While the festival only lasts two weeks, the Green Box organization maintains a year-round presence in the town, with off-season artist residencies, public art installations (including the Keith Haring Fitness Court), and walking audio tours that can be accessed anytime. Last year's festival high point — the installation of a James Turrell Skyspace on a butte above the town — also ensures the presence of visitors through every season.
James Turrell's Skyspace in Green Mountain Falls debuted at Green Box Arts Festival last year.
Photo: David Lauer, courtesy Green Box
“It’s been incredible,” Levy says. “It opened a year ago and only holds 25 people at a time. That said, in the last year we welcomed 7,000 guests from all fifty states and six international countries. We’ve had people coming all through the winter.” And as far as fighting winter conditions to get there is concerned, “It’s always different," Levy adds. "Getting to and from Skyspace is part of the experience.”
But he also raves about this year’s other attractions: “All of our programming year began in January. The fest itself is the biggest ever, with more new events.” Levy adds that Green Box’s health and wellness category has been beefed up, expanding from yoga classes to include workouts at the Keith Haring Fitness Court with a trainer, daily hikes led by Friends of the Ute Pass Trails and more.
A detail from Molly Rideout's historical installation at Green Box.
Molly Rideout, courtesy Green Box
“During her residency last year, Molly researched the people who managed the hotel, and it turns out they were all women,” Levy says. “She wrote micro-essays about some of those women, and installed the text in the windows.”
Other new works include Brooke Smiley’s EARTH.SPEAKS, an installation of earthworks addressing Indigenous identity, and Colorado artist Nikki Pike’s Ovum, a symbol of human empowerment planted deep in the woods that Levy describes as a “large egg-shaped, bark-skinned three-dimensional form.” Together with a large-scale sculpture by Brian Wall and Brenda Biondo’s photo-derived mural, these five works will be unveiled on opening day at Green Box, with graduated dedications happening between 10 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. on June 30.
Levy says his choice for this year's Green Box headliner is the two-week stand by the acclaimed Paul Taylor Dance Company: “They’ll be doing four public and two not-so-public performances and a public master class. They’ll also be in the rehearsal room with Green Box co-founder Larry Keigwin, whom they invited to create a new work premiering at Lincoln Center in the fall. They’ll be sharing a portion of that work in development at the patron party.” Public performance tickets sold out quickly, but registration is still open for the free master class at 6 p.m. July 7. Joining the July 8 patron party requires a donation of $250 or more.
If you’d like to try out some dance steps of your own, Green Box’s July 4 programming includes a block party from 5 to 9 p.m. with a free Western Swing dance class hosted by the Colorado Springs-based Ormao Dance Company at 5:30 p.m. Carlos Washington’s Steel Horse Swing follows with a set of music inspired by Western Swing virtuosos, from Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys to the contemporary band Asleep at the Wheel, that will keep you tapping your feet. And that’s just a portion of the evening, which continues with a water lantern launch at 9 p.m. ($10 for a lantern).
Levy heartily recommends attending this block party as well as another that closes the festival on July 15, with a food ruck rally and a free performance by the down-home musical duo Handmade Moments, which comprises Anna Moss (whom Levy says has a “honey-dipped Billie Holiday voice”) and Joel Ludford.
The festival’s free ARTDESK Conversations rate high on Levy’s list, as well. In tandem with Green Box’s new addition of a book club, one session is a group discussion of Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, by Dee Brown, moderated by Oklahoma visual artist Brent Learned, a descendant of Black Kettle and Little Raven, who will also host a free ledger art workshop.
These events and all the others exemplify the kind of people-friendly variety that keeps visitors coming back to Green Mountain Falls over the past fourteen years. But its deepest appeal is related to getting away from it all. “You can escape easily into the mountains with amazing contemporary artists,” says Levy.
“We cannot disconnect the place we are in from the work we do,” he continues. “Green Mountain Falls is definitely a special place. There’s something very different about it that I haven’t experienced anywhere else. It’s a tiny thriving community relatively close to Colorado Springs, but it’s like another world. There’s an element of the area that almost feels like you’re back in the 1920s.”
And it’s not costly, says Levy: “We pride ourselves on providing intimate experiences. Most events have limited capacity, and the earlier you know you want to go, you should get a ticket right away, whether it’s free or has a nominal charge. As always, you can come for a day, come for a weekend or come for the whole fest — or come anytime.”
Most important, he says, it’s “a place where you can quiet the mind and let the creativity flow.”
Green Box Arts Festival, June 30 through July 15 in Green Mountain Falls, off Highway 24 between Manitou Springs and Woodland Park. To register for events, visit the Green Box website for information and a complete schedule.
