ZAF622

Fort Collins City Council Approves Cultural Plan

On Tuesday August 19th, 2008 the Fort Collins’ City Council approved the city’s first ever Cultural Plan. The city’s press release stated:

City Council adopted the City’s first ever Cultural Plan. Three years in the making, this plan will serve as a guiding document for the work of the City’s Cultural Services Department and for community-wide efforts to ensure that arts, culture, and science thrive in Fort Collins. Specific goals of the Plan are that the arts, culture and science will improve our excellent quality of life, help drive the local economy and tourism, and become an integral part of Fort Collins’ unique identity.

The Cultural Plan is based on extensive research and community involvement from local arts, culture, and science organizations, and community members. One component of the Plan is an assessment of cultural facilities. The consulting team of Pfeiffer Partners and Webb Management Services conducted an in-depth study and recommended and prioritized ten facilities that are included in the Cultural Plan. The highest priority facility is a new 1500-1800 seat Performing Arts Center, followed by extensive renovations to the Lincoln Center. Contingent upon a new performing arts center being constructed, the Lincoln Center’s current 1180 seat auditorium would be remodeled to house a 600-800 seat theater, a small black box theater, and rehearsal spaces. In addition to facilities, the Cultural Plan addresses the need for sustainable funding to support arts, culture and science programs.

“What’s most exciting about the Cultural Plan is that it provides a blueprint for collaboration,” states Jill Stilwell, Director of Cultural Services. “There’s a lot of interest in how arts, culture, and science can add to our quality of life, and impact the local economy. This Plan will help fuel this momentum.”

Click here if you would like to read the Agenda Item Summary on the Cultural Plan. (253p PDF file)

Fort Collins Jaycee Community Art Show

Who: The Fort Collins Jaycees

What: Community Art Show

When: October 3rd, 2008

Where: Opera Galleria, 123 N. College Ave. Ft. Collins, CO

This from the Jaycee’s website:

Why an Art Show?
We live in a community where art is all around us - from sculptures downtown to the school district art displays in the mall, art is everywhere. Across America, art programs are being eliminated from schools due to lack of funding. Not only are children suffering from the lack of visual art, dance and music in their lives and education, but the rest of our society will suffer as art disappears from our lives.

We feel very fortunate to live in a community where art is so highly regarded, and want to help support artists of every age and ability. We also want to give the community a chance to get involved in all aspects of the show - from volunteering, to entering as an artist, to sponsorship of the show and participating artists, to show attendance.

The Jaycees are still looking for artists and sponsors so if you interested you can find all the details at http://www.fortnet.org/jaycees/ARTSHOW08.htm.

No Studio Tour This Year Fort Collins Museum Of Contemporary Art?

What happened? As I was reading up on the museum’s event B.A.M. I realized I had not heard anything about this year’s MOCA Studio Tour. The annual event involving a self guided tour of artist’s studios in and around Fort Collins. Typically this takes place around the second week of September. But it is not to be found on this year’s calendar. In fact I could not find any mention of the tour. It would be nice to get some sort of explanation for the lack of an annual ritual many of us look forward to.

The studio tour was a fund raising event for the museum so based on the timing I suspect B.A.M. is its replacement. The museum must be looking to shift its patron base because I don’t see studio tour folks darkening the door of The Aggie to attend B.A.M.

B.A.M. stands for Beauty Art Music. It takes place September 12th from 6PM to 2AM at The Aggie Theater. Here is the museum’s description of the event:

BAM! POW! Just like great comic art, B.A.M., a night of Beauty, Art and Music will pack an exciting visual punch.

The evening will feature fashion art and music for all ages from kids to adults, with events ranging from family-friendly early on, to adults only, after midnight. Artists (youth and later adults) will be painting live on the scene, with ongoing fashion shows and live bands performing throughout the evening.

At $10 a ticket ($8 for members and students) it is a bit easier on the wallet than the studio tour. I will miss the tour though.

Roundhouse Gallery | The Art of Brian Jekel

The week leading up to First Friday here in Fort Collins are full of art opening announcements. Roundhouse Gallery, which is located in the Avery Building on Mountain and College, is having a one man show of Brian Jekel’s art. This is what Roundhouse has to say about it:

If you have been planning to get out and enjoy the Fort Collins First Friday Art Walk, August is the month you don’t want to miss. Our good friend Brian Jekel will be here at Roundhouse Gallery on Friday, August 1st, for the opening reception of this exceptional one-man show of his work.

Featuring landscapes, figurative works, and his unique vision of biblical
history, this show demonstrates his mastery resulting from a
career in painting and illustration spanning over three decades. Besides being an incredible artist, Brian is a man we count as a true friend. We would love for you to come meet him and see his beautiful work.

Opening Reception: August 1st, 5 – 9 pm.
The show will remain on display through September 2nd.

If you have not made it up to Roundhouse Gallery yet I highly suggest it. The Avery Building is becoming quite an art hub. While your there you can also visit Photo De Novo just down the hall from Roundhouse. Then head down, down, down to the basement to The Gallery Underground.

Click here to make a comment.

Cole Thompson | The Ghosts of Auschwitz and Birkenau

First Friday is almost upon us once again. That means you will have 3 hours on Friday night to walk the streets of Old Town seeking out great art. As always  there is more art than time. And since you can not see it all it is good to prioritize. May I suggest you start with Cole Thompson’s solo show The Ghosts of Auschwitz and Birkenau at The Cache Gallery, 215 Pine Street, in Old Town Fort Collins.

Cole is a photographer who work exclusively in black and white images. He is truly gifted and an asset to the Fort Collins art community. Not to mention he is a real nice guy.

You can tell from this statement taken from his website that the images in this show are special:

What can be said about Auschwitz and Birkenau that hasn’t already
been said? What can be photographed at those sacred places that
haven’t already been photographed?

As I thought about what had occurred there I wondered how any
human could do such inhumane things, and then I recalled
“The Mysterious Stranger” by Mark Twain.  In this story a young
boy named Seppi is talking to Satan about a man who had brutally
beaten his dog.  Seppi declared that this man’s actions were
inhumane and Satan responded:

“No, it wasn’t Seppi; it was human–quite distinctly human.”

Satan goes on to point out that no other animal on the planet
would treat another this way, except humans.

I had not intended to photograph during my tour of the camps but
after being there a few minutes, I felt compelled. With every step
I wondered about the people whose feet had walked in exactly the same
footsteps. I wondered if their spirits still lingered there today.

Cole also put together a video of the images. Hopefully after watching this video you will want to go see his work in person. Art is always better in person.

The Ghosts of Auschwitz and Birkenau | Cole Thompson

Cole’s website can be found at http://www.colethompsonphotography.com

Fort Collins Artist Video Interview 003

I have not run across anyone in Fort Collins making art like Rolfe Bautista. That is why I can understand he may feel like he is living on an island. His paintings are large and bold. Heavy lines, strong colors, and comic like characters are Rolfe’s staple. But these days he is exploring photography as well. Though he prefers film and toy cameras to the modern digital ones that dominate the medium.

On a sunny afternoon we went to a high point on island Fort Collins so I could ask Rolfe some questions. This is what he had to say:

The best way to get in touch with Rolfe is via his MySpace page at http://www.myspace.com/elrolfo. There you can also see more of his artwork.

Thanks Rolfe for taking the time to chat. Good luck getting off the island.

Video Interview 001 | Bryan Collins
Video Interview 002 | Kirsten Savage

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The WOW Fort Collins Art Show

A new art show is coming to Fort Collins in October. It has been dubbed “WOW.”

The mission of the “WOW Fort Collins Art Auction and Show”is to unify
artists in the community , to give them an opportunity for their art to be
sold internationally, to showcase their art and to create money for the
non profit group CoCOA.

The show is looking for all types of artists to donate work.

You can find out more about the show at this website: www.wowfortcollins.com.

Inspiration To Start The Week

It is about time I got the new ZAF622 rolling. All over the web artists can find inspiration from other artists. I often find myself motivated to work after meeting another artist and talking art or when I read about an artist or a creative project. That is why I thought some links to what others are doing out there might be a good way to start the week.

So here goes…

Never Been tells a story in a way that I have not seen on the web. The mural style illustrated story is almost 30 feet long. To read it you grab it with the cursor and drag the story as it snakes around your browser.

This one is for all those crafty DIY kids out there. A tutorial from Photojojo on making inkjet transfers. Been meaning to try this one out myself for sometime. If anyone has done it our tries it please comment  on the results. Click here to check it out.

Here we have a fun blog of people jumping in and around art museums.

What is old can always be new again. Right here we have a Flickr gallery of 1950s to 1970 advertising art.

And lastly let’s take a look at Infectious. A web site for car art. Yes. Car art.

I hope this helps get your creative juices flowing for the upcoming week. Remember to live to create.

www.daryledickens.com

ART342’s New Website

ART342 is an artist in residency program located in Fort Collins.  The building is currently under construction.  The new program plans to provide free studio space and a weekly stipend to 4-5 artists.  Term of residencies will be from 2-15 weeks in fall, spring and summer sessions.  This is all being done by Jim and Wendy Franzen.

The couple has just announced a new web site for the project. www.art342.org is the place to find it. The site has a lot of information about the program. Floor plans, site sketches, a live webcam, as well as information on applying to the program can be found on the site.

I look forward to watching this project take shape and grow. A residency program will be a great addition to the Fort Collins art landscape.

Summit Studios Helps Fort Collins Coexist

Even though the new ZAF622 is not fully up to speed there is no reason to hold back the posts.

Darren and Lisa of Summit Studios here in Fort Collins have begun to create videos so we can all get a glimpse behind the scenes.

The latest one is video number 3 and covers the shoot Summit Studios did for Fort Collins’ Coexist Campaign. This is just 1 of the 6 images for the campaign:

And here is the video:

If you want to know more about the campaign click right here.

And if you’d like to know more about Summit Studios click over here.