City of Aspen to celebrate program that supports youth, adult artists

The city of Aspen has announced the celebration of the Cultural Vibrancy Fellowship, which honors the youth and adult cohorts who participated in the inaugural year of this grant fellowship. The event is slated for Thursday, May 16, at the Wheeler Opera House, according to a city news release.

In 2023, Aspen City Council approved a pilot grant program to provide direct support to artists living and working in Aspen to foster the city’s cultural vibrancy, according to the release. Over the past year, 12 youth artists and 12 adult artists participated in facilitated conversations to discuss how art impacts their lives and creates a vibrant community. The city’s Wheeler Opera House and Red Brick Center for the Arts have been instrumental in administering the new fellowship program. 

“Supporting a vision of Aspen as a vibrant hub for creativity, the inaugural Aspen Cultural Vibrancy Fellowships have proven to be a tremendous success,” said Lisa Rigsby Peterson, director of the Wheeler Opera House, in the release. “Funded by the city of Aspen’s Arts and Cultural Real Estate Transfer Tax, 24 grant fellowships were awarded to adults and youth in our community whose passion for the arts is matched by their excitement to create and support a cultural community.” 

At the event, according to the press release, there will be two panel discussions hosted by program facilitators Art Williams, the education and community partnerships coordinator at TACAW, and Eric Elliot, department head for Art and Design and associate professor of art, painting, and drawing at Colorado Mesa University. The panel discussions will include all youth and adult participants and will illustrate what the fellowship has meant to each participant, as well as the community impact of this new grant program.  

“This celebration will be a great demonstration of the impressive work being done by Aspen artists and a testament to the difference the city’s funding has made for them and for the entire community,” said Sarah Roy, director of the Red Brick Center for the Arts, in the release. “It’s been very rewarding to see how quickly the artists have created connections among themselves while spending time identifying ways in which their art can support a thriving, vibrant community.” 

Date: May 16   

Time: 5:30-7:30 p.m.  

Location: Wheeler Opera House, Vault Bar Lobby 

For more information, visit aspen.gov.