A&E Roundup: 2023 Youth Art Expo comes to Aspen
Courtesy/ Aspen Art Museum
Art from youth throughout the region will be displayed as a free gallery this weekend at the Aspen Art Museum.
For the art museum’s 2023 Youth Art Expo, the gallery is focused on puppets, masks and storytelling.
Music Art Puppet Sound or MAPS and Poncili Creación were two separate groups that were brought in by the museum to do a region-wide curriculum and art show for children from kindergarten through senior year of high school.
Rachel Sherk and Aaron Rourk from MAPS and brothers Pablo and Efrain Del Hierro from Poncili Creación had never worked together before, yet both art groups use puppetry.
MAPS brings experimental art practices to underserved communities while making learning fun, Sherk explained.
“We’re playing, and it’s all about playing,” she said. “It’s all about invention and just making and playing, but it’s also secretly education, too. Learning doesn’t have to be this negative, boring thing.”
The show will display art from children from Aspen to Parachute and Gypsum. The gallery will be a celebration with pancakes, pajamas and puppets.
“Championing creativity disguised as the puppet shows,” Efrain Del Hierro said.
The Museum’s annual Youth Art Expo opens avenues for community engagement with K–12 students through performance and extends the reach of its exhibition program outside of the its walls, transforming the visitor experience and developing artistic interconnectivity throughout the Roaring Fork Valley, a news release from the museum stated.
“We’re working with kids that have been involved in the workshops, and the kids are going to be sort of the center of the performance and activate the puppets that they made,” Sherk said.
The event will be free and runs from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. on Saturday at the Aspen Art Museum.
The gallery will feature more than 1,000 works of art displayed in the biggest gallery rooms. Sherk said she is proud the kid’s art is pushed to the front as the main feature. She said all of the children’s hard work is all incredible to see.
It will be a spectacle to behold, a very breakthrough exhibition and very maximalist, Del Hierro said.
The all-ages, free art exhibit will be interactive with puppet shows, the children’s gallery along with pancakes, so bring the whole family for a day of fun.
If you go…
What: 2023 Youth Art Expo
When: 10 a.m.-6 p.m., Saturday
Where: Aspen Art Museum, 637 E. Hyman Ave. in Aspen
A Sage VOICES theatre project
What: “Precious and Endless”
When: 6 p.m., Friday and Saturday; and 3 p.m., Sunday
Where: Thunder River Theatre Company, 67 Promenade in Carbondale
Curator Marcia Weese brings four female artists together for a gallery of different medias and perspectives.
What: FROM THE CENTER: Maps, Wefts, Shifts, Hoops
When: Friday, 5-7 p.m. with an artist talk at 5:30 p.m.
Where: The Launchpad, 76 S. Fourth St., Carbondale
Shows all weekend at Steve’s Guitars
What: Sweet Root
When: 8 p.m., Friday
Where: Steve’s Guitars, 19 N. Fourth St., Carbondale
How much: $20
What: Tim Fox and Friends
When: 8 p.m., Saturday
How much: Donations accepted
Vaudeville is back and not sold out yet
What: Vaudeville Spring Show
When: 6-9:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday
Where: Glenwood Vaudeville Revue, 915 Grand Ave., Glenwood Springs
Safespace in Glenwood Springs
What: Queers and Coffee — PFLAG Roaring Fork Valley
When: 9-10 a.m., Saturday
Where: BlueBird Cafe, 730 Grand Ave., Glenwood Springs
Pokémon Club
What: Card exchange and Pokémon game
When: 3 p.m., Saturday
Where: New Castle Branch Library, 402 W. Main St.
National Library Week in New Castle
What: Celebrate National Library Week
When: All day Friday
Where: New Castle Branch Library, 402 W. Main St.
New York International Children’s Film Festival at the Library
What: Children’s Film Festival
When: 2 p.m., Saturday
Where: Carbondale Branch Library, 320 Sopris Ave.
Cooper Wine Tastings
What: Local wine tasting
When: 5-7 p.m., Friday and Saturday
Where: Cooper Wine & Spirits, 732 Cooper Ave., Glenwood Springs
How Much: Free
Karaoke at the Vaudeville
What: Karaoke with the Sandman
When: Doors at 6 p.m., Sunday
Where: Glenwood Vaudeville Revue, 915 Grand Ave., Glenwood Springs
How much: $5
Support Local Journalism
Support Local Journalism
Readers around Glenwood Springs and Garfield County make the Post Independent’s work possible. Your financial contribution supports our efforts to deliver quality, locally relevant journalism.
Now more than ever, your support is critical to help us keep our community informed about the evolving coronavirus pandemic and the impact it is having locally. Every contribution, however large or small, will make a difference.
Each donation will be used exclusively for the development and creation of increased news coverage.