More than 30 galleries will showcase artists’ work at the Hotel Jerome this week for the new Aspen Art Fair.
The exhibition is spread over some traditional booths and some hotel suites, turned into showrooms for the event; several panels are part of the program too, featuring creative voices as well as art-market experts at multiple locations throughout Aspen.
Becca Hoffman, of 74th Arts, co-founded the fair with Bob Chase, who owns the local Hexton Gallery.
“We wanted to infuse the present of Aspen with its past, its philanthropic support of arts and culture,” Hoffman. “And we wanted to inspire towards the future the whimsical elegance that this town really imbues and the hotel Jerome supports.”
About that philanthropic support: Several partnerships will award creative opportunities to artists at the fair.
Anderson Ranch will select one person for a residency in Snowmass Village. Buckhorn Public Arts will commission someone to design a set for a future Dance Aspen show. And the Pardon Collection from Denver will grant a $10,000 acquisition prize, buying work from an artist who’s shaping the contemporary landscape.
“These prizes were a way for us to integrate new visual voices into that history of Aspen,” Chase said.
(He notes that the Buckhorn Public Arts award was inspired by a collaboration decades ago between visual artist Robert Rauschenberg and dancer and choreographer Merce Cunningham; Rauschenberg had ties to Aspen with works at the art museum and the International Design Conference.)
The Aspen Art Fair kicks off today and runs through Friday, during a robust week of creative celebration in town. (It’s Art Week at the Aspen Art Museum, and the Intersect Aspen Art and Design Fair takes place at the Ice Garden.)
Chase said Aspen punches above its weight when it comes to art appreciation, and it seems like people are always hungry for more.
“What I found over the years is just how much appetite and excitement there is and how much curiosity there is amongst this community to learn more, see more, and really dive in,” Chase said.
Chase’s Hexton Gallery is one of several local exhibitors at the Aspen Art Fair. Galerie Maximillian and Casterline|Goodman are also on the lineup.
