Who says America doesn’t make anything anymore?
Well, a lot of people do, but they can’t be talking about the town of Pagosa Springs. To prove it, artists and craftspeople this weekend will put on the inaugural Pagosa Makers Expo & Tour.
A hybrid of a studio tour and a maker fair, the event will include more than 90 “makers,” 31 booths at expo venues and 22 tour locations. It’s an interactive maze of exhibits, displays and demonstrations by those in Archuleta County who make stuff, create objects, design goods, invent gadgets and concoct things.
It’s a smorgasbord of creativity, from furniture makers to brewers and bakers, sculptors and painters to printmakers, fashion designers to ceramic wheel spinners, henna and tattoos to growing domes and photographers, and even a local equine business that produces a television program in Pagosa Springs.
Artists at the Expo portion at Shy Rabbit Contemporary Arts are Sandy Applegate, Marti Bledsoe, Andra Byrnes of Andie’s Undies, D. Michael Coffee of DMC Arts, Denise Coffee of Cozy Head, Diane Davis of 3-D Designs, Charla Ellis, Karl Isberg, Donna Nelson, Jennifer Robinson and Yvonne Rowell of Rocky Mountain Skulls, June Russell, Rick Sessions and Michele White of Mystic Muse.
Expo participants who will be at the Pagosa Springs Center for the Arts include Roberto Garcia Jr., Leanne Goebel, Rick Jewell and Charlotte Ballard of Lone Tree Lamps and Glass Art, Leslie Kron of Just 4 Fun, Christa Laos of I Want Jewelry, Syl Lobato of Syl’s Echoes of Nature, Susan Martin Serra of Belvedere Ceramic Arts Ltd., Lake and Carolyn McCullough of Earthsense Herbals, Jessica Peterson of Nighteagle Flute Co., Dee Pitchon of Vintage Modern Design, Bernard Reinhardt of Stag King Art, Megan Riddle of Sacred Stains Henna, Tina Rolig, Steven Rolig, Emily Tholberg, Mary Walls of Pagosa Peak Fiberworks and Autumn Teneyl Design.
Musicians and performers at the PSCA will be Jason Rose and Denise Chaney, Jack Ellis, Joseph Gilber, Bob Hemenger, Curtains up! Pagosa featuring Dale Johnson, Darcy DeGuise and Sally Neel, Jessica Peterson and Emily Tholberg.
The Tour portion will give participants an inside look at nearly every conceivable creative pursuit: painter and printmaker Judy Robbins; gifts, beads, yarn and paper at The Artists Within; painter Katherine Cruse’s Mountain Springs Gallery; jeweler and ceramicist Anne Campbell Studio; locally brewed beer and root beer at Pagosa Brewing & Grill; Todd Condon Fine Furniture; John Farley Photography; Tessie Garcia’s Pagosa Peak Pottery; Gail Hershey ceramic and printmaking arts; Parelli Natural Horsemanship, where they make television and horsemanship products; Growing Spaces growing domes; Chad Hapsels Sculpture; painter, massage therapist and video game arcade cabinet maker Markus Hughes of JenMark Art; tattoo art and painting at A Body of Art; Chris Haas’ Haastyle Art; Ursula Hudson of White Rabbit Studio; Southwest Elegance, representing many local artisans; Handcrafted Interiors furniture and exquisite goods; Pagosa Baking Co.; Lantern Dancer, also representing local artisans; and painter Karina Silver.
The Makers Expo & Tour was a joint venture 18 months in the making and spearheaded by Shy Rabbit, the Pagosa Springs Center for the Arts and FolkWest, organizers of the Four Corners Folk Festival and Pagosa Folk and Bluegrass Festival. The groups formed the Pagosa Arts & Culture Project, a nonprofit that includes Michael and Denise Coffee (Shy Rabbit), Laura Moore (Center for the Arts), art writer Leanne Goebel, artist and writer Karl Isberg and event planner Paula Jo Miller. Crista Munro of FolkWest serves in an advisory position.
The short-term goal of the project is to create and constantly update a Web directory that includes the many creative makers in Pagosa Springs. This directory will serve as a resource for anyone who wants to learn about the creative community or contact any of its members.
The long-term goal has a greater reach: to propel Pagosa to the forefront as a community defined by the creative people and enterprises that call it home. And to make Pagosa a desirable destination for those who seek out the arts and the products of creative business ventures.
The ultimate aim is to put Pagosa on the map along with other cultural destinations in the Southwest such as Santa Fe, Taos and Sedona.
ted@durangoherald.com
If you go
The Pagosa Makers Expo & Tour will take place from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday throughout Archuleta County. The Expo will be held in Pagosa Springs at Shy Rabbit Contemporary Arts, 333 Bastille Drive, and The Pagosa Springs Center for the Arts, 2313 Eagle Drive. Free color programs featuring a pull-out map are available at either location as well as at the Pagosa Springs Chamber of Commerce Visitors Center.
For more information, call 731-2766 or visit pagosamakers.org.
