Arts and Culture

In a normal year, local musician Shea Freedom can be found tearing up the stage at Belly Up in Aspen or performing for passersby on main street in Carbondale, but when the pandemic hit, his gigs were cancelled. 

As protests and social justice movements spread across the country, that forced free time gave Freedom a moment to reflect on what he was seeing and he used his creativity as a way to process everything. 

This is Week in the Arts—a curation of virtual events, exhibits and reopenings around the Roaring Fork Valley.

This is Week in the Arts—a curation of virtual events, exhibits and reopenings around the Roaring Fork Valley.

After shutting down all productions due to COVID-19, Glenwood Springs's Vaudeville Revue is returning to the stage with a new variety show—a production they're aptly calling the "COVID Revue." The troupe said the goal is to bring some light—and laughter—to the current situation.

This is Week in the Arts—a curation of virtual events, exhibits and reopenings around the Roaring Fork Valley.

Aspen Ideas enters its 16th year this week (Sunday, June 28 through Thursday, July 2) with some major changes to this year's event; the festival will be held entirely online due to COVID-19, and all live content will be free for virtual audiences. 

Pueden encontrar la versión en español aqui.

When Iliana Rentería Bernal moved to the Roaring Fork Valley almost three years ago, dreams of the stage were just that.  

The Aspen Chapel Gallery's upcoming exhibition, "Art From the Heart," (June 24 through July 12) benefits local artists and organizations helping in the Roaring Fork Valley’s COVID-19 response. The Aspen Chapel Gallery’s co-director Tom Ward said the impetus behind the exhibition was simple.

This is Week in the Arts—a curation of virtual events, exhibitions and reopenings around the Roaring Fork Valley.

Registration for Anderson Ranch Arts Center's Summer Series is now open; this week, the Snowmass Village art facility announced its 7-week series of Q-and-A's and conversations, which will be held over Zoom due to COVID-19. 

Ali Noorani is a guest speaker at English in Action's annual fundraiser (June 18, 6 p.m.), which is being held virtually this year due to COVID-19.

Noorani is executive director of the National Immigrant Forum and author of the book “There Goes The Neighborhood: How Communities Overcome Prejudice And Meet The Challenge of Immigration.” On his podcast, “Only in America,” he interviews people across the political and ideological spectrum about key issues surrounding the immigration debate.

Carbondale’s Thunder River Theatre Company concludes its 2019-20 season with a performance of the one-woman play "The Pink Unicorn," which premiers virtually Friday, June 12 and is available for online viewing until June 27.

The details of Theatre Aspen’s 2020 summer season are still being worked out due to COVID-19. Taking center stage, however, are essential workers and local leaders who have served the community during the pandemic.

Carbondale’s Mountain Fair typically draws hundreds of spectators, vendors, artisans, artists and musicians to Sopris Park each summer. Due to ongoing concerns surrounding COVID-19, organizers say they're bringing this festivities into individual neighborhoods for this year's event, planned for July 24-26.

This is Week in the Arts—a curation of virtual events and exhibits around the Roaring Fork Valley.

COVID-19 has impacted everyone, but not everyone is experiencing the pandemic in the same way. That’s the idea behind Roaring Fork Schools’ roundtable discussion called “Sharing Stories: Life During a Pandemic.” Each event is hosted in English and Spanish, and features students, faculty and parents sharing their own stories of what this time at home has meant for them. 

This is Week in the Arts—a curation of virtual exhibits and events around the Roaring Fork Valley.

Andy Stone and Linda Lafferty's co-authored novel “Light in the Shadows” marks the first time the husband and wife have shared the same byline. In some ways, though, a joint undertaking was perhaps inevitable for the husband-and-wife team.

Aspen Words is going online with part of its Summer Words Writers Conference & Literary Festival due to COVID-19. The literary organization kicks off its June programming virtually with a writing workshop hosted by the literary organization’s executive director Adrienne Brodeur. The discussion focuses on the ins and outs of writing about real people (Thursday, June 4, 5:30 p.m.).

This is Week in the Arts—a curation of virtual exhibits and events around the Roaring Fork Valley.

As the world collectively navigates the COVID-19 pandemic, the Aspen Historical Society is asking Roaring Fork Valley residents what living through this time has meant for them. The organization has undertaken a collection called Quarantine Stories: Recording History—a project in partnership with Aspen Public Radio—as part of its efforts to capture and archive the local ripple effects of the pandemic. 

Audiences who missed this year's Shortsfest from Aspen Film can tune in over Memorial Day weekened to catch the festival winners. Films will be available via a single online streaming platform, and viewers can catch all nine short films in one sitting, or watch in segments.

This is Week in the Arts—a curation of virtual exhibits and events around the Roaring Fork Valley.

Earlier this week, Carbondale officials launched a campaign encouraging residents to wear face coverings in public due to COVID-19. 

Project presentations for the conclusion of Aspen Art Museum’s Artist Fellowship will be held virtually on Thursday, with the program's four artist fellows presenting their work online.

Welcome to another week in the Roaring Fork Valley! This is Week in the Arts, a curated list of upcoming virtual exhibitions and events.

With COVID-19 cancelling in-person classes and exhibits, Basalt’s Art Base is finding ways to bring people into its gallery virtually, and get art out into the community.

 Bird watchers worldwide say they're hearing more birds lately. That's partly true; according to ornithologists, less ambient noise due to COVID-19 shutdowns means that local songbirds don't have to compete with things like traffic and airplanes. When they're chirping outside your window, it's not that there's more of them, but you can hear them more clearly.

Roaring Fork Valley art centers, galleries and museums are offering ways to tap into creativity at home. Carbondale Arts, the Red Brick Center for the Arts, Aspen Art Museum and Anderson Ranch Arts Center have launched virtual classes, how-to videos and even downloadable coloring pages as part of their pandemic programming. 

With performing arts venues shut down due to coronavirus and stay-at-home orders, The Arts Campus at Willits, or TACAW, has been curating virtual and live performances.