High Peaks Art Festival
In Nederland
Nederland has the knack for holding hugely successful town fairs—such as Frozen Dead Guy Days in March and Ned Fest in August–and over this past weekend that tradition was superbly carried on by the 10th High Peaks Art Festival. The Festival took place in Nederland’s Town Square on Saturday and Sunday, June 26 and 27, from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. each day. The Nederland Chamber of Commerce sponsored the event and it was coordinated by Cathy Stiers.
Features of the Festival included a juried art show, live music by local musicians such as Blackdog and Fat Rabbit, and a children’s art area. Ned restaurants Blue Moon Bakery, Blue Owl, Kathmandu, and Savory Café provided fabulous food for Festival visitors. Tungsten Toffee, a local favorite, offered free samples of their terrific toffee that no one could resist when walking by their booth. The aroma of freshly roasted nut mixes filled the air and was a winner in attracting hungry people to the Nuts to You booth.
Clementine Art Studio, an education partner of Open Arts Boulder, offered four free art project stations in the children’s art area where children could draw, make hanging collages, do printmaking, or create recycled materials sculpture. (The sponsors for the free art projects were Wild Mountain Smokehouse & Brewery and Peak Wine & Spirits.)
The juried art show featured some outstanding pieces, reflecting a high degree of creativity and originality. Stiers carefully selected participates for the show who exhibited high standards in their artwork. More than 50 participants were in the juried art show with a good showing by local Nederland artists. Ribbons, cash awards and gift certificates were generously donated by sponsors to the show winners. The results were:
- BEST OF SHOW: “The Iron Gallery,” Handmade Ironwork by Gary Russell of Rifle, $250 award sponsored by Roche Colorado Corporation
- BEST OF BOULDER COUNTY: “Green Collar Guy,” Sculptural Gardenware by David Jessup of Nederland, $160 gift certificate sponsored by Delance Chapman of Salon 1313 in Boulder
- BEST OF CERAMICS: Tania Corvalan of Nederland, gift certificate for one free night at the Best Western Lodge in Nederland
- BEST OF FIBER: Peg Wood of Norwood, $50 gift certificate to Baby Doe’s Clothing in Golden
- BEST OF FINE ART: Painting by Stephen Koury of Lakeland, Florida, $75 award sponsored by First Tracks Consulting
- BEST OF FINE CRAFT: “Smith Market Gallery,” Baskets and Gourds by Byron Williams of Saguache, $75 award sponsored by Century 21 Peak Performance Group
- BEST OF GLASS: “Eye Candy,” Claudia Ariss of Nederland, $50 award sponsored by Janet Masters
- BEST OF JEWELRY: “Sidhe Designs,” Michele Conn of Lyons, $50 award sponsored by Mutual of Omaha
- BEST OF MIXED MEDIA: “Trees Everlasting,” Woodworking by Bill Mattor of Ft. Collins, $50 award sponsored by Lindy Bolt and Cathy Stiers
- BEST OF PAINTING: Bruce White of Aurora, $50 gift certificate to Meininger in Boulder
- BEST OF PHOTOGRAPHY: “Treeline Photos,” John Marino of Lakewood, $50 award sponsored by Peak to Peak Counseling
- PEOPLES CHOICE AWARD: “Eye Candy,” Stained Glass, Claudia Ariss of Nederland, $50 gift certificate sponsored by Wild Mountain Smokehouse & Brewery
In conjunction with the Festival, Nederland’s Downtown Development Authority (DDA) held a sidewalk celebration with a free Sidewalk Art Contest in honor of the town’s brand new sidewalks stretching along its main thoroughfare of Highway 119. DDA supplied small buckets of pastel sidewalk chalk to any and all artists who wanted to decorate a sidewalk parcel–over 30 artists answered the challenge to their artistic creativity. One artist observed about her work next to a traffic intersection “that it was going fast with the sand, walkers and wind.” DDA’s Chair Teresa Warren reported that the winners were:
- ADULT DIVISION: Kris Deckley & Eva Franzova of California, $100 award
- YOUTH DIVISION: Bat Busters of Texas, $100 award
- UNDER 11 DIVISION: Emma Curcio & Emily Creek, $30 award
Six third place ribbons were also awarded in the contest.
Hands down, four lively Alpacas, courtesy of the Alpaca Store and More in Ned, were the most popular walking attraction at the Festival as they freely roamed the area with their handlers. The Alpacas were the indisputable belles of the ball as inquisitive people besieged them, wanting to stroke their enjoyable soft wool coats. Adorable (2 years old), Lovey (8 months old), Raven (3 years old), and Sparkler (3 years old) were all for the petting and graciously nibbled grain from held out hands. Sparkler has attained a special status as she was the model for the carved wood alpaca on Ned’s Carousel of Happiness.
Stiers was delighted with this year’s Festival as it continues to successfully expand with each coming year. Cash awards and gift certificates for this year’s art show increased by over 33%. Stiers’s commitment is to continue presenting a “classy, high-quality show in Ned,” emphasizing buying local and buying handmade goods. The feedback she has received from her artists is that they like the feeling of the show and will continue to come. Stiers pointed out that with the addition of the Festival’s children’s art tent activities for all age groups were now available.
Next year’s 11th High Peaks Art Festival will be held on June 25 and 26, Saturday and Sunday. Artists interested in exhibiting at the festival may contact the show coordinator, Cathy Stiers, at 303-748-2053 or view the Festival’s website at www.nederlandchamber.org. Applications for the 2011 High Peaks Art Festival will be available in January 2011.
In case you missed this art festival, many of the artists will be showcasing their work at the Downtown Boulder Art Fair on the Pearl Street Mall during the weekend of July 17 and 18.