Skye Gallery opens Saturday in Aspen
Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times
IF YOU GO …
What: Javiera Estrada’s ‘Pillars of Creation’ & Skye Gallery grand opening
Where: Skye Gallery, 535 E. Cooper Ave.
When: Saturday, June 9, 6-9 p.m.
More info: skyegalleryaspen.com
Skye Weinglass is back on the corner of Cooper Avenue and Hunter Street in downtown Aspen.
The artist and gallerist, who managed the Lil’ Boogie’s kids clothing store for her father here for eight years, is opening the new Skye Gallery in the space this weekend.
“This space is so special to me,” Weinglass said this week in the remodeled gallery.
It’s the third gallery stop for Weinglass in the past three years, following short but memorable stays at the former Boogie’s space across the street and a smaller storefront with a courtyard up the block.
Each of those galleries became a showcase for local and national artists while also serving as a sort of clubhouse for a youthful and creatively inclined segment of Aspen. Art classes and parties drew the kinds of crowds — huge in number and young-ish in age — rarely seen on the downtown gallery scene.
Weinglass is hoping to bring the same buzz and quality to the Skye Gallery, where she’s signed a one-year lease.
The gallery’s first show, opening today, is California-based artist Javiera Estrada’s “Pillars of Creation” — a solo exhibition including photography, collage, film and installation work. The photos in the show were inspired by interstellar gas and dust formations photographed by the Hubble Space Telescope. Estrada recreated the shapes with ink and water and photographed the results.
It’s the first in a three-show opening run at the gallery this summer. Estrada’s will be followed by Ajax Axe (July 14) and Jody Guralnick (Aug. 11).
“I feel like I’m getting a clearer vision conceptually,” Weinglass said. “I think these first three shows really set the tone of the space, having these three artists who I believe in and know personally and want to champion.”
Weinglass is planning to host openings on the second Saturday of every month.
As in her previous galleries, she’s planning to sell jewelry and essential oils made by local and global artisans, and prints by local artists — along with curated solo shows by a mix of established and emerging artists. And she’ll be bringing back the mix of art and jewelry workshops, dance classes and happenings that made her two previous outings into hits.
She’s trying to keep a foothold for Aspen-based artists in a downtown gallery scene that’s grown less than welcoming to them.
“I feel like a lot of the galleries are so out of touch and so expensive,” she said. “I’m grateful to have this space in downtown Aspen and I want to bring in deserving artists.”
And the lively scene that grew up around her previous spots, Weinglass believes, demonstrates there’s still a hunger for locally grown culture in Aspen.
“I feel like we’re hanging on, but it’s hard — just grasping to hang on to local culture and flavor and funkiness,” she said.
The new gallery appears to mark the end of Weinglass’s days as a pop-up and seasonal gallerist. With the one-year lease, she plans to keep the gallery open daily from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. (she also recently bought a home in Snowmass Village).
The building’s owners are planning a redevelopment, so Skye Gallery won’t be able to stay forever. But Weinglass is proud to be holding it down for at least a year.
“This building is so cool,” she said. “It was built in 1888. So it was one of the first buildings here and I’ll be one of the last people in this old spot.”
