Arts & Culture, Special Event 2021

Summervail 50: Celebrating the Birth of Arts + Culture in the Vail Valley

Mon Jul 26, 2021
4:30 PM - 7:30 PM
Event Video

In 1971, Vail was still a fledging ski town yet had already attracted a number of young, active residents with a desire to infuse life into the summer season. In 1971, thanks to a group of artists who still reside in Vail, the first Summervail Workshop in Art and Critical Studies debuted featuring 17 faculty teaching 14 classes to an enrollment of 248 students. In its 14-year span, Summervail Art Workshop served more than 9,000 students taught by 500 internationally prominent visiting artists like Dale Chihuly, Pulitzer Prize Winner Jerry Saltz, Oscar-winner Donna Dewey, Sculptor Robert Arneson, and Painter Ed Ruscha through 850 different workshops and symposiums. Students came from 15 different nations and nearly every state in the U.S.

The Summervail Workshop for Art and Critical Studies, or Summervail, had a significant impact not only on those attending as instructors, professionals and students, but it was the beginning of the art and cultural movement in Vail.

Gathering some of Summervail’s founders and one of its beloved guest instructors, Vail Symposium and Vail’s Art in Public Places is honored to present a special event celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Summervail Art Workshop. The event will begin with a panel discussion with the founding members of the Summervail Workshop for Art and Critical Studies, moderated by Pulitzer-Prize Winning New York Magazine Senior Art Critic and columnist Jerry Saltz.

Attendees will then have an opportunity to mingle and enjoy light hors d’oeuvres and libations from a cash bar before the entertainment continues with a dialogue with Jerry Saltz. Though the topics have yet to be determined, the conversation promises to be both entertaining and enlightening. A Q&A with Saltz will follow.

Schedule of Events
4 p.m. Doors open
4:30 – 5:15 p.m. Summervail Arts Workshop Panel with founders
5:15 – 5:30 p.m. Q& A
5:30 – 6 p.m. Intermission – cocktails and passed apps on the patio
6 – 7 p.m. Jerry Saltz presentation
7 – 7:30 p.m. Jerry Saltz Q&A

Presented in partnership with Town of Vail Art in Public Places and SummerVail Art Workshop Legacy Project.

Event Video

Event SPEAKER(S)

Tom Lamb

Tom Lamb

Secretary/Treasurer

Summervail Art Workshop Legacy Project 

Jane Gregorius

Jane Gregorius

Board Member

Summervail Art Workshop Legacy Project 

Dan Telleen

Dan Telleen

Board Member

Summervail Art Workshop

Jim Cotter

Jim Cotter

Vice-President

Summervail Art Workshop Legacy Project 

Randy Milhoan

Randy Milhoan

Founder and Executive Director

Summervail Art Workshop Legacy Project 

Jerry Saltz

Jerry Saltz

Senior Art Critic

New York Magazine