9 minute read
ART + MUSIC
Colors of the Community
Town of Vail’s Art in Public Places Program
by Mackennea Broyles
Between the magnificent mountain views, palatial architecture and striking ski slopes, it seems impossible to make the Town of Vail any more breathtaking or beautiful. Molly Eppard’s job, however, is to do just that.
Eppard, an art history major and former art dealer, is the Art in Public Places Coordinator for the Town of Vail, and — via the work of a coterie of talented artists — she aims to not only beautify the town but cultivate a sense of community by representing its broad audience, from longtime locals to international visitors.
“Part of the success of the project is its diversity,” Eppard says. “Everyone might not like everything, but the hope is that everyone will like something.”
From concrete walls to smokestacks that, to Eppard, “looked like ugly paper towel tubes,” the Art in Public Places program is helping to color the Vail community.
Among the contributing artists are Olive Moya, Pedro Barrios and Kelsey Montague. Although these artists differ in their styles and approaches, they share common themes of color, community and charisma.
For Moya, when it came to art, the only logical choice was murals. “I love making work big,” she admits. “I’m not a delicate person.” Moya’s interest in murals began in college, where she confronted the traditional ideas that dictated what counted as “fine art.”
“I wanted to make something that I wasn’t necessarily selling,” she explains. “I wanted people who wouldn’t normally wander into an art space to be confronted by art.”
Enter murals. And not just any murals, either. Moya often creates her works in wheat paste. Once a way to cheaply and quickly adhere posters to walls with a flour and water mixture, the process now involves a wallpaper paste mixed with an acrylic medium to adhere pictures to a structure or wall.
KELSEY MONTAGUE
Moya’s piece in the Vail Transportation Center features a collage of historic Vail ski and snowboard pictures in cheerful coexistence with her signature swoops and splashes of resplendent color. The piece is also covered with a tough, transparent coating as insurance against the elements, which, in this case, means splashes of cantina salsa.
Although artist Kelsey Montague’s piece in Vail also contends with the elements, she sees this as an opportunity. “It’s constantly changing,” she says. “That’s what I love so much about public art. Even the weather brings a different experience to a piece.”
Montague’s Vail piece, a prismatic scene of butterflies, flowers and interactive swings, is designed to evoke a sense of joy, even when Vail is its wintry, monochromatic white. “Even when it's snowing, there’s this beautiful pop of color,” Montague adds. “I wanted to bring these beautiful Colorado colors and give them a place year-round.”
Montague is lifelong artist, the creator behind the popular #whatliftsyou wings that are the backdrop of many Instagram posts, and a fourth generation Coloradan. “I’ve traveled the world and drawn all over the place, but being able to draw in my home state is a point of pride for me,” she shares.
Pedro Barrios also graces Vail with his artistic vision. Together with Jaime Molina, the two form “The Worst
OLIVE MOYA
PEDRO BARRIOS + JAIME MOLINA
Crew,” a name taken from the early stages of working together where under-preparedness led to designs drawn on napkins with a borrowed pen. This quickly shifted into a symbiosis where the two would separately pick out swatches for a piece and reconvene holding the same samples.
Color is one of the signature elements of the pieces Barrios and Molina create, which makes for a vibrant through-line in their pieces at Lionshead and the smokestacks outside Dobson Ice Arena.
For Barrios, whose Colorado journey started in Vail, the opportunity to create there was a special one. “We wanted the work to become a part of the landscape, the community as a whole,” he explains. “I feel honored to have worked in Vail. That place is so important to me and my life story.”
In “public art,” one half of the phrase is just as significant as the other — where the piece is just as important as the place and people it represents. “[The art] is always something that I want the community to be really proud of,” Montague says.
Barrios shares a similar sentiment: “The great thing about public art is that, once it’s finished, it’s not really ours anymore; it’s for the community to make theirs.”
But, what about during the painting process? Whether it’s encouragement, like the ‘oohs’ and ‘ahhs’ from kids Barrios experienced as he painted the smokestacks, or less inspiring comments from passers-by, people are always contributing to a work-in-progress. “The ‘you missed a spot’ joke isn’t really funny anymore,” deadpans Moya.
Bad jokes aside, the public interaction is what shapes the murals and, ultimately, the community. “Stirring up something in somebody is what art is intended to do,” Barrios points out. Moya puts it this way: “Art is what makes us human. It’s what makes us special, you know?” +
Kelsey Montague
The Turntable Revue
Hear the Harmony of Music + Family
By Kimberly Nicoletti
The Turntable Revue’s sister and brother team, Terry Armistead and Joe Bianchi, grew up in the mountains of Vermont. An antenna could rarely pick up a television station there, so they spent every night jamming with their musical parents. As they describe it: daddy was a guitar playing, beer drinking folk singer, and mama was a piano playing, church singer with a voice like an angel.
“We grew up in a family that stays together and likes to be around each other, so that carries over to the music,” Armistead says.
And, in an interesting turn of events, the tightly-knit siblings ended up having much more in common than just music. They married siblings (Bianchi married Armistead’s husband’s sister), and both had triplets.
PUTTING THE BAND TOGETHER
Armistead moved to the Vail Valley in 1992. She met her husband, Jeff Armistead, in a local band they both played in, “until I fired him,” she shares. Turns out it was more of an “I love you, but you’re fired.” The two were best friends at the time, but Jeff’s gigs with Little Hercules — a nationally touring band — conflicted at times with her local band, Loud Mouth Soup. The Armistead’s ultimately got married and had triplets and one other child.
Bianchi moved to Minturn in 2000, and the trio formed The Turntable Revue. These days, Jeff finds a way to play keyboards with both Bonfire Dub and The Turntable Revue, without getting fired by his wife.
THE TURNTABLE EXPERIENCE
Jeff came up with the band’s name, based on the railroad turntable in the town they all live in and love: Minturn.
“The name also conveys that we play a lot of different songs,” Armistead explains. “You name it, we play it.”
Over the last 21 years, they’ve learned upwards of 500 covers, in addition to several originals they’ve penned. When they play their regular gigs at the Westin or Ritz Carlton, it’s 100% covers, though those may range — from rockin’ Zeppelin to quieter songs their parents loved, like Simon and Garfunkel or Peter, Paul and Mary to Terry’s favorites, like the old mistresses of country music, Emmylou Harris and Dolly Parton.
“I do think the ‘70s was the best era of music that ever was — other than the ‘90s — so we play a lot of that,” Armistead says. “We play what we like to listen to, but a lot of people tell us, ‘You just played every song off my favorite playlist.’”
The band generates an intimate feel, one that ushers in a sense of emotion and completeness, she added. “I like people to feel drawn in, to get what I’m putting down … and give them something they can take away.”
Turntable differs from typical cover bands in their song choice and variety, Bianchi said, adding that they often bring in three- and four-part harmonies.
“I think that’s a strong aspect of the band: big vocals and big harmonies,” he says.
While just Bianchi and Armistead perform weekly at the Westin (4-7 p.m. Mondays) and the Ritz Carlton (TBD), their full band takes the stage at private events, like weddings and corporate gigs.
THE PLAYERS
Turntable Revue’s musicians take their craft seriously. When they attend concerts, they’re more likely to be listening carefully near the soundboard, rather than “partying it up and dancing like crazy,” Armistead adds.
Having grown up in Detroit and blending in the sounds of New Orleans, Jeff is one of the most unique keyboard players around. Though Bianchi is a classically trained rock guitarist, his humility prevents him from taking over and laying out everything he knows in a self-centered solo.
“He’s a less-is-more kind of guy,” Armistead shares. “He’s got a clean tone. He’s a perfectionist in his notes. He’s more interested in contributing to the music (than showboating).”
Bob Masters is a ripping guitar player, but in Turntable, he holds down the rhythm section with the bass. Mark Levy is an incredible drummer who recently played with Phil Lesh and Friends and has been in Circles Around the Sun since 2015.
And, Armistead shines as a singer, whether she’s sweetly singing the national anthem at World Cup races in Beaver Creek or soulfully delivering tunes like “Take My Time” at GoPro Mountain Games.
Though the band hasn’t recorded a full album yet (they’ve been kind of busy raising two sets of triplets), they have been working on one in their studio, where Bianchi also records other musicians. Even though a Turntable Revue album hasn’t emerged from the studio yet, plenty of good times have; equipped with a couple pianos and drum sets and tons of guitars, the families have continued their parent’s tradition of bringing up their kids with music.
“A lot of times people call us the family band, and we’re passing it down to our kids,” Armistead says. “When you’re constantly exposed to music, it seeps into the soul of your kids.”
And so, the music plays on, because, as Armistead points out: “There is music to be found in every aspect of life.” +
