by Allison Malafronte

Jeanne Mackenzie conducted a plein air landscape workshop through Cottonwood Artists’ School last August at the Garden of the Gods, in Colorado Springs.

SCHOOLS AND ART CENTERS

Cottonwood Artists’ School
Located in Colorado Springs, this school specializing in traditional art instruction offers weekly painting classes, life-drawing sessions with posed models, and workshops with some of the top artists in the country. The large 30,000-square-foot space also houses several artist studio spaces—which are available for rent on a monthly basis—as well as a gallery, where artists regularly exhibit their work and host opening receptions. Some of the instructors teaching workshops at Cottonwood in 2008 include Kim English, Lorenzo Chavez, Chuck Mardosz, and Carolyn Anderson. For more information, visit www.cottonwoodartistsschool.com.

Art Students League of Denver
The Art Students League of Denver—located in the historic Sherman School in the West Washington Park area of Denver—has been the art-instruction home of many nationally and internationally recognized artists from the Rocky Mountain region, including Ron Hicks. The league offers ongoing classes, workshops, and lectures with top instructors and also gives artists an opportunity to display their work in special events and exhibitions in their gallery. Members of the league are also exposed to the business side of art through the annual Summer Art Market, which provides experience in marketing and selling artwork. For more information, visit www.asld.org.

Portrait of Miss Elsie Palmer or Young Lady in White by John Singer Sargent, 1889–1890, oil on canvas. Collection Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center
A museum, an art school, and a theatre for performance art, as well as a café and museum shop, are all part of this expansive fine-arts center in Colorado Springs. The Taylor Museum houses nine permanent collections and also regularly features work from national and international collections through regular exhibitions. (Particularly noteworthy in the permanent collection is a late 19th-century work by John Singer Sargent titled Portrait of Miss Elsie Palmer.) The Bemis School of Art is dedicated to educating artists of all ages and levels through more than 145 courses in drawing, painting, ceramics, sculpture, art history, photography, and more. For more information, visit www.csfineartscenter.org.

MUSEUMS AND GALLERIES

Woman With Mirror by Titian, ca.1515, oil, 39 x 29 15⁄16. Collection the Louvre, Paris, France. This Titian painting was one of several Old Master works featured in the “Artisans & Kings: Selected Treasures From the Louvre” exhibition that was on view at  the Denver Art Museum through the beginning of January.

Denver Art Museum
This 356,000-square foot museum located in downtown Denver includes a gallery space, three temporary exhibition venues, and the Lewis I. Sharp auditorium and boasts an impressive permanent collection that ranges from classical European and American Art to contemporary modern art. The Denver Art Museum also hosts traveling exhibitions from notable museums around the world and recently featured the "Artisans & Kings: Selected Treasures from the Louvre" exhibition, which was on display in the museum's newest space, The Frederic C. Hamilton building. For more information, visit www.denverartmuseum.org.

White Orchid by Joe Bonomo, 2007, oil, 24 x 30. Courtesy Hayden Hays Gallery, Colorado Springs, Colorado. Colorado Springs figure painter Joe Bonomo is one of many fine artists represented by the Hayden Hays Gallery, in the historic Broadmoor hotel.

Gallery 1261
A spacious gallery located in the heart of Denver's Golden Triangle Arts District, Gallery 1261 represents some of the nation's top artists, including Dan McCaw, Scott Burdick, Quang Ho, and Ron Hicks. As was the case for the Hicks' workshop featured in this issue, the gallery often holds workshops, using its sprawling and well-lit interior to host professional artist-instructors from Colorado and beyond. Regular exhibitions, salons, and lectures round out the Gallery 1261 experience, making it feel more like a museum than a gallery space. For more information, visit www.gallery1261.com.

The Hayden Hays Gallery
Located in the legendary five-star Broadmoor Hotel, in Colorado Springs, this prestigious gallery represents such internationally known artists as Ovanes Berberian, Kim English, and Thomas Buechner as well as emerging artists Joe Bonomo and Martha Mans. In addition to its display of high-quality fine art paintings, this elegant and welcoming gallery also features etchings, photographs, ceramic plates and clay tiles, as well as stone and bronze sculpture that are charmingly displayed in a nearby garden. For more information, visit www.haydenhaysgallery.com.

Cherokees of Manitou Art Gallery
This Colorado Springs gallery, owned by Sharon and Gary Dahlen, presents work from local painters working in various styles and media as well as ceramics, glass work, and sculpture-which is part of their goal to foster artistic expression of all types. In addition to displaying fine works of art, the gallery also hosts events and benefits. For more information, visit www.cherokeesofmanitou.com.

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