Eldorado Springs, CO 80025
In 2017, Boulder County Arts Leadership Forum (BCALF) presented two panels on Relevance in the Arts featuring arts professionals from the Metro area. As a follow-up to those panels, we are embarking on deep dives into the topic with local professional artists. This first exploration is with acclaimed visual artists Nikki Pike and Martha Russo. Each artist will present a sample of their work followed by a moderated discussion.
Nikki Pike is an artist and activist committed to serving the community through her art practice and role as an educator. Through the use of universally positive human experiences such as curiosity, music, surprise, and gifting along with the influence of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, she spreads values of empowerment, vulnerability and connection in the form of experience as opposed to product. Nikki sees herself as a Cultural Agent working together with local communities promoting activity and creativity. Nikki holds a professorship at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs.
Martha Russo is an artist whose work is purposefully just out of the grasp of language and thus brings us back to our rudimentary way of collecting information through the body and the senses. Her massive installations have a certain energy and force that further connect us to our roots and our origins. She wants her works to get into your bones and guts, to touch on the raw, the visceral, the nerves; to murmur up through the body to make a time and place for contemplation and reflection about our basic humanness. Russo, a world-class athlete, suffered a career-ending injury in 1984 while vying for a spot on the United States Olympic Field Hockey Team. After recovering from surgery, Russo was attracted to the physical nature of sculpture and began studying studio arts in Florence, Italy and continued studying ceramics at Princeton University. She earned her MFA at the University of Colorado Boulder. Russo’s sculptures and installation have been exhibited nationally and internationally.
Moderated by Justin Veach, a seasoned arts professional with over 20 years experience producing and hosting events. With a background in performance art and public programs, Justin is an “artist who programs,” specializing in developing and implementing innovative strategies, programs and events designed to raise awareness, expand and develop new audiences, and effectively communicate an organization’s values and mission. He received his BA in Writing & Literature and InterArts Studies from the Tibetan Buddhist-based Naropa University and an MFA in Critical Studies from the California Institute of the Arts. Justin currently lives and works in Longmont, CO where he manages the Longmont Museum’s 250-seat Stewart Auditorium.
