Here are some tips for artists coming to Colorado for summer art shows which I hope will make your trip more enjoyable.
- Altitude Sickness. Coming from the flatlands to 5000-9000 feet elevation can affect your body with severe headache and flu-like symptoms. The best remedy is to come a day or two early and take it easy until you have adjusted.
- Driving Mountain Roads. Stop at the Visitor Centers when you enter Colorado and read the information boards. There are traffic laws about obstructing traffic flow with slow moving vehicles on mountain roads and you don’t want to get ticketed. Also check CDOT (Colorado Department of Transportation, www.cotrip.org). Rock slides, construction, accidents on mountain roads can lead to some serious delays or detours. Carry a road atlas and know how to read a map. Cell phones, iPads, and computers do not always receive a signal the mountains. Stop to enjoy the scenery, don’t be gawking while driving.
- Weather. A common saying out here is that “the mountains make their own weather”. Thunderstorms can produce tornados along the Front Range (mountains facing east). On the Western Slope (mountains facing west) it can be as hot as any western desert in the summer. In the mountains, afternoon thunderstorms are a fact of life. Temperatures can drop 20-30 degrees in a short time and snow in July is not unknown. When returning from a mid-May show in Grand Junction this year, there was lots of snow in the mountains but it was warming up. Jean commented: “summer mountain wear is shorts and a hooded fleece”. There can be lots of pea to marble size hail, so be prepared to push this stuff off of your tent. Lightning can be spectacular with horrendous thunder making the afternoon exciting. Don’t pack up and leave a show because of a thunderstorm. These usually last from 20 minutes to an hour. Most folks duck into an artist’s tent or shop to wait it out, and then continue shopping. If lightning frightens you, duck into a building or your car. Strong downdrafts and microbursts can accompany thunderstorms so be prepared to hold your tent down until they pass. In towns, keep the gutter clear behind your tent so the water from a thunderstorm can drain off. In a park, the worst you can expect is a temporary creek running through your tent for a short time. Find a website that provides local weather information and check it often. Don’t rely on a Denver news forecast for what’s happening in Pagosa Springs.
- Wildlife. Bears, elk, deer, moose, mountain lions and smaller critters live around the mountain towns. Do not leave food in your tent or car. The latest on this is a young bear in Steamboat Springs has learned how to open sliding windows on pickups and campers in town. Notices about wildlife are posted in town and campgrounds. Read and follow their directions. Stay safe and do not approach wildlife.
- Wildfires. The summer fire season is upon us and we are still in a drought. Large areas of beetle killed trees are in the mountains that make the fires very dangerous. If a fire is near your show, follow the local news and advisories on line. If there is an evacuation order, don’t second guess it GET OUT. The other problem with wildfires near an art show is the smoke and ash. We did a show in Ft. Collins that was 15 miles from the High Park Fire in 2012. The smoke was so thick that you could not see the color of a traffic light half a block away. Overnight, ash had settled on flat surfaces inside our tent which was zipped up. If a fire is nearby, take whatever precautions are necessary to protect your art work from smoke and ash that can drift in. I had to air out my leather goods after the Ft. Collins show and I would imagine other fiber people had to do the same. Don’t assume that the smoke will continue drifting away from your show overnight.
- I can’t think of anything else now, but feel free to add from your experiences. Use common sense and you will have a great time in Colorado. Stay a couple extra days to enjoy what the state has to offer. Shows have been pretty good for me and others.
Comments
Great tips (I lived in CO for 17 years. Richard knows what he's talking about!)
I would add:
* Make sure you bring sunglasses. The sun is much more intense at high altitude, and wearing shades will not only save you a headache, it may save your eyesight down the road.
* Because the air is so dry (nearly always under 50% humidity, sometimes as low as 10%) there is a BIG apparent temperature differential (what the TV weather folks call the "feels like" index) between direct sun and shade. You can be feeling toasty, then the sun moves behind your tent and twenty minutes later you're shivering. So bring that fleece jacket even when you think you won't need it. You will. Skin moisturizer is not a bad idea either.
Great tips, Richard. The only thing that I can add would be for vendors to bring plenty of weights to anchor their tents. We DO have wind in the mountains. Also worth noting - EZ Ups don't handle the wind as well as Trimlines and Craft Huts. Fortunately, I was able to get a good price from a friend on his Craft Hut. For what it's worth, of the 12 canopies destroyed during the past two years at Art Market in Estes Park, 11 were EZ Ups . . . and the Trimline that went down was only partially setup.
And it goes without saying (except I'm saying it anyway ;-)...at the risk of sounding condescending, never throw a cigarette butt out of the car window anywhere in Colorado - EVER. And here's a link to a website to keep you up to day on the fires http://www.inciweb.org/
Richard, Sounds almost as bad as the winds and tornados we put up with in the Midwest. This is sure a challenging business when it comes to weather. Ruth, we always thought of doing a western tour and including a show or two in Colorado on our way to CA where our grandchildren live. Thanks for the info Richard.
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