by Madeleine Ahlborn | maddy@alamosacitizen.com
SEPTEMBER is an art-filled month in Downtown Alamosa, where artists from all across the Valley come to share and view works from a multitude of creatives. The 2022 Alamosa ARTsFestival on Friday and Saturday will have activities for all ages, including sidewalk chalk drawings.
On Friday’s Alamosa ArtWalk, local artists Greg Stoker and Wesley Buniger will be featured at the San Luis Valley Museum on Hunt Avenue, among others on view downtown. (Take a listen to our Creative Citizen podcast with Stoker HERE.)
Saturday’s ArtWalk begins at 10 a.m. with regional artists’ booths along main street. Special guests from the Salida Circus will perform on the art-filled sidewalks. The Wet Paint Brush will be open for anyone to try their hand and participate in the festivities (be sure to make a reservation). The Wet Paint Brush instructors will be on main street on Saturday painting “Colorful Colorado” from 1-3 p.m.; a later event, “Adventure awaits” will be back at the studio from 6-8 p.m.
Have you ever walked downtown Alamosa and seen the many sculptures on display and wondered, “What are these all about?”
What you are viewing are temporary installations selected by a jury board. It’s part of a rotating project called ARTScape that formed in 2017. (See the archives here.) As part of the artistry celebration in the month of September, each year these sculptures are highlighted as a guided tour as citizens and visitors alike cruise Main Street allowing their imaginations run wild. What a wonderful time to be in Alamosa!
ARTsFestival 2022
Friday and Saturday, Sept. 16-17
Downtown Alamosa
- Friday
all day
Rotation of local art
5:30 p.m.
Celebration of the Arts
Society Hall, 400 Ross Ave. - Saturday
10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Booths for regional artists,
face-painting, fortune teller
11 a.m.-3 p.m.
Salida Circus performs along Main Street
1 p.m.
Wet Paint Brush
San Juan Avenue
1-9 p.m.
Raise the Roof celebration
Society Hall
A quick note from local artist Wesley Buniger, who was also our guest on the very first podcast episode of Creative Citizen: the Unexpected Artist: “The Artwalk and ARTsFestival provides great potential to unite artists, communicate more closely, and really just bring the community together.”
With the SLV artist population growing, there are so many opportunities to get involved. Even if you can’t see it all in a single day or an afternoon, there are creatives all around us in our colorful community. Alamosa ARTsFestival is a time to observe, converse, and create with friends, neighbors, and even those unexpected connections we didn’t think we would make on a single weekend.
Artists interested in the next round of ARTscape can find an application HERE.