“It’s certainly a type of intimacy that you’re inviting other people into and I think that’s what’s so attractive about Open Studios.”
This Saturday and Sunday, October 8th and 9th from noon to 6pm, over 100 artists in Boulder from Niwot to Nederland are opening their doors to the public as part of Open Studios. It’s the second and last weekend of Open Studios for this year. Maeve Conran spoke with Cindy Sepuca, the Executive Director of Open Studios says that it began 21 years ago by an artist who wanted to create an opportunity for the public to view the world of the artist. “It’s an opportunity for the public to visit artists in the spaces where they create their art, experience the creative process, buy directly from them and talk to them about what they make.”
This year’s Open Studio tour will see 113 artists opening their studio doors. Although this is “it’s not anywhere close to all the artists in Boulder…there are a lot of artists out there.”
Carolanne McKirnan is one of the participating artists. Her artwork is nature based, acrylic or oil on corroded metal. Her studio (studio 19) is near Chatauqua in Boulder. She says it’s an intimate experience to meet the public. “It’s certainly a type of intimacy that you’re inviting other people into and I think that’s what’s so attractive about Open Studios.”
McKirnan says last weekend she had 90 people over 2 days. She is expecting a little more this weekend. She says she enjoys the experience of having the public come visit her studio. She says it’s a community connection. “There’s sort of a more biographical experience when you go into somebody’s studio and also you’re experiencing the neighborhoods in a more intimate way.”
People can find the full list of Open Studios artists, along with a map of the tour at OpenStudios.org.
images by Carolanne McKirnan.
