Music on a Mission

| BY SOPHIE DINGLE

Ten years ago, in a parking lot in Edwards, snowflakes swirled as The Infamous Stringdusters strummed the first notes of their headline set. This was the beginning of WinterWonderGrass: a blizzard, 12 bands, a sold-out show and a path to the future of the festival.

On that snowy night in the Vail valley, the festival’s founder, Scotty Stoughton, knew he was in the right place at the right time.

“It was a time when places were disappearing in the valley which had a big music scene and I felt like there was a hole,” Stoughton says. “People were upset and sad. This was when a new generation of bluegrass and jam was coming around, and I felt like it was a good time to try a wild idea.”

That wild idea turned into a sold-out, two night show – and it stuck. He later moved the festival to Avon for more space but realized that something was missing.

“I was really seeking more integration on the mountain and the opportunity to do shows on the hill and around the town,” he says. “I wanted a more cohesive partnership with the community and the resort.”

He fell in love with Steamboat Springs during a site visit, first moving the festival here and then moving his family.

“The first year in Steamboat was pretty special,” Stoughton says. “I had a sold-out festival in the Vail valley and I moved it –like, that’s crazy! But I was on a pursuit to find the right answer and this felt really right.”

This March will mark the festival’s sixth year in Steamboat and 10th year in Colorado. Along the way, Stoughton has expanded to create WinterWonderGrass events in California and Vermont as well as other festivals like Campout for the Cause and Revival as well as RiverWonderGrass and his latest, BajaWonderGrass.

At the heart of each event is authenticity, community and of course, the music that ties it all together.

“We never want to grow just to grow,” says Stoughton. “We’re all about quality, not quantity. With Steamboat and Tahoe, we have two communities that are happy to support growth but we also commit to them that we’re not looking to grow but rather to be an impactful event in both of those communities. We want to be better, but not necessarily bigger.”

That concept – paired with Covid-19 – led Stoughton to pause some of his events, like WinterWonderGrass in Vermont, Campout for the Cause and Revival, while adding new ones that, as he puts it, “felt right.”

Several years ago, when Stoughton became involved in the river community, he paddleboarded the Grand Canyon and lived on the river for 21 nights.

“I was enamored with how good I felt and how clear and healthy I was,” he remembers. “I wanted to figure out how to share that.”

And so RiverWonderGrass was created with artists like Buffalo Commons, Lindsey Lou and Tyler Grant signing on to participate in the guided river trips. Now in its fourth year, Stoughton says the plan is “more purpose, less party.”

“It’s about shedding layers and having really sweet, vulnerable conversations with one another,” he says. “We’re very one-way communicative with social media and in life we’re so busy – this is a chance to slow down.”

The newest iteration, BajaWonderGrass, is also a chance to slow down. The already sold-out event is a small gathering of about 350 people with a few bands in a remote location along the Sea of Cortez.

“It’s no thrills, no hype, midweek, one bar, no hotel packages,” says Stoughton. “Just strip it down.”

Back in Steamboat though, there is a fair amount of hype – because this year’s WinterWonderGrass marks the 10 year anniversary of the festival. Stoughton has brought his two original headliners, Greensky Bluegrass and The Infamous Stringdusters, back for this year’s anniversary event.

“This is one of the coolest and most interesting festivals that we play,” says Travis Book, who is the bass player for Infamous Stringdusters. “We’re really honored to be headlining and it’s nice that we’ve kind of grown up together – our band and the festival have come a long way in the last decade.”

Book points out that the festival hasn’t drifted far from its ethos of positivity and musical exploration in the past decade.

“Scotty [Stoughton] and his team have cultivated a really unique and positive environment and the lineup is always just stacked with contemporaries and good friends of ours,” he says.

A positive environment is exactly what Stoughton is aiming for.

“What really gets me is when we bring new bands into the fold and they see the power of our community and the love that these bluegrass players exude,” he says. “Lack of ego in a hugely ego driven music industry – it’s really what gets me inspired.”

“Neal is out of the box,” he says, “but it’s authentic music. At the end of the day, you’ve got to be a real artist. If the power goes out, you can keep playing. If the snow comes down, you’re gonna embrace it. And more than your song and your talent - although that’s hugely important –it’s your desire to promote positivity and kindness and love and camaraderie. Those things get you booked at WinterWonderGrass.”

One decade later the festival that has moved parking lots, added bands and fans, and cultivated kindness and community returns to Steamboat Friday - Sunday, March 3-5. And while some things

SandyGravesArt.com

“internationally collected, locally created” Represented by Pine Moon Fine Art, R Diamond Collection, and currently showing at the Steamboat Art Museum.

Divergent. Inspiring. Provocative.

Boldness defines Steamboat Art Museum exhibit

Until 1962, the world had a preconceived notion of what Indigenous art should entail. Scenes from everyday life –primarily buffalo and deer – were expected. Native American flatstyle painting, which emphasizes contour and shape without shadow and dimension, was de rigueur.

That all changed with the birth of the Institute of American Indian Arts 61 years ago. Innovative administrators, acclaimed instructors and a handpicked group of talented students converged in Santa Fe, New Mexico, with a common vision: push the boundaries, create something new, and keep it real. The synergy created at IAIA amidst an era of social unrest, war and President John F. Kennedy’s New Frontier resulted in the birth of an art form: contemporary Western art.

“The time was the 1960s, when social change was rocking the world. The place was IAIA in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where a few major talents upset the status quo, blew the doors off the curio shop, and buried the Noble Savage forever,” explains author Suzanne Deats in her definitive work, “ndn art: Contemporary Native American Art.”

Work by these artists forms the core of SAM’s winter exhibit, “The New West: The Rise of Contemporary Indigenous and Western Art.” The exhibit traces this art form from its IAIA roots to the present, and is SAM’s most ambitious project to date.

“I find this a very exciting and fascinating exhibit in the diversity of the artists, and the genre. These brilliant artists came together to create this work that really redefined contemporary Western art, and we’re able to tell the story,” says SAM Executive Director Betse Grassby.

The story begins with internationally acclaimed artists Fritz Scholder, Allan Houser and Charles and Otellie Loloma, who were faculty members at IAIA in its early years. Among the first students were such celebrated artists as T.C. Cannon, Earl Biss, Kevin Red Star, Linda Lomahaftewa and Doug Hyde. Together, these early IAIA students so profoundly changed the direction of Indigenous art that they have been dubbed “the miracle generation.”

At some point, the students may have eclipsed, or at least influenced their teachers. Of the ‘60s IAIA artists, Cannon may be the most well-known. “Red Tipi Warrior” is the signature piece of the SAM exhibit. Cannon, who enlisted in the military shortly after graduating from the IAIA, was a Vietnam War hero. During the Tet Offensive, he earned two Bronze Stars as a paratrooper with the 101st Airborne Division. Critics say his military service impacted his style, and he was prolific following his return to civilian life. He and Scholder presented a two-man show at the Smithsonian Institute’s National Collection of Fine

Arts in 1972. Cannon’s career was cut short in 1978, when he was killed in a car accident.

For decades, the work of Indigenous artists was largely under-appreciated, often exhibited in natural history museums alongside bone and pottery shards. That began to change in the late 20th century, when nationally renowned art museums created homes and built exhibits showcasing the work of Indigenous artists.

Since its tumultuous beginnings, contemporary Western art has spread around the world. Artists like Logan Maxwell Hagege, Kim Wiggins, Donna Howell-Sickles, Duke Beardsley, Nelson Boren, Maeve Eichelberger, Sandy Graves and Billy Schenck, whose 21st century work expands on contemporary foundations, are among those with work in the SAM exhibit.

Not unlike the convergence of talent that led the IAIA artists to international fame in the 1960s, the SAM exhibit would not have happened without a serendipitous confluence of integral parts.

Guest curator Seth Hopkins, director of the Booth Western Art Museum in Cartersville, Georgia – named by USA Today as the best art museum in America three years in a row – was crucial to “The New West.” Hopkins has been an adviser and collaborator with SAM for much of its 16-year existence. “This exhibit seeks to make visitors aware of the perceived boundaries of Western art, show how those boundaries are being redrawn, and attract new audiences to the museum,” Hopkins says.

The determination and vision of SAM board member Jim Heckbert, who spearheaded the project, was a central force. Institute of American Indian Arts board member Barbara Ells, who has a residence in Steamboat and who is one of the sponsors of the exhibit, introduced SAM to the work of the IAIA and lent her knowledge and connections to “The New West.”

Another critical component was the Tia Collection in Santa Fe, New Mexico, which lent more than a dozen pieces to the exhibit – plus a wealth of knowledge. Private collectors from throughout the country also lent pieces to SAM.

“It’s so exciting to be bringing in pieces of this size and scope from notable museums and collections throughout the country,” Grassby says. “They are pieces that Steamboat audiences might otherwise never get a chance to see.”

The exhibit takes SAM in a new direction, offering contemporary art that represents a facet of the West the museum has not previously explored. “Different is what you find herein,” Hopkins explains. “So browse not only with your eyes open, but your mind, heart and soul as well. Observe, explore and question your feelings. Be inspired or be turned off; either is fine. Just have a reaction. You owe it to the artists and the art.”

Steamboat Art Museum, 801 Lincoln Ave., is open TuesdaysFridays, 11 a.m.- 6 p.m, and Saturdays, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Admission is free. For more information, visit www.steamboatartmuseum.org.

– Deborah Olsen is the publisher of Steamboat Magazine and president of the board of Steamboat Art Museum. SM

COURTESY OF CHRISTIAN PONDELLA