We are excited to announce the artists featured on “The Cabins at Mountain Village” dining pods made from refurbished gondola cabins.
Forty-nine artists applied, and 11 artists were selected for the project: Abby Fox, Alexis Zambrano, Christopher Warren, Emily Ballou, Emma Gerona, Margaret Rinkevich, Robin Arthur, Rosa Cruz, Shannon Richardson, Sherwood Smith, and William Frownfelter. Congratulations!
The project adds vibrant works of art in high visibility areas throughout the Mountain Village Center, turning ordinary spaces into community landmarks.
The opening reception will be held on Friday, November 26th, from 3-6pm in Heritage Plaza. Hear from the artists while enjoying live music, hot food, and a beverage from local businesses.
The project is a collaboration between Telluride Mountain Village Homeowners Association, the Town of Mountain Village, and Telluride Arts.
Artists
Abby fox
Abby J. Fox is an illustrator, painter and printmaker who prioritizes analog art in the digital world. Fox is inspired by travel, and in 2019 she left her heavy printmaking tools at home to take her sketchbook on a trip around the world. She has since worked to expand her illustrative approach to making art and emphasizes plein air practice and drawing from life.
Artist Statement
When tasked with the challenge of designing a gondola wrap that reflects Mountain Village, Fox made it a goal to produce something both beautiful and educational. She chose to represent local pollinators and their favorite flowers, using information from locals Ramona and Soleil Gaylord’s pollinator research and revegetation projects. You see a wide range of species in Fox’s illustrations, from the bold sphinx moth to the delicate, orange flowers of the globe mallow. Both pollinators and the flora of the region play a crucial role in the ecosystem and deserve to be represented and protected.
Visit Abby’s website HERE and @abbyjfox on Instagram.
Alexis Zambrano
Originally from Monterrey, Mexico, Alexis Zambrano has lived and worked in New York City since 2008. Zambrano attended architecture school where he developed his work around space, botanics and spirituality. His paintings and sculptures explore nature, humanity and beyond.
Artist Statement
This piece is a tribute to the Ridge Trail with its array of aspen trees as it snakes from San Sophia to Mountain Village; aspens have a wonderful peculiarity that when they lose a branch, they naturally scar in the shape of an eye. Eyes have played a role in Zambrano’s work for years as they hold many spiritual meanings like protection, wisdom and knowledge. As you walk through the region’s trails admiring the bountiful gifts of nature, these trees with their many eyes observe you from all angles, a wonderful feeling of protection and well being arises which is the intention for this piece.
Visit Alexis’ website HERE.
Christopher Warren
Christopher Warren (also known as Beatnik Prints) has been exploring Colorado mountains and Utah canyons his whole life. He started experimenting with reinterpreting topographic maps nearly a decade ago. Since then, he has created prints, clothing, animations, murals and sculptures, inspired by the topography of the American West.
artist statement
The topography of Telluride, Mountain Village and the San Juan Mountains has brought countless generations of humans to this region, and it is a splendor worth celebrating. This art piece reinterprets these iconic mountains and valleys into dancing lines of bright color, creating a new dialogue between the viewer and the land they love. The “You Are Here” pin marks the location of the gondola in the map itself, placing the viewer directly into this technicolor landscape.
Visit Christopher’s website HERE and @BeatnikPrints on Instagram.
Emily ballou
Emily Ballou, a Telluride local, hails from Texas and gives a nod to both the opportunity and the inspiration she has found during her years in the San Juans. Ballou uses acrylics, inks and gold leaf mediums primarily, focusing on texture and dimension in her works.
Artist statement
Telluride, Mountain Village and the breathtaking views from the gondola are special. Emily simply could not imagine passing up the opportunity to showcase her abstract paintings with this project. Ballou’s gondola wrap is composed of original, large-scale paintings specifically created for this project.
Visit Emily’s website HERE.
Emma Gerona
Emma Gerona was born and raised in Telluride. She is inspired by the natural beauty of this incredible valley in both her art and her work as the executive director of EcoAction Partners. Even though Gerona is focused on environmental activism in her career, in her spare time, she loves to create art in many forms. She is excited to share this piece with you, which is inspired by the vibrant colors of the flowers and peaks that we are lucky to look at every day.
Margaret Rinkevich
Margaret Rinkevich is an artist and the owner of Rinkevich Gallery. She has been dedicated to the arts most of her life. Throughout her career, she has participated in archaeological excavations in Italy, taught art history, researched museum acquisitions, lectured museum docents, worked at contemporary art galleries, authored publications and juried art shows.
Rinkevich Gallery opened in Mountain Village in 2018 and features her abstract paintings along with tribal sculpture. Her work hangs in numerous private collections throughout the United States.
Visit the Rinkevich Gallery website HERE and @rinkevichgallery on Instagram.
Robin arthur
Robin Arthur creates bright, happy, custom pet portraits from high on a mesa overlooking the beautiful North Fork Valley and the town of Paonia. From there, she paints custom pet portraits, mid-century-modern-inspired abstracts and Colorado. She loves to paint chickens because they are, “quirky, funny creatures that exude comfort and are a joy to paint in wild, crazy colors.”
Visit Robin’s website HERE.
Rosa Cruz
With her art studio, Cruglez Stermann Studio, Rosa Cruz develops designs for various public art projects around the United States. She has dedicated her work to public art initiatives for the beautification of spaces as well as the development of culture and society through art.
Visit Cruglez Stermann Studio’s website HERE.
Shannon Richardson
Shannon Richardson is an artist from Paonia, CO where she uses her dreams to inspire her art. In college she studied the classical techniques of old art masters in Rome Italy, and ever since, she has been showing professionally with her art exhibited in homes and galleries around the world.
Statement:
I begin each day painting in my studio in downtown Paonia with a sense of excitement and wonder, never knowing what will be revealed on the many canvases I work on simultaneously. I begin each work without a conclusion in mind. This process allows me to trust my medium and my imagination more than my intentions. Each piece begins as an abstract work of art based on simple colors and mark making. This phase begins to inform the painting, much like the simple visions we see when looking at clouds. I am able to take the gravity of life and turn it into something tangible and beautiful, but not quite real. “Honeymoon for Eternity” is from an original oil painting that celebrates life, love and revelry: all elements that represent my time spent in beautiful Telluride.
Visit Shannon’s website HERE.
Sherwood Smith
Sherwood Smith is an Illustrator born and raised here in the San Juan Mountains.
@eldf3n on Instagram.
William frownfelter
William C. Frownfelter III was born and raised in Telluride is now based out of Durango. He has worked mostly in graphite and acrylic paint but also dabbles in murals, plein air and more. He continues to bounce from project to project in his free time and plans to engage more in the local plein air and mural community moving forward.
Statement:
The serenity of the valley, these mountains, and the seasons that grace them are a true depiction of what this area has to offer. From the dark days of the New Year lightly brightened by the energy of the town, to spring when the warmth of the town opens to budding leaves and waking animals, to summer when festivals fill the valley with a joyous atmosphere, to the crisp days of fall lit by the colorful scenery, and finally, back to the early days of winter where the anticipation for skiing and hockey fill the snow-kissed mountains. The balance is important in this little town, and it is why I chose a four-season depiction for my gondola art concept.