“Healing sound,” with elements of nature and human connection added, is something Green Mountain Falls drummer and versatile “Sound Medicine Woman” Judith Piazza offers hearers and participants in her musical offerings.

COPPeR’s Curbside Culture Series — established during the pandemic — may have inspired Piazza’s “Porch Songs.”

Piazza performed last year with Curbside Culture for the dedication of the cog railway car in Woodland Park on a chilly winter day in February.

“Like the coldest day you could’ve ever imagined, and the wind was just blowing, and we were in the middle of the stuff with Covid.”

She stayed outside for that and played handpan — a melodic percussion instrument made of two steel pans glued together — with gloves on half of her hand.

The idea of connecting artists with listeners at events outside got Piazza thinking. And as it goes with creativity, a new plan developed.

She thought, “That’s a cool idea that they would hire musicians and have some kind of curbside thing — so why not my porch?”

Piazza then coordinated a few small, but not very publicized since parking was limited, opportunities to gather for live music out in front of her house.

“It worked out great because I live in this magic place with breezes, a creek flowing, birds singing with us, chipmunks running around,” she said.

Piazza says that the past year and its related experiences have, “brought up such internal questions for me as a woman, as a musician — how do I continue to offer and to gather with people together in a way that is meaningful because we know that the arts are critical right now.”

Curbside Culture saw more than 60 performances and bookings, ranging from dance to drums to aerial arts, last year.

Currently, because indoor performance venues still have audience limitations, and as performers are trying to recover from lost bookings, the series continues, with a growing number of artists joining the roster.

Curbside Culture invites accomplished performers living in El Paso and Teller counties to apply to the program. An application is available on the Curbside Culture website, culturaloffice.org/programs/curbside-culture.

Businesses or individuals interested in hiring local performing artists through Curbside Culture can access a digital toolkit on the website for use to share bookings with friends and audiences.

As stated on the website, as a Curbside Culture host site, you will be responsible for providing electricity if necessary, gathering a small audience, and conducting financial transactions directly with the performer(s).

Piazza said she approached these opportunities as, “gathering with the intention of bringing joy and opening of the heart — not a performance of how great can I be in front of people.”

Her background in music therapy informs her art, she says, and in another connective and musical endeavor, she’s gathered 12-15 women together for drumming for a couple of years now, about two times a month. An opportunity for “skill development in tandem,” she says, “we let the rhythm flow through us, and in that way we are connected to each other.”

“We know that drumming helps us relieve stress and anxiety — it’s a safe, effective, foolproof way to stop the mind chatter so that we can feel our body, feel our hearts more, and gather in community.” The drumming circle is open to new people.

Just as the Cultural Office of the Pikes Peak Region connected residents and visitors to the arts as part of their “Curbside Culture” Series in 2020, while gathering restrictions of the pandemic highlighted the importance of, as their promotional literature points out, “patios, porches and curbs” in our society, artists are finding new ways to create those essential moments of connection.