Glenwood Springs library hosts exhibit for local artists

Starting Friday, nearly 50 Glenwood Springs Art Guild paintings and a glass-shard mosaic will be on display — some for sale, but all for viewing — at the Glenwood Springs Branch Library.

Dubbed Art in the Stacks, Guild President Sandy Boyd said the exhibit is a return to a pre-pandemic partnership with the library and will run through May 3.

“We did our first Art in the Stacks in 2020, but it was only up for four days before everything closed because of COVID,” Boyd said. “We have artistic happenings coming back, and it’s great.”

Kicking off with a reception at 5 p.m. Friday, the event is free to the public and refreshments will be served as local artists mingle with attendees.

Without public audiences, many artistic endeavors took a backseat to surviving the pandemic’s roller coaster economy, health challenges and day-to-day public space policy changes. But, as reports of new COVID-19 cases fall through the floor, Boyd said the guild is happy to once again display their artwork in a venue where they can mingle with the audience.

“One of our favorite things as artists is having a venue to display our art,” she said. “It’s fun to do art, and it’s even more fun to share it.”

Founded in 1962, the guild is focused on promoting art appreciation and education. Its 51 Members hail from throughout the Roaring Fork and Colorado River valleys, including El Jebel, Basalt, Silt, Rifle, New Castle, Carbondale and Glenwood Springs including five new members recently inducted into the guild, Boyd said.

“It’s phenomenal to see such growing interest in the arts and our guild,” she said.

While separate from the Glenwood Springs Arts Council, Boyd said the two work together whenever possible.

“We enjoy an event like this as much as anybody else,” she said. “We love seeing what each other are up to as artists. Sometimes you know the artist, but not necessarily all their art.”

The exhibit will feature mostly paintings from 27 of the guild’s members, including its five newest members, as well as a mosaic composed from glass shards.

Membership to the guild is not exclusive to painters, but some mediums, such as pottery, don’t do as well in a public exhibit because of their fragile nature, Boyd said.

Contact Boyd at sandyboyd@rof.net for more information about the guild.

Reporter Ike Fredregill can be reached at 970-384-9154 or by email at ifredregill@postindependent.com.