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| While Telluride is certainly a haven for outdoor lovers, indoor creatively slanted happenings enchant locals and visitors. Live theatre, dance, lectures, art classes, writing courses, and other artist events make our eclectic mountain town is the cultural center in the Southwest. Performances, exhibitions and guest speakers are easily on par with metropolitan entertainment, but without the hectic environment. Showcasing the community’s artistic attributes, the girth of talent residing in and passing through Telluride each summer is astounding. Additionally, the opportunities to broaden one’s horizons are tremendous. Telluride offers numerous classes and hands-on forums for fostering new skills and unlocking everyone’s the creative side. After you’re done hiking trails or floating. Don’t exhaust yourself too completely from hiking and biking; make sure to save plenty of energy to explore Telluride’s “inside” personality. It’s well worth it. |
 The Ah Haa School of the Arts is a cultural oasis for people of all ages. With a mantra that creative thinkers make the world a better place, Ah Haa’s goal is to promote individual fulfillment and diversity in Telluride. Founded in 1990 by Daniel Tucker, a noted artist and bookmaker, the facility has expanded into two beautiful historic buildings in the heart of downtown and a campus in Norwood. Between a darkroom, gallery, dance hall, ceramics studio, painting studio, bookmaking studio and lecture rooms, the school is a year-round art center, touching upon just about every imaginable medium. From ballroom dancing to pastel painting to the art of making sushi, Ah Haa is a vibrant and colorful pillar in the Telluride community.
Contact: (970) 728-3886 or staff@ahhaa.org |
 The Lizard Head Theatre is a group of actors, directors and theatre-minded people who love the stage. The company, modeled after other successful regional theater companies is committed to offering quality Broadway/Tony award-winning, productions every summer at the Historic Sheridan Opera House. Productions range from comedies to dramas, with the intention of appealing to a broad audience. Lizard Head has established solid relationships with similar theatre organizations such as the Washington Shakespeare Company, Denver Center for the Performing Arts, the California Performing Arts Festival and the National Theatre Conservatory. Contact: (970) 728-3133 or dennis@lizardheadtheatre.com |
 The Telluride Aids Benefit (TAB) is a non-profit grass-roots organization committed to raising awareness in our local communities about the global pandemic of HIV/AIDS. TAB raises funds to support HIV education programs and client care in western Colorado via the Western Colorado AIDS Project. TAB also provides funds to the immunodeficiency program at Denver Children's Hospital, Brother Jeff’s Health Initiative and to the Telluride Project in Manzini, Swaziland. TAB sponsors local education workshops including peer training on HIV/AIDS, STDs, discrimination and safe sex practices for middle/high school students. The annual Telluride AIDS Benefit is a premier winter event in the region. For more information: 970-728-0869, www.aidsbenefit.org or via email: tab@frontier.net |
 Telluride Chorale Society enriches and expands cultural musical horizons through performances and activities for singers and audiences within the Telluride region. It seeks higher musical standards for the community through individual growth and education as well as improved musical venues. The Choral Society contains many choral groups reaching a broad range of ages and interests. Groups include the Chamber Singers, Emanon, Omni Voce, MasterWorks Chorale and Choristers. The society holds performances and provides instruction/educational classes throughout the year. Approximately 140 adults and children participant in the Choral Society, which reaching audiences totaling over 2,500. Contact: (970) 728-3411 or contact@telluridechoralsociety.org |
 The Telluride Repertory Theatre Company (THE REP) creates professional, culturally relevant theatre from original, classical and contemporary works. The REP’s vision is to construct a compound of innovative theatre, offering unique and entertaining forums to challenge assumptions, mirror our cultural landscape and investigate change. Founded in 1990, the company has presented more than 60 productions in Telluride and throughout the region. In 2000, The REP not only made its New York City debut with its production of Nosferatu, but represented the United States at the Prithvi International Theatre Festival in Bombay and Pune, India. The REP puts on performances year-round.
Contact: (970) 728-4539 or jade@telluride360.com |
 The Telluride Writer's Guild honors words by bringing poets, writers, lyricists and storytellers together. Through events such as readings, workshops, contests and an annual literary festival, the Telluride Writer’s Guild, which operates under the Ah Haa School for the Arts, seeks to educate, excite and inspire writers and nonwriters. Specific programs include: the free monthly Open Reading Series, Writers in the Schools, Words to Dine For and Walking Words. Contact: (970) 728-0399 or wordwoman@mesa.net |
 Sparky Productions is a nonprofit film making company established in 1998. Its mission, geared primarily toward young children in Telluride and beyond, is to explore rural issues in order to expand and enrich cultural experiences. Through video and theatre, Sparky Productions addresses pertinent realities facing today’s youth and reaches out to the community. Formed by two mothers, Jennie Franks and Katie Jewett, the company’s first project was an educational video about AIDS in small western towns called Soft Smoke. Current works target all children, with a particular emphasis on those “at risk” in the region. Contact: (970) 728-6290 or jfranks@montrose.net |
 The Telluride Dance Company and Movement Center, located in the Mountain Village Core’s Granita Building, offers classes for all ages in such dance genres as ballet, jazz, hip-hop, ballroom, aerobics, Pilates and temple dancing. Having earned status as a 501(c)3 nonprofit early in 2003, the young organization actively pursues its mission in becoming a quality dance school. Dance education is typically set apart from other forms of physical education because it uses the body for self-expression and communication. For information, contact telluridedanceacademy.org or (970) 728-9065. |
 The Telluride Historical Museum provides a rich and compelling experience. By exploring the events, artifacts and personal accounts of Telluride’s cultural past, the museum offers learning opportunities, rewards curiosity and encourages a deeper understanding of the area’s rich history. Built initially as a miner’s hospital in 1893, the museum’s locale served as Telluride’s medical center for 70 years and the delivery site for 600 babies. In 1963 the hospital closed, reopening three years later as a museum, closing again in 1974. In December 2002, the restored building at the north end of Fir Street, opened to the public once again. Hours of operation are Tuesday through Saturday from 12-5 p.m. Contact: (970) 728-3344 or museum@telluridecolorado.net |
| Out Loud Lecture Series is dedicated to providing Telluride residents and visitors with a variety of inspiring programs that provoke discussion, educate and expose the community to a diverse set of local, regional and worldly subjects. These are intellectually stimulating, yet creative and entertaining lecturers and exhibits, which operate under the Ah Haa School for the Arts. Past events have included Medea Benjamin, human rights activist; Dan Budnik, photojournalist during the civil rights marches; and Beaming Bioneers, the 14th annual Bioneer’s Conference beamed live, via satellite from San Francisco to the Sheridan Opera House. Contact: (970) 728-3886 or staff@ahhaa.org
June 27th Composer, Paul Moravec |
 The Sheridan Arts Foundation was established as a non-profit organization in 1991. Its primary purposes are to preserve the historic Sheridan Opera House as an arts and cultural resource for the Telluride community; bring quality arts and cultural events to Telluride; and provide local and national underprivileged youth with access and exposure to arts education. It operates in the spirit and tradition of the many vaudeville shows, orchestras and theatre companies that performed in this box canyon during the early 1900s. Today the Sheridan Opera House is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and has seen talents like Mel Gibson, Carol Burnett, Sissy Spacek, David Crosby, Arlo Guthrie, Jackson Browne, George Winston and numerous others who grace its classic stage. SAF also hosts the Wild West Festival every summer to benefit The Boys and Girls Clubs of America and supports numerous other regional events. Contact: (970) 728-6363 or info@sheridanoperahouse.com |
 The Telluride Foundation enriches the quality-of-life for the residents, visitors and workforce of the Telluride region. The Foundation achieves this by providing leadership in philanthropy, strengthening community groups, serving as a responsible steward for entrusted funds, and supporting activities that celebrate this unique community. Area residents, full-time and part-time, turn to the Foundation to make their philanthropic giving as effective as possible. The organization serves thousands of people devoted to improving and preserving this incredible alpine paradise. In return, it benefits thousands more. Contact: (970) 728-8717, paul@telluridefoundation.org or annie@telluridefoundation.org |
 The Telluride Council For The Arts (TCAH) is a community-based arts organization that exists to encourage creativity by developing a flourishing cultural environment in the Telluride region. In existence for 31 years, TCAH prides itself on building community through the arts, supporting creative activities locally and regionally, promoting the role of arts in education, supporting individual excellence in the arts, facilitating collaboration with community groups, and enhancing the economic relationship between the arts and the community. TCAH is a true umbrella arts organization with goals to help artists and art groups develop meaningful programming; create performance venues; and attain technical assistance. Programs include the Small Grants Program; Homegrown Performance Series; and Community Partnerships. Contact: (970) 728-3930 or TCAH@telluridecolorado.net |
 The Wilkinson Library is Telluride’s information hub. Located on Pacific Avenue and Pine Street, the spacious library opened in 2000. In 1972, Larry and Betty Wilkinson established the Telluride Community Library, Inc., which two years later became the San Miguel County Library District No. 1, housed in Telluride’s old jail house. The present 20,000-square-foot building hosts numerous meeting and reading rooms; internet and computer access; a children’s library; and a plethora of literary, audio and video materials; reference, fiction and nonfiction. Hours of operation are Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m.-8 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m.; and Sunday, 12-5 p.m. Contact: (970) 728-4519 or wilkin@telluride.lib.co.us. Story time is at 11 a.m. on Mondays for preschool, Wednesdays for toddlers and Fridays for infants. Another story time for kindergarten through second graders is on Mondays and Fridays at 4 p.m. |
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