Author – The Durango Herald

National Endowment for the Arts more than government agency

The obituary section in the newspaper is always a must-read for me. After reflecting on why, I recognize that it is a way to acknowledge and celebrate a life that influenced the world by hav...

DATE: Mar 18, 2017 | CATEGORY: View from the Center

The legacy of Stanton Englehart returns to Durango Arts Center

By James Durnin “Gaia is my ethic. We are all a part of her. She is the evolutionary force. Gaia is the real driver that runs our lives.” –...

DATE: Feb 17, 2017 | CATEGORY: View from the Center

DAC welcomes new artistic forms of expression

In 2005, I was a college graduate with ambition but no money. I was mixing cocktails and threading film through the projector at Durango’s Abbey Theatre. I’m an artist, and back then I did w...

DATE: Jan 21, 2017 | CATEGORY: View from the Center

Gratitude abounds from Durango Arts Center and beyond

The city is dressed in holiday sparkle, each of us is seeking the perfect gift for those we love and nonprofits throughout the community are engaged in their final push to meet their annual ...

DATE: Dec 15, 2016 | CATEGORY: View from the Center

Keeping it local: Spend holidays at Durango Arts Center

What is the impact of your holiday gift? What is the value of giving a beautiful memory or a masterfully crafted object? The most direct ways we show what we value are through th...

DATE: Nov 17, 2016 | CATEGORY: View from the Center

Photography: Self-expression we can’t live without

With the closing of Open Shutter Gallery and the loss of the artistic foresight of its owner, Margy Dudley, there is now a vacuum in the community – a photographic one. Durango c...

DATE: Oct 20, 2016 | CATEGORY: View from the Center

It’s time to celebrate National Arts in Education Week

During one of our many summer camps for kids, the students were creating a long strand of beads to use as a hanging device for their mobile sculptures. One of the girls had her s...

DATE: Sep 15, 2016 | CATEGORY: View from the Center

Celebrating INDIGO: DAC presents unique textile experience

The beauty of a single color is celebrated in dramatic waves of indigo-dyed cloth, enveloping your sense of space upon entering the Barbara Conrad Gallery at the Durango Arts Center. ...

DATE: Aug 18, 2016 | CATEGORY: View from the Center

Homegrown artist comes back for the summer

Driving into the Four Corners felt like coming home. Arriving at my family home in Dolores was being home. Walking into the Durango Arts Center was like arriving at my second home. ...

DATE: Jul 14, 2016 | CATEGORY: View from the Center

An invitation to check out the Durango Arts Center

More giving than art itself is the community that art creates. This is the most valuable lesson I learned from studying art at Dartmouth College. Since graduating, I have underst...

DATE: Jun 16, 2016 | CATEGORY: View from the Center

Community’s support of the arts something to appreciate

As I approach the end of my tenure as the exhibits director of the Durango Arts Center, I cannot help but reflect, with appreciation, on our community’s sincere support of the arts. ...

DATE: May 19, 2016 | CATEGORY: View from the Center

We’re building a center for creative community

Community art centers are research-and-development labs for the arts. Environments that encourage dynamic learning, experimentation and creative play often mirrored in the scienc...

DATE: Apr 14, 2016 | CATEGORY: View from the Center