The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Collaboration keeps coming up
Trying to figure out how to bring together individual pieces of a potential economic jigsaw puzzle was the topic of discussion last week at the Crested Butte Center for the Arts. Some of the valley’s most influential non-political leaders gathered Friday, December 16 at the request of former Crested Butte Academy headmaster David Rothman to discuss how to build on the area’s art and education infrastructure.
After almost two hours of discussion, the consensus was that better and more intertwined collaboration and a valley-wide focus on the artistic and educational attributes already in the county could lead to a significant positive shift in the area’s perception and eventually its economics.
Taking part in the discussion were leaders of organizations including the local Arts Alliance, Western State College, the Crested Butte Music Festival, Colorado Creative Industries, Crested Butte Mountain Resort, the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory and the Mt. Crested Butte Performing Arts Center. No elected political representatives were in attendance.
The idea of developing and promoting arts and education in the valley has been a concept long favored by Rothman. “The arts bring so much to a community like Crested Butte and Gunnison,” he said. “Not only can it attract people to the area and thus be a tourism and economic driver but it is a green, sustainable industry and it helps improve the quality of life for people living and visiting the area. There is no downside to expanding the arts in a community. It is good for kids and all living things.”
Rothman pointed out that other mountain resort towns have included the arts as part of the brand that draws tourists. Aspen has the Aspen Music Festival. Telluride is known as much for Bluegrass and Blues-and-Brews as for skiing. Banff and Jackson Hole are also known for the arts.
“But this valley has things they can’t touch,” he said. “We have a superb four-year undergraduate institution in Western State College. We have a premier scientific research lab in RMBL. The Roaring Fork can’t match Western and RMBL. This gives us extraordinary opportunities.”
Rothman admitted that sometimes having a place become known for a specific quality can take many years. But that is no reason to not begin the process.
Maryo Ewell who currently co-manages the Creative Districts Program for Colorado Creative Industries agreed, noting the theory behind Malcolm Gladwell’s Tipping Point. “Things need to ferment and ferment before they reach a critical mass,” she said. “In Colorado the fermenting has been going on for 20 years. It takes time. But the arts are now Colorado’s fifth largest industry. We are now calling artists ‘creatives,’ given the wide range of artists we have.”
Ewell outlined how much art there already is in the Gunnison Valley. “There is local art hanging inside retail shops, tons of galleries, the local bars sponsor local music, the art centers, the murals on the walls in Gunnison. We’re on the verge in the valley of something really, really, really big. The more we work collaboratively, the stronger we’ll be.”
One example of new art collaboration is that Crested Butte Center for the Arts executive director Jenny Birnie has been hired in a six-month experiment to run both the Crested Butte and Gunnison Arts Centers.
Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory executive director Ian Billick pointed out the economic benefit of the arts and education community. “Not only does RMBL provide jobs, it helps to diversify the economy. It provides a different rhythm. It helps create a well-rounded community.
“It also provides different experiences for the community,” Billick continued. “A lot of visitors love to learn new things and they love to be outside.”
Billick pointedly suggested that the community revisit the Gunnison County Met Rec District that has a primary purpose to provide television signals throughout the county. “Taxing everyone and paying lots of money to provide old-style television is absurd,” he said. “There are more modern modes of arts and science districts that support art and education.”
Billick also said supporting telecommunication upgrades in the valley would be fruitful. “People can work from anywhere and they choose where they live,” Billick said. “They are choosing our lifestyle. Overall, we need a clear vision of where our success will come from. We need the big picture ideas and we need leaders in the valley to grab those visions.”
Jenny Birnie emphasized the value of the arts and how “partnership and collaboration is how we can be successful. Art is growing in the valley and we need to come up with other ideas like central ticketing. We need to support each other and then we can give a full experience to residents and visitors.”
Former Colorado state legislator and current director of the Mt. Crested Butte Performing Arts Center Kathleen Curry agreed. “The PAC is a joint effort between the town, the Music Festival and the resort. It’s a great example of partnership. We believe the new facility will complement the current center and add to the overall economy. We will be including conference space in there as well when it is completed. The idea of valley-wide ‘Creatives District’ from Gunnison to Gothic is a good one as well. There is the possibility of some state money for such purposes and we need to be first in line to get it. A Creatives District will be a lot of work but it could be a big boost.”
WSC theater and communication professor Paul Edwards confirmed there is a spreading arts community around the valley. “We [WSC] are present and improving and we’re here at this end of the valley,” he said. “There is a broad community of artists in the valley and that’s a strength. We have the necessary resources already in place. But they are tight. But we have to stop thinking like a colony. Art gives a voice to the people. We can link art to science and the politics. We have opportunity and potential here to offer up something unique. And one more thing. The arts here aren’t and shouldn’t be elitist but it should be elite” in terms of excellence, Edwards added.
Crested Butte Music Festival executive director Sue Gellert said the festival has been growing quickly and indicated the patrons like the experience and place enough to return. “The festival now offers an education component with each genre of the festival,” she said. “High season is so short so we are looking to expand that. We understand we have an elitist image and a perception that our tickets are too expensive but the truth is that 42 percent of our offerings are free. Overall, I believe in collaboration. That’s the only avenue to success. I like the idea of a one ticketing system. The other things is to look at other areas, observe the practices we like and then bring them back here and make them better.”
Gellert said the Crested Butte experience varies from other mountain towns in that the community is more open than places like Aspen and Telluride. “You can see an incredible performance at night and the next day meet the musician on the hiking trail. That’s unique.”
Western State College president Jay Helman touted the fighting spirit of the valley that goes back at least 100 years to when the state gave Gunnison the charter for what is now WSC. “How do we take and combine all these strengths?” he asked. “We have to connect the elements. They’re here. It’s not a new idea we need but it is an integration of these arts organizations and RMBL and Western.”
Helman said with the diminishing public funding for things like education, Western is facing a new reality. “We have to make a shift. We know that we can’t count on the state. We need to find new funding ideas and diversify our revenue.”
Helman used as an example a new exploratory program being developed by Western that focuses on health and wellness. He said the institution has been good with raising funds and spending the money to upgrade the campus and programs. “We have to take it a step further and find new partnerships,” he said. “We are looking at ways to try to tie us all together.”
Finally CBMR’s vice president and general manager Ethan Mueller commented on the potential. “Community is a core company value and we are looking for ways to partner with entities in the valley,” he said. “We are partners with the PAC and the Trailhead Museum, for example. We understand that art is an attribute and we provide the summer music concerts, the Rock-on Ice event going on now and festEvol. We realize people these days are looking to do more than just ski.”
Mueller said the talent pool of the residents and second homeowners when it comes to arts and education backgrounds is huge and should be tapped. “To do better what other places have done is an opportunity,” he said.
Mueller pointed out that access to the valley is not easy, and that could be considered a weakness. “Airlines and the airline program is a huge factor,” he said. “We all have to get our minds around that. The air service benefits everyone, and a rising tide floats all boats. The old rivalries are also a weakness. We have to get past the old north-south end of the valley attitudes. And we should have high aspirations. Allow the community to be all that it can truly be. We can’t stay with the status quo. People need to realize we can keep our unique quality of life and still grow bigger and better. Better partnerships, as people have said tonight, are key. We need to look at the valley as one whole.”
Crested Butte artist Ivy Walker challenged everyone on the panel to “bring on a resident artist for your organization. Have a ‘creative’ on staff. It could be a marketing piece. It could be something that changes your organization.”
Rothman summed up the points and then hoped that the “conversation” would continue. It did, at least in the short term, as Rothman and some panel members continued on to a local watering hole.
