A “lyric fairy tale” with beautiful melodies by Antonin Dvorak; libretto by the Czech poet Jaroslav Kvapil. Palm Theatre, 6 p.m. Encore performance.

Running time: 4:00. Telluridepalm.com

TUESDAY, FEB. 18

Cheesemaking 101: Everyday Milk into Cheese with Laurel Robinson – Surprisingly simple to make as well as delicious; an Ah Haa course, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Cheesemaking II follows next month. ahhaa.org English National Theatre on the Big Screen: William Shakespeare’s Coriolanus – Searing tragedy of political manipulation and revenge, starring Tom Hiddleston (The Avengers;

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Ridgway David Nunn, Fri., Jan. 31, Trail Town Still, 9 p.m.

Stosch Dembitsky, Sat., Feb. 1, Trail Town Still, 9 p.m.

Meghan Baker, Fri., Feb. 7, Trail Town Still, 9 p.m.

Magpie, Sat., Feb. 8, Trail Town Still, 9 p.m.

Rob Jones and the Good Times Music Company, Fri., Feb. 14, Trail Town Still, 9 p.m.

Tony Rosario, Sat., Feb. 15, Trail Town Still, 9 p.m.

Bill Tiedje, Fri., Feb. 21, Trail Town Still, 9 p.m.

Mark Berenson, Sat., Feb. 22, Trail Town Still, 9 p.m.

Coral Dietrich, Fri., Feb. 28, Trail Town Still, 9 p.m.

Joint Point, Fri., Feb. 28, Sherbino Theater, 8 p.m., $10 Jeff Solon Trio, Sun., April 13, Sherbino Theater, 7:30 p.m., Montrose Eilen Jewel, Fri., Mar. 21, Turn of the Century Saloon, 8 p.m., $15

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F EB R UAR Y 2014 W AT C H L I S T E N S H OW • 1 1

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Grand Junction Mad Conductor, Fri., Jan. 31, Cruiser’s Bar, 9:30 p.m.

Pepper, Sat., Feb. 1, Mesa Theater, 8 p.m., $24 Preston Creed, Sat., Feb. 1, Cruiser’s Bar, 9:30 p.m.

Michael Menert, Thu., Feb. 6, Mesa Theater, 8:30 p.m., $13

>>> War Horse). Palm Theatre, 7 p.m. telluridepalm.com

THURSDAY, FEB. 20

Verticality: Dropping Into the Dream Through Writing, with Amy Irvine McHarg – “A life can turn on a single image,” McHarg has said.

“As a weaver of words, a spinstress of stories, this is not something I cared to understand.” An Ah Haa School course; 9 a.m. ahhaa.org

THURSDAY, FEB. 20-FRIDAY, FEB. 21

The Living Wills, Fri., Feb. 14, Cruiser’s Bar, 9:30 p.m.

Infamous Stringdusters in Concert – A bluegrass band whose “casual and good-timey” sounds, the New York Times says, “are actually intricately plotted and arranged, attentive to the textures of each voice and string. The Infamous Stringdusters don’t leave bluegrass behind, they are stretching it from within.” The Deadly Gentlemen open.

Sheridan Opera House, 8:30 p.m. sheridanoperahouse.com

Sean Farley, Sat., Feb. 15, Cruiser’s Bar, 9:30 p.m.

FRIDAY, FEB. 21

Michael Martin Murphey, Fri., Feb. 7, Moss Performing Arts Center Recital Hall, 7:30 p.m., $30/$35 The Johnny Kongo All-Star Show, Fri., Feb. 7, Cruiser’s Bar, 9:30 p.m.

Rehab, Sat., Feb. 8, Mesa Theater, 8 p.m., $15

No Apologies, Fri., Feb. 21, Cruiser’s Bar, 9:30 p.m.

Ryan Chrys, Sat., Feb. 22, Cruiser’s Bar, 9:30 p.m.

Triad Dragons, Thu., Feb. 27, Mesa Theater, 8:30 p.m., $10 Mutiny, Fri., Feb. 28, Cruiser’s Bar, 9:30 p.m.

Merican Slang, Sat., Mar. 1, Cruiser’s Bar, 9:30 p.m.

The English Beat, Sun., Mar. 2, Mesa Theater, 7:30 p.m., $24 Durango Juno What?!, Thu., Jan. 30, Animas City Theater, 10 p.m., $12 Keller Williams, Wed., Feb. 5, Animas City Theater, 9 p.m., $30 Kalya Scintilla & Kaminanda with Ras Daws, Fri., Feb. 7, Animas City Theater, 10 p.m., $15 Leftover Salmon, Fri.-Sat., Feb. 14-15, Animas City Theater, 9 p.m., $35 Zion-I w/ SOL, Mon., Feb. 17, Animas City Theater, 9 p.m., $15/$20 El Ten Eleven with Bronze Whale, Tue., Feb. 18, Animas City Theater, 9 p.m., $5 Papadosio with The Main Squeeze, Tue., Mar. 4, Animas City Theater, 9 p.m., $17/$20 This Must Be The Band, Thu., Mar. 20, Animas City Theater, 9 p.m., $12 Gunnison White Water Ramble, Fri., Jan. 31, Last Chance, $8 Infamous Stringdusters, Sat., Feb. 22, Last Chance, 10 p.m., $16/$20

California Wine: The New Reds – A selection of Red varietals from several California regions; cheese and charcuterie accompany the tasting. An Ah Haa School course; 6-8 p.m. ahhaa.org Bill Tiedje in Concert – “Gentle, generous” music; Trail Town Still, 9 p.m.-12 a.m.

Telluride AIDS Benefit models did the “Detroit Hustle” in 2013; this year’s TAB Fashion Show takes place Saturday, March 1, at the Telluride Conference Center.

Cotton with Kathy Green – Explore methods of printing on silk screens and other materials to create unique designs and textures. An Ah Haa course; 6-9 p.m. ahhaa.org

Telluride AIDS Benefit Silent Auction, After Party and Trunk Show – The 21st annual event, at the Sheridan Opera House. aidsbenefit.org

FRIDAY, FEB. 21TUESDAY, FEB. 25

WEDNESDAY, FEB. 26

SATURDAY, MAR. 1

Masriera Trunk Show – Rare and unusual Art Nouveau jewelry from a Barcelona firm representing more than 200 years of artistic design; at Lustre Gallery for five days only. 970/7283355; lustregallery. com

SATURDAY, FEB. 22

Thin Air in Concert – Two Rascals Brewery; 7:30-9:30 p.m. 970/249-8689 Mark Berenson in Concert – Original folk, blues, bluegrass and pop; Trail Town Still, 9 p.m.-12 a.m.

SATURDAY, FEB. 22MONDAY, MAR. 3

Telluride Gay Ski Week – Various locations around town. telluridegayskiweek.com

SUNDAY, FEB. 23

Oscar Nominated Short Films – Palm Theatre. Animated shorts at 4 p.m.; live action shorts, 6 p.m. telluridepalm.com Mixed Media Art Bar – Creativity and cocktails: local artist Kellie Day instructs at the Sherbino Theater; 6-8 p.m.

TUESDAYS AND WEDNESDAYS, FEB. 25-MAR. 5 Printing on Fabric, Dyeing on

12 • W A T CH L I S T E N S H O W F E B R U A R Y 2014

Gourd Circle – Bring your poems, stories, or writings, or just listen as the gourd is passed around the circle; Norwood, the Livery, 6:30-9 p.m.

THURSDAY, FEB. 27

Steve House: Nanga Parbat and Beyond – The professional alpinist and guide shares his adventures and some of the inner knowledge he has gleaned in the out-of-doors, climbing some of the most difficult routes in the world on which he has lost “many climbing partners, friends and almost my own life.” Sherbino Theater; 7-9 p.m. Fee: $15. Sherbinotheater.com

THURSDAY, FEB. 27SATURDAY, MAR. 8

Legally Blonde: The Musical – California sorority girl Elle Woods follows her ex-boyfriend to Harvard in this song-and-dance production, based on the novel by Amanda Brown and the 2001 film starring Reese Witherspoon; Grand Junction, Moss Performing Arts Center, Colorado Mesa University. Coloradomesa.edu/ mosstickets

FRIDAY, FEB. 28

AIDS Benefit Art Show – Sheridan Opera House, 5 p.m.-12 a.m.

Mardi Gras with Joint Point and Friends – Concert at the Sherbino Theater; 8-11:45 p.m. sherbinotheater.com Coral Dietrich in Concert – Sweet and soulful; Trail Town Still, 9 p.m.12 a.m.

FRIDAY, FEB. 28-THURSDAY, MAR. 3

Telluride AIDS Benefit Fashion Show – The annual event; Telluride Conference Center, Mountain Village.

Metropolitan Opera: Prince Igor – Live performance of Borodin’s defining epic, famous for its Polovtsian Dances, comes to the Met for the first time in nearly 100 years; Palm Theatre, 10 a.m. Running time: 4:30. telluridepalm.com Meet the Author: Ruth Ozecki – Author and Soto Zen priest Ozecki visits Grand Junction to discuss and sign copies of her most recent novel, A Tale for the Time Being, recently short-listed for the Man Booker prize; Grand Junction High School Auditorium, 7 p.m.

MONDAY, MAR. 3

AIDS Benefit Trunk Show – Sheridan Opera House, 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. info@sheridanoperahouse.com

The Stomp Never Stops in Telluride

And This Month, Even More Bluegrass To Remember, With Leftover Salmon And The Infamous Stringdusters The manufacturing of immense musical magic every Summer Solstice has been an anticipated mainstay of Telluride’s patterned festival fabric for 40 years. Each June the Telluride Bluegrass Festival sets a

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trajectory aimed at positively furthering the unique pickin’ party from the years prior, and more often than not they hit the mark, split the target, and continue flying wildly into uncharted moments that can only happen once the event is happening in real time. That is why people go every year, and these noteworthy blips on the international music radar have a way of spreading beyond themselves. They personalize the memory, but more importantly, they further the mythology of a four-decade tradition that is now considered a lifestyle by many of its patrons.

A shallow dip into festival history just last year recalls celebluegrasser Steve Martin & Steep Canyon Rangers stealing the Town Park Stage top honors, while Colorado’s very own The String Cheese Incident was joined by Leftover Salmon for an impromptu performance as replacements for Mumford & Sons at the Sheridan Opera House. It was a late-night show with “you had to be there” written all over it, and it signified a true benchmark for the generation of bluegrass pioneered by these two bands at this very location.

It is, of course, vital to recognize that the legacy of this genre’s association with the Western Slope goes way further back than either of these bluegrass life forces, but more important than that, to recognize that these two bands have re-paved the path for an entire new breed of young bands that see traveling to the Telluride to perform as a rite of passage.

And come to Telluride they do, but not just for the stretch of months that comprise the outdoor live music season.

It’s a year-round constant stream that is now directly connected to a string of winter showcases often spanning two nights in intimate venues.

The Fly Me to the Moon Saloon has offered rising Fort Collins stars Head for the Hills, a band that enlisted Leftover Salmon leader Drew Emmitt to produce their last self-titled studio effort. “Drew produced the album that we recorded at Billy Nershi’s house,” said Head for the Hills guitarist Adam Kinghorn, “and he was actually surprised we asked him to do that because he is not typically known for doing that. He really enjoyed that we went for a live feel with everything, which is different from what we did on our last album.

The guys have garnered plenty of

the infamous stringdusters

attention on the Front Range, but when the topic of Telluride is mentioned, guitarist Kinghorn said it “is one of our biggest life long achievements for the band to have played here. There is something magical and inspiring about the connection the town has to the music and lifestyle, especially the outdoor themes often associated with mountain music.”

It’s not just native Colorado acts waxing rhapsodic about Telluride; Wood & Wire traveled all the way from Austin, Tex., to punch out their fierce, twangy picking at the Moon. Although stylistically different from their high alpine charged counterparts, the desire to push their sound over a thousands miles from home is rooted in the same coming of age mentality that brings dozens of bands just like them here every year. That hunger delivered yet another statement show that has established first rate performances as the norm in town.

Looking forward to the middle of the month, a huge music week sees Leftover Salmon traveling up the hill to headline a gig at the Telluride Conference Center in Mountain Village on Sunday, Feb. 16.

Although they have played the large room before, it will be a change of pace for the band that usually can be found in the historic Sheridan Opera House this time of year. “We thought we’d give it try up there this year, move it around, and see what kind of trouble we can get into up there,” said Leftover frontman Vince Herman.

More fans should equal more energy from the crowd, and that is the right kind of stimulus for this band to go off. “Telluride is a legendary place, and people there have legendary amounts of fun. It is a town with a healthy ski bum population, which is getting more rare, and they are always a good, rowdy crowd to play to,” Herman explained. “That is what makes mountain towns right for routing tours through these ski areas, and Telluride is just about the finest one of them.”

Standout Southern Bluegrass Festival veteran quintet The Infamous Stringdusters will bring their strategically planned ski

tour to Telluride Friday, Feb. 20-Saturday, Feb. 21, for a two-night run at the Sheridan Opera House. Although relatively young as a band (in the bluegrass chronology), the Dusters have made the trek to 8,750 feet more than a few times. “When you’re in the acoustic world, especially the progressive bluegrass part of it that we fall

into, Telluride is one of those ubiquitous things from the very beginning,” said banjo player Chris Pandolfi. “It’s the live albums recorded there, the fan connections made there that comeback in other place around the country. So when the call finally comes and get you an invite to go to Telluride, it is one of those Carnegie Hall type moments for a string band.

“There is a unique appeal about coming to perform there in the winter. It’s a magical place in general of course, truly unlike all of the other spots we’ve been to, and the skiers in our group feel like that translates just as much in this season as well. This is our fifth year of routing our ski tour through there, and it directly plays into our bigger live performance philosophy of cool people congregating in cool places.”

With a couple of months still left to squeeze in as many marquee performers as possible, look forward to Billy Nershi and the Travelin’ McCourys on March 17 at the Opera House and Whitewater Ramble on March 4 at Fly Me to the Moon Saloon and other noteworthy late- season concerts.

The stomp never stops in Telluride.

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F EB R UAR Y 2014 W AT C H L I S T E N S H OW • 1 3

A geometric batik (clockwise from top, right); fiber arts student Cindy Farny doing a color check; Farny’s turquoise flowers on silk (right) are enhanced by purple dye (center); a wax brush.

ah haa

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low them, and dyes. On this Sunday, some students stamped designs with one of the hundreds of implements kept on a wood table by the north-facing wall ranging from stamped-out sponge shapes attached to handles to a rusty bedspring to a repurposed taco holder – “it draws the greatest lines,” she said. “I never knew there were so many potato mashers,” Green said, picking up one of the several potato mashers she has collected for imprinting spiral

al p en g low

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also plans to send out weekly coordinated e-mail blasts promoting upcoming events offered by all four organizations. Patrons will be able to customize the content they are interested in receiving, based on their individual interests.

Members of the alliance will also share advertising expenses, by (for example) running coordinated ads a monthly basis in newly redesigned Watch Listen Show.

The four organizations are abiding by a set of rules to no longer plaster the county with posters promoting their individual events, but will instead design and hang posters that collaboratively promote all of the member organization’s upcoming events.

“The best thing about the alliance has been acknowledging that we all have a very similar objective of bringing and presenting arts in different forms to residents and visitors,” said Weehawken Creative Arts Executive Director Ashley King.

“We have recognized the power of collaborating, and as we work together we will only become stronger.”

designs onto the silk.

“We love spirals,” she said, of the curling design of this repurposed masher.

“They’re a basic human shape in rock art from 40,000 or 50,000 years ago,” symbolizing everything from “the center of the earth to where we discover water.”

Bottles of colorful acid dye used for batiking line a counter on the 30-by-60 foot stone-interior building’s south-facing wall. “These acid dyes work only on silk or wool ,” said Green, who taught herself how to batik after her first class

in Shibori. She prefers silk over other fabrics, like cotton, because of the liquid silk colors dyes. Powder fiber reactive dyes usually mix as of shades of brown, and not until it’s dry does the artist sees what the color actually is. “I love the spontaneity of these dyes,” she said, of the acid dyes.

In this class, the finished batik is hung to dry and then sent to the dry cleaner for removal of the wax; artists can remove the wax themselves, but it is tedious and it is really smelly to iron it out, Green said.

Green’s upcoming Ah Haa classes are in Shibori, batik and printing on fabric; because each student needs an eight-foot workspace space is limited. Visit ahhaaschool.com and for more information.

Green, like her students, is looking forward to the second annual Many Hands Fiber Arts Festival, coming up this summer. The first-ever three-day festival, held at Telluride High School, drew “up to a thousand visitors,” she estimated. Visit manyhandsfiberartsfestival.org for information.

Josh Gowans, the Executive Director of the Wright Opera House, concurred.

“It goes beyond not stepping on each others toes, but actively promoting together,” he said. “That’s huge. Because as small as this community is, filling a theater can be challenging.”

For John Clark, the mayor of Ridgway and a founding member of the Ridgway Chautauqua Society that is behind the efforts to revive the Sherbino Theater, “The crux is pooling our resources in terms of people and money. We are all volunteer organizations for most part, and anything we can do to be more efficient is huge benefit,” he said. “For a long time, we have realized that we can’t afford to be competitive.”

But cooperating with each other doesn’t mean that the organizations will have to lose their autonomy through a sort of “walmartization” of the performing arts. As Gowans stressed, “it’s a real bottom-up approach. This is an opportunity for us to work together without the big issues of merging our organizations at the top level.”

Before the Alpenglow Arts Alliance coalesced, OCPAG and the Wright Opera House did test those waters, discussing

ways that the two organizations could become one. But the discussions felt too topheavy, Gowans explained, and in the end, the effort fizzled.

“It’s hard; all organizations have an identity and brand, and there is a fear we will compromise those brands,” he said. “Nobody wants to do that, but we are all recognizing promoting the arts will build all of our organizations.”

The Sherbino Theater and Weehawken Creative Arts have also been exploring ways to collaborate on a more formal basis. The two organizations were recently awarded a grant from the Telluride Foundation for which they jointly applied. The money will be split between the two nonprofits, and it comes with technical support in the form of a consultant who will periodically meet with the two organizations to discuss how they can share resources.

“We were impressed with their proposal,” said the Telluride Foundation’s Programs Director April Montgomery. “The grants committee is very supportive of grants applications to find a way to take two viable organizations and explore opportunities to share services and work together to use each other’s programs effectively and

more efficiently.”

The Telluride Foundation awarded another shared grant in its most recent grant cycle, to a number of nonprofits that are all providing complimentary services to seniors in the West End. As Montgomery reflected, “There is a trend among funders to emphasize and look for strong collaborative efforts. I think this trend really came about due to the economic downturn over the last five or so years. During the downturn there has been a much stronger need for nonprofits to conserve resources, look for ways to share and find ways to be more creative in providing services.”

The Telluride Foundation even provides a link on its website, providing nonprofit merger information.

But for now, the members of the Alpenglow Arts Alliance will remain independent, and continue separately in what each does well, stressed OCPAG President Sue Hillhouse. “We hope you will continue to enjoy and support each of these fine organizations,” she said.

14 • W A T CH L I S T E N S H O W F E B R U A R Y 2014

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