Photo by Jeremy Janus
Nearly 100 artists are coming to Summit County this weekend for a showcase of art at the fifth annual Keystone River Run Village Art Festival. National and local, all artists will be on-site for the free festival that runs from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, July 24, through Sunday, July 25.
Presented by Howard Alan Events, the juried art show represents original, handcrafted artwork selected by an independent panel of expert judges from hundreds of applicants. Guests can expect to find jewelry, paintings, glasswork, sculptures and more.
The festival is part of the Colorado Summer of Art tour, which includes the Downtown Aspen Art Festival, the Boulder Fine Art Street Festival on 29th Street and the Avon Festival of the Arts at Nottingham Park. Visit ArtFestival.com
SUMMER IN …
This feature was originally published in the 2021 edition of “Summer in Aspen/Snowmass,” which is on newsstands now around the Roaring Fork Valley. It as well as other 2021 visitor guides are available anytime at http://www.aspentimes.com/magazines.
If you haven’t made the rounds in Aspen art galleries lately, you’ll find many new players and programs on the scene following an unexpected boom during the pandemic. Galleries were able to open quickly after the spring 2020 lockdown, providing sanctuary for people seeking solace or inspiration when most every other cultural hub was closed.
New galleries came to town, including a spate of international contemporary art tastemakers opening their first Aspen satellites. This summer, we’re toasting those galleries and beloved established ones as the social side of the local scene comes back to life with opening receptions, art talks and walk-throughs.
The pandemic stripped away the social side out of Aspen’s historically lively art and gallery scene. Yes, galleries were able to open quickly after the spring 2020 lockdown and, yes, they provided sanctuary for people seeking solace or inspiration when most every other cultural hub was closed.
But there were no opening receptions and shoulder-to-shoulder crowds, no walk-throughs, no in-person artist talks. Art viewing has mostly been a solitary or virtual venture. Even as several new players arrived on the local scene, they arrived quietly.
There were positives to be found in the experience of gallery hopping during the pandemic – you had more conversations with gallerists, for example, and you realized how little you actually get to look at the artwork at a crowded opening.