Arts News

TOGETHER, LATER

Organizers have postponed the community engagement project, Together, until sometime in 2021. The good news is artist Tavares Strachan, along with project partners the Telluride Foundation and Ah Haa School for the Arts, remains committed to the installation, a neon sculpture of the words “We are in this together” on the slopes beneath the Gondola above Station Mountain Village.

PRESERVING ARBORGLYPHS

Arborglyphs, or carvings into the bark of living trees, provide records of a past way of life in the San Juan Mountains. In an effort to preserve these fast-disappearing images, the Ah Haa School for the Arts and Telluride Historical Museum are developing an app to locate and record area arborglyphs, which were carved by Hispanic and Basque sheepherders in the 1900s and include images that range from horses to poems and political statements. The app, due to launch later in 2021, will have participants upload photos of the arborglyphs they find.

LOVE AH HAA

After a summer of innovative remote classes and virtual events, the Ah Haa School for the Arts has relocated to North Willow Street and the digs of its sister school, the American Academy of Bookbinding. The innovation continues this winter with take-home art lessons in the Ah Haa To Go program, remote classes, private lessons and more. Ah Haa is also working toward opening the doors of its new, state-of-the-art facility at Pacific Avenue and South Fir Street. Want to help? Visit ahhaa.org/support.

YOUNG PEOPLE’S THEATRE GETS (EVEN MORE) CREATIVE

It’s been a challenging time for theaters, but the young thespians from the Sheridan Arts Foundation’s Young People’s Theatre have amped up the creativity and enthusiasm for a series of performances this winter sure to bring fans to their feet. YPT Artistic Director Leah Heidenreich has divided her middle-school actors into three small casts to perform Singin’ in the Rain on Dec. 4 and 5; A Christmas Carol on Dec. 11 and 12; and Annie on Jan. 15 and 16. Meanwhile, Heidenreich’s high school-aged performers will take to the storied Sheridan Opera House stage for Cinderella on Feb. 19 and 20 and Tuck Everlasting on March 26 and 27. Each show begins at 6:00 p.m., with very limited in-person ticket sales, as well as a livestream to give remote audiences the opportunity to view a performance from the comfort of home in exchange for a donation of $10 to Telluride’s much-loved youth theater program.

Heidenreich is full of praise for her crew after a successful summer. “Our annual Summer Spectacular was a great success. We did Shrek and The Wizard of Oz, both with casts of 10 kids [and] livestreamed the shows via Facebook Live.”

The shows certainly generated buzz around town, with audiences marvelling at the kids’ ability to turn in stellar performances in tricky circumstances. Says Heidenreich, “We had around 450 people tune in to watch, so the kids were elated.” For her part, SAF Executive Director Ronnie Palamar notes that she looks forward to welcoming people into the historic Sheridan Opera House this season in compliance with all state and county restrictions and guidelines for “intimate concerts, Young People’s Theater musicals, performances, movies and other special events.” In turn, SOH audiences are asked to observe all measures designed to keep them, their fellow audience members, staff and performers safe and healthy. Want to support this beautiful venue, YPT and the Sheridan Arts Foundation? Buy a ticket or donate, including to watch an online performance, at sheridanoperahouse.com. — Compiled by Cecelia Taylor and Erin Spillane