13th Initiatives in Art & Culture Conference in Denver

There's more to Arts & Crafts in Colorado than just Van Briggle pottery.

"At the Frontier's Edge," a five-day Arts & Crafts conference organized by Lisa Koenigsberg and Initiatives in Art and Culture, will be taking place from September 21-25 in and around Denver to demonstrate just how prevalent the Arts & Crafts movement was in the Rocky Mountain region.

As explained at the conference website, "Employing a cross-disciplinary approach that rejects the notion of a single 'Arts & Crafts style,' and looking instead at the repertoire of styles and sources upon which the Movement drew, we will identify factors that shaped this regional expression, among them the rail lines. We will challenge the generally accepted dates for the Movement (ca. 1876 – 1917) and explore ongoing manifestations of the Movement, such as the work of jeweler Todd Reed. Last, we will consider whether the “frontier spirit” continues to affect the region’s art, and whether the reception accorded the work of architects like Daniel Liebeskind and Brad Cloepfil, positioned on the frontier of their discipline, has historic roots."

The extensive conference agenda will include seminars, bus tours, museum exhibitions, walking tours and demonstrations at an historic 1907 Arts & Crafts church, the Kirkland Museum of Fine & Decorative Art, the Boettcher Mansion (see lower photo), the Denver Art Museum and, of course, the Van Briggle Memorial Pottery in Colorado Springs.

Seminar speakers will include Cheryl Robertson, Thomas Jacob Noel, Liam O'Neill, Robert C. Rust, Todd Reed, Richard Guy Wilson, Nancy Blomberg, Thomas Brent Smith, Hugh Grant, Anita Ellis, Kathryn Davis Gardner, Laura F. Fry and Scott Nelson.

Information on lodging in downtown Denver and a detailed agenda for "At the Frontier's Edge: The Arts & Crafts Movement in Denver and Environs" can be found at http://www.artsinitiatives.com.

For additional information, please contact please contact Lisa Koenigsberg at lisa.koenigsberg@artinitiatives.com;

telephone: (646) 485-1952 or fax: (212) 935-6911.

Top photo: Van Briggle Pottery Lamp, 1903, by Anne Van Briggle (1868 –1929); shade probably by R. Ito, early 1904. Promised gift to Kirkland Museum of Pam McClary and Robert Rust. Photo: David Foxhoven.

Lower photo: The 1917 Boettcher Mansion, a former summer residence and hunting lodge near Denver.