Holly Parker | Director of the Business of Arts Center

Holly Parker knows the power of art and its ability to bring communities together. She is the director of the Business of Arts Center, a nonprofit organization in Manitou Springs that fosters artists and enables them to make a living from their craft by providing studio space and other services. She’s also an artist who works in a variety of mediums. Having grown up in Colorado Springs, she’s not only been dialed into the art scene, but she’s seen first hand how an inspiring landscape can lead to inspired people.

Devin Gonzales | Fort Collins Artist

About his work:
"My art is a reflection of myself, and I haven't completely gotten that one pinned down yet. The more knowledge I gain, the more I try to express. Lately, I've been exploring the philosophies and ideas of 20th century artists whom I admire.

I do this on the basis that you can't step into the future without having some knowledge of your immediate past. So with one foot in the past and one in the future, I face the more immediate challenge of the present, and it is a multifarious one. There are two factors that shape my state of mind in this present day.

The first are my personal challenges. It's easy to become consumed by the events that take place in our lives. At times I've experienced a certain loss of identity that was not productive for me. I think that a lot of people can relate to this type of uncertainty, but what keeps me centered is my art. I make sketches in an attempt to explore my own subconscious and to rediscover myself. This is where my present work begins."

Demeng, De Man

His is about transformations. Discarded materials find new and unexpected uses in his work; they are reassembled and conjoined with unlikely components.

Amelia Caruso

Amelia Caruso has lived in the Ft Collins area for almost 10 years. She has worked on such television shows as the Emmy Award winning Will and Grace and Peabody Award winning The Bernie Mac Show. Ms. Caruso has shown throughout the United States and is currently represented in Hollywood by ArtPic 2000.

Inspired by several different artistic views; Australian Aboriginal dot patterns, Mandelbrot Fractals and the concept of visualizing the flow of negative space are all part of this design. In addition to tying in the colors already in use in the alley, the artist envisioned the central vein in the design as being a reference to the Poudre River. The flow of the pattern from or to the "headwaters" or the flow of the negative spaces within the pattern will be continuous to the viewer when either coming or going in the alley.

Miami Artist | Alejandro Mendoza

Artist Statement for Alejandro Mendoza

In other words the history of this proposal, could be, the search of constant reflection, a critic that carries its own cross. By being this one of the elements or forms most intelligently created by man throughout his whole life. The Cross is the sign and symbol of the oldest semantic loads of all times. It will be and has been the source of miracles, yearning illusions, the dearest motives for rites of commitment and happiness. But the Cross has also been the sign and symbol for the sadness, the despair, the pain, the torture, the desolation and great means for punishment, until concluding with death itself.

Phil Risbeck

He was born on July 25, 1939. It means he’s 68, but it’s hard to believe looking at him — a tall, sporty and elegant man. The main thing about Phil is that he’s managed to remain a man of innocent soul, childhood spontaneity, fantastic charm and old-fashioned gallantry. This 100% American is likely to be called a member of Russian intelligentsia of Chekhov epoch. He designs posters for Anton Chekhov’s “Cherry Orchard” and “Uncle Vanya” and takes part in a great number of theatre, concert and other art projects. Phil Risbeck is the recipient of Silver Medal at the International Biennial of Graphic Design in Brno (1982) and dozens of other Professional Awards. Professor at the Colorado University, Department of Arts. Any time a personality of such professional and human heights gets down to organizing any project, it’s destined to become a unique cultural event. A small town of Fort Collins in the USA, Phil Risbeck resides, has become one of the most attractive points on the map of world poster design art. It’s in Fort Collins that one of the most interesting design biennials, Colorado International Invitational Poster Exhibition (CIIPE ), takes place. Phil Risbeck is its founder and co-director. He’s visited Russia many times and participated in the work of The Golden Bee as well. He took to our Biennial and fell in love with our country with his kind heart. Politics often separate people while art unites them. Thanks to people like Phil Risbeck, America becomes close and openhearted to us.

Quilt Art & The Front Range

On highway 36, midway between Denver and Kansas, sits the town of Last Chance. Once it was the last stop for gas, food, or water before setting off on a long drive east or west. Today, you’ll find a Dairy King and a Methodist Church. While you can stop for a sundae or a prayer in Last Chance, you’ll not find gas, lodging or groceries.