From music to paint, pencils to film, poetry to sculpture, the arts are ready to put on a show.
The Downtown Arts Festival spans Friday to Sunday, Oct. 2–4, highlighting the importance and variety to be found in the arts in the Grand Valley.
Here is what you can expect for each day of the festival.
First Friday —Friday, Oct. 2
Exhibition openings and gallery receptions are a staple on the first Friday of each month in Grand Junction.
The festival will incorporates that scene with evening happenings at area galleries.
Among those is “The Dark Show” with an opening event from 6–9 p.m. Friday at Confluence Studios, 634 Main St., garden level.
The show celebrates autumn with “a variety of interpretations of the dark within and around us,” according to imconfluencestudios.com.
Also on the darker side is the “Back From The Dead Art Show” opening at 7 p.m. Friday at Uncanny Valley Art Gallery, 455 Main St.
And to see what Colorado Mesa University student artists have been creating, check out “Liminality: BFA Senior Exhibition” at 437CO Art Gallery, 437 Colorado Ave.
Not far from downtown at The Art Center, 1803 Seventh St., where an opening reception is planned for three exhibitions: “It’s a Mud, Mud, Mud, Mud, World” featuring the work of ceramic artists across the Western Slope; “Face of Cannabis” with photographs taken by Nichole Montanez of children with debilitating conditions who have been impacted by advancements in the medical marijuana; and the Brush and Palette annual exhibition juried by Ajay Gustafson.
Free tickets to attend The Art Center’s reception are available in hour-long time slots beginning at 5 p.m. and continuing until 9 p.m. and can be reserved at gjartcenter.org.
Along with art, there is some poetry and performance to be seen and heard thanks to The Poe Project. The lineup of Poe or works inspired by Poe will begin at 7 p.m. Friday at the plaza at Fourth and Main streets.
Artist Expo —Saturday, Oct. 3
Local artists demonstrating their work or getting you involved in creating art will fill the Artist Expo from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday on Main Street between Fourth and Fifth streets.
The set up will be similar to the Market on Main with one-way flow of traffic and cones and ropes to designate how to access the expo, said Rykel Menor, event coordinator for Downtown Grand Junction.
If you want to skip the line at the entrance to the expo, Menor suggested registering in advance through links at GJCreates.org — registration is a Mesa County Health Department requirement for all outdoor events. Registration also will be available on site.
Masks will be required for everyone inside the expo.
But aside form those details, the expo is all about “art come to life,” Menor said.
“I think the demonstrations will be the most anticipated piece of the Artist Expo because I think it’s really fun for the community to get interactive with the different artists,” she said.
There will epoxy resin artists, acrylic and ceramic artists, glass artists and many other artists as well as arts organizations represented, she said.
There also will be music on the plaza at Fourth and Main streets with Soul Habit playing from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and Rizzo from 1–3 p.m.
Unfortunately, one major change to the Artist Expo this year is that the Art on the Corner temporary exhibit will not have new sculptures on display. With COVID-19 throwing the year into flux, the sculptors from the 2019-20 temporary exhibit were asked to allow their pieces to remain another year, Menor said.
All but two sculptures, which were purchased and now have new homes, will stay on Main Street, she said.
“We have every intention of continuing the program next year,” Menor said.
Grand Junction Film Festival — Sunday, Oct. 4
If you would like to roll out the red carpet at home, you’re welcome to do so as the Grand Junction Film Festival will bring the last day of the Downtown Art Festival directly to you.
“Like most other film festivals, we had to kind of pivot because of COVID,” said Arielle Brachfeld, one of the organizers.
The festival’s more than 20 films will go live on Downtown Grand Junction’s YouTube channel at 9 a.m. Friday and are free to view — no ticket or registration required. Links to the channel and to a festival program can be found at GJCreates.org/film-festival/.
“If you want to follow along with our suggested curated order, that’s where the program comes into play,” Brachfeld said.
The films range in length from 1 minute to 49 minutes. There are horror shorts, documentary pieces, music videos and more. There are local and regional filmmakers, student filmmakers and a filmmaker from Uruguay, Brachfeld said.
Four of the films are for “mature” audiences and will be labeled as such both on the program and with those films in YouTube playlist, she said.
Along with the films, there will be a couple panel discussions that can be viewed via Zoom — links will be at GJCreates.org/film-festival/. The first will be at 1 p.m. with Grand Junction filmmakers Ashley Bernal and Will Campbell. “They are awesome,” Brachfeld said.
Bernal will talk about post-production while Campbell will share about pre-production, production and delivery, she said.
The second panel will be at 6 p.m. with Dan McClintock with Western Colorado Community College. He will give an overview of the ways for people to pursue film academically in the Grand Valley, Brachfeld said.
Following that panel will be the announcement of the festival’s awards, which include Best of Fest, Best Student Film, Best Director, Best Music Video and a number of others.
Since funding designated for a venue wasn’t needed this year, organizers will use the money to directly support filmmakers by giving cash along with the awards, Brachfeld said.
“We are hoping to be able to fund raise for awards moving forward,” she said.
“I just really want to compliment Downtown Grand Junction. This is just one of the avenues that they are working really hard to support artists. It’s wonderful in terms of this community, seeing that we have support from these municipalities” even with COVID-19 turning the world upside down, Brachfeld said. “It’s really phenomenal.”
