The Beet Street Blog

Our recently launched website, Arts Incubator of the Rockies (AIR), has been growing rapidly—now incorporating almost 600 members. The website includes a variety of great resources designed for all artists and art-based organizations, not only for inspiration and motivation, but also for connecting and succeeding. This regional arts incubator is a wonderful opportunity for artists to utilize many tools in one convenient website.

Recently, we have added a helpful and comprehensive website tour to the homepage. This tour, guided by our own Executive Director, Beth Flowers, walks viewers through the website features and functionality. If you have never visited the website before, have casually browsed it, or have recently become a member, this tour is the perfect chance to learn the power of the website and how to use it.

We are still in the midst of our membership drive and are recruiting as many people as possible. There is no force to commit. Though paid members have access to more features and benefits, free memberships still include a great base of available resources. So please, visit the website, and take the tour to help get you immersed in AIR.

The holiday season is upon us once again. The cold weather has finally come out of hiding, helping the transition into the winter months. Old Town is glimmering with a mass of glowing lights, familiar holiday drinks have returned to menus across town, and often, this cold time of the year brings warmth through traditions and the spirit of the season.

As many people are building our local economy by shopping at local stores, may we not forget about our wonderful arts scene, which can be a wonderful option to indulge in the spirit of the holidays. Many arts organizations feature holiday shows, including the CSU University Center for the Arts’ production A Christmas Story, Canyon Concert Ballet’s The Nutcracker, Bas Bleu Theatre’s Almost Maine, and Opera Fort Collins’ Gift of the Magi. The opportunity to enjoy and support the arts during this holiday season is invaluable.

Sharing time with friends and family is a large part of many people’s traditions and what better occasion to create memories than attending the multitude of fantastic, spirit boosting, arts events in Fort Collins.

Silent films once captivated audiences when the invention of the motion picture was just getting started. The ability to record synchronized sound was not yet available, and the films often featured subtitles and an accompanying score of music. Actors, such as the famous, Charlie Chaplin, were forced to act in a way that would tell a story through action and body language rather than dialogue. Silent films were around from 1894 through the 1920s, until they were replaced with “talkies,” or films produced with recorded sound.

In the beginning of the film era, the silent film was the foundation of our modern flick and deserves to be remembered on occasion. The first filmmakers were true innovators, because movies had yet to exist before, and plots were completely original.

The event, “4 Funny Films,” presents the opportunity to view some of these films in their true comedic mastery. The films are being featured at Everyday Joe’s Coffee House, are sponsored by the Fort Collins Symphony—and they are showing Friday, November 16^th, at 7:00 p.m.  For more information visit their website.

If, however, you happen to miss this event, do not hesitate to seek out these films in libraries, online, or in video shops; they are worth any time it takes to find them.

Creativity is one of those traits everyone wants a little more of and you can never have enough of. It is a characteristic pursued in both the art and the business world. According to the Americans for the Arts, “… creativity is among the top 5 applied skills sought by business leaders…the arts—music, creative writing, drawing, dance—provide skills sought by employers of the 3rd millennium.”

Innovation becomes more important as we experience current challenges and attempt to predict problems of subsequent years. It is important to examine creativity as an entity in our lives and the role it plays in shaping our future.

To look at how we can encourage it in our children, inspire it in our daily lives, enhance it in our workplace, and take the steps necessary to grow creativity in our communities.

Resources to expand knowledge on the nature of creativity are abundant. Local creatives and artists, books, magazines, and especially the Internet, – information on creativity is everywhere. A great place to search for them online is our AIR (Arts Incubator of the Rockies) website. The Knowledge Center is full of videos, articles, and more on creative topics.

The Arts Incubator of the Rockies (AIR) is a new program created in collaboration with Beet Street, Colorado State University, and the City of Fort Collins. But, instead of just Colorado based, it is a 10 state regional arts incubator program with a beautifully crafted website as its foundation.

The AIR website provides a place where artists can share and get feedback on their work, collaborate with other artists, look for job opportunities in the Opportunity Center, watch inspirational videos, and read helpful articles in the Knowledge Center. Also offered, are the Shift and Evolve workshops, which were generated to develop and expand individuals’ confidence and success in their professional journeys. Overall, It is an amazing site centered around and specifically constructed for all kinds of artists and art organizations.

There is an option to be a free or paid member (added benefits and features for paid members), and with paid memberships starting at $50 annually, the benefits outweigh the cost. AIR combines marketing opportunity, a constructive artist community, and the convenience of multiple tools for artists in one place.

The more members who join AIR, the deeper the benefits and the higher the quality the website becomes. If you haven’t already, check out the website and all its amazing features, become a member, and tell all your friends.

Virtuoso is an Italian based word meaning versed, or skilled. We use it today to describe someone who is particularly skilled in a given field, like music!

The Virtuoso Series Concerts, hosted by the University Center for the Arts, has consistently presented talented musical artists who demonstrate beautiful melodies that allure and entertain audiences. These concerts occur on a regular basis and make for a great opportunity to enjoy a night out as well as appreciate the many various musicians featured.

If a sitter for the children is unavailable, consider taking them as well! With ticket prices for youth (2-17) at $1 a-piece, it would be less expensive to bring them along, not to mention the benefits of exposing young children to the arts. Overall, Virtuoso Series Concerts are great events for families!

The next concert is Thursday, November 5^th, featuring Duo Francois (a piano and violin duo).  Make sure to check the UCA website regularly for these amazing concerts.

Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D minor is the ‘unofficial’ theme song of Halloween, and though the name might not be familiar, those few opening notes are unmistakable. The 7^th annual Halloween Organ Extravaganza couldn’t offer anything less than an amazing night of spooky organ music for all to hear, not to mention costumed musicians.  Joel Bacon, a CSU organ professor and performer at the event, sums it up by saying, “It’s a shame Halloween only comes once a year.”

The Extravaganza will be held appropriately in the Organ Recital Hall at CSU’s University Center of the Arts on Halloween night at seven, nine, and eleven o’clock.

It’s a great opportunity to bring your children or friends, or just to enjoy a night of ghoulish music to celebrate the holiday and the end of National Arts and Humanities Month.  Visit the University Center for the Arts website for more information.

The feeling of dancing with a partner whose identity is sealed behind a mask could be described as mysterious and exhilarating. The chance to partake in such an experience is this coming Saturday, October 27th, at The Wild Goose Masquerade Ball! Inhibitions are lowered when we are in disguise, so what a perfect opportunity to waltz, swing, tango, and polka your way to a delightfully elegant and wonderful evening. Live music will be provided by the 50-piece Mostly Strauss Orchestra, which will not only help set the mood for the ball, but offer for a most memorable experience.

The ball will be filled with costumed participants from the most exotic to the tastefully sophisticated; it is up to you what “look” you may focus on. Attire is formal, semi-formal, or ethnic. Friends of Traditional Dance is hosting this elegant event in the CSU Lory Student Center Main Ballroom at 7:30 p.m. For more information, please visit the website.

Imagine, Johann Sebastian Bach’s Harpsichord Concertos saturating the background during an evening amongst friends; the sophisticated classics offering a more mature environment for those feeling a little under-cultured and overwhelmed with contemporary hits on the radio. What could be better?

How about if those attending had the opportunity to indulge in some of New Belgium’s finest locally crafted brews? Presenting, “Bach and Beer,” an event hosted by The Fort Collins Symphony and, you heard right, New Belgium Brewery.

Listen to Bach while sipping beer with friends, and enjoy “Bach and Beer” on Friday, October 19^th, starting at 6:00 p.m. at New Belgium Brewery. Please visit this website for more information.

October is National Arts and Humanities Month. The arts are a significant entity in our families, community, and hearts. Not only do the arts entertain us, they inspire us and make the world a brighter, more vibrant place. Art is a vast presence in our daily lives, and deserves the appreciation of its many supporters. Many of us are hobbyists, enthusiasts, or even artists, and we can agree that the arts play a unique role in shaping our community.

This month-long event gives us an excuse to add some extra events to our list of those to attend this month.  However, celebrating doesn’t have to mean going to events. It can be as easy being a regular advocate by spreading general love of the arts to others, or even enjoying art related activities with your family, like listening to music, reading, dancing, or drawing. The degree and nature of our celebration is up to each individual, but regardless, let us take the time to commemorate and explore our arts culture in October.