The Crested Butte Arts Festival, August 2nd and 3rd, celebrates its 36th year in 2008. What began as an informal gathering of mostly local crafters selling their wares has evolved into one of the top 5 fine art and fine craft shows in Colorado, according to the Larry Harris List.

The Crested Butte Arts Festival (CBAF) is a non-profit, volunteer organization dedicated to the preservation of the arts in and around Crested Butte.

The mission of the Crested Butte Arts Festival is to encourage and promote the artistic and cultural environment of the Upper East River Valley. In addition to our annual arts festival, the CBAF supports other arts organizations in the community in the form of modest art grants and through collaboration and partnerships.

The Crested Butte Arts Festival is staged on Elk Avenue, the main street of Crested Butte, a National Historic District. The open-air booths are surrounded by eclectic shops, upscale boutiques, galleries, and fine restaurants. The pedestrian only festival grounds also include the Ragged Mountain Entertainment Stage, which features a variety of musical acts throughout the weekend; Culinary Court offering delectable fare at affordable prices from many of Crested Butte's highly lauded restaurants; and Art Alley, a hands-on, interactive arts and crafts area for children ages 2-12 and their parents. Festival hours are 10 to 5 on Saturday and Sunday.

The Festival caters to a variety of tastes and strives for a well-balanced show featuring fine artists and craft-persons in the following media: Ceramics, Drawing & Graphics, Fiber, Glass, Jewelry, Metal, Mixed Media, Painting, Photography, Sculpture, Wearable Art and Wood.

Entry is by invitation only and the competition increases each year. The 2007 move to Zapplication, a digital, online application process with national appeal, increased the Festival's profile dramatically. The Crested Butte Arts Festival is gaining national recognition as a quality show with a savvy, art buying audience.

Visual Artist Applications for the 2008 festival ARE NOW CLOSED

After a competitive jury process, artists will be notified of their status in early April. The 5 member jury is comprised of working artists, museum curators and art professionals, and changes each year. In 2007 we received 604 applicants for the 175 available spots. If you are an artist interested in observing the jury process, our jury is open and will take place in Denver on March 27th and 28th. Please contact the director to make specific arrangements to attend the jury.

Reported total sales in 2007 were $550,243 with artist's average sales around $3,500. Several artists reported sales in the $10,000 to $15,000 range.

BJS (Brenda) Turner is a practising artist from Savannah, Georgia. She is affiliated with the Horne and Thistle Gallery and Gallery 440 in Savannah and the Lucille Lucas Gallery in Crested Butte, CO.

Throughout her forty-plus year career, Turner has worked in multiple mediums including acrylic, oil, sculpture, collage, silk screen and lithography. She now works primarily in watercolor, and more recently in gouache watercolor. Her latest works have been accepted into 25 regional and national shows, garnering her 10 awards. Turner has also sequed from using opaque gouache into painting in oil again.

Her choice of subject matter remains figurative and scenic. She may work directly from the subject or compose from sketches and photographs in the studio.