Join the parade of arts

››With a long and diverse creative history, Steamboat Springs welcomes visitors from all over the world with an abundance of cultural activities.

Art tells our stories, reflects the times, honors notable characters and celebrates a sense of place. From primitive cave drawings in North Routt County to musical notes hanging in the air of the modern Strings Pavilion, we can track a timeline of how this piece of the world has changed over the years.

As you dig into the Steamboat culture, you will discover artifacts of Indigenous cultures, like our Ute ancestors, carefully preserved by the Tread of Pioneers Museum. And just down the road in Jace Romick's gallery, you will find a collection of contemporary artists who are drawing on Routt County’s wild West roots and natural beauty.

Kim Keith, executive director

If there is one word that epitomizes a trend in the local arts scene in 2023, it would be collaboration. Cultural nonprofits, independent artists and creative businesses work together to make your time in Steamboat a memorable one.

Steamboat Symphony Orchestra’s Spring Concert features visual arts and storytelling about wolves. Piknik Theater’s community collaboration production of "Peter Pan" brings professional, aspiring and young actors together, filling the Botanical Park with playful energy. During monthly First Friday Artwalks, you will be delighted to discover live music or artists talks as part of the festive community-wide event in 17 galleries and venues in downtown Steamboat. All the while the mighty Yampa River sings a steady chorus, bringing natural beauty and access to nature to the heart of the community.

This eclectic Rocky Mountain oasis is ripe for visual, performance, literary, film and design innovations that diversify its well-known ski-town moniker. New public art and murals bring color and interest to our alleyways and pocket parks. Along Lincoln Avenue and Yampa Street, you will find high-end cycling shops, coffee shops, an independent bookstore, artisan shops and a multitude of restaurants and watering holes.

We invite you to discover the special treats and treasures that Steamboat has to offer. Routt County is an evolving region in Northwest Colorado with a unique blend of Western authenticity and cultural adventures that make it a great destination to visit and a special place to call home. ■

Kim Keith | Executive Director | Steamboat Creates, Colorado Certified Creative District

about the cover artist: Sandy P. Graves

Bronze sculpture

››The work of Spanish surrealist Salvador Dali opened the eyes of renowned Steamboat Springs artist Sandy Graves to a world beyond traditional Western art.

“Dali gave me permission to be weird,” Graves says with a smile.

Her signature style, which could be described as closer to abstract than realistic, harkens back to her days as an art student. In the classroom, wax was used to form a mold for sculpture, and the result was heavy. Graves’ teacher told her, “You need to create something hollow.”

The result was transformational: part skeletal, part outline, part insight into the heart of her subject. She began using negative space to create energy and power.

Having grown up on a farm in Scottsbluff, Nebraska, Graves sometimes depicts horses like the ones she rode as a child. Early in her career, she sculpted them realistically but soon decided they were dead in energy, so she began stretching their legs until they became infused with movement and emotion. “If Dali can do it, so can I,” she recalls thinking.

Graves describes her work as “stylized, rustic, contemporary Western.” For a while, she questioned her place in the world of art, sometimes feeling as if she were alone in her style. But that changed dramatically last fall, when she was invited to exhibit her art alongside nationally renowned artists like Donna Howell Sickles, Duke Beardsley, Tony Abeyta, Howard Post and Billy Schenck at Steamboat Art Museum’s winter/spring exhibit: The New West: The Rise of

Contemporary Indigenous and Western Art. The exhibit chronicled the genre from its genesis in the 1960s through today. It was curated by Seth Hopkins, executive director of the Booth Western Art Museum in Cartersville, Georgia, who is considered to be one of the foremost experts in Western art in America today.

When Hopkins told Graves, ‘I’ve been following you,’ she was honored. “To have one of the premier Western art critics say that? It’s like when people ask Olympians what it feels like when you’re on the podium. What can I say? It feels amazing. I feel inspired. I’ve wondered what my place was. To spend time with these artists, with Seth and Tim (Tim Newton, publisher of "Western Art & Architecture Magazine"). Going forward, my work is going to be less like other people’s and more like me. It’s going to be stronger in its sense of place.”

“Western art defines the United States,” Graves says. “Western art is geo-centric. It’s what marks this place in time and makes us unique in the world. We are moving through an age of information into an age of knowing oneself. I hope my art moves that concept forward,” Graves says.

To see her work locally, visit Pine Moon Fine Art, Jace Romick Gallery or Steamboat Art Museum, where The New West exhibit runs through Saturday, April 15. Visit her work online at www.sandygravesart.com. ■ www.MarionKahnFineArt.com | 501-680-1565

RESIDES

Steamboat Springs and Little Rock

EDUCATION

University of Pennsylvania, B.A., honors program in political science

Art studies with numerous leading U.S. painters

PUBLICATIONS

Steamboat Magazine

Steamboat Pilot

GALLERIES

Rumor Designs, Steamboat Cherry Creek Art Gallery, Online

Framed Image, Denver Artful Home, Online

EXHIBITS

Rumor Designs, Solo Show, 2023, 2021

PACE Center, 2023

Vail Valley Hospital, Solo Show, 2021-2022

Colorado State Capitol, Art of Colorado 2022

Embodying Spirit, Santa Fe, NM 2022

The Healing Power of Color, NY 2022

AWARDS

Best in the Boat Artist, 1st Runner Up, 2021 and 2022

Cover Artist, Yampa Valley Arts & Culture Guide, 2021