A Smiley gallery
The San Juan Mountains are a creative person’s paradise. People come here from all over the world to do what they love, inspired by the beauty here. In that way, Patrice DeLorenzo is like many other painters in the area, but she has taken the next leap. In May, she opened the Patrice DeLorenzo Fine Art Gallery in the Smiley Building, and to celebrate, she is hosting a grand opening reception from 5 to 7 p.m. Saturday.
Originally from Boston, DeLorenzo says she is intrigued by the Southwest and is excited to have her own gallery in Durango. The Smiley Building is at 1309 East Third Ave., and the gallery is in Suite 101.
Western musician Bill Barwick and cowboy poet Sam Deleeuw to perform
There’s something intriguing about the West, the last American frontier. Its rugged mountains, deserts and wide-open spaces seem to draw certain kinds of people. One of them is the cowboy, and Bill Barwick, a western musician from Denver, falls into that category. If you’re not familiar with him, think of Sam Elliot, the cowboy from “The Big Lebowski.” Both have deep, bassy voices and the Western image.
He’ll be performing with Sam DeLeeuw, a three-time Western Music Association female cowboy poet of the year, Saturday at the Edgemont Picnic Grounds for the Edgemont Summer Concert Series. Barwick affirms his music is not country. He doesn’t sing much about “trains, trucks, prison, mama or getting drunk,” he said. “Historically, western music has been a romantic tale of a man and his horse – romantic stories of the wind and the sky, the earth,” he said. Tickets are $15 and available only at the door. Attendees are encouraged to bring folding chairs. The grounds open at 4:30 p.m., and the show begins at 6 p.m.
Park art
Need to spruce up your pad? The 38th annual Fun in the Sun Arts & Crafts Festival begins Friday at Buckley Park. Get local, handmade Colorado art for your home, your yard or even for your next wedding gift. Who knows what you’ll find. Items for sale include wine barrel art, steam punk hats, alpaca products, bird baths and other “awesome yard art,” said Margie Myers, owner of Arts & Crafts Fair Productions. “We’ve got amazing artists who are so creative. They’ve got so much unique talent. Everything is handmade,” she said.
The event takes place from noon to 6 p.m. Friday and from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday
mhayden@durangoherald.com
