Beet Street is very proud to host a Professional Development Core Weekend Workshop for artists presented by the Creative Capital Foundation Friday, March 30 to Sunday, April 1, 2012 in Fort Collins, CO.

The Core Weekend Workshop is the second time Creative Capital’s proven and award-winning programs are being offered in Colorado. Beet Street is able to host the workshop thanks to generous grants from the Kresge Foundation, Erion Foundation and the Bohemian Foundation.

This workshop is designed for visual artists, writers, musicians, composers, choreographers and other artists who create original work and want to take their talent to the next step. Artists in the workshop will not only benefit from the consultants considerable experience but also gain insight on new perspectives from the trained Creative Capital grantees. Participants will be introduced to many networking opportunities and techniques to take their creativity to the next level of success.

Now is your chance to apply for this opportunity to work with professional consultants and gain knowledge about all types of genres of artistic endeavors.

Applications for the workshop are now being accepted and the deadline for all participants is February 10, 2012.

For more information and to download the application please visit:

http://www.beetstreet.org/arts-incubator-of-the-rockies/creative-capital

Beet Street is hosting a Curriculum Summit for Artists on Thursday, January 26, 2012 from 4:00-6:00 p.m. at the Lincoln Center Canyon West Room. We invite you to get involved now to help design our curriculum and build the promise of AIR.

The Arts Incubator of the Rockies is designed to provide education, resources, and support to elevate our region’s artistic careers and organizations. Beet Street is hosting the Curriculum Summit to encourage members of the Fort Collins community to get involved in the design and foundation of AIR. We want your help in discovering new ways to utilize new technologies and distance-learning opportunities that will provide rural communities with professional development training and regional networking that will strengthen the arts throughout the Intermountain West. Artists will have the skills, mentors and community connections to succeed – thanks to your involvement!

The summit will include:

• AIR incubator update
• Introduction of curriculum and tech committee members
• Introduction of curriculum consultant team
• Community brainstorm
• Prioritization exercises
• Small group facilitated discussion

Your RSVP before January 23, 2012 at 5:00 p.m. is required through www.beetstreet.org. Seating is limited.

We invite you to get involved now to help design our curriculum and build the promise of AIR!

Beet Street is seeking a wide-variety of talent to perform as part of the Streetmosphere program scheduled for May 11 – September 3, 2012. Being featured as a Streetmosphere performer is a great way to gain exposure for your artistic craft and engage with the Fort Collins community.

Streetmosphere is a weekend event to showcase our community’s unique artists, performers, and entertainers on the streets of Downtown Fort Collins.  Performers range from musical acts, jugglers, and magicians to acting troupes, dancers, painters, and more. Streetmosphere takes place on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays from May to September and is designed to reach a wide spectrum of audiences in the Downtown Fort Collins area.

Beet Street is excited to introduce a new expansion of Streetmosphere to south Fort Collins in Front Range Village! In addition to the 16-week downtown season, our community’s artists will perform for 8 weekends, Friday through Saturday from July 6 – August 26.

According to crowd count statistics gathered by Beet Street, Streetmosphere captured the attention of over 120,000 downtown patrons and showcased about 1,400 hours of performances in Downtown in 2011.

Performers must be able to engage with the general community.  2010 and 2011 Streetmosphere featured 80% of performers from Fort Collins and auditions are not just limited to Fort Collins residents. Beet Street will give priority to local performers but will also consider top-notch, quality artists beyond what is found locally.

Beet Street is now accepting applications for 2012.  Streetmosphere applications must include a video and/or portfolio submission, not to exceed 4 minutes and 10 MB. The 2012 Streetmosphere online application form is available at www.BeetStreet.org. Applications must be submitted by January 30, 2012, before 5pm.  Any submissions received after that date will not be considered.

For more information and complete application details, please visit www.BeetStreet.org.

In a recent  Coloradoan editorial entitled,  “Ideas, Innovation Boost Region’s National Ranking: Best Performing Cities Honor Reflects Area’s Forward-thinking Approach”  it was reported that the Fort Collins-Loveland region is now #3 in the nation on the U.S. Best Performing Cities Index according to the Milken Institute, a 501(c)(3) public charity and nonpartisan, independent think tank whose work makes a difference in the lives of people worldwide by helping create a more democratic and efficient global economy.

Projects such as Rocky Mountain Innosphere,  the Arts Incubator of the Rockies, a partnership with the city of Fort Collins, Colorado State University and Beet Street, the CSU’s Engines and Energy Conversion Lab, and Loveland’s Aerospace Clean Energy project through the Colorado Association for Manufacturing and Technology, contributed toward our top rating.

The Best Performing Cities index includes both long-term (five years) and short-term (one year) measurements of employment and salary growth. There are also four measurements of technology output growth, which are included because of technology’s crucial role in creating good jobs and driving regional economies.  The index ranks 379 metropolitan areas, grouped into large (population of more than 200,000) and small (population of less than 200,000) metros.

The number one and two positions went to San Antonio and El Paso, Texas, respectively. For more information about the U.S. Best Performing Cities Index, please visit www.milkeninstitute.org.

“It’s the most wonderful time of the year,” not only for the holidays and gift-wrapping – but to celebrate the arts and theatre the great city of Denver and the communities along the Front Range have to offer. A wide variety of plays, productions, and events are schedule for the month of December that can be a great way for you and your family to get out and embrace the holiday spirit.” A list of “Critic’s Picks,” from The Denver Post lists this holiday seasons must see’s in Denver.

Cleo Parker Robinson Dance’s annual production of “Granny Dances to Holiday Drum” that is always a colorful and family-friendly event and don’t LIDA Project’s original epic, “Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep,” playing through December 17th that highlights the importance of health care. There’s also The Colorado Shakespeare Festival’s “It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play” re-creates Frank Capra’s classic film as a live radio broadcast.

There are many ways to celebrate the holidays in Denver and along the Front Range. Visit www.denverpost.com for more event details in Colorado as well as www.artbeetfc.com for Fort Collins listings.

An article in the Denver Post this week sparked interest in the importance of curators to local Denver museums and art exhibitions. As the arts community faces a struggling economy in more ways than one, curators seem to be taking the brunt of the down sizing.

A curator is the creative center to a studio or exhibit and a person “who can provide a clear, coherent vision for its presentations and give it direction and purpose.” Curators serve a specific purpose that benefit any type of museum or art gallery presenting a variety of art displays.

What happens without that creative medium?

Studios such as “RedLine” a $2.5 million studio and exhibition space that opened with considerable fanfare in 2008 – has suffered without a curator presence. Lacking a curator “the center often accepts whatever exhibition proposals come over the transom, and the results are predictably mixed.”

Curators should not be taken for granted and many Denver art exhibition programs are struggling without them. They bring knowledge and experience to any art studio that is not easily replaced. Is the cut back of curators worth the artistic downfall of an exhibit? The Metropolitan art scene may think so – but this article by the Denver Post shows three art programs that are regretting that decision.

Denver Post article “Curators Becoming a Vanishing Breed on Local Art Scene”

In a blog from the National Endowment for the Arts – art programs for kids are recognized for their contributions of engaging students to use their creativity and passions. Efforts that help keep them academically stable and interested in the arts. Programs from across the nation were given awards for their philanthropic efforts.

“A few of this year’s honorees were 826 Seattle, which encourages budding authors with innovative writing workshops; Boston’s ZUMIX, which broadcasts radio shows produced and hosted by the city’s youth; and ArtLab in Denver, where underserved teens are paired with resident artists in year-round art projects.”

These awards highlight the importance of arts education in young people’s lives. To help steer their youthfulness in the right direction and move forward with their talents. Any chance for a student to be exposed to the arts and embrace the humanity of culture is one that should be taken advantage of. The National Endowment for the Arts, as well as Beet Street – encourages just that for striving art students across the nation.

In the photo: Michelle Obama poses with Judith Anderson and Salvador Flores-Martinez,
representatives from ArtLab, based in Denver, Colorado.

National Endowment for the Arts Blog

A recent article from The Denver Post lets their writer and theater critic, John Moore, vent and lash out on bad behavior by theater audiences.

How long is too long to let your phone vibrate under your seat? At what age are theatergoers mature enough to appreciate the arts? Should food be allowed at your seat? Should you bring your children? Is there a difference seen in theater rules for etiquette in Europe and are they lacking in the United States?

These are just some of the questions Moore puts up for debate in his column. Here at Beet Street we encourage you to read his article and consider for yourself the proper audience etiquette.

http://www.denverpost.com/entertainment/ci_19209639?source=pop#.TrLtLpFYFPg.email

Want to take a step back into your childhood? Want to enjoy the singing and adventure of the stories you grew up to? November is the perfect month to embrace those memories with your children in the production of these lovable stories in stage form.

Numerous plays are taking place in Fort Collins this month that are based on children’s stories such as The Jungle Book, Peter Pan, Cinderella, Annie Warbucks and The Wizard of Oz. Each story line delivers the same fun characters and adventure that made the original an instant classic. Going to any of these productions would be the perfect way to engage children in the arts and spend quality time with the family for the holiday season.

Take advantage of these great theatre opportunities! For ticketing and information visit www.artbeetfc.com

The Larimer Chorale, under the direction of Michael Todd Krueger, opens their 35th anniversary season with Carl Orff’s, Carmina Burana!

Imagine nearly 200 singers, dancers, and instrumentalists joining forces for one of the most celebrated choral masterworks of all time! The Chorale will be joined by IMPACT Dance Company, Centennial Children’s Chorus, the CSU Percussion Ensemble, and featured soloists.

Purchase your tickets today for the Saturday, October 22nd performance at Lincoln Center. Start time is 7:30 p.m. but there’s a pre-concert talk beginning at 6:45 p.m.

Best-selling science writer Dava Sobel will be speaking in Fort Collins at 7 p.m., October 16, at the Hilton Fort Collins, 425 W. Prospect. The event is free and open to the public – no tickets are required. Doors will open at 6:30 p.m., and seating will be on a first come, first served basis (maximum capacity of 500 people). A book signing and sales will follow the program.

Sobel, author of Longitude and Galleo’s Daughter, will be talking about her latest book, A More Perfect Heaven (to be released October 2011), in which she realizes her long-standing dream to write a play about Nicolaus Copernicus.

“And the Sun Stood Still,” the centerpiece of my new book, dramatizes the events that convinced Copernicus to publish his “crazy” ideas concerning the Earth’s motion. The nonfiction narrative surrounding the play tells the facts of his life story and traces the impact of his seminal book, On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres, to the present day.

For more information about the author and her books, visit: http://www.davasobel.com/

This is part of a series of free author evenings presented by sponsored by Friends of the CSU Libraries the Poudre River Friends of the Library, and sponsored by KUNC Radio and the Hilton Fort Collins.

For more information about the event, contact Jane Barber at (970) 491-5712 or jane.barber@colostate.edu.