Color of Snow: Community Art Exhibition

Artists include…you!

By Kendra Walker

s the seasons change and activities wind down for the off-season here in Crested Butte, the Center for the Arts is scheming up a special new art exhibition, where community members are invited to contribute their own art creations to fill the Center’s gallery walls.

The Center’s 6”x6”: The Color of Snow art exhibition is a showcase of the Crested Butte community’s creativity, says the Center’s program director Natalie Pfister Riha. Artists of all ages and experience levels are invited to participate and can pick up a free 6”x6” canvas and submit up to two original artworks in any medium, drawing inspiration from the theme, “The Color of Snow.”

The Color of Snow is meant to give people a spark for inspiration, but also be open enough for interpretation. “What matters most is celebrating and showcasing the creativity and talents of our community’s artists,” says Pfister Riha. She says they chose the 6”x6” canvas size partly because of the Center’s 606 address, but also because of its approachable size. “It seemed really feasible for folks,” she says. “Once you go bigger than that the canvas starts to look really intimidating. We wanted it to be easy for anyone to participate.”

Pfister Riha says all of the artwork submissions will be anonymous, with the artist signing their work only on the back. The canvases will then be put on display at the Kinder Padon Gallery, starting with an opening reception on November 14 and the show running through January 16. Each piece of artwork will be available for purchase, and the buyer will then discover the name of the artist. 

Pfister Riha says that once a canvas is purchased, the Center will take a polaroid of the art to take its place on the gallery wall so that the buyer can take it home immediately. “We wanted people to be able to gift them during the holidays or allow people visiting from out of town to take them home right away, but still keep the walls full with the artwork through the entirety of the exhibition.”

The opening reception also correlates with the annual Maker’s Market held at the Center November 14 and 15. “People are already in the gift mentality at the market, so they will be able to explore the exhibition for gifts as well,” says Pfister Riha. “The canvases are such a nice giftable size.”

Pfister Riha says it was important to her to put on a show at the Center that could bring the community together in a creative way. “A lot of arts centers do art fundraisers, and I had seen a similar concept in other towns. I wanted to do a show that would get the whole community involved that would also help raise money for the arts,” she says. “We felt that this was a good time of year to do a community event, things are starting to calm down in the off-season and people have time to mess around with their canvases.”

Once on display, each piece of artwork will be available for purchase for $25, and Pfister Riha says that proceeds from the show will help support microgrants and professional development opportunities for local creatives through the Crested Butte Creative District. “We want this to be an affordable way for people to purchase art while giving back to support local creatives,” she says. “The mission of the Creative District is to support and empower local creatives through professional development, calls for artists, etc. We are looking to expand what that support looks like and how we can give local artists more resources. This show really explores how we can support our creatives and our greater community.”

Pfister Riha explains that the Center will soon have a new grant program for local creatives, and while they are still working on the details, she says the goal is to allow artists to apply for any project they want to work on. “Maybe they want to get funding to build altars for Vinotok or they want to start a chalk festival — the idea is that they can test out a big thing they may otherwise not have resources to make happen.”

Pfister Riha says the exhibition will also include a professional artist invitational, where artists with the Creative District and the local galleries around town can submit a larger 10”x10” canvas that will be auctioned off at the opening reception. Each artist will be able to choose a percentage of how much they want back, with the rest of the proceeds going toward the fundraiser. She hopes to have 10-20 professional artists be a part of the show. “This is a crazy cool opportunity for someone to get to own a local artist’s rad piece of art,” she says. 

The free, blank canvases will be available for pick-up at the Center for the Arts, Townie Books and Pfister’s Handworks through October 31, and artists have until November 5 to submit their 6”x6” creations back to the Center. “We’ll see how many come back,” says Pfister Riha, who estimates there are at least 60-75 that have been picked up at this point. 

Additionally, the Center has partnered with Crested Butte Community School to distribute 200 of the canvases to art students to submit. “We have a ton of materials here, so the students will have the opportunity to come here on field trips and paint and bring their canvases to life.”

The Center has also partnered with the Trailhead Children’s Museum, which has incorporated the community exhibition into their after-school program and will also have a new kids section at the Maker’s Market this year. 

Submissions are already coming in, and Pfister Riha is happy with what she’s seen so far. “It seems that people are excited about it. It’s really accessible. I’m loving seeing everyone’s interpretations coming back so far, they’re all so different and unique and fun. I can’t wait to see the gallery walls filled with all these little squares that represent our vibrant Crested Butte community.”