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CCAH opens the 36th year of Valley Visual Arts

Launa Eddy

There are many art shows in the Roaring Fork Valley. One opening in Carbondale is in its third decade and still growing.

Launa Eddy moved to the Roaring Fork Valley two years ago from Brooklyn. She had a studio in the city where she was making her paper mache pieces, but the city was starting to wear her down.

 

When a friend called her up and invited her out to Colorado, Eddy said yes.

“You feel freer in some way," Eddy says. "It’s definitely, there’s more quiet. There’s something to be said about having some peace in your life.”

 

Eddy is settled in the Valley now. This year is her first time participating in the Carbondale Council on Arts and Humanities’ Valley Visual Arts Show. It opens today for its 36th year.

 

Eddy’s piece is called “An Open Mind”. It’s something that she made specifically for the show, after she had materials from another project. She was commissioned to make a bunch of paper mache versions of Donald Trump. After Eddy finished, she wanted to make a bigger one. Imagine just the front part of a face, but it’s kind of warped. Then there are colorful swirls and shapes painted on one side.

 

The title of the piece comes from the back of the painting, which is in fact, open. Remember, It’s just the front of the face. A hand hangs inside of the face, while it squeezes a globe.

 

Eddy’s piece is just one of approximately seventy that will be featured in the show. She says the program is a great representation of what the entire community does creatively.

 

“There’s so much diversity, and you really get to see what the community has to offer and what people are creating that live right next door to you,” she says.

Credit Launa Eddy
The hand that hangs inside of Launa Eddy's piece, "An Open Mind".

Brian Colley is the gallery manager at CCAH and their R2 Gallery. Colley has noticed an increase in interest in the show from the art community.

“I mean in reality, we could have upward of 150 artists just some don’t apply every year," Colley says. "In my best reality, we could actually have an art show filling the up the whole building rather than just our gallery which takes up a quarter of the space.”

 

After more than three decades, the Valley Visual Arts Show is still growing. Two years ago, fifty artists were featured. Then sixty. Now seventy. It also isn’t just the actual art that attracts people, Colley says. It’s an example of the community supporting artistic community members, rather than people who just identify as artists. He says the community picking its favorite pieces of art in the show is one of the better ways that the exhibit attracts people from all walks of life.

 

“I think that’s also a unique thing about this show," Colley says. "You get to be a part of it. It’s kind of the interactive part of the show.”

 

The Valley Visual Arts Show is on display at the R2 Gallery and Bonfire Coffee through February 20th.