Studio & put out an open call for artists for its latest show, COLOR, and did the community’s creatives deliver.
The show, which kicked off Friday night with an opening reception and will be up through Saturday, boasts almost 60 artists and about 120 pieces, said Tim Kapustka, a founding member of the gallery.
The response, he said, has been amazing.
“It’s awesome in so many ways. We haven’t done one of these in four or five years (an open show), so it kind of harkens back to what we used to do a decade ago when we were a much younger gallery and much younger people ... and we were just like, ‘Yay! Everybody, come on in!’” he said. “A lot of maybe the new people in town or people that are just discovering Studio & weren’t around for that, so to do that sort of stuff again because it’s really kind of what we are, to do a big, wide-open show like that was exciting.”
Kapustka said he had a feeling the show was going to be big based on the email interest he was getting. Because “COLOR” is an open show, anyone is welcome to bring in pieces to be hung. The artists were required to drop their pieces off Thursday, and that’s when the enormity of the show was revealed.
“The response was overwhelming,” he said. “I could tell by the correspondence with people emailing with questions and stuff, I was like, ‘I think this is going to be pretty big.’ But we had no idea. The only thing was show up from 11 to 2 on Thursday and we’ll see what we get. We’ve done dozens of open shows throughout the years, and it always was perfect; we always worried, ‘what if we get too much?’ And we always just got the right amount. And we always threatened, ‘Well, if we get too much, we’ll just pack them in here salon-style.’ Well, I would say for the gallery, when I curate it with invitational shows and stuff, I kind of high-end figure for 35 pieces in there, and absolutely packed would be 40. There’s 120 pieces in this. ... It’s a mass of art.”
If you go
WHAT: COLOR, an open show hosted by Studio & Gallery.
WHEN: Now through Saturday.
WHERE: Studio & Gallery, 1027 Main Ave.
MORE INFORMATION: Visit www.anddurango.com.
Kapustka said that while some of the show’s popularity can be attributed to artists having a hankering to get out after the last couple of years, much of it is a reflection of the town and area as a whole: We have a lot of artists – some who have never shown their work in a gallery before.
And that’s where COLOR comes in.
“I think that there’s probably a couple dozen, maybe more than that, people that have never shown before. And to me, that’s just the stuff; that’s just the core, fundamental to what Studio & is. Because a lot of us showed in there for the first time. And we definitely pride ourselves on helping others – that’s a big deal,” he said. “And when we say ‘young artists’ that has nothing to do with age, that’s your level at ‘artisthood.’ And just to have so many people come up to me and us (Friday) and say, ‘This is my first show,’ ... I can so relate to that. I was older when I had my first show – it’s a huge deal.”
katie@durangoherald.com
