Front Range Open Studios tour, artists open doors to educate public
Front Range Open Studios, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday; various locations; free; frontrangeopenstudios.com.
An artist’s studio — or sanctuary of creativity, as Nancy Bonig calls it, tells the artisan’s story. It contains not only tools and materials, but also demystifies the day-to-day work.
Bonig is executive director of the nonprofit Front Range Open Studios, which is providing maps for a free, self-guided tour of 18 studios in Colorado Springs and Monument this weekend. The tour, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, lets inquisitive souls learn about the work of 23 full-time artists.
It’s designed to be more educational and interactive than traditional studio tours, which display finished products but don’t let visitors watch the process.
“Our main focus, in the beginning, was to show how the work is done,” she said. “We’re very concerned. All of us are parents and grandparents, and we’ve seen that with budget cuts in schools, kids aren’t exposed to different forms of creativity.”
While the tour is free, many artists hold do-it-yourself classes and, for a small fee, teach visitors how their craft works.
“I sell my glass to Denver Art Museum,” Bonig said. “In my studio, you can see my glass kiln and see how it’s different from a pottery kiln. You can see the process from start to finish, what I start with and what ends up going to the museum. And you can make a piece of glass yourself.”
Front Range Open Studios, now in its eighth year, encompasses a wide range, from locally celebrated sculptors Richard Pankratz and Jodie Bliss to quirkier artisans such as Barb Ziek, who works with alpaca fur.
“She takes the fiber from the alpacas and makes home décor and clothing,” Bonig said. “You can see the entire process in her studio, including the animals that donated their fiber. That’s a great attraction for young people, because there were just three babies born last weekend.”
Some tour stops will have drawings to win pieces of art and gift cards to local businesses, and many artists will sell their work.
“Ideally, a piece of art should go directly from the creator to the person who responds to it,” Bonig said. “But the artist rarely gets to see who took their creation, who adopted their creation. So we’re removing the middleman, and the artist is able to interact directly with the customer.”
She said she hopes the artists and visitors take away three things: “what’s available, how it’s created and how to recognize good quality.”
Front Range Open Studios, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday; various locations; free; frontrangeopenstudios.com
One of 23 artists to be featured in this year’s Front Range Open Studios tour, Richard Pankratz, at work in his studio. The tour will take place from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.
Jodie Bliss, one of 23 artists to be featured in this year’s Front Range Open Studios tour, at work in her studio. The tour runs from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
One of 23 artists to be featured in this year’s Front Range Open Studios tour, Executive Director Nancy Bonig, at work in her studio. The tour will take place from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.