Andrew Dines | The Telluride Mini Gallery

Andrew Dines is a skilled visual artist, having earned his MFA from the University at Albany, SUNY, and his BA from Middlebury College. He is the recipient of numerous awards, residencies, and museum exhibitions.

With the Telluride Mini Gallery, Andrew is taking inspiration from the “Smallbany” gallery in his former home of Albany, New York. He plans to build a 1/12 scale art gallery where local artists can exhibit their work. This allows artists without a large profile or a large budget to experiment with work at a large scale. The goal of this project is to provide a unique exhibition opportunity to artists in the region. Once the gallery is constructed, Andrew will request submissions and help artists install the work and photograph the installations. An Instagram account and website will provide an easy means of publicizing the exhibits. For Andrew, this project is separate from his main studio practice of painting. He sees it as a way to become further involved in the local community of artists and gain more experience with curation, installation, documentation, networking, and marketing.

Anneke Dean | Unfamiliar Skies – EP

Funded by Augment Music Project

Anneke Dean studied violin at Denver School for the Arts under the tutiege of Eugenia Alikhanova, and she holds a bachelor's degree in violin performance from the Chicago College of Performing Arts where she studied with Almita Vamos, MingHuan Xu, and Frank Almond. Anneke exclusively played classical music for the majority of her career. Now, she plays a variety of genres and styles and is the fourth member of the bluegrass group, Birds of Play.

With support from this grant, “Unfamiliar Skies EP” will be Anneke’s first formal recording of her solo songwriting. The EP will be comprised of six original songs written over the course of the last three years. Anneke plans to record this EP in Ridgway in the summer of 2024 with Derek Jones. She will then pass the tracks along to David Glasser of Airshow Mastering to prepare for digital release on Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, and other streaming platforms. Some of the funds will also be used to market the music and have an original design made for the album artwork.

Anneke plans to share this project with the community by providing a free album release party in Telluride. Recording new works under her own name, Anneke will expand her booking potential as a solo artist—these recordings will also help her apply for future songwriting contests across the Western Slope.

Art Goodtimes | Welcoming the Wilkinson Chapbook

Art Goodtimes has worked in Telluride for four decades as a writer, editor, county commissioner, and current program director and trustee for the Telluride Institute, among other honorable endeavors.

Art wrote a poem, “Welcoming the Wilkinson,” and read it at the dedication of the new library on August 11, 2000. It has never been published. This grant will support Art in updating the poem and printing 500 copies as a chapbook. 400 of said copies will be sold at local book sellers to benefit the Friends of the Wilkinson Library, and Art would give away the remaining 100 copies to friends. Art also plans to share the poem through a performance at the Wilkinson Public Library once the chapbook is published.

Aubrey Mable | Move Slow – Music Video with Telluride Dance Collective

Funded by Augment Music Project

Aubrey Mable is a self-taught singer/songwriter who makes up 1/2 of the indie-folk duo, LVDY. The band plans to use these funds to create a music video for their new song, “Move Slow,” releasing later this spring. The ultimate vision is a choreographed dance in collaboration with members of the Telluride Dance Collective. LVDY plans to work with a local creative agency for art direction and film services.

Brendan Forrest | Songs from San Miguel

Funded by Augment Music Project

Brendan “B” Forrest is a guitarist, singer-songwriter, composer, producer, and educator. With support from this grant, Brendan plans to record an acoustic album that is fundamentally written, recorded, inspired, and produced in Telluride and select other locations in San Miguel County. The idea is to represent this place and its community in an honest portrait by compiling a collection of professional recordings and “field” recordings, in both acoustically treated environments. The goal being to capture the essence of how the landscape effects the soundscape of the music.

Brendan plans to share the project with the Telluride and surrounding communities through physical and digital distribution of the final recorded album. Brendan also plans to host a local release show in collaboration with a Telluride venue.

Caitlin Sappington | Disco Swell Custom Hat Bar & Artist Gallery

Caitlin Sappington is an artisan hatmaker and sole owner of Disco Swell custom hats. Through the support of this grant, Caitlin plans to showcase a popup exhibition during Blues & Brews festival in partnership with local artists. This show will highlight a collection of more than twenty one-of-a-kind Disco Swell hats, each adorned with hand-sewn satin liners, collaboratively crafted in partnership with local Telluride artists. Every hat will serve as a canvas for the unique work of a different local artist, and prints of their creations will be available for purchase alongside the hats. This collaboration will add a unique and artistic dimension to the Disco Swell hat collection, blending craftsmanship with the distinctive creativity of each artist. Disco Swell’s hats, featuring the unique custom liners, will be available for sale at both the Blues and Brews Festival and an associated pop-up gallery event. The accompanying prints will also be for sale, and a share of all profits will go to the collaborating artists.

Daniel Kanow | Latinx Art Coaching Scholarship

Daniel Kanow is a talented artist and bilingual educator who has lived in Telluride for 25 years. He creates dynamic and contemplative works using paint and mixed media – including acrylics, oils, canvas, wood, plexiglass, and various non-traditional tools.

With support from this grant, he is proposing to provide a scholarship for one Latinx student to have three months of individualized art coaching. The program will include regular lessons and critiques. Daniel would support this endeavor with materials, studio space, and his time. After the program, Daniel plans to help this student exhibit and sell their work on the walls at La Cocina de Luz.

Edgar quiroz | NEW VINTAGE (Deluxe)

Funded by Augment Music Project

Edgar “EQ” Quiroz is a songwriter, producer, CEO of La Familia Music Group, and Executive Director of LFMG Music Academy. Born in Guadalajara, Mexico and hailing from Western Colorado, 27-year-old recording artist, EQ, is becoming one of Colorado’s favorite underground musicians. Hip-Hop fans across the country have already tuned in to hear his unique combination of Spanish rap and raw lyricism.

With support from this grant, EQ plans to record and distribute NEW VINTAGE (DELUXE), an extended project of "EQ's" debut EP titled, New Vintage. This eight-track deluxe project will come with four new, funky fresh tracks that will help the momentum of New Vintage. EQ hopes tis project will land some publishing deals and get the music on movies, video games, commercials and more!

Eliza Van Dyk | “Photo Plate” An Exploration of Photographic and Printmaking Processes on Clay

Eliza Van Dyk is a ceramicist, photographer, and design artist. She has long been interested in methods of printmaking that involve an image negative and a photo-based printing mechanism; think cyanotype, screen-printing, and traditional black and white photography. As a ceramicist, Eliza approaches clay as a larger “canvas” for design elements. In her art, she strives to reflect and honor the communities surrounding her. Eliza is drawn to a reverence of the plants and places that grew her, and she is particularly interested in images of landscape, and intricate botanicals that nestle into larger clay forms. She is also interested in plates as a medium that bring people together over food.

With this grant funded project, Eliza is interested in exploring different printmaking processes where clay plates, rather than paper or fabric, become the “body” of the print. The project will culminate in a set of plates that she hopes to display in Telluride at a restaurant like Butcher and the Baker or La Cocina de Luz. Additionally, she plans to participate in various farmers markets over the course of the next year in hopes to share and sell the work that emerges from this exploration.

Gavin McGough | Illustrations for Telluride 

Gavin McGough is an illustrator, printmaker, and accomplished news reporter! With this project, Gavin plans to produce illustrations for a children’s book. The endeavor grows out of Gavin’s long-term interest in combining visual media with narrative.

This project will be a work of fiction: storytelling led by illustration. The product of the grant period will be a set of prints, tied together with characters, vignettes, settings and a common aesthetic. The story they tell, however, will remain non-textual. In the final set of prints there will be landmarks from this place and its features: its high roads, and fauna, and blank open sky. Upon completion, Gavin will mount the final set of prints as an exhibit, to display at a local gallery, foreshadowing the book project to come. Through sharing the work, he hopes to hear from viewers: what sort of narrative and characters do people see? What sort of motifs from our history and landscape guide the story within? Writing will then be a collaborative process. Future work—outside the scope of the grant—will craft a text from the illustrations, and from Gavin’s engagement with members of the Telluride community. The culmination of the project will be a picture book.

Ian McMullen | The East Gregory Shack Film (more conceptual title TBD)

Ian McMullen is a filmmaker, photographer, and graphic designer. When he first moved to Telluride, he lived in the little half ski shack, half trailer on East Gregory. During that time, Ian documented the space, the people, and the memories that made it so special. He filmed a lot of it on super 8mm film to capture the essence of the Shack's history and story. Ian and his housemates hosted disco parties in the garage, sold local friends' artwork, and had little film screenings for friends and neighbors. It was a major part of Ian’s creative expression and community for years to come. The property sold during the Covid real estate boom and the shack was bulldozed down to make way for a new mansion. The construction rages on.

With support from this grant, Ian plans to make a short film collage, a visual interpretation of his experience living in such a unique space. It will be a mixture of super 8mm motion film, photography, digital footage, mixed media, and sound design. Ian plans to share the piece through community screenings and an on-going loop display at a gallery setting. While Ian has edited, sound designed, and story workshopped several films, including Stoke Chasers, Freedom of Flow, Southwest Scramble– all that have played at Mountainfilm and other film festivals—this will be Ian’s directorial debut.

Jill Wilson & Abby Fox | Telluride 1 2 3: A Bilingual Book Project

Jill Wilson and Abby J. Fox are collaborating on their second book, Telluride 1 2 3.  Their first book, The Telluride Alphabet, has become an instant classic, selling over 3,000 copies since its release in July of 2021. Their new book, Telluride 1 2 3, will take young readers on a counting adventure through the town of Telluride. It will do so in both English and Spanish, as the first and only bilingual book about Telluride. The hardcover book will feature rhyming verses by Jill Wilson and hand-drawn/painted illustrations by Abby J. Fox. Telluride 1 2 3 will guide kiddos to count two skis on their feet, four wheels on the galloping goose bus, seven fish swimming in the river, and more.  

In an effort to make the book as accessible as possible, Jill and Abby will be donating several copies to the Wilkinson Public Library and local school libraries, where families will be able to check it out for free.  Additionally, they plan to host a book launch at the library, which the whole community will be invited to. The book will also be available for purchase at Between the Covers, Enchanted Forest Toy Shoppe, and Hook, among other retailers. 

Oliver Henry | Après Nova: Nocturnas Novas

Funded by Augment Music Project

Brothers Oliver Henry and John Max Henry make up the electro-jazz-funk duo Apres Nova. Their debut album, “The New After” released in 2022, receiving positive reviews and expanding the band’s booking potential. The upcoming second album, Nocturnas Novas, represents a pivotal moment for Après Nova. It will showcase the growth and evolution of their musical style while maintaining the distinctive elements that have become their signature. The project aims to explore new sonic landscapes, through the fusion of Jazz and Electronic Dance music, incorporating deep and driving dance beats with jazzy chord progressions and mind-blowing solos, delivering a truly exceptional listening experience.

Après Nova’s second album will not only contribute to the band's artistic legacy but also serve as a cultural and creative asset for the community and beyond. The album's release will be accompanied by live performances, and collaborations with other local artists, fostering a sense of community engagement and cultural enrichment.