As a teenager, I rode my bike across town to teach swimming to children with developmental and physical disabilities. The pool was at Warren Air Force Base in Cheyenne, Wyoming, and I would be waved past the guard post on my 10-speed bike. Riding home with wet hair and a feeling of connection and accomplishment is a sweet memory.
My career in the nonprofit sector began with Adaptive Sports Association in 1986, then known as the Durango Purgatory Handicapped Sports Association. I had the good fortune to be guided – and even goaded – by Dave Spencer before his passing later that same year. The lessons I learned from Dave, as well as the hundreds of athletes of all ages and abilities, continue to guide my work.
The Durango Arts Center honors March as Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month, alongside our colleagues at the Durango Creative District. The companion exhibits are The Second Annual Disability Art Show, at the DAC with Our Own Lives – a nonprofit that provides direct services to the disability community in Southwest Colorado – and Beyond Belonging, an exhibition partnering the DCD with The Arc of Southwest Colorado.
For First Friday, stop at both galleries: 802 East Second Ave. and 1135 Main Ave. and meet the creators. While Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month provides an opportunity for heightened awareness, true awareness happens when people and systems create genuinely accessible environments and opportunities year-round.
Our Own Lives participants have taken weekly classes at the DAC. The variety of art on exhibit – and for sale – is engaging and inviting. Artist Heather Ashcroft said, “I like to create art that reflects beauty; that's why I do diamond art. My art makes me shine like a diamond.” The Barbara Conrad Gallery at the DAC is open noon to 6 p.m. Tuesday to Saturday, as is the DCD gallery. Check each organization’s website for more information: www.durangoarts.org and www.durangocreativedistrict.org.
The Durango Arts Repertory Theatre kicks off the season, The State We’re In, with “Cannibal! The Musical,” by Trey Parker. Parker, best known for “South Park” with Matt Stone and their revival of Casa Bonita, had humble beginnings in entertainment at the University of Colorado Boulder.
Parker wrote “Alferd Packer: The Musical” for his student film project, blending his love of musical theater, dark comedy and the historical tale of Colorado cannibal Alferd Packer. Now a stage musical adaptation, the production is presented in honor of 150 years of Colorado statehood. The show runs March 19 to 22 and March 27 to 29. Tickets are online at www.durangoarts.org.
We are grateful to be a grant recipient of Lodgers Tax Arts and Culture funding and scholarship funding from TeamUp. We continue to welcome renewed and new sponsors to the DAC. Please join me in thanking Alpine Bank, the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad, Ska Brewing and Sherwin Williams. Put yourself in good company and connect to the arts. Join the growing list of corporate supporters by emailing me at beth@durangoarts.org.
Beth Lamberson Warren is executive director of Durango Arts Center.
