The most up-to-date information for the Roaring Fork Valley

Theatre Aspen has announced the casting for its summer season with Tony Award-winning musical comedy Avenue Q opening the show for the season on June 25th. The show also includes the new musical How I Became a Pirate from July 10th – Aug 18th and the film noir thriller The 39 Steps from July 25th – Aug 18th.

For more details visit:
1. Avenue Q – www.theatreaspen.org/link_pr/66
2. How I Became a Pirate – www.theatreaspen.org/link_pr/67
3. The 39 Steps – www.theatreaspen.org/link_pr/68

Productions take place in the new Hurst Theatre in Rio Grande Park and will be underwritten by season sponsor ANB Bank, with the generous support of The City of Aspen, Hays Private Client, Soledad and Bob Hurst, Mandy Gray and Randy Work, Dan and Maureen Holman, The Aspen Club and Spa and Les Dames d’Aspen.

Registration for Theatre Aspen School summer classes and theatre workshops is underway. For further information contact Theatre Aspen at (970) 925-9313 x2. or visit www.theatreaspen.org. To know more on other events and activities visit Golden Key’s 2012 Calendar of Events

Tags: aspen, entertainment, show, Theatre Aspen

Leading international names in contemporary art will visit Aspen this summer to participate in Anderson Ranch Art Center’s 2nd Featured Artist Lecture Series. The Featured Artist Lectures are free and open to the public. Reservations are required and can me made by calling (970) 923-3181.

2012 Featured Artists include:

Sanford Biggers will open the Featured Artist Lecture Series on June 21. Biggers is an interdisciplinary artist whose work incorporates film/video, installation, sculpture, music and performance. He will also teach class at Anderson Ranch this summer. Presentation: 12:30 pm.

Enrique Martínez Celaya returns to Anderson Ranch on July 5. Celaya is trained as both an artist and a scientist and brings the unique perspective of his diverse background to his art, which includes painting, sculpture and photography. Celaya is teaching a class at Anderson Ranch this summer. Presentation: 12:30 pm.

Barry X Ball, who creates sculptural portraits from such varied materials as marble, onyx and jade, will present his work on July 12. Ball’s work has been recently celebrated at the 2011 Venice Biennale. Presentation: 12:30 pm.

Kara Walker is this year’s Anderson Ranch Recognition Dinner Honoree. Walker will present her work on July 19. Best known for her room-sized tableaux of black cut paper silhouettes, her works frequently address highly charged themes such as power, repression, race and sexuality. Presentation: 5 pm.

James Casebere will present his art on July 26. His pioneering work has established him at the forefront of artists working with constructed photography. Casebere’s work offers the illusion of scale and reality within a constructed form. Presentation: 12:30 pm.

Rashid Johnson presents on August 2. Johnson’s works incorporate photography, audio, video and sculpture in an artistic process he describes as “alchemy, divination, astronomy, and other sciences that combine the natural and spiritual worlds” in his exploration of the complexity of the black historical experience. He is on the April cover of Modern Painters magazine. Presentation: 12:30 pm.

Tom Sachs brings his reputation as a “prankster artist” to Anderson Ranch on Tuesday, August 7. His sculpture includes elaborate recreations of various modern icons, reminding his viewers of the labor involved in the creation of objects—remaking the world out of simple materials such as cardboard, paper, bronze and wood. Presentation: 5 pm.

Nick Cave, is the featured artist on August 9. He blends his artwork as a fabric sculptor with dance and performance into wearable fabric sculptures. Trained as a dancer with Alvin Ailey, Cave combines such diverse materials as dyed human hair, sisal, plastic buttons, beads, sequins and other features into finished pieces that bear resemblance to African ceremonial costumes and masks. Presentation: 12:30 pm.

Jessica Stockholder, sculptor and installation artist will present her work on August 23. Her artwork has been said to “challenge boundaries, blurring the distinction among painting, sculpture and environment.” Stockholder is a pioneer of installation art and her work has been exhibited extensively worldwide. Presentation: 12:30 pm.

For more information visit: www.andersonranch.org or call at (970) 923-3181.

Tags: Anderson-Ranch-Arts-Center, art exhibition, aspen, event

The 4D Motion Theater at Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park has three new films to kick off the 2012 summer season. Now showing: “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs”, “Night at the Toy Store”, and starring Brendan Fraser, “Journey to the Center of the Earth.” The Adventure Park in Glenwood Springs was the first to bring 4D technology to Colorado; the theater features state-of-the-art entertainment with interactive seats and special effects that make the audience feel like a part of the show.

“Journey to the Center of the Earth 4D” is an exciting adventure based on the classic film and stars Brendan Fraser as Dr. Trevor Anderson, a science professor whose untraditional hypothesis have made him the laughing stock of the academic community. Following an intriguing lead on an expedition to Iceland, Trevor and his accompanying nephew stumble upon a mystery that leads them on an explosive discovery and a thrill ride adventure that brings them face to face with never-before-seen worlds and creatures beneath the Earth’s surface. Plummeting deep within, they find a world where pre-historic creatures and man-eating plants exist, and danger lurks in deep mysterious caves; somehow they must find their way home.

Inspired by Ron and Judi Barrett’s beloved children’s book of the same name, “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs” follows inventor Flint Lockwood, voice of Bill Hader, and a brainy weathergirl, voice of Anna Faris, as Flint’s latest invention creates a machine that turns moisture in the atmosphere into food. While Flint’s creation initially makes him the town’s hero, soon the machine creates massive food storms with unexpected consequences and the entire Earth is threatened. This engaging and fun-filled 3D film features a smorgasbord of 4D effects that the whole family will enjoy.

In “Night at the Toy Store”, the audience follows a toy soldier on an epic adventure as he races through a busy toy store after closing time. He must dodge foam missiles, burp guns, trains, disco dolls, dancing robots and jumping rag dolls; avoid a swarm of stinging robo-wasps, bowling pins, bumper cars, snowmen, beach balls, bubbles and electrical charges; and run from an axe-wielding Orc, a flying stuffed dragon, a swiping sock monkey and charging robo-dinosaurs.

The films are five minutes long and rotate throughout the day. The Park’s Winter Fun Pass, available through May 4, and Day Pass, available starting May 5, provide unlimited access to the 4D Motion Theater and most of the Park’s other attractions. Go to www.glenwoodcaverns.com or call (970) 945-4228, ext. 0, for more information.

Tags: 4D Films, Glenwood Caverns Adventire Park, theatre

Last chance to see Mark Grotjahn Exhibition on view at Aspen Art Museum in Aspen, Colorado from February 17 through Sunday, April 29, 2012. This exhibit is funded in part by the Aspen Art Museum National Council with additional support provided by Linda and Bob Gersh and Barbara and Michael Gamson. Publication underwritten by Toby Devan Lewis. Exhibition lectures are presented as part of the Questrom Lecture Series and educational outreach programming is made possible by the Questrom Education Fund. To know more visit: www.aspenartmuseum.org/mark_grotjahn.html

About Mark Grotjahn:

Mark Grotjahn was born in 1968 in Pasadena, California, and lives and works in Los Angeles. He has had one-person exhibitions at the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Kunstmuseum Thun, Switzerland; and the Portland Art Museum, Oregon. His work has been included in major group exhibitions at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands; and Museum of Modern Art, New York, among other international venues. Grotjahn was included in the 54th Carnegie International in 2004 and the Whitney Biennial in 2006. His work is included in numerous public collections, including the Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; Museum of Modern Art, New York; Walker Art Center; Minneapolis; and Whitney Museum of American Art, New York.

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Tags: art, aspen art museum, event, Exhibition

Tickets are now on Sale for Pulitzer Prize finalist Luis Urrea & Grammy-nominated
singer/songwriter Perla Batalla Read and Concert Event beginning May 10 at the 3rd Street Center, Carbondale. Doors will be open at 5:30pm and the event will start at 6pm. Tickets are: $20 (regular ticket), $15 (students + educators). Visit pac3carbondale.com or call at (970) 925-1663 for information on buying tickets. For Group discounts call at (970) 925-3122 ext. 4#. For more info visit: www.aspenwriters.org or call at (970) 925-3122

For more information on events and activities happening in and around the Roaring fork Valley visit Golden Key’s 2012 Calendar of Events

Tags: 2012 Great Read, concert, event