Sunday, June 28, 2020

Colorado's Best Award Winners

Barbara Tobiska, founder of the Lakewood Arts Council, and oil painting teacher extraordinaire, juried the 2020 Lakewood Arts Colorado's Best Exhibit.  She chose some stunning winners! Here are the winners:
1st Place:  Adventure Waiting; Barbara Williams 
 
2nd Place:  The Whole of the Moon; Stacey Roberts 
 
Merit:  Red River; Charlie Casper 
 
Merit:  #Me Too Mona; Robyn Cochran Ragland 
 
Merit:  Polar Bear; Charlie Casper 
Stop in the Gallery to see the complete show.  The Gallery is open Friday-Sunday 11-5 for now.

Sunday, June 21, 2020

This Way to The Trains--->

Lakewood Arts Annual Garden Tour took place on a beautiful Saturday with lots of people enjoying the gardens and responsibly social distancing.  As a volunteer garden sitter, I got to enjoy welcoming visitors to the Railroad Garden at 2783 S. Meade St, lovingly cared for by owners Byron and Marta Fenton.
 
It was fun to watch the expressions of amusement on everyone's faces (behind the masks of course!) and hear their comments when they encountered the whimsical elements hidden amongst the train tracks and miniature trees.  Dinosaurs roamed through villages, with a T-Rex roaring at the unsuspecting passer-by. 
 
A Volkswagen beetle was parked outside a Victorian abode, while stuffed animals rode in the coal car of Byron's steam train.
 
Garden gnomes popped up here and there, and lots of garden sculptures graced the property. 
 


Byron loves to answer questions about his hobby, telling me that each year he takes all the houses and creatures inside for storage, while the train tracks are subject to the elements.
 
 
 Sometimes he mixes up the placement of the buildings and such to give it a new look when setting up in the spring.  Marta is also enamored with the garden and helped with its creatiion, lending a hand in the building of the amazing trestle bridge. 


 Robyn Cochran-Ragland painted a pastel of the garden to give to the owners.

Lots of folks wandered through on Saturday: neighbors, members of the Fenton's railroad club and ticket holders from the Lakewood Arts fundraiser.  They were then treated to a sack lunch at the gallery (in lieu of the usual buffet) and a look around at the exhibits. The Gallery is now open Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from 11-5.  I bet there will be some new art showing up inspired by the Garden Tour.  Stop in and visit!

Saturday, March 7, 2020

Sights and Sounds on First Friday Art Crawl

Mardi Gras in March -- a little late but lots of fun!  Lakewood Arts and the 40 West Arts District offered a feast for the senses: captivating art, live music and the aroma and deliciousness of creole food from Mile High Cajun and Crescent City food trucks -- yum!  A mild night brought out a host of visitors, many dressed in their Mardi Gras finery, following the jazz sounds of the marching brass band and our own Sandra and Howard Van Dam with their soothing music of "Just Us".
 
 
 Following the "green line" through the district, one discovered roving entertainers and many interesting and amusing exhibits, such as the Casa Bonita exhibit at Next gallery (love the taco duct taped to the wall -- with a reference to the recent banana incident).
 
Stop in the gallery Wed-Sun 11-5 and take a closer look at the display of art: abstracts in the Acorn gallery, art from ARC and the Manning School on the Community wall, and a private rental of the President's wall. And there's always something new in the main co-op gallery.  Support your local artists!

Friday, March 6, 2020

Expression in Abstract Award Winners

 Congratulations to all award winners and participants in the Lakewood Arts Expression in Abstract Exhibit.  Juror Patricia Aaron must have had a difficult job with selection and awarding of prizes, as there is a lot of wonderful work on the walls (and on stands as 3D work was also included!) But her awards are well deserved -- take a look at these award winners and some other pieces accepted into the show. 
1st Place
Stacey Roberts
Where I Belong

2nd Place
Susan Gordon
Red

Merit
Reno Unger
Fever Dream

Merit
Krista Falkenstine
Metallica 1b

Merit
Sarah Marcus
I Turn Wicked
 

 
 
Come on out for tonight's festivities: the opening reception for the Expressions in Abstract exhibit, art from the Manning School and the ARC of Jefferson, Clear Creek and Gilpin Counties, a leather tooling demo by Robert Srader and live music from Sandra and Howard Van Dam "Just Us".  The Mardi Gras themed art crawl in the 40 West Art District will include a marching brass band, food trucks with Cajun themed food and lots of other fun family activities.  See you there!

Sunday, January 5, 2020

First Friday with Colorado Mosaic Artists

The First Friday Art Walk of the year offered a beautiful exhibit of mosaics from the Colorado Mosaic Artists, acrylic pours from Anna Kogler, a silverpoint drawing demo by Kristi Czajkowski, and tarot readings to start the new year out.  Take a look at these photos from Viv Prince that captured the evening's activites.