by J. Gluckstern, Daily Camera Visual Arts Critic
June 6, 2004
Each summer, the Boulder County Arts Alliance (BCAA) throws itself a party. But what the county's oldest arts organization is really celebrating is the support it gives local artists and arts groups throughout the year. This summer's event - an exhibition, silent auction and live performance of work by some 75 BCAA-funded artists and groups - is set for Thursday at the Dairy Center for the Arts. The visual art component of the event will be on display at the Dairy starting Monday.
Founded in 1966, the BCAA began as an arts advocacy group - one that, among other things, successfully lobbied the city to create the Boulder Arts Commission in the late '70s - but has, over the years, taken on an eclectic range of artist-support activities. Its mission includes offering a variety of grants and workshops tailored for the county's hundreds of working artists. The alliance also helps get the word out about Boulder County arts events and provides monthly exhibit opportunities in the cafe gallery at Boulder's Barnes and Noble.
"I think we're the only organization that has a real focus of educating the arts community about the business side of art," said Brian Curtiss, a local scientist and theater advocate who has been the BCAA's board president since last year. "We do a lot of (Business of Art) workshops for artists, (which are) essential in order for people to make a living doing art. We also have a number of programs that focus on emerging artists."
That emphasis extends to walking less-seasoned artists through the granting process and offering proxy non-profit status for emerging arts groups in order to apply for larger regional and national grants.
And, of course, the grants themselves - particularly those the BCAA has administered for the Neodata Endowment for the Arts, which has doled out as much as $100,000 in individual and organizational grants a year since the endowment was formed in the mid-'80s - are very useful to county artists. The amounts range from $500 (for the Addison Mini-grants) to $2,500 per recipient, and even the smaller awards can often provide just enough cash to make sure a particular project or event is realized.
Also in the mix is the annual Milash Representational Painter Award, an unrestricted $1,000 gift to a county painter who best represents the values and accomplishments of Boulder representational painter Todd Milash, who died in the late '90s. Aside from artistic excellence, the Milash judges look for an extensive body of work and a long history of community involvement.
It's safe to say that this year's winner, Claire Evans, is more than qualified. In her long career as an artist, a professional life she adopted in the early '70s after raising a family in Boulder, she's split her time between painting and teaching both local workshops and classes at the Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design in Denver. Her work has been represented locally by the now-closed (but much-cherished) Mustard Seed Gallery and is currently handled by Mary Williams Fine Arts.
In addition, her distinctive style - from a hard-edged photorealism (of Denver construction sites in the '70s) to a more romantic body of work (mostly landscape, still life and portraiture) in recent years - and respect within the community as a mentor and inspiration for younger artists were among the reasons the jury chose her from a very competitive field of five finalists, according to BCAA communications director Angela Bowman.
"I've gotten a little soft-edged as I've gotten older," Evans said. "I've always loved the luminous paintings - people like Thomas Cole (founder of the Hudson River School in the early 19th century) and Thomas Moran (known for his exquisitely detailed Western landscapes) - that whole school of American art. I'll never achieve that, but I just love painting from out here on the prairie (east of Boulder)."
That gentle disposition toward following her own muse is something Evans tries to convey to her students, too.
"I want to tell people who are getting into art that they've got to really focus on what they are and what they have to say and perfect their craft," she said. "I'm kind of a fanatic about people really doing what they're meant to do."
Contact Camera Visual Arts Critic J. Gluckstern at (303) 473-1397 or glucksternj@dailycamera.com